Human settlement Some early Māori nations (iwi) of the region were Ngāi Tara, Muaūpoko, Rangitāne, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō and Ngāti Ira. These iwi descended from the sons of Whātonga, Taraika and Tautoki-ihu-nui-a-Whātonga, who migrated through the lower North Island with some descendants settling in the Hutt Valley. The name Heretaunga is often applied to the Hutt Valley from the name of the 'house of Whātonga at Nukutaurua vollage (pā)'.
Human settlement Some early Māori nations (iwi) of the region were Ngāi Tara, Muaūpoko, Rangitāne, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō and Ngāti Ira. These iwi descended from the sons of Whātonga, Taraika and Tautoki-ihu-nui-a-Whātonga, who migrated through the lower North Island with some descendants settling in the Hutt Valley. The name Heretaunga is often applied to the Hutt Valley from the name of the 'house of Whātonga at Nukutaurua vollage (pā)'.