Ko Whaingaroa he moana
Ko Aotea he whenua
Ko Kāwhia he tangata
Whaingaroa is the sea
Aotea is the land
Kāwhia is the source of our people.
Tainui was one of many double hulled ocean going waka that traversed the Pacific ocean from Tahiti/Hawaii.
They were looking for the southern lands that had been explored, charted and recorded through oral accounts by earlier Pacific navigators who were experts in reading wind, swell, ocean current, bird migration patterns and the star compass.
Landing at Kāwhia some 800 years ago when the pohutukawa was in bloom the closely related crew of Tainui under the leadership of Hoturoa began to occupy areas around a harbour where the land was highly fertile, the sea teeming with fish and shellfish, hence the saying:
Kāwhia moana Kāwhia kai Kāwhia tangata.
From Kāwhia the descendants of Hoturoa and crew of Tainui spread along the coastal areas north to Manuaitu, Ruapuke, Te Whaanga, Whangaroa, Te Akau to Putataka, where the Waikato river meets the sea, and south beyond Marokopa. Exploration of inland areas through the rich valley of Waikato saw whānau groups over time transforming into distinct hapū groupings known as Waikato while those remaining coastal hapū were known as Tainui or Ngāti Tainui linking them indelibly to the waka, the history of people and place
Te mano i Waikato, te tini i Kāwhia
Waikato of thousands, Kāwhia of myriads
Ngāti Koata and Ngati Tahinga lands extend from Te Akau to the mountain of Karioi, Tamainupō occupy the upper reaches of the Whaingaroa harbour including Hauraki peninsular, Ngāti Māhanga/Hourua extend from Papahua to Waipa, Ngāti Whakamarurangi/Tainui include the southern side of Karioi to Aotea Harbour.
Ngāti Koata descendents who continue to live in their home area of Whangaroa/ Whaingaroa also use the term Tainui ō Tainui to describe themselves. Waikato Tainui (a modern Iwi descriptor) refers to Waikato as the tribe, and Tainui the waka.
Tainui ō Tainui refers to Tainui hapū of the west coast and Tainui the waka.