Editing Hunua Ranges (section)

===Pre-European settlement===

[[Tāmaki Māori]] have traditionally used the ranges for a wide range of resources. The traditional name is {{lang|mi|Ngāherehere ō Kohukohunui}} ("The Expansive Forest of Kohukohunui"), named after Kohukohunui, the highest peak of the ranges.<ref name="NGP">{{cite book |contributor=Green, Nathew |contribution=From Hawaīki to Howick – A Ngāi Tai History |author=La Roche, Alan |date=2011 |title=Grey's Folly: A History of Howick, Pakuranga, Bucklands-Eastern Beaches, East Tamaki, Whitford, Beachlands and Maraetai |location=Auckland |publisher=Tui Vale Productions |isbn=978-0-473-18547-3 |oclc=1135039710 |language=en |pages=16–33}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/58085 |title=Te Ngāherehere-o-Kohukohunui Forest |publisher=[[Land Information New Zealand|Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand]] |access-date=10 July 2023}}</ref> {{lang|mi|Te Hūnua}} was a name used to describe the wider country between the [[Wairoa River (Auckland)|Wairoa River]] valley and [[Papakura]].<ref name="NGP"/> Māori made some use of the ranges and early European visitors found areas of clearing that had been used as gardens. [[Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki]] are tangata whenua for the ranges, and many archaeological sites are known within the ranges.<ref name=teara />

In November 1769, [[Captain Cook]] visited the [[Hauraki Gulf]] area. Cook gifted pigs and potatoes to senior members of Te Uri ō Pou from [[Ōrere Point|Ōrere]], who then planted these along the Wairoa River, as one of the first crops of potatoes grown in New Zealand. The pigs were released into the Hunua Ranges, where they were hunted by Ngāi Tai.<ref name="Cultural Heritage">{{Cite report| url=http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/districtplanmanukau/changes/10Cultural.pdf | title = Ōtau: a Ngāi Tai Cultural Heritage Assessment of Clevedon Village, Wairoa Valley. |first1=Nat |last1=Green |year=2010  |publisher=[[Auckland Council]] |access-date=21 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="NGP"/>

The main part of the ranges was subject to confiscation after the [[New Zealand Wars]].<ref name=teara /> Early European use of the ranges was for timber extraction and for farming but low [[soil fertility]] limited success. There has been some mining of Manganese in the past. Gold prospecting for quartz reefs has never found payable reefs.<ref name=teara />