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I kaha pepehangia e ngā kaumātua; ‘He riri te umanga nui o nehe rā ‘.
Nō mai anō tēnei ritenga. Nō te wā tātau i Hāwaiki, ā, nō te wā i a Whakataupōtiki i a Rangitihi i a Tunohopu me te huhua noa atu o ngā hōkai-taumata. Ngā tāiki ngāpara ēnei kua huri kāweka atu ki ngā wai o Hōpuakura.
Winiwini ki uta, winiwini ki tai, taku waewae tapa ki te kura. Ko Te Rangikatukua he hōkai taumata nō namata. He rangatira nō Tuhourangi. He kanohi mōhio, he kanohi kitea he ahakoa haere ai ia ki whea.
Nō tētehi rangi ka karangangia a Te Rangikatukua me ōna tangata e Ngāti Pukeko ki te riri māna.Ka haere mā ngā whenua o Kāingaroa. Ko Ngāti Manawa te iwi i Tipitipi te iwi i rokohanga mai e Te Rangikatukua.Nō te atatū ka karanga atu a Te Rangikatukua, ‘Taupokina, taupokina’. Ka huaki te riri, ka rere tūpou atu a Te Rangikatukua ki te hao ika māna.Ka mate ngā rangatira o Ngāti Manawa.
Ko Tukuha anake i ora. Kīhai i roa kai pāmamao noa atu te kōhamo e mārangaranga ana. Kāore i whāia a Tukuha e Te Rangikatukua. Nā reira te take i whakaaraara ope taua toto e Te Purewa.
Me i whāia, me i patua a Tukuha e Te Rangikatukua – kua kore pea te pakanga i Pukekahu.Kāti, tū ana a Te Tokotoru a Kōkāmutu. He rangatira anake nō Tuhoe. I mōhio rānei tātau ko Kōkāmutu tō rātau matua wahine?
He Ngāti Whakaue a Kōkāmutu nō Te Arawa.Hai aha mā rātau, tūturu nō Te Urewera enei rangatira. Ka whakaheke ngā māia ki te hāpai riri māna. He ahakoa kai te paenga o te rohe o Ngāti Manawa te patunga i a Tuhourangi, e tika ana mā Te Purewa me ōna rangatira te hoa ngangare e pārure.Nō Te Purewa ēnei whenua e ai ki āna uri koia nei tana pātaka kai.
Me ko Tapikiora ki te Ikaroa, ko Te Purewa ki Te Urewera. Kāore hai rite ki a Te Purewa ki te riri, ki te maunga o te rongo me te tiaki i āna tangata me ōna whenua huhua.
Kia hoki ake nei tātau ki te roto moana o Tarawera.Ka ara ake anō he hōkai-taumata nui nō Ngāti Rangitihi, ko Tionga.Nā Tionga ko Mokonuiarangi nā Mokonuiarangi ko Te Kuru-o-te-marama rātau ko ōna taina.
Ko Te Kuru-o-te-marama te utu mō te patunga o Te Pae-o-te-rangi ki runga o Motutawa. Nā Hongi Hika me ōna rangatira tēnei mate i takitaki ai.Kō Ngāti Rangitihi he karangatanga hapū nō Te Arawa. Ko te ika nui o te kupenga i a ia ko Te Ramaapakura.Ko Kahuorenoa te pakanga.
He kanohi kitea a Tionga ki ngā hapū o Te Urewera. Ko tētehi wāhanga ōna nō Tuhoe. I whakamanuwhiringia a Tionga e ngā rangatira o Te Whāiti, nō kōnei tōna matua wahine. E whakaaroaro ana a Tionga i te hiku o te pakanga o Taraumawhiti, ka puta te kupu kua mate a Te Rahui, he whānaunga nōna.
Ka rewa te ope ngaki utu, ko Tionga tētehi o ngā toa haere.Ka ea tēnei matenga i a rātau.Kātahi ia ka hoki ki tōna pā taunaha.Noho kau iho ai tana kumu ki raro ki te whenua, ka whakakanohi a Te Rangikatukua i tana tono ki a ia.
E whakaemi ope māna. Ko ngā rangatira o Kāingaroa hai hoariri māna.
E titiro pōhēhē nei pea ētehi o tātau ki ēnei tuhinga me ngā kawenga mahi a ō tātau tūpuna. He ahakoa e whai hononga ai ia ki ngā iwi o Tuhoe, te iwi nana nei ia i poipoi, he tere hoki nōna ki te kawe riri ki Te Urewera.
Koia nei te āhuatanga, ko te ao i nōhia nei e ō tātau tūpuna. Kai te rā e noho kiritata ana, kai te ahipō e kakari ana. Engari anō he take nui me āta whakaarongia e ngā rangatira, ko ngā tahataha o te pātai, kai hoki mai te kurī ki te ngau i tana waero. He mōhio nō tātau i enei rangi, ka whakaae a Tionga ki te tono a Te Rangikatukua.
Ko te take he wahine. Nā Te Rangikatukua ko Te Hurinui. Ka moe a Te Hurinui i a Pareraututu. Ko tōna koroua ko Tionga. Nā reira te kī kai te ngaro te tāne ki roto ki ngā kūwhā o te wahine.
Ko te timatatanga tēnei o te ara pāhekeheke e papahoro iho ai ngā tihi maunga ki te waro o Huaki pōuri. Tāria te roanga atu o ngā kōrero.
‘The chief occupation of old is warfare’.
Such was the nature of the New Zealand landscape in the past. Each tribe had its exclusive warriors. They were men of exalted rank, unparalleled stamina and seemed to possess God-like prowess.
Te Arawa has been blessed with many male and female leaders in its bygone years.
A famous fighting leader of the Tūhourangi people whose fame resounded throughout the North Island was Te Rangikatukua. On one occasion, he and his people were enticed by the expelled Ngāti Pukeko tribe to march across the Kaingaroa plains and raid the lands of Ngāti Manawa.
Te Rangikatukua was known to be a dominant figure on any battlefield and, using the arrowhead formation assumed dominance over many warring chiefs. At a place known as Tipitipi, an area on the western bank of Rangitaiki, his war party surprised the village’s inhabitants, quickly sending one fighter to Hades whilst instilling fear and causing the remainder to scatter.
Tukuha was the surviving Ngāti Manawa chief. Seeing how Te Rangikatukua did not follow up his advantage, Tukuha retreated to the safety of the Urewera and called upon a chief named Te Purewa and his siblings, who were referred to as Te tokotoru a Kōkāmutu —the three sons of Kōkāmutu.
Kōkāmutu, as a side note, was considered a relation to Te Rangikatukua as she was from Ngāti Whakaue, a subtribe of Te Arawa. However, it was evident that on this occasion, her children and their loyalties were to the Urewera, not the Arawa.
Te Purewa and his brothers called the many warriors of the Urewera together and advised them of the wrong that had befallen their relatives, the people of Ngāti Manawa. The insult was exaggerated even significantly as the area that the Ngāti Manawa occupied was considered the property of Te Purewa; therefore, any transgression upon this area and these lands was a direct transgression upon the status of Te Purewa.
It was said that there was one great name within the Urewera: Te Purewa, for his prowess in warfare, for upholding peace, and for protecting his people and their lands.
Around this time also was another remarkable individual, and his name was Tionga. He was the father of Mokonuiarangi and the grandfather of Te Kuruotemarama, who Hongi Hika captured during the battle of 1823.
Tionga was of the Ngāti Rangitihi tribe, a branch of Te Arawa, a famed fighter who dispatched the feared Te Ramaapakura at the battle of Kahuorenoa. Tionga was closely related to the Urewera people and was a frequent visitor to Te Whaiti.
On one visit to his mother’s people following the Taraumawhiti battle, he learned of the death of a relation named Te Rahui. Tionga, with the assistance of his Urewera relations, raised a war party and avenged this death before returning safely to his lands, where Te Rangikatukua would approach Tionga one day, seeking help to invade the plains of Kaingaroa.
Though this may seem extremely confusing to readers today, this was a common practice undertaken by the old chiefs who could not escape the importance and duties associated with their genealogical ties. Such decisions needed to be thought through with great effort as the consequences of such pronouncements tended to return to the source of the initial discussion and, in most cases - negatively.
Tionga made his decision to support his whānaunga, Te Rangikatukua. Te Rangikatukua was the father of Te Hurinui who was the husband of Pareraututu who the granddaughter of the warrior was chief Tionga.
This union set in place a series of events that would ultimately bring disaster upon the tribes of Ngāti Rangitihi and Tūhourangi.
■ To be continued
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