Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi

Iwi

In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...

 (Māori tribe) descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi

Ngatoro-i-rangi

In Māori tradition, Ngātoro-i-rangi is the name of a tohunga prominent during the settling of Aotearoa by the Māori people, who came from the mythical homeland Hawaiki.-Rangiātea:...

, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua (Tarawera River

Tarawera River

The Tarawera River is in the Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand.It flows from Lake Tarawera, northeastwards across the northern flanks of the active volcano Mount Tarawera, and past the town of Kawerau before turning north, reaching the Bay of Plenty six kilometres to the west...

) at Matata

Matata, New Zealand

Matata is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. The town is 24 kilometres to the north-west of Whakatane. The population of Matata in the 2001 Census was 666....

 across the central plateau of the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 to the lands around Mount Tongariro

Mount Tongariro

Mount Tongariro is a volcanic complex in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres to the southwest of Lake Taupo, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island....

 and Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....

.

The iwi is identified by the saying: Mai Te Awa o te Atua ki Tongariro, ko Tongariro te Maunga, ko Taupo te Moana, ko Tūwharetoa te Iwi, ko te Heuheu te Tangata (From Te Awa o te Atua to Tongariro, Tongariro is the Mountain, Taupo-nui-a-Tia is the Lake, Tūwharetoa is the Tribe, te Heuheu is the Man.)

Tūwharetoa is the sixth largest iwi in Aotearoa with a population of 30,000 (NZ Census 2001) comprising a number of hapu (subtribes) represented by 33 marae

Marae

A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...

.