Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. It is a conurbation, made up of the cities of Auckland, Waitakere, Manukau and North Shore. In Maori it bears the name Tamaki Makau Rau or Akarana.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between Manukau and Waitemata harbours.

History

The area, Tamaki Makau Rau (isthmus of one thousand lovers), now known as Auckland, was first settled by Maori people around 1350. The region was valued for its rich and fertile land. Maori constructed terraced pa (fortified villages) on the volcanic peaks. Maori population is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 in the region in pre-settlement times, a figure which would later qualify in New Zealand as a city. Earthworks are still evident today around some of the larger volcanoes such as; Mount Albert, Mount Eden and One Tree Hill.

The isthmus, at around 8km from coast to coast - with Mount Eden and One Tree Hill placed along the line of the narrowest point, led to the area having great strategic qualities. The isthmus also has the highly productive soils providing agricultural opportunities, and the two harbours (Waitemata to the East and Manukau to the West) providing diverse kai moana (seafood).

Ngati Whatua and Tainui were the main tribes traditionally living in the area. The arrival of Europeans, using guns as one of many trade commodities, changed the balances of power between Iwi with the inevitable result of armed conflict. European settlement caused Maori numbers in what is now central Auckland city to be greatly reduced due to; inter-iwi warfare, new diseases (especially smallpox and tuberculosis), and the common ills experienced by indigenous peoples of colonisation. There was a period of migrations of both Europeans and Maori. One of the initial appeals of the area to Europeans being it was virtually uninhabited.

Apihai Te Kawau (c. 1760 - 1869), leader of the Ngati Taou Hapu, was a good friend of Samuel Marsden. Over a 10 month period of 1821 - 1822, he took a principle part in the 1,000 mile Amiowhenua expedition. This series of battles raged through much of central and southern North Island. It ended when Te Kawau’s Ngati Whatua forces, uniting with the Taranaki they were embattled with, to jointly defend the Tainui Matakitaki pa from Hongi Hika’s Nga Puhi forces.

By 1840 Te Kawau had become the paramount chief of Ngati Whatua. Cautious of reprisals from the Nga Puhi defeated at Matakitaki, Te Kawau found it most convenient to offer Governor Hobson land around the present central city. He and six other chiefs travelled the Bay of Islands to make the offer and signed the Treaty of Waitangi on 20th March.

Ngati Whatua would certainly have expected from English colonialism increased security and trading benefits. This would include greater access via the quickly developed port facilities for the lucrative trade in produce grown in Tainui’s fertile Waikato and Hauraki Plains for the Australian prison colonies and Sydney market. The sale price for the initial 3,000 acres (12 km²) was for cash and goods to the value of £341.

As Maori population declined for nearly a century, so did the quantity of land held by Ngati Whatua. Within 20 years, 40% of their lands were lost, some through government land confiscation. At close to the lowest level of population, Ngati Whatua land holding was reduced to a few acres at Orakei, land which Te Kawau had declared “a last stand”.