Area of Service - Tainui Waka Region
Tainui Waka refers to the traditional geographic boundaries of the Waikato, Maniapoto, Raukawa and Hauraki Iwi. These four Iwi share an affiliation to the ancestral waka (canoe) named Tainui.
The Tainui Waka region is described by the following well known proverb:
Ko Mōkau ki runga
(Mōkau is above)
Ko Tāmaki ki raro
(Tāmaki is below)
Ko Mangatoatoa ki waenganui.
(Mangatoatoa is between)
Pare Hauraki, Pare Waikato
(The boundaries of Hauraki, the boundaries of Waikato)
Te Kaokaoroa-ō-Pātetere.
(To the place called ‘the long armpit of Pātetere').
Mōkau refers to the river in north Taranaki, and Tāmaki to the isthmus on which the city of Auckland now stands. Mangatoatoa is a small village south of Te Awamutu. Pare Hauraki is the Hauraki region including the Piako, Ōhinemuri and Coromandel districts. Pare Waikato is the region north of Kāwhia to the Manukau Harbour and across to the Hūnua and the Hapūakohe Range.
The ‘Tainui Waka' region therefore covers a substantial part of the central North Island including the Franklin, Hauraki, Matamata-Piako, Otorohanga, South Waikato, Thames-Coromandel, Waikato, Waipa and Waitomo Districts. The region also includes Hamilton City, Te Awamutu, Cambridge and Huntly as well as much of South Auckland (e.g. Manukau, Mangere, Papakura, Port Waikato etc.)
Of particular note, approximately 50% of the Māori population resides within 2 hours drive of Hamilton, the main commercial centre of the Tainui Waka region.