Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165,201. This compares to 125,601 in 2001, 102,981 in 2006, and 122,214 in 2013. It is formed from 150 hapū or subtribes, with 55 marae. Despite such diversity, the people of Ngāpuhi maintain their shared history and self-identity. Te Rūnanga ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi, based in Kaikohe, administers the iwi. The Rūnanga acts on behalf of the iwi in consultations with the New Zealand government. It also ensures the equitable distribution of benefits from the 1992 fisheries settlement with the government, and undertakes resource management and education initiatives. History Foundations The founding ancestor of Ngāpuhi is Rāhiri, the son of Tauramoko and Te Hauangiangi. Tauramoko was a descendant of Kupe, from Matawhaorua, and Nukutawhiti, of the Ngātokimatawhaorua canoe. Te Hauangiangi was the daughter of Puhi, who captained the Mataatua canoe northwards from the Bay of Plenty. Rāhiri was born at Whiria pā, near Opononi in the Hokianga. The early tribes led by Rāhiri's descendants lived in the Hokianga, Kaikohe and Pouerua areas. Through intermarriage with other iwi and expansionist land migration, the descendants of Rāhiri formed tribes across the Northland peninsula. These actions also fostered ties with neighbouring iwi. Auha and Whakaaria, for example, led expansion eastward from Kaikohe and Pouērua into the Bay of Islands area, overrunning and often intermarrying with Ngāi Tāhuhu, Ngāti Manaia, Te Wahineiti and Ngāti Miru. These tribes in the east were the first to use the name Ngāpuhi. As the eastern and western groups merged, the name came to describe all the tribes settled in the Hokianga and Bay of Islands. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Ngāpuhi tribes pushed further east through the southern Bay of Islands to the open coast, absorbing tribes such as Ngāti Manu, Te Kapotai, Te Uri o Rata, Ngare Raumati and Ngātiwai. Hosting the first Christian mission Ruatara was chief of the Ngāpuhi from 1812 to his death in 1815. In 1814, he invited the Rev. Samuel Marsden to set up the first ever Christian mission in New Zealand on Ngāpuhi land. The presence of these influential Pakeha secured Ruatara's access to European plants, technology and knowledge, which he distributed to other Māori, thus increasing his mana.