Puakiteao – we remember her - Mākirikiri Marae, Dannevirke.
Puakiteao – we remember her - Mākirikiri Marae, Dannevirke.
Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua
(People pass, but the land remains)
Te Rehunga is the name of a small farming district just to the southwest of Dannevirke.
Te Rehunga was a Ngāti Kahungunu man from Heretaunga Hawke’s Bay, who married a Rangitāne woman, Te Hore, from the Tamaki nui-ā-Rua district. They made their home on the land of Te Hore several generations ago.
This story has been handed down through the generations, but I particularly want to acknowledge Jock McEwen CMG, who published a lot of our Rangitāne history in his book Rangitāne.
He first took an interest in Rangitāne history growing up near Feilding amongst the Māori people and as a result, spent a lifetime researching the Rangitāne people and their history. I received his permission to use his book as a reference in telling the stories of Rangitāne.
In his words “They are your stories, not mine, I only recorded them.” He was stationed in Dannevirke during World War II and spent his spare time talking to local elders.
Puakiteao carved by Henare Kani.
Te Rehunga was living in the Takapau area when he met Te Hore, they then moved and settled on her land, which is the land we now know as Te Rehunga.
He was followed down here by a number of his relatives and began allocating them land. He didn’t have the right to do this and was told by the locals not to give land that was not his. Despite the warnings, he continued to allocate land to his people. As a result, Rangitāne decided to banish him and sent him back to the Heretaunga area.
One of the Rangitāne chiefs, Tireo, erected a post on the northern banks of the Manawatū River, at Tuhimata, (close to today’s Ormondville), naming it Puakiteao, after his mother. This was to demonstrate that the lands so allocated were Rangitāne land, and was not to be given up lightly to outsiders.
Te Rehunga, hearing of the erection of the post, had it cut down. Tireo in retaliation reinstated the pou and prepared for war.
There were several skirmishes with Te Rehunga and his people through the Central Hawke’s Bay area. Tireo returned home, hoping that would be the last of Te Rehunga.
Sometime later Te Rehunga assembled a war party and headed south, however, Rangitāne anticipated this move and met the war party of Te Rehunga at Piripiri just north of Dannevirke where a huge battle took place with many casualties on both sides. Defeated, Te Rehunga and the remnants of his war party returned to Heretaunga.
Te Hore was to remain in the Tamaki nui-ā-Rua district. Many of the descendants of her union with Te Rehunga, including myself, still reside in the district today.
