Paerangi -atua- o te Maungaroa [Moungaroa] / Paerangi i te wharetoka / Paeranga I

Pae-rangi-o-te-Maungaroa (close to the spirit of the Milky Way)... ...is the founding father of... ... Ngāti Rangi iwi (Folksong, n.d.).

First to settle on the Whanganui River, a descendant of Whirotupua (Bennion, 1994; Waitangi Tribunal, 2015a).

"...Ko Te Awa Tupua te tahuhu kite pou mua
Ko Ruatupua rāua ko Paerangi ngā maihi...

...Whanganui Awa is the umbilical cord interweaving our past to our present to our future
Ruatupua and Paerangi are the two main rootstock..." (Ngāti Hāua & The Crown, 2022).

"Though all the Whanganui natives say that Kupe only found the tīwaiwaka and tieke or kōkakō here – yet when questioned closely the old men admit the existence of tangata whenua in the valley of the Whanganui. These were the Ngā Pae­rangi, descendants of Paerangi-o-te-moungaroa, whose ancestors came from Hawaiki some 5 gens before Aotea [I], brought hither by his atua, he had no canoe." (Waitangi Tribunal, 2015a).

"When they arrived upon the ridge Mairehau, they observed smoke from the ancient fires of the descendants of Paerangi. They returned informing Kupe of what they saw, resulting in the tribal expression "the long burning occupation fires of Paerangi-i-te-wharetoka." (Whanganui Iwi & The Crown, 2014).

Paerangi o te Maungaroa was the descendant of the earlier tangata whenua, including Te Hă I, Mōuruuru, Whirotupua, and Houmea (Waitangi Tribunal, 2015a).

Sources

Batley, R. A. L. (1973). Ngati Rangi: Whiro's family at Murimotu, North Island, New Zealand. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 82(04), 43-354.
https://jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_82_1973/Volume_82%2C_No....

Bennion, T. (1994, March 9). Whanganui River Report. (Waitangi Tribunal research report [Hearing] #WAI 167).
https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68450539/W...

Downes, T. W. (1915). Old Whanganui., 10-11. W. A. Parkinson & Co. Ltd.

Folksong. (n.d.). Waiouru history: Settlers from Polynesia.
https://folksong.org.nz/waiouru_history/7_polynesia/index.html

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine [Unknown author]. (1899, November 1). Te Awa Nui a Rua (The Wanganui River). Papers Past.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZI18991101.2.15

Ngāti Hāua., & The Crown. (2022. October 22). Agreement in principle to settle historical claims [Agreement]. The Government of New Zealand.
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Ngaa-Rauru-Kiitahi/Ngaa-Ra...

Ngāti Rangi and The Crown. (2018, March 10). Deed of settlement of historical claims. New Zealand Government.
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Ngati-Rangi/Ngati-Rangi-De... (See also, https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Ngati-Rangi/Ngati-Rangi-De...

Waitangi Tribunal. (2013). Te Kāhui Maunga: The national park district inquiry report [Volume 1]. Legislation Direct, Government of New Zealand.
https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/WT-Vol-1-Kahui-Maunga-R...

Waitangi Tribunal. (2015a). He whiritaunoka: the Whanganui land report. Legislation Direct, Government of New Zealand.
https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_97551683/H...

Waitangi Tribunal. (2015b). Doc E14 (Whitu), p4. In He whiritaunoka: the Whanganui land report, 903. New Zealand Ministry of Justice.

Whanganui Iwi., & The Crown. (2015, August 5). Ruruku whakatupua te mana o te iwi o Whanganui [Report]. New Zealand Government.
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Whanganui-Iwi/Whanganui-Ri...