Submission to Tupu Tonu - Ngāpuhi Sovereign Fund
Submission to Tupu Tonu on behalf of IO
Recognition and Resourcing of the IO Priesthood and Spiritually under IO Te Rangitūātinitini (Poronīhia), Āio Te Korekore — Te Papakāinga Ō Kupe-Ariki, Hokianga Whakapau Karakia to Tupu Tonu - Ngāpuhi Sovereign Fund, 2026.
Tēnā koutou Tupu Tonu,
He mihi tēnei ki a koutou i runga i ngā haepapa nui e kawea ana e koutou mō te motu.
Kaumātua support:
Wimutu Te Whiu
Representing these hapū:
Te Hapū Ō Manukura
Te Hapū Ō Matariki
Te Hapū Ō Whakatangitangi
Te Hapū Ō Tāhūhūnuiōrangi
Te Uri Ō Pūhaorangi
Te Uri Ō Maui Upoko Waru
Te Uri Ō Waitaha Ariki Kore
Te Uri Ō Whitirangimamao
Te Uri Ō Kupe Nuku IO-Ariki
Te Uri Ō Tūnui Paia Te Paroa
Te Uri Ō Munanui Ariki
Te Uri Ō Te Manunui a Ruakapanga
Te Uri Ō Te Aho I Te Rangi
Te Uri Ō Rāhiri I Te Rangi
Te Uri Ō Kōhinemataroa
Te Uri Ō Mātautūrangi
Te Uri Ō Tūnuiitāwheta
This correspondence formally places before you a submission of national, constitutional, and spiritual significance, carried by:
"Te Tikanga Nui Ō Te Mana Tuku Iho: The Supreme Order Of Pacific Inherent Authority";
which descends directly from IO Te Rangitūātinitini (supreme o Hiva), the original and supreme spiritual order of Te Moana Nui a Hiva (central Polynesia) and Āio Te Korekore, Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (Aotearoa). IO Te Rangitūātinitini is the original and supreme spiritual order recognised at Taputapuātea, Ōpoa, Ra‘iātea, at the time when Kupe still resided and officiated there. His father was a supreme IO Tohunga of Marae Taputapuātea. From this source authority descends Te Tikanga Nui: The Supreme Order which orders, carries, and gives effect to IO authority across the Pacific world. Upon the arrival of Kupe and the transplantation of this authority into Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa, this same singular spiritual order became known through local names and invocations, including IO Matua Kore and related variations, while remaining one continuous and supreme source authority. That authority is held and maintained through the IO Priesthood of Iowa (America), IO Retea (Ra‘iātea), IO Tete (Nukuhiva), Rarotonga, IO-Lani (Hawai‘i), Tahiti, Borabora, Maupiti, Huahine, and Ra‘iātea, and then held through the IO Priesthood of Te Wānanga Ō Taitokerau, centred in Hokianga. Te Wānanga Ō Taitokerau remained the primary priestly seat of IO authority in Hokianga until its closure in 1951.
This submission is carried by Te Tikanga Nui Ō Te Mana Tuku Iho: The Supreme Order Of Pacific Inherent Authority because Tākou Kāmira closed Te Wānanga Ō Taitokerau in 1951. In 2008, Tangaroa Ngaropo-Tāwio reopened Te Whatupungapunga a Nukutāwhiti Whare Wānanga in Hokianga. His tūpuna was Te Ngaropo “Tangaroa” Tāwio Pouroto, a Tohunga in the wānanga alongside Tākou Kāmira and the other Katekita-Tohunga of North Hokianga. It is further recorded that Tangaroa Ngaropo-Tāwio held a copy of the Kāmira Manuscripts for over thirteen years, entrusted to him by the late Petera Kāmira and the Pako Kāmira Whānau Trust. These manuscripts form the foundational texts of the IO Wānanga in Hokianga, and the copy has since been formally returned to the Pako Kāmira Whānau Trust. This establishes that from Taputapuātea to Hokianga, the direct wānanga kōrero from IO Te Rangitūātinitini to Āio Te Korekore was only suspended for 57 years, and that the IO priestly line survived the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 through the continuation of the Blackout Wānanga from the 1950s to the present. Further, between 13–18 July 2025, this Order — acting under its descended authority from IO Te Rangitūātinitini — formally and publicly reopened the Rangitūhāhā of IO near Taputapuātea, Ōpoa, Ra‘iātea, through a multi-day ceremonial process, with over 50 witnesses present at the ceremonial opening and approximately 10,000 people attending the associated public gathering. This reopening restored and reactivated the operational mandate of the Order across Te Moana Nui a Hiva and Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.
For clarity of record, the arrival of Kupe in 900 AD marks the transplantation of the IO Priesthood into Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa, and from that point the IO Priesthood has held continuity for approximately 1,126 years (as of 2026).
Comparative Timeframes
(Strict Chronological Order — Measured After Kupe, 900 AD)
Anglican Church in Aotearoa — first Christian mission (1814): 914 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Arikitanga o Ngāti Tūwharetoa — Te Heuheu Tūkino I (c. 1820–1825): 920–925 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Te Papahurihia — Te Atua Wera religion (Hokianga) (c. 1833): 933 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Te Wakaminenga Ō Ngā Hapū o Nu Tireni (He Wakapūtanga, 1835): 935 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Catholic Church in Aotearoa (1838): 938 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) (1854): 954 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Kīngitanga o Waikato — Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (1858): 958 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Pai Mārire movement — Te Ua Haumēne Tūwhakararo (1862): 962 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Kīngi Tāwhiao and the Tariao spiritual movement (early–mid 1860s): 960–970 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Parihaka settlement and movement (1866): 966 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Ringatū religious movement — Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (1868): 968 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Iharaira movement — Rua Kēnana Hepetipa (1906): 1,006 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Rātana religious movement (1918): 1,018 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Bahá’í Faith in Aotearoa — organised establishment (1926): 1,026 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
Te Wānanga Ō Taitokerau — closure of the priestly seat (1951): 1,051 years after Kupe brought IO to Hokianga
We have nothing against other churches, religions, spiritual beliefs, Kingitanga or Arikitanga. It was an easy way to see the comparisons. That's all. We want to see the rise of our true spiritual beliefs from Te Moana Nui a Hiva to Te Hokianga Nui Ō Kupe-Ariki. We are prepared to share Papakāinga with all our IO whānau.
It is important to state explicitly that IO Spirituality and the IO Priesthood were not able to be formalised in the same public institutional manner as later churches and religious movements, not because of absence, deficiency, or lack of organisation, but because they were actively suppressed by Crown legislation, most notably the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907. The consequences of that suppression cannot reasonably be held against the IO Priesthood today. With this submission, it is stated clearly that the foundational anchor point for the re-establishment of IO Te Rangitūātinitini and the IO Priesthood will be Te Papakāinga Ō Kupe-Ariki, Hokianga, while acknowledging that other IO expressions exist throughout the country.
The central grounding site is Te Papakāinga Ō Kupe-Ariki because Kupe has been repatriated to Te Hokianga Nui Ō Kupe, on a 65-acre site dedicated to IO and Kupe, known as Te Papakāinga Ō Kupe-Ariki. Accordingly, Te Tikanga Nui Ō Te Mana Tuku Iho: The Supreme Order Of Pacific Inherent Authority, descending from IO Te Rangitūātinitini, submits a request for a $10 million allocation to support:
Te Papakāinga Ō Kupe-Ariki — Foundational Anchor
– Re-establishment and functioning of the IO Priesthood
– Protection and continuation of IO-based priestly knowledge and ceremonial practice
– A stable grounding site for national coordination and stewardship
National IO Symposiums (Three Gatherings Across the Country)
To link and reconnect IO lineages and expressions, including Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori, Takiura, Marae, Māori organisations, and community entities. We also seek dedicated funding to enable travel to Rarotonga, Marquesas, Huahine, Borabora, Maupiti, Ra‘iātea, Tahiti, Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, and America. This will allow us to gather the support of all IO whānau across these places, ensuring a unified and collective reestablishment of IO spirituality and the IO Priesthood back in Hokianga. This is the most substantial and grounding kaupapa in all of Ngāpuhi's history. It is important for Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu to stand in its true mana atua from IO, to Kupe, to Rāhiri, to all the hapū. Please allow us the 10 million dollar resource to heal the hauora and wellbeing of Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu spiritually by reconnecting Ngāpuhi to the source of our origin, down to this time. Please do not shrug this submission off. This is so important.
Sovereignty Statement
Should this Order be successful in its application, it is stated explicitly that the acceptance of any funding does not constitute, and must never be interpreted as, a ceding or diminishing of sovereignty. As part of the Ngāpuhi Confederation of Tribes, sovereignty has not been ceded, and participation in Crown funding mechanisms cannot be construed as consent, waiver, or surrender of sovereignty in any form. We respectfully seek engagement through the appropriate ministerial and policy pathways to progress this submission.
Ngā manaakitanga ki a koe i roto i āu mahi katoa.
Mataora
Te Ngakooterangi Ngaropo-Tāwio
Te Tikanga Nui Ō Te Mana Tuku Iho
The Supreme Order Of Pacific Inherent Authority
Trans-Oceanic, Afro-Pacific
Diamond Envoy of Innate and Intrinsic Sovereignty
“This submission is issued under the authority and jurisdiction of Te Tikanga Nui Ō Te Mana Tuku Iho: The Supreme Order Of Pacific Inherent Authority, and is not made under, nor subject to, Crown spiritual or legal jurisdiction.”
