18 • TE AO MAORI MAI I TE TAIRAWHITI NGĀ MAUNGA Te Hau ki Turanga− — E Tangi Tonu Ana He Mihi Ko tō mātou taonga nui, ko tō mātou whare whakairo Nau mai hoki mai rā ki ēnei whārangi o Our prized possession, our valuable carved te nūpepa nei, ko te putanga tuatoru hoki house o ngā kōrero e kīia nei ko, Ngā Maunga Kōrero o Te Tairāwhiti. Ko tēnei te torona Kia mauria huhua koretia e te Kāwanatanga ki ngā kokonga katoa hoki o tēnei whenua, Has been taken from us by the Government mai te pito ki ngā taha, ki tuawhenua, ki without just cause tuamoana, ki te rohe e korerotia nei e Kīhae mātou i whakaae tātau ko te wā kāinga. E aro ana tātau We did not consent to its removal ki te maunga a Puketapu, ki te pokapū (Raharuhi Rukupō, Petition, 8th July 1867) o Manutūke, ki te hoki e noho nei, a . Tēnā, e noho, whāngaia o whatu, whākina mai tō hinengaro ki ngā TE Hau-ki-Tūranga, a traditionally carved kōrero e hora nei. meeting-house, stands in Te Papa in . It is the oldest existing meeting-house in New Welcome to the third issue of Ngā Zealand and is renowned for the beauty of its Maunga Kōrero o Te Tairāwhiti. Similar to carvings. It was also one of the first to be built our previous issues, we continue our journey using steel tools. It formerly stood at Orakaiapu of traversing the maunga (mountains) of in Manutūke and was carved in the early 1840s the Tairāwhiti region, a journey that will by a group of Ngāti Kaipoho carvers and others ultimately take us to all the far reaches, led by Raharuhi Rukupō as a memorial to his inland and seaward, of our district that elder brother, Tāmati Waka Māngere. Rukupō, we all call home. In this edition we focus like his elder brother Tāmati, was also a chief on Puketapu, the ancestral mountain of of Rongowhakaata and lived during the early- – Te Hau ki Turanga in Te Papa Museum. the Rongowhakaata tribe of Manutūke to-mid 1800s. and surrounding areas. Therefore, relax, Te Hau-ki-Tūranga was dismantled and of the house, by Wi Pere, Keita Wyllie, Paora to the wharenui resided.” These issues, they said, feast your eyes and open your mind to the removed from its original site in March 1867, Kate and Ōtene Pitau, was also unsuccessful. “Ought to inform negotiations between claimants stories that follow. despite the protests of many local Māori, and During the Tūranganui-a-Kiwa Claims (primarily Rongowhakaata) and Te Papa over taken to Wellington to stand as a permanent hearings heard before the Waitangi Tribunal arrangements for custody and management of Kahutia – Department of Māori exhibition in the Colonial Musem. In July in 2004, the Crown accepted that Te Hau ki the taonga”. Like their predecessors before them, Studies & Social Sciences 1867, Rukupō petitioned the Government for Tūranga, “Had been acquired in a manner which the custody and future of Te Hau ki Tūranga Tairāwhiti Polytechnic the return of the meeting-house, but without breached the principles of the Treaty” and that, continues to be an important issue for the people success. In 1878 another petition for the return “There was a real question about where legal title of Rongowhakaata. Puketapu and Rongowhakaata Ko Puketapu te maunga Puketapu is the mountain Ko Te Ārai te awa Te Ārai is the river Ko Rongowhakaata te iwi Rongowhakaata is the tribe Tīhe mauri ora! Alas the breath of life!

RONGOWHAKAATA was born around 1550 and lived in Ūawa (). He belonged to the Ngāti Ruanuku tribe. Through both his parents, Hinepūnake (mother) and Tūmaurirere (father), he traces descent from the three sons of Paikea — Pouheni, Marupapanui, and Rongomaitūāhu — and also from Porourangi and Ruakapanga. On a journey to Tūranga (Gisborne), Rongowhakaata visited Te Huia Pā near Ngātapa which belonged to the local chief, Moeahu. It Puketapu stands as the ancestral mountain of the Rongowhakaata people whose boundaries span an area embracing Gisborne, from the was there he met Turahiri, the second daughter – Waikanae Beach foreshore through to Awapuni, up to and over the mouth of the Waipaoa River to Pakirikiri near Browns Beach Road, back of Moeahu, fell in love, and settled with her – inland taking in the community of , pushing into the communities of Patutahi and , back across the Waipaoa to Matawhero and her people at Te Huia Pā. Rongowhakaata and back to Awapuni. So who was this man, Rongowhakaata, and what has been his legacy? (The following information was sourced from and Turahiri had only one child, a son they the book “” by Rongowhakaata Halbert) named Rongomairātahi, who was to become one of the principal ancestors of the tribe. The brother named Tūrourou, remained at Puketapu a son was born, and was named Rongopopoia, however, it was washed away as well. following whakatauāki (proverb) is in reference and became an outstanding leader of his tribe who grew to adulthood and prominence in the The mana of Rongowhakaata in the Tūranga to Rongomairātahi and the mana that was and of the Tūranga district. Ōpōtiki and Ōhiwa Harbour district, forging district was established through his marriage bestowed upon him. Some years after, Turahiri passed away and important linkages with the iwi and hapū of the to Turahiri and the descendants of their only Rongowhakaata married Uetūpuke, Turahiri’s area. Meanwhile, Rongowhakaata’s marriage to child, Rongomairātahi. Through his second Te kotahi a Turahiri, ripo ana te moana sister. A short time later he also took another Moetai produced four daughters. wife Uetūpuke and their son Rongopopoia, The one and only child of Turahiri who causes sister, Moetai, as his wife. In his later years, Rongowhakaata lived in Rongowhakaata’s link into the Ōpōtiki district the rippling of the ocean Uetūpuke obviously didn’t relish the thought Pēwhairangi Pā on the current Pā-o-kahu Block. was also cemented. And through his third wife of sharing her husband with another woman, He remained there until his death and was also Moetai, in particular the marriages of their Rongomairātahi lived on the slopes of let alone her sister. Although pregnant to buried there. Around 1814-15 a massive flood daughters, Kahukuraiti to Hauiti, the founding Puketapu with his wife Uekanihi and had three Rongowhakaata, she and her attendants left Te swept through the pā and surrounding areas ancestor of Te Āitanga-a-Hauiti of Ūawa children. When they grew older, two of the Huia Pā and settled in Ōpōtiki. No sooner had she and washed away virtually everything in its (Tolaga Bay), and Rongokauae to Tamateakota, children, Hinetūwaiwai and Ruawhētuki with and her party arrived in Ōpōtiki, Rongowhakaata path. Raharuhi Rukupō (see Te Hau ki Tūranga a son of Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine, their families, returned to Ūawa, the home of arrived to take her home. Uetūpuke refused to story, above), together with his brothers and Rongowhakaata’s mana and influence has their grandfather (Tapu-i-paraheka) and great- return but promised him that if their child was a relatives, tried in vain to divert the floodwaters certainly been etched into the fabric of our grandfather Rongowhakaata. The third child, a boy she would name him Rongopopoia. Indeed in an attempt to save Rongowhakaata’s gravesite, community and beyond. − Taharakau — the gift of the gab THE ancestor Taharākau, after whom the meeting-house, Te (a raincoat) responded, “E roa a raro, e tata a runga”, meaning, Tapuwae obviously commanded, replied, “He whare tū ki te Poho-ō-Taharākau, at Pāhou Marae in Manutūke was named, “The journey is far but the sky is nearer”. As they ascended Te paenga he kai nā te ahi, ā, he whare maihi i tū ki roto ki te pā was revered for his quick wit and classic sayings, some of which Ahimanu, a big hill near Tiniroto, it poured. Needless to say tūwatawata a Kahukura, a Rongomai, he tohu nō te tangata have survived to this day. He lived around 1700-40 and belonged Angiangi was soaked to the skin, while Taharākau, in his plain rangatira”, meaning, “A house that stands alone is food for the to the Ngāi Tāwhiri hapū of Rongowhakaata. Mitchell, in his but practical clothing, was well protected from the elements. fire, whilst an adorned house, standing within the stockade pā book Takitimu – A History of , retells several When Taharākau arrived in he was met by Tapuwae, of Kahukura and Rongomai, is the true mark of chieftainship.” stories about Taharākau. the undisputed chief of the area. Tapuwae escorted Taharākau A final question that Tapuwae asked of Taharākau was, what During a trip from Gisborne to Wairoa with Angiangi, a around the various pā of his people and upon reaching his food did the people of Tūranga eat? Taharākau answered, “He chief of Ngāti Kahungunu, Angiangi asked Taharākau why he own pā Tapuwae asked Taharākau what he thought were the ahi kōuka ki te awatea, ā, he ai ki te pō”, meaning, “Roasted was plainly dressed, unlike himself who was dressed in a manner symbols of a chief. Taharākau, suitably impressed with what cabbage tree during the day and the pleasure of woman at befitting of a chief. Taharākau, who was dressed only in a pākē he had seen and in admiration of the power and prestige that night”.