the early 20th century, several landless Maori from the Waikato migrated to Pukekohe to work in the township's market gardens as itinerant agricultural workers. These Maori came from the Ngatipari, Akitai, and Ngapuhi iwi (tribes). Since the Maori in Pukekohe had no ancestral ties to the land, they took the symbolic title of rootless Maori and became known as Nga Hau E Wha (People of the Four Winds).

On 10 June 1905, Pukekohe became