Tuhoe
Ngāi Tūhoe (pronounced "too-hoy") is a Māori iwi ("tribe") of New Zealand. Although the word tūhoe literally means "steep" or "high noon" in the Māori language, the tribe is named after one of its ancestors, Tūhoe-pōtiki. Tūhoe are referred to as Nga Tamariki o te Kohu, or the "Children of the Mist".
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Traditional Lands
Tūhoe traditional lands lie in Te Urewera and Te Urewera National Park in the eastern North Island, a steep, heavily forested area which includes Lake Waikaremoana. Tūhoe traditionally relied on the forest for their needs.
The Colonial Period
Tūhoe's first major contact with Europeans occurred relatively late in the colonial period. Following a false accusation of the killing of missionary Karl Volkner, they fought the government in the battle of Ōrākau in 1864, and were subsequently subjected to confiscations of their fertile lands. In 1868, Tūhoe sheltered the Māori leader Te Kooti, and for this were subjected to a scorched-Earth policy in which their crops and buildings were destroyed and their people of fighting age were captured. After these events, Tūhoe isolated themselves, closing off access to their lands by refusing to sell, lease or survey them, and blocking the building of roads.
Tūhoe today
Tuhoe have a reputation for their continued strong adherence to Māori identity and unbroken use of the Māori language, which 40% of them still speak (2001 figure).
Of the approximately 30,000 Tūhoe people, 5,000 of them live in the tribal homelands; most of the rest live in towns on the fringes of Te Urewera and in the larger North Island cities. Tūhoe continue to maintain camps in Te Urewera and help run conservation programmes for endangered birds such as the kiwi and the kokako. Most Tūhoe return to their homelands every two years for the Tūhoe Festival, which features kapa haka, debates, sports competitions, and fashion shows. The event provides an important opportunity to maintain ties between friends and relatives.
Waitangi Tribunal
Tūhoe are one of the iwi involved in bringing the Urewera claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, set up in 1975 to compensate Māori for past land confiscations on the part of the New Zealand government. The Urewera tribunal was set up in 2002 and is expected to settle in 2005.mi:Tūhoe