Whakarongo te taringa ki te hau raki e pupuhi nei, i takea mai i Hawaiki nui
Listen to the north wind blowing from the great Hawaiki1
Sir James Hēnare’s words encourage us to listen to the winds blowing from Hawaiki, the celebrated homeland for many hapū. According to many Oceanic understandings, Hawaiki is not one island;* it is a reference to the many islands throughout Te Moananui a Kiwa, an ocean that spans a third of the Earth’s surface area.2 What motivated our ancestors to explore the most expansive ocean on Earth by designing waka hourua, developing navigational methodologies and undergoing the considerable risks associated with these journeys? Many narratives cite overpopulation in Hawaiki and the resulting conflict over food,3 but contemporary theorists have cast doubt on this. They contend that the islands of Te Moananui a Kiwa had sufficient wealth and resources to justify funding the expeditions to new islands. Thus, the motivation was largely political and economic. Expansion into new islands meant tapping into rich ecologies that were home to a vast number of birds and aquatic life.4 Hawaiki is sometimes referred to as Hawaiki Kaikai (abundant Hawaiki).5
The successful construction of waka hourua was an undertaking that took an immense amount of labour and skills. Two trees were cut down with stone adzes and the trunks hollowed out to make keels that provided buoyancy. The waka builders heated smaller logs over a fire until they split, then used a mallet and wedges to cut planks that were used to build up the sides of the hulls, and to fashion a platform that was placed between the two hulls.6 Not only was the work physical, it was extremely precise. The types of waka used by Māori and the techniques for building them were similar to those from Hawai‘i, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, and the Tuamotu Archipelago. The design depended on a number of factors, such as the availability of materials, the number of people the waka would carry, expected voyaging conditions, and the estimated distance to be covered.7 As an example of the precision involved in crafting waka, Hawaiian waka builders would cut rebates into both the hulls and the planks. The joints were then caulked with breadfruit sap, and holes were drilled into both the planks and the hull so that they could be further reinforced by tying them together with sennit cord.8 Some waka hourua were very large; during his travels around Te Moananui a Kiwa, James Cook, captain of the HMS Endeavour, noted that many waka were the same size or bigger than his own ship.9
Another prerequisite for long voyages was the preparation of a range of foods for consumption while at sea. Food such as pounded taro, baked kūmara, precooked fermented breadfruit, and coconuts (for eating and drinking) were supplemented by dried food, including banana chips and nuts. Other foods, such as bananas and taro were preserved in oil. In addition, those on board fished off the deck to provide the voyagers with fresh fish: they would either eat the fish raw, or cook it over fires of coconut husks, lit inside a large bowl. Surplus fish were kept alive and fresh by putting them in large baskets that were submerged in the ocean and tied to the side of the waka hourua until they were needed.10
The role of navigator was one of the most celebrated on board the waka hourua. Navigators drew from their extensive scientific knowledge to guide the passage of the waka through the ocean. They would have an intimate understanding of te whānau mārama, including the sun, moon, planets, stars, constellations and other forms of light. They would use the information drawn from te whānau mārama in conjunction with other sources of information, such as wind, waves, swells, currents, clouds, and the types of birds and their behaviour. Other ways of gathering information were manmade. For example, they would trail a rope behind the waka: this provided evidence of minor changes in direction, which could then be corrected. As another example, they would tie leaves of the aute (paper mulberry) to the rigging: the leaves were used as streamers and provided a range of information to the navigator about the direction and strength of the wind. When the streamer blew downwards this would indicate suitable winds for sailing, but the streamer blowing horizontal with the horizon would indicate that the wind was strong and they should expect big waves.11 The aute leaves could also be used at night as they bleached out to become fluorescent in the light of the moon and stars.
Contemporary ocean voyagers have revitalised traditional boatbuilding practices, and still utilise traditional navigational knowledge and techniques. Their practice has revealed that not all navigators used the same navigational techniques; instead, they believe, each navigator favoured different knowledge and developed their own techniques. A common factor among all navigators was that learning and refining the requisite depth of knowledge to be selected as navigator required time, energy, concentration, and dedication.12 In Aotearoa, astronomical knowledge was taught in a special whare wānanga, called the whare kōkōrangi, which was dedicated to transferring knowledge of te whānau mārama. Students at the whare kōkōrangi would learn the names of many hundreds of stars and constellations, as well as how the movement and intensity of those stars could inform activities on Earth.13
After their arrival in Aotearoa, hapū gradually moved away from the use of waka hourua to single-hulled waka. Waka designs included the large and intricately carved waka taua, the medium-sized waka tētē, often used to carry people and produce, and the small waka tīwai, used for carrying small groups. A main reason for this transition was a decreased dependency on the deep ocean for food and other resources. The land was teeming with other options for sustenance, including abundant birdlife. Hapū also planted vast gardens. Deep-sea fishing trips became less common, and people travelled more frequently along the coast and, inland, on rivers and other waterways. The smaller single-hulled waka were better suited to this type of travel, and over time became the dominant design. Another reason for this change was that, compared to the islands of origin, in Aotearoa larger trees such as tōtara and kauri were readily available to build single-hulled waka. Given the great size of these trees, the waka were much more stable than had previously been possible, and no longer required an outrigger.14 In addition, waka taua were much longer than the average waka hourua had been: whereas the waka hourua was usually between 50 and 70 feet,15 waka taua could be 100 feet or more.16
Because of their great significance in transporting hapū to their new home in Aotearoa, waka hourua became – and still are – a form of collective identity. Often hapū living in adjoining territories shared one or more waka. These connections did not always mean that hapū were living – or ever lived – side by side. Hapū who live in completely different geographical regions remain bound together by a single waka that their ancestors travelled on generations before.17 In their introductory pepeha, an individual will acknowledge their place within larger kinship groups such as their hapū, their iwi, and their waka affiliation.18
Many of the waka hourua came ashore in Te Tai Tokerau. Ngāti Kurī, who lived in places such as Pīwhane, Takapaukura, Kapowairua, and Murimotu (at the northernmost part of Te Hiku o Te Ika) have a greeting or form of acknowledgement that is mihirau – innumerable greetings – which reflects the innumerable occasions their ancestors welcomed the crew of waka arriving in their land.19 While some chose to stay in Te Tai Tokerau, others continued south to other parts of Te Ika a Māui and Te Waipounamu (the South Island). On many occasions, hapū would split up, with some remaining in Te Tai Tokerau and others reboarding the waka to travel onwards. Thus, while some hapū identify with one waka hourua, in Te Tai Tokerau, people often identify with many.20
* There are many theories about where Hawaiki and the closely associated Rangiātea may be. Most Māori and Oceanic understandings are that it is both a physical place and a spiritual place. The physical place is made up of many islands throughout Te Moananui a Kiwa (and possibly even further afield). Linguistic studies attest to this, citing places such as Hawai’i, Savai’i (in Sāmoa), and Ra’iātea (in Tahiti). Another theory is that the place commonly referred to as Hawaiki-nui is Hawai’i, Hawaiki-roa is Tahiti and Hawaiki-pamamao is Rapanui – and that these places were important for navigation. The spiritual place is a metaphorical place of birth for most hapū, reflected in the following pepeha: ‘E kore au e ngaro he kakano i ruia mai i Rangiātea (I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown at Rangiātea)’ (P. Alsop & T. R. Kupenga, 2016). In a cyclical process of birth and death, Hawaiki/Rangiātea is also the place where the spirit returns after death. For many hapū from Te Tai Tokerau, the journey to Hawaiki begins on the two spiritual pathways, one that begins in Rangaunu on the east coast and the other that begins in Whārō (Ahipara) on the west coast. The spirits take their final leap at Te Rerenga Wairua (NgāiTakoto and The Crown, 2012, p. 10; T. C. Royal, 2015; Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2019).
Nukutawhiti was a rangatira from Hawaiki and one of the early captains and navigators who sailed to Aotearoa. Nukutawhiti predated the formation of Ngāpuhi, however, his whakapapa line led to rangatira such as Rāhiri,21 the widely celebrated rangatira in Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa genealogy.22
A range of narratives cite different reasons for Nukutawhiti’s departure from Hawaiki. Some think that overpopulation and war were the reasons; others think that it was a general sense of adventure and excitement that led him to traverse the oceans, as Kupe had done before him.23 Regardless of what the motivation was, when he and his hapū set off, Nukutawhiti said the following words to his people:
E tū te huru mā, haramai e noho
E tū te huru pango, hanatu e haere
Let the white hair remain here
Let the black hair get up and go24
While Kupe is best known for his voyaging, he was also a master builder of carved houses and waka.25 He and Tokaakuaku re-adzed Kupe’s Matawhaorua for Nukutawhiti, using their adzes Ngāpakitua and Tauiraata. From that time on, the words ‘Ngā toki’ were added to the original name of the waka, and the celebrated Ngātokimatawhaorua* came into existence.26 Building and re-adzing waka was an immense undertaking: some say that the resources and time required to build waka were the most difficult part of the whole process, rather than the voyaging itself.
Nukutawhiti is known to have had an extensive repertoire of karakia that he issued at every stage of the voyage. Before their departure from Hawaiki, Nukutawhiti did a karakia that stirred up wild weather. The thunder clapped and the lightning flashed above them and before long a giant wave surged upwards. The wave lifted Ngātokimatawhaorua high up on its crest. As Nukutawhiti finished his karakia, the wave sped off towards distant Aotearoa, with Ngātokimatawhaorua surfing on top of it. This manner of travel is reflected in the following pepeha:
Ngāpuhi te aewa – ka rere i runga i te ngaru
Ngāpuhi the wanderers – they sail over the waves27
Ngātokimatawhaorua travelled like this for three days and three nights, flanked by four taniwha – Āraiteuru, Niua, Puhimoanaariki, and Rangiuruhinga28 – gliding in the water beside them. They were also supported by two atua – Te Hikooterangi and Maheretūkiterangi.29 The departure of Ngātokimatawhaorua coincided with a nova, in which a star glowed so brightly that the nights were almost as bright as day.30 As the waka surged along, the children on board looked down at the surging waters below them and composed the following waiata:
Ngarunui, Ngaruroa, Ngarupaewhenua*
Te ngaru i mauria mai ai a Ngātokimatawhaorua
Great wave, long wave, wave like a mountain range
The wave that brought hither Ngātokimatawhaorua31
On the fourth day, the power of Nukutawhiti’s karakia began to subside. One of the taniwha, Puhimoanaariki, told Nukutawhiti that all of the taniwha had become trapped in Kahukura’s net (Kahukura’s net is a metaphor for a dangerous reef).32 To set them free, Nukutawhiti sought the help of the tohunga Pātara and together they amplified their karakia so that the taniwha were freed, and the group were able to resume their voyage (Pātara was also known as Papaatara).33 To acknowledge Puhimoanaariki’s role in this part of the voyage, she was given another name, Puhiteaewa, to acknowledge the way she wandered back and forth along the waves.34
Not long after the taniwha were freed, Nukutawhiti spotted land-based seabirds, which told him that land was near.35 As predicted, Aotearoa soon came into view and the people on board the waka watched with awe as they approached Te Hokianganui a Kupe.36 As they sailed into the harbour, the ocean became rough, and great waves forced Ngātokimatawhaorua towards some rocks. To calm the sea and allow his people to land, Nukutawhiti recited a karakia to the atua Tāne and Tangaroa, and cast his amokura into the ocean as a gift to them (an amokura is a prized red feather from a rare bird, the red-tailed tropicbird). As a result of this, some Ngāpuhi believe that the mauri of their people is found in the water,37 as reflected in the following pepeha:
Ko te mauri he mea huna ki te moana
The mauri is hidden in the sea38
When Nukutawhiti disembarked and took his first steps in Aotearoa, he stooped down and plucked eight rimurimu (seaweed) shoots,39 two of which he sent back to Hawaiki with two of the taniwha – Puhiteaewa and Rangiuruhinga. This was a message for Kupe, to inform him that the people of Ngātokimatawhaorua had arrived safely. The taniwha Āraiteuru and Niua became guardians of the entrance to the Hokianga harbour, where they materialise in many forms to this day, including as rocks and waves.40 Finally, the people were met by Tīrairaka, who had travelled over earlier on Kupe’s waka the Matawhaorua. They dragged Ngātokimatawhaorua into a rock cave, where the celebrated waka hourua was left and eventually turned to stone.41
* Some refer to the waka as Ngātokimatawhaorua (M. Kawharu, 2008, p. 89), while others refer to it as Ngātokimatahourua (H. Kāmira, 1957, p. 229).
* The names above were also entrenched in whakapapa, as Nukutawhiti had Ngarunui, Ngarunui had Ngaruroa, and Ngaruroa had Ngarupaewhenua (B. Tipene-Hook, 2011, p. 7; H. Sadler, 2014, p. 75).
After the long journey from Hawaiki, the Kurahaupō waka* arrived in Rangitahua† (the Kermadec Islands).42 It was guided towards the largest of the islands by whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, and birds, some of which were part-way through their own migrations.43 Rangitahua (ignited sky) was named by the first captain of Kurahaupō, Te Moungaroa, in reference to the volcanic activity that he observed on the island. It was an important navigational signpost that was used in conjunction with a range of other signs to let navigators know they were heading in the right direction: once they arrived at Rangitahua, they knew that the next part of the journey to the much larger islands of Aotearoa would be easier to accomplish. Rangitahua also provided waka crews with access to vital resources that would see them through the next phase of their journey. For this reason, many waka hourua stopped at Rangitahua to rest and replenish.44
When Rangitahua was spotted there was great celebration and excitement on board the Kurahaupō. However, the celebration proved to be premature as the weather took a turn for the worse. The bad weather and reduced visibility made landing the waka very difficult. Although the crew did their best, disaster soon struck, when the waka collided with a reef that was partly submerged beneath the surface of the water and the breaking waves. The collision was catastrophic: it caused extensive damage to one of the waka’s hulls and loosened the carefully caulked planks, nearly wrecking it beyond repair.45 Luckily, the skilled crew were able to guide the damaged waka to shore and the people could disembark, breathing a collective sigh of relief. Although waka repairs were normal and planned for, the Kurahaupō had sustained serious damage and required careful, time-consuming repairs before the journey to Aotearoa could be completed.
The original crew split up: one group (including Te Moungaroa) carried on to Aotearoa on another waka,* and another group stayed on the island to wait until the Kurahaupō was repaired. Under the leadership of their new captain, Pō, the skeleton crew who had stayed behind set about fixing the waka, a process that took some months.46 For the repairs, they used patches woven out of highly durable flax, as well as the skin and blubber of kurī moana (seals). The sealskins and patches were firmly bound to the hulls using the rope of a kaharoa (seine net), which is acknowledged in the following pepeha:
Inā te kaharoa o te kupenga a Pōhurihanga
He taonga tuku iho mai
Behold the seine nets of Pōhurihanga
A precious treasure, inherited from the ancestors47
As a reference to the kaharoa and as a metaphor for the strength and tenacity of the crew, they became known as Ngāti Kaharoa.48 The kurī moana were recognised as crucial to enabling the Kurahaupō to continue onwards to Aotearoa, and some of the descendants of Ngāti Kaharoa would later become known as Ngāti Kurīmoana (or Ngāti Kurī).49
After waiting for suitable weather, they left Rangitahua and were soon heading towards the open sea. Not long after, Pō sensed that there was still something wrong with the waka and instructed the crew to turn around and return to Rangitahua. Once safely back on the island, the waka was meticulously checked and some final, crucial repairs were made before it was once again launched into the ocean. To acknowledge this event, Pō became known as Pōhurihanga (hurihanga means ‘turning’).50 This was a name that served as a testament to Pōhurihanga’s attention to detail that prevented any further misfortune on the ocean – or so they thought.
For the main part, the voyage between Rangitahua and Aotearoa passed without incident. This was despite the fact that the crew had to take on extra responsibilities to account for the missing people who had completed the voyage on a different waka. However, on the final day the weather became dark and stormy. The navigators were deprived of many navigational signposts: they could barely see from one side of the waka to the other, half-blinded as they were by the rain that pounded the deck and the wind that howled in the sails. As a result, the Kurahaupō sailed straight past the northern shores of Aotearoa. Despite the atrocious conditions for voyaging, the celebrated navigator Pī looked for any sign of land (Pī is also known as Pīpī).* Finally, he spotted a shining phosphorescence that was barely visible in the distance behind the waka. He knew that the light was emitted from pūrātoke (phosphorescent sea creatures) that glowed in the dark and illuminated the land.51 From this, Pī ascertained that the land was close by, but that they had already passed. He immediately informed Pōhurihanga:
E Pō! Kei muri te motu, kei muri te whenua.
Hurihia te waka!†
Pō! Both the island and the land are behind us.
We must turn the waka around!52
Pōhurihanga thanked Pī on behalf of everyone on board: he said that if Pī had not spotted the soft glow of the pūrātoke it was impossible to say where they would have ended up. Once more, Pōhurihanga told the crew to turn the Kurahaupō around, to return to the land behind them. From this event, Pōhurihanga became known as Pōhurihanganui (‘nui’ is used in this instance to emphasise the recurring action of turning back). The waka was turned around, and a wide expanse of beach came into view – Takapaukura. Upon sighting the land, Pōhurihanganui named it Muriwhenua. His words were:
Anana, ko muri o te whenua! Muriwhenua!
Behold, the end of the land! Land’s end!53
After some time sailing back around Ōtū (North Cape), the Kurahaupō attempted to land in Te Huka Bay at the western end of Takapaukura (now also known as Tom Bowling Bay). The storm had subsided and the weather had become fine and still as the waka came into sight of land. As they drew closer to the shore, a spectacular red light of the early sunset splashed across the sky and reflected onto the ocean. To acknowledge this, the place was called Te Wā o te Kura (wā means place and kura means red; often shortened to Wākura).54 Despite the stunning scene that unfolded before their eyes, their misfortune was not over, as night descended quickly. With the crew unable to see so well in the darkness, the Kurahaupō once again collided with rocks a short distance offshore. Luckily the waka stayed intact long enough to carry those on board to shallow waters, where Ngāti Kaharoa climbed out and dragged it ashore, taking their first steps in Aotearoa.*
Completely exhausted and now using the light of the moon and stars to see, Ngāti Kaharoa began to drag the Kurahaupō further inland, despite the fact that it was damaged, waterlogged, and almost impossible to move.† However, Pōhurihanganui knew that another hapū was already living in the area, and had planned to join them there. As they tried to pull the Kurahaupō along, he spotted a group of people coming towards him. Before long, these people came alongside and grabbed the ropes from them, pulling the waka to a nearby stream where they could float it further inland. This hapū was Te Ngake, and the collaborative act of pulling Kurahaupō further inland marked one of the most important unions in Muriwhenua.‡ As Pōhurihanganui had been told by his relatives in Hawaiki, Te Ngake had arrived some centuries earlier. They were a hapū of immense reputation, descendants of the eponymous ancestor Te Ngake. Te Ngake had arrived in Aotearoa on board the Tāwhirirangi (also known as Tāhirirangi)55 at the same time as Kupe, who had travelled on the Matawhaorua. 56
Te Ngake floated the Kurahaupō up the stream to the main village. To acknowledge Ngāti Kaharoa’s lament for their waka, the stream was called Waitangi* (wai is the stream, in this context, and tangi means to lament or weep). As well as rescuing the waka, Te Ngake nursed the Ngāti Kaharoa people back to health after their long journey from Rangitahua.57 The people were cared for in Te Tomokanga pā, which was situated on the western bank of Waitangi – a pā that belonged to Te Ngake rangatira Maieke and her people.58 In some retellings of the story, the pā was already called Te Tomokanga, while in others it was given its name to mark the arrival of the Kurahaupō (tomokanga means entrance or entry).59 The second version of events is remembered in the following pepeha:
Te tomokanga o te waka Kurahaupō ki te awa o Waitangi
The entry of the Kurahaupō waka to the river of Waitangi60
The safe, successful arrival at Te Tomokanga in Muriwhenua marked the end of Pōhurihanganui and Ngāti Kaharoa’s voyage. The Kurahaupō can be found in its petrified form at Waitangi. In other ways it is the beginning of the story. Ngāti Kaharoa and Te Ngake were intertwined when Pōhurihanganui married Maieke. The two had many children, including Taiko, Tōroa, Muriwhenua, and Whatakaimārie.61 Their children lived throughout Muriwhenua and had many important unions with other rangatira. They are celebrated ancestors for all hapū from Te Hiku o Te Ika, including Ngāti Whātua (who lived in Muriwhenua before moving south).62
* According to a number of narratives, there were two waka named Kurahaupō that travelled several hundred years apart (T. R. Hīroa, 1966, p. 54; J. Evans, 1997, p. 72). The waka described in this narrative is the second of the two.
† Also referred to as Rangitāhua and Rangitāhuahua (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, ‘Iwi o te Wiki – Ngāti Whātua’).
* Te Moungaroa completed his journey on either the Mātaatua, the Tākitimu or the Aotea (Waitangi Tribunal, 1988, p. 255; M. Kawharu, 2008, p. 148; Ngāti Kurī Trust Board, 2013, p. 49).
* Pīwhane, the original name for Spirits Bay, is named after Pī. Pīwhane is the bay at Kapowairua, the home of many generations of Ngāti Kaharoa and their rangatira, such as Tōhē, who in some whakapapa lines was the grandson of Pōhurihanganui and Maieke (Ngāti Kuri and The Crown, 2014, p. 74).
† This influenced the naming of the island that Pī spotted, a small island called Murimotu.
* The name Kurahaupō sometimes spelt Kurahoupō (which had been given to the waka before departure) is celebrated because of its prophetic nature: kura (meaning red or glowing) related both to the pūrātoke’s phosphorescent light that Pī saw through the storm, and to the red light of the sunset as they arrived. Hou (to enter) and pō (night) prophesied that the waka would arrive in Aotearoa at night (H. Rōmana, 2020).
† In another version of the story, each hull of the waka hourua was named: one was called Kurahaupō and the other one Aotea. When the waka hourua arrived in Aotearoa it was dismantled into two single-hulled waka, each going a separate way: the Aotea went to Taranaki and the Kurahaupō went the other way, where it was wrecked – in this version at Kapowairua rather than at Takapaukura (M. Hēnare, A. Middleton & A. Puckey, 2013, p. 85).
‡ Te Ngake were an ancient people who had come to Aotearoa centuries before Kurahaupō. Indeed, by the time Kurahaupō arrived, Te Ngake were already able to recite twenty-three lines of whakapapa (W. Norman, 1996, p. 87; Ngāti Kurī Trust Board, 2013, p. 49).
* This was the first place in Aotearoa to be called Waitangi (Waitangi Tribunal, 1988, p. 256), before the name reappeared as far south as Te Waipounamu (where southern dialects render the name as Waitaki), and, of course, the famous location in Pēowhairangi where Te Tiriti o Waitangi was first signed.
Kahutianuioterangi is the eponymous ancestor of Ngāti Kahu. She is the daughter of the celebrated ancestor Tūmoana, who travelled from Hawaiki to Aotearoa on the Tinana.63 He landed in Hokianga, before settling near Ahipara in what later became known as Te Tauroa (Reef Point) and Te Kōhanga (Shipwreck Bay).64 After some time living in Aotearoa, Tūmoana became overwhelmed by a powerful yearning to return to Hawaiki, despite the fact that his whānau would carry on living in Aotearoa. After a series of farewells, where Tūmoana’s whānau expressed their immense grief at his impending departure, the day finally arrived when he was ready to leave. He set off from Te Tauroa – again on board the Tinana. Before he left, he turned to Kahutianui (as she is more commonly known) and told her that he would invoke a thunder and lightning storm as a signal to her when he arrived safely back in Hawaiki.65
Kahutianui waited for the signs that her father had successfully returned home. Although she had confidence in her father’s navigational abilities, she was well aware of the many dangers in deep-sea voyaging and she could not settle until she knew that her father had arrived safely home. She scanned the skyline on a daily basis, willing the weather to turn violent and volatile. A long time passed with no signal of Tūmoana’s arrival back in Hawaiki. To mark Kahutianui’s vigilance and perseverance as she stood waiting to see the signs that her father had arrived home, the place was called Te Tauroa (the long wait).66 Finally, the day came when the clouds on the horizon turned black. Kahutianui raced out of her house and down to the beach. Suddenly a flash of lightning burst across the sky, followed in turn by a violent crash of thunder. Kahutianui was suddenly drenched from head to toe as sheets of torrential rain poured down on her. Instead of finding refuge from the storm, she embraced the rain, dancing on the beach in celebration of the fact that her father had made landing in Hawaiki.
Although Tūmoana himself had returned to Hawaiki, he knew that Aotearoa was the place where his whakapapa lines would flourish and prosper. He decided that his nephew Te Parata should go to Aotearoa, using Tūmoana’s own waka, the Tinana. Te Parata agreed, and set to work refashioning the Tinana,* which he renamed Māmaru.67 Before Te Parata’s departure from Hawaiki, Tūmoana told him that his daughter Kahutianui would be there to meet him in Te Tauroa and Te Kōhanga. With those guidelines in mind and final preparations made for the voyage ahead, Te Parata left Hawaiki to complete the voyage undertaken by his uncle. After his long voyage, Te Parata arrived in Aotearoa, where he met with those who had stayed behind. He married Kahutianui and settled in Te Kōhanga.68
In time, Kahutianui and Te Parata and their whānau departed Te Kōhanga to find their own land, because of tension between Kahutianui and her brother Tamahotu. Tamahotu was another renowned ancestor in Muriwhenua whakapapa, encapsulated in the following pepeha:
Ka rongo koe i tērā ingoa ahakoa i hea, me kī atu, ‘Ko ahau e tū atu nei’†
Should you hear that name anywhere, it is your right to say, ‘It is I standing here’69
They reboarded the Māmaru and embarked on a journey in which they circumnavigated Te Hiku o Te Ika: they sailed up the west coast, past Te Rerenga Wairua, past Pīwhane, around Murimotu, and down the east coast until they reached Rangaunu, the harbour west of Karikari peninsula. Despite Kahutianui and Te Parata’s best intentions, the Māmaru could not enter the harbour, as there was a giant octopus stretched from one side to the other. So, instead of going into the harbour, Kahutianui and Te Parata steered to the foot of the mountain named Pūwheke, on the shores of Karikari Moana.70
After growing old in their home of Pūwheke, Kahutianui and Te Parata once again set off on the Māmaru on another journey of settlement. They started in Pūwheke, and sailed around Te Whakapouaka (Cape Karikari), stopping in numerous places such as Maitai and Whatuwhiwhi. Throughout this journey, groups of their whānau settled in multiple places that are the kāinga of many hapū of Ngāti Kahu today.71
As well as a journey of settlement, the journey was one of exploration and discovery. In Te Tokerau (Doubtless Bay), Kahutianui and Te Parata discovered that there was a channel, which Te Parata named Waimangō. By sailing along this channel, they found that they could travel all the way back to Karikari Moana, next to Pūwheke, where they had started from. Because of this journey, they learnt that the geographical area known as the ‘Karikari peninsula’ was actually an island, effectively separated from the mainland by the Waimangō River. To mark this geographical discovery, the place was called Rangi i Taiāwhiotia ai e Māmaru (the day that [Karikari] was encircled by Māmaru). After ascertaining that they could take the Waimangō River all the way through to Karikari on the other side, Kahutianui and Te Parata returned to Te Tokerau and sailed along until they reached Te Ikateretere near Taipā, at the southern end of Tokerau beach. After this, they settled in Whatuwhiwhi and Rangiāwhia – other important Ngāti Kahu kāinga.72 Despite Ngāti Kahu being one of the smaller iwi, they are celebrated as being highly influential in Muriwhenua, as the following pepeha indicates:
Ko Ngāti Kahu tokoiti, manawanui*
Ngāti Kahu are few in numbers but great in spirit73
Other pepeha focus on the independence and connection between the hapū of Te Tai Tokerau. Ngāti Kahu is referred to as one of the walls that keep Te Whare o Ngāpuhi aloft, as encapsulated in the following pepeha:
Te Whare o Ngāpuhi, Tāmaki Makaurau ki Te Rerenga Wairua. Ko ngā pātū ko Ngāti Whātua, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi ki roto. Ko ngā rārangi maunga ngā poutokomanawa i hikia te tāhuhu o Te Whare o Ngāpuhi74
The House of Ngāpuhi encompasses Tāmaki Makaurau in the south to Cape Rēinga in the north. The walls of the house are Ngāti Whātua in the south, Te Rarawa in the west, Te Aupōuri in the north and Ngāti Kahu in the east. The mountains are the pillars that hold the ridgepole of the house aloft75
* The fact that Tūmoana and Te Parata travelled on the same waka hourua (the Tinana/Māmaru) provides one of the many links between Ngāti Kahu and Te Rarawa (W. Norman, 1996, p. 64).
† This pepeha is said to be especially important for those who live away from traditional homelands, but whose unbroken connection to Tamahotu (and to Muriwhenua hapū) remains through their whakapapa (W. Norman, 1996, p. 64).
* There is another story that exemplifies the strength and fortitude of Ngāti Kahu. In the 1920s, Ngāti Kahu attended a gathering at Ōhinemutu in Rotorua, along with four other members of Te Tai Tokerau confederation of iwi – Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Whātua and Ngāpuhi. At this gathering, Te Tai Tokerau sought formal recognition from members of the British royal family who were visiting Aotearoa. A carved tokotoko or staff was presented to the royals, depicting the various iwi of Te Tai Tokerau; however Ngāti Kahu had been left out of the initial carving. Hēnare Kīngi (who was chair of Te Taumata Kaumātua o Ngāti Kahu at the time) stated that it should be recarved, with Ngāti Kahu placed at the bottom to represent the fact that Ngāti Kahu were prepared to carry the rest of Te Tai Tokerau! (F. Keene, 1992, p. 76; M. McCully & M. Mutu, 2003, p. 172; M. Mutu, et al., 2017, pp. 11–12).