The Rangitoto that we know to be a prominent peak that sits upon the ridge of Whakapoungakau.
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Click here for English translation Ko te patunga ohorere o tētehi o ngā rangatira o Ngāti Pikiao te take i tuki ai ngā tao o Te Rotoiti me te iwi o Ngāti Tūwharetoa. He taokete a Ngaoho nō Te Takinga, ko ia tēnei te kākahi whakairoiro katoa o moana Rotoiti.
Tērā tētehi rā ka wehe atu a Ngaoho i tēnei rohe, ko te pōtiki te pūtake o tana wehenga atu. Ka haere ia ki Taupō ki reira noho ai me te pai hoki. Ka roa e noho atu ana ka whakamomori tōna ngākau ia ki tōna ūkaipō, ka whakaputaina e ia tēnei hiahia ōna ka mōrihariha ngā hoi taringa o Tūwharetoa, māna hoki te pēnā ko te whakaaro o ētehi, ka patua tēnei rangatira e Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ka taongia, kainga ake.
Kātahi ka ngākia tēnei kōhuru e Haukeka te kotahi o Kawatapuarangi kāpuia katoatia te nui o Kawatapuarangi ki ngā rekereke o Tauhara ka hora te nui o Tūwharetoa i a ia, i a rātou koia te pepehā, ka riri Taiha ka kata Maero. Ka hoki atu ki Te Rotoiti.
Taro kau iho ka puta mai te mātua o Tuwharetoa me Tūhourangi ki ngā wai karekare o Te Rotoiti, ka rere ngā manu ki te mura o te ahi, ka hinga anō he rangatira e whia kē. Ko Te Roi-o-te-whenua he rangatira nō Ngāti Te Takinga i hinga me ētehi atu.
Tamamutu and a small band entered the bush, scrambling through the unfamiliar territory while wary of the weapons reaching for them.
E pirorehe ana te whatumanawa o Kawatapuarangi ka mātika ake ko Haukeka te kotahi a Pikiao, e whia ngā rangatira i hinga i a ia, ka rere ngā manukāwhakī ko Tamamutu te kākākura nō roto i te pōkaitara.
Koia tērā e oma atu ana. Ka whāia ngā manukāwhakī nei e Haukeka me ōna toa, ko ētehi mā te huarahi tonu e piki ake ai ki runga o Whakapoungākau, a Haukeka i mā te ara poka, ka puta noa ia ki tētehi wāhi i mua iho o Tamamutu. Ka huna te tangata.
E oma ana a Tamamutu, ka nui te maunga ki muri i a ia, ka iti ki mua i a ia me te pōhēhē nui ōna kua puta i te koromāhanga, me te māia hoki o ōna waewae e kaha nei ki te kawe i a ia ki matahauariki. E kūware nei tō tātou rangatira ki te nukurautanga o Haukeka. Nōna ngā tahataha o te whenua, he kaha ake tōna mōhiohio ki tēnei whenua i a Tamamutu. Kāti e piki haere ana e piki haere ana i te pīnakitanga o Whakapoungākau, me te pakari hoki o ōna pūkahukahu, e kore te taurawhi e piri mai ki tēnei toa.
E oma nei ki te waha oreore o Haukeka. E whanga mai nā i a ia. Ki a Haukeka te ika nui o te kupenga he tika tana whakapae. Ngū katoa ai ngā manu korohī o te nehenehe nui, ka nui te mōhiotanga o Haukeka ki tēnei tikanga– kai te huarahi tona ika e whakatata mai ana.
Ko Tamamutu kai te ara e haere ana. Ka tīponatia te taura o tana mere e Haukeka, e whakarongo pīkari ōna taringa – kia tika ai tana hahau kia kaha ai tana tuku i tana mere ki te rae o tōna ito. E tataku haere ana a Tamamutu ka puta a Haukeka i tana wāhi huna, ka rere tana mere ka ngāua rawatia ki te tipuaki o tana ika, nā te kaha o tana hahau ka hemo a Tamamutu rarapa te uira pakō te whatitiri ka momotu a Meretuahiahi ki tua o te paerangi.
E mea ana te kōrerotanga a ngā kaumātua nā te wehi me te pakari o tana hahautanga, ko te putanga o te mere i te kohama o Tamamutu, ka poua rawatia ki te rākau tōtara ū ai. Ka tupu ngātahi te tōtara me tēnā taotūnga tae rawa ake ki te wā i tae mai ai ngā Pākehā.
Ka puta i a rātou te hiahia ki te tūā rākau, he ahakoa he rākau tapu te rākau nei, kāore i arohaina – tūaina rawatia ka hinga ki raro hai kai mā te ahi. Ko te hunga i oma ngātahi me Tamamutu kāore tētehi o rātou i ora, nā te hē manawatanga ka whiwhiwhi ai ngā tupapaku me ngā waewae me ngā ringaringa ki ngā aka kareao o te nehenehe, mau tonu, mau tonu.
Koinā i māmā noa te papatu i a rātou, ehara me te harapaki kutu. Nā tēnei ka ingoatia tēnei riri ko Tāherekareao rānei ko Tāwhiwhikareao i tū ki runga o māunga Rangitoto.
The untimely death of a chief from Ngāti Pikiao who tried to start a new life in Taupō resulted in open conflict between the tribes of Te Rotoiti/ Rotorua and the Tūwharetoa people.
Ngaoho was a brother in law of the fighting chief Te Takinga; after a fall out with his nephew, Ngaoho departed the area making of to Taupō. Having tired of his adoptive home, the leader expressed a wish to return to Te Rotoiti; this caused discomfort amongst the Taupō people, who decided to kill him, therefore, punishing his arrogance.
The rangatira Tamamutu raised his war party intending to punish the tribesman of Rotorua after Haukeka avenged the death of his relative below the slopes of Tauhara.
With a horde of seasoned fighters, the Tūwharetoa aligned with the Tūhourangi men and invaded the waiariki region. They attacked the Pikiao men who lived around the southern shorelines of Te Rotoiti, Te Roi-o-te-Whenua and other leaders were killed before the Ngāti Pikiao managed to bolster their forces with more men.
Haukeka now came to the forefront; with the loss of more relatives, he searched for the head of the warrior band, Tamamutu. Fighting fiercely, Tamamutu eventually tired; his campaign was taking a toll on him; quickly, he withdrew from the fight, making a run back to the safety of the Whakapoungakau ranges.
Tamamutu and a small band entered the bush, scrambling through the unfamiliar territory while wary of the weapons reaching for them.
The advantage lay with the Taupō chief as it seemed that he had by far the most robust legs, enabling him to fly ahead of his pursuers. Tamamutu was unaware that Haukeka had taken an alternative route bounding over the low hills before climbing up the steep 758metre sides of Rangitoto.
Haukeka had taken a risk that would pay off. Not only had he managed to cut ahead of Tamamutu, but he had also reconnected himself with the most likely trail that the chief would dare attempt to escape. Concealing himself behind a giant tōtara tree, Haukeka waited. The bush birds suddenly dispersed, a sign that the leader was wise to, heavy breathing, could be heard making its way closer to the waiting chief. Haukekas strategy had worked.
For running towards him was the chief Tamamutu. Haukeka wrapped the thong of his short greenstone weapon tightly to his hand. With attentive ears, Haukeka needed to be precise with executing his attack.
As the fleeing chief was lulled into a sense of freedom, Haukeka lept from behind the tree – he drove his mere quickly into the leader's skull. The momentum of the fleeing chief and the force of the strike resulted in the instant death of Tamamutu.
The strike was so strong that the mere passed through the chief's forehead, creating a significant mark in a tōtara tree that stood as a reminder and testament to the superhuman endurance synonymous with the famous heroes of the past.
Sadly, the tree with other giants fell when logging gangs worked in prosperous areas in the early 1900s.
Those men who attempted to escape with Tamamutu scattered into the forest where they picked off with ease, the fact that in their state of panic, many found themselves tangled in the thick vines of the supplejack.
Thus the battle was known as Tāherekareao or Tāwhiwhikareao.
