Kāhu ki Rotorua: Victory lies with the women of Oruareimokoroa

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See below for English translation

Kai te parehua tē pā o Oruareimokoroa

Oruareimokoroa. Kai te uru tētehi pā whakairo e tū ana, kai raro ngā taketake o Tānemahuta ināianei e noho puku ana.

He ahakoa kua ngaro ngā tumu, me ngā tūwatawata me ngā tangata kai te kōrerongia tonungia a Oruareimokoroa.

Kai te parehua tēnei pā. E rua hoki ngā awa kai tōna pūtake. Ko Ngongotahā kai tētehi taha, ko Otamaroa kai tētehi taha. E hoa mā kia kitea rawatia te pā nei, kātahi te tangata ka marama ki tēnei kupu ko te wehi.

Me rangatira ki te whakatakoto rautaki e taea ai tēnei pā nui onamata. Me he moho kē te tangata e tika ana ia ki te umu. Ko Ngāti Haumia tētehi o ngā hapū ki tēnei whenua.

E hoa mā kāore au e huna i te kōrero, tē aro i ahau ki tēnei hapū. Wheoi anō e rua anō hapū ki kōnei, ko Ngāti Tuara me Ngāti Kearoa.

Ko Weka te rangatira o Ngāti Haumia tērā tētehi kōrero e mea nā kai tētehi rangi ka kāwhakina e ia a Kuiangoingoi te wahine o Te Rangiiwaho, koia tēnei he mokopuna nā Pukaki. Ka tonoa e Te Rangiiwaho āna kiritata a Ngāti Tunohopu, ka puta mai rātau ki a ia.

Ka takoto te matua, ka iti ki mua ka roa ki muri ka hoki a Te Rangiiwaho me tana rangatira a Kuinoingoi ki tō rātau pā.

Me i patu a Weka e Te Rangiiwaho kāore i kōrerongia. Wheoi anō ko tētehi kōrero anake tēnei. Ko te tino kōrero kai te wā e ora nei a Whitiora. Ko Ngāti Raukawa te iwi nui ki tua o te hauāuru o Oruareimokoroa. Kua tūtaki kē tātau ki tēnei rangatira.

Kua ngaro nga tumu me nga tuwatawata o te pa tawhito. — Whakaahua Raimona Inia

Ki a Whaita me tana whaiaipō ki a Waiarohi me te māunga nui ko Hapārangi. Kai tēnei tātai kōrero hou ko Pipito te rangatira o Ngāti Raukawa, kua puta mai rātau ko tana iwi ki Oruareimokoroa. Ka kitea rātau e te iwi.

Ko ngā toa kai wāhi kē atu. Ka oma a Whitiora ki Ngā Waru Pūmanawa o Te Arawa he kawe i te rongo tauā ki ngā iwi he whakaemi toa te take. E ngaro ana ngā toa, kua mau taiaha ngā wāhine. E mea ana ka puta tētehi ki te matataki-ā-Whiro ki te tauā kai tangata. E wāuna hoki kua horomia te ingoa o tēnei ruruhi ki ngā wai uriuri.

Kāti, kai te ātea e hītekiteki ana, e tikapokapo ana, ka tu te ope ka huaki te riri.

E tika ana, ko ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki anake ki te pā whakairo. Ka hinga te nuinga, ka ora te iti.

Ka puta a Whitiora ki ngā waiariki, e pāorooro kau ana te pahu e karanga nā ki ngā toa o te takiwā.

Ka puta ngā matākaikutu, ka hoea ngā wai karekare, ka takahia te ara, ka noho ki Ngongotahā.

E rūnanga ana ngā rangatira. Ka hī te atatū kai te huarahi rātau e haere ana.

Ka huaki te riri, e āuē ana ngā amokura, e hāmama ana ngā waha, kai te hinga ngā rangatira, he rangatira anake i mate.

Kai runga a Ngāti Raukawa kai te pūtake a Ngai Te Arawa, ka whatiwhati haere ētehi, ka oma ngā morehu.

E oma ana ngā rangatira ka whāia a Whitiora e Pipito, ka tūturi a Whitiora e huri ana me te auporo i tana mere pounamu ki te tāhau waewae o Pipito, ka whati tana waewae, kai te whenua e oreore ana, ka rūpeke a Whitiora kai te tarouma o Pipito e hahau ana tana ika.

Ka mate a Pipito.

Nā reira i hēmanawa ngā toa o Ngāti Raukawa. Kai te rangi a Te Arawa e ngūnguru ana, e hiko kau ana te rangi, ka whati te hoariri.

Ka ora a Ngai Te Arawa.

Engari anō e hoa mā.

Āe i ora a Ngai Te Arawa engari kia tika rā, i ora anō tātau i ngā wāhine mīreirei o Marutewhareaitu. Nō reira e kui mā, tēnā kotou.

English Translation

Oruareimokoroa was a stronghold that stood bravely to the west of Rotorua township, not far from the present Paradise Valley.

The fortress took pride of place, strategically standing between two streams, Ngongotahā and Otamaroa. Its placement in a site upon the fine ridge was an ideal area to defend but proves also that it must have taken great skill to overcome the citadel. The occupants were said to belong to the tribe of Ngāti Haumia others tell that the tribe in charge of the site were the Ngāti Tuara and Ngāti Kearoa.

The rangatira of the Ngāti Haumia was named Weka. One story associated with Oruareimokoroa tells of how Weka abducted the wife of the rangatira Te Rangiiwaho, a grandson of Pukaki. His wife was Kuiangoingoi. An appeal was made by Te Rangiiwaho to his relations the Ngāti Tunohopu, and after a daring assault, Kuiangoingoi was recovered. Whatever happened to Weka is not known.

Oruareimokoroa was also no stranger to attacks from Ngāti Raukawa. The defence of the citadel by its brave women and their children too is worth sharing.

The Ngāti Raukawa tribe were active on the western borders of the country. We have been introduced to their rangatira Whaita and his association with Waiarohi regarding the mountain of Hapārangi.

The details of the following incident are somewhat vague; names of influential people are scarce though we do know that Pipito, a rangatira from Ngāti Raukawa, led the attack on the site.

Whitiora on the other hand, was a rangatira from Te Arawa who rushed to assist with saving the site of Oruareimokoroa.

The pa has disappeared but was believed to be not far from Paradise Valley.

At the time of the attack, most of the fighting men were absent; a lone woman whose name has not been preserved took a taiaha and pranced towards the war party, grimacing in the act of defiance, her sole objective was to buy the inhabitants time to allow a runner to warn the Arawa tribes located to the east of the Ngāti Raukawa invasion.

Her brave actions were successful, for, in a short time, a great war gong was sounded to alert the local tribes of the arrival of the Ngāti Raukawa. Men quickly took up their weapons and promptly made it to their waka departing from Mokoia Island and the surrounding pā sites with no hesitation, all converging on the Ngongotahā area to expel the intruders.

The invaders however had by this time successfully attacked Oruareimokoroa, and the remaining defenders were killed or fled.

With the Ngāti Raukawa now embedded on the fringes of the territory, it was vital to retaliate and squash any further inland skirmishes immediately.

A formidable fighting force moved out in the early morning and confronted the Ngāti Raukawa.

With great tenacity, the Raukawa fighting men hailed down upon the Arawa fighters, nearly beating them into the ground, had it not been for a critical turn of events in the fight. Whitiora, an Arawa chief, was chased down by Pipito when in striking distance. However, Whitiora promptly turned and, with a flash of his mere pounamu, struck at the pursuing warrior.

With great force, he broke the leg of Pipito. Whitiora pounced upon Pipito, killing him, and such is the nature of warfare, turning the tide of the battle.

The Arawa fighters chased the Raukawa warriors from the area with renewed vigour.

But the victory truly lay with the courage of those women from the great pā site of Oruareimokoroa.