A taniwha in exile – the story of Whāngaimokopuna

Raekapua, a major pā site of Rangitāne. Below are the white cliffs and river.

In Māori mythology, taniwha are large supernatural beings that are generally found in lakes and rivers. Their role can range from that of territorial guardians, caretakers and boundary protectors to predictors and exemplars regarding the consequences for one’s actions.

The Manawatū River and its tributaries were no exception, and although taniwha are spoken of in terms of tradition and mythology for many Rangitāne descendants these stories passed down are regarded as real. Numerous contemporary stories have been recorded by Māori and non-Māori about strange encounters and unexplainable events. This is the story of one of these taniwha.

Whāngaimokopuna was one of the earliest taniwha who originally lived at the mouth of the Manawatū River. Whāngaimokopuna was a pet, and as such had been thoroughly spoiled by his owners, the Motuiti people of Foxton, who fed him only the tastiest portions of the locally caught eels but with their heads removed.

It so happened that the adults of Motuiti were away and so left the children in charge of feeding their pet taniwha. Children being children, they decided that they would eat the best part of the eels and would feed the heads to Whāngaimokopuna. This of course annoyed Whāngaimokopuna who reacted by eating one of the children.

When the adults returned, they realised a boy was missing and went in search of him, during which time Whāngaimokopuna vomited up the boy’s remains. It was now the parents who got upset and so Whāngaimokopuna was banished from his lair at Motuiti.

Having lost his status as a pet, Whāngaimokopuna fled upstream. He passed through the Manawatū gorge to where the Tamaki River joins the Manawatū at which point the river takes a sharp bend.

Whāngaimokopuna saw no point in travelling around the hills so cut a straight path leaving a high cliff, which has provided the natural defences for the Rangitāne pā Raekapua. This straightening of the riverbed has in turn created the Mohanga-iti lake at Kaitoki as a backwater. He continued upstream until he reached the Mangapuaka Stream, which he followed until he reached its source in the hills now known as the Whāngai Range. The Rāikatia and Te Whāngai Ranges are a prominent set of mountains that can be seen northeast of Dannevirke. It is said Whāngaimokopuna remains in a deep pool at the base of the Whāngai Range, said to have been named after this once pet taniwha.

It is said that whenever Rangitāne from the lower Manawatū and the Motuiti people visit Dannevirke, a mist descends on the Rāikatia and Te Whāngai mountain ranges, and this is Whāngaimokopuna remembering his original home.