Te Tai Rawhiti iwi Ngati Porou has launched a rich online resource to help iwi members learn about the tribal history of all of their maunga (mountains).
The Nga Maunga Korero website includes 105 stories about the mountains of the East Coast tribe including its neighbours such as Te Whanau a Apanui, Turanganui a Kiwa, Ngati Kahungunu and Tainui.
The stories were compiled by a Ngati Porou historian Wananga Te Ariki Walker after speaking with concerned iwi members who wanted these korero a iwi (tribal stories) shared more widely.
He said the articles had been transferred from the Gisborne Herald website from their original PDF format, and searching for Ngati Porou tribal history had never been easier.
Mr Walker said if tribal descendants do a web search and type in a name of a Ngati Porou ancestor, or East Coast place names, for example, it should lead them to the Nga Maunga Korero website.
He said the type of stories were the last bastion of Maori knowledge that hadn't been influenced by contemporary influences, unlike kapa haka or modern waiata.
