A Ngāti Apa pepeha relating to the lakes illustrates their connection with the area and with Kehu: Ko Kehu te maunga ko Kawatiri te aw a ko Rotoroa me Rotoiti nga roto ko Ngāti Ap Tō te iwi ki te Rā a ko Kehu te tangata. TE OPE-A-KUPE (TE ANAMĀHANGA / PORT GORE) Ngāti Apa’s relationship with its whenua and wai is integral to its identity as a people. Te Ope-a-Kupe symbolises for Ngāti Apa people the intense nature of their relationship to their environment, and the mauri or life force that is contained in all parts of the natural environment and binds the spiritual and physical world. Te Anamāhanga ( ‘The Twin Bays ’) was one of the two tentacles of the Wheke Mutarangi, the great octopus killed by Kupe. The other was Te Anatohia (East Bay). 2Te Anamāhanga lies in the shadow of two significant maunga, which were also used as navigation aids. They are Puhikereru, named after a Kurahaupō tupuna, and Parororangi, (‘Stormy Sky’) who was named after a place in Hawaiki. Parororangi was (and is) an important weather indicator. Te Ope-a-Kupe was and is a tauranga waka (landing place) used by generations of Ngāti Apa. Kupe landed here in his waka, Te Matahourua. Indentations on rocks were formed by Kupe’s footprints and he named the place Te Ope-a-Kupe (‘The Footprints of Kupe’). Other Ngāti Apa migrations lead by tupuna such as Te Kahawai, Te Ahuru and Kotuku all used Te Ope-a-Kupe and resided in Te Anamāhanga. Ngāti Apa have been kaitiaki of this very tapu place from that time until the present day. Karaka trees at Te Anamāhanga are known to Ngāti Apa as Te Karaka o Kupe, because the famous navigator is beli eved to have in troduced them. Because of the associations with Kupe this iconic area remains central to the identity of Ngāti Apa. Te Anamāhanga was one of the first places in Te Tau Ihu occupied by Ngāti Apa, and they have lived there continuously since the fourteenth century. It contains pā sites, cultivations, kainga and urupā. The wāhi tapu and other spiritual sites are still important to Ngāti Apa today. MT FURNEAUX (PUHIKERERU) Ngāti Apa’s relationship with its whenua and wai is integral to its identity as a people. Puhikereru is a sacred maunga for Ngāti Apa people, a symbol of the intense nature of their relationship to their environment, the mauri or life force that is contained in all parts of the natural environment and that binds the spiritual and physical world. Puhikereru overlooks Te Anamāhanga (Port Gore). Its name (‘plume of the pigeon ’) evokes the kereru that were found here, the appearance of the clouds as they come over the maunga, and also recalls a tupuna particularly associated with this place. The maunga is also of great significance to Ngāti Apa because of its association with Kupe. When Kupe came to Aotearoa he brought two birds with him named Rupe and Kawau-a-toru. The task of these birds was, among other things, to seek out the fruits of the forest and determine currents. When Kupe settled at Rimurapa (Sinclair Head, on the northern shores of Cook Strait or Raukawakawa Moana) his birds flew to Te Wai Pounamu and alighted on Puhikereru. Rupe joined the local pigeons in feasting on the abundant forest food of the maunga and its environs, and never returned to Kupe. 2Use of the prefix „Ana‟ is typical of Kurahaupō nomenclature and is common, particularly in the Sounds/Te Ho iere area. Te Tau Ihu Statutory Acknowledgements Page 9 of 163