Te Whanganui-a-Tara

Te Whanganui-a-Tara is the great harbour at the southern end of New Zealand's North Island, named in tradition for Tara, son of Whātonga. Its sheltered waters and surrounding hills were home to Māori communities long before European settlement. In the 1820s and 1830s, Te Āti Awa and other Taranaki peoples migrated south to the harbour under pressure from northern warfare.