Ko te pūtake tuatahi kai a Haerehuka. Ko Te Hunga i patua e Haerehuka i te tau 1835 he rangatira nō tētehi o ngā hapū o Ngāti Whakaue. E mea ana ngā pakeke he tō whare. Ko te take he wahine i kawea ki roto i te whare kōiwi o Haerehuka , he ngākau pōuri nō Haerehuka ki tana wahine.
Nā tēnei kōhuru ka mate te tini o te tangata, wahine mai, tamariki mai.
Ko Te Hunga nō Waikato ehara i a Te Arawa ko Te Waharoa tētehi o ona Pāpa. Ka haere mai a Waikato me Ngai Te Rangi ki te patu tangata i te marama o Maehe i te tau 1836 ka mate ko Te Ngahuru ki Maketu me ētehi anō rangatira. Ko tēnei pā-horo he utu nō Te Hunga, ka tomo te mamae ki te ngākau o Te Arawa.
Kāore e roa ka eke mai a Ngai Te Rangi me Ngāti Haua ki Te Tumu,ko te marama o Mei i tēnā tau tonu te 1836 ka haere mai a Te Arawa me ngā rau tangata he toa katoa rātou ka puta ki te akau e haere mai ana ki Te Tumu,ka tomokia a Te Tumu ka wera te pā, ka whawhaitia tērā ope ka hinga a Ngai Te Rangi e hia katoa ngā rangatira i mate.
I te pō i tahuna ai ngā tupapaku, ka ora ētehi , ka oma ētehi. Ko tēnā riri nā ngā hapū huhua o Te Arawa. Ka ea te mate ka hanga he pā tūwatawata ka nōhia a Maketu e Te Arawa ā moroki noa nei.
I te tau 1838 ka mate a Te Waharoa te rangatira nui o Ngāti Haua, e ora tonu ana a Taipari me Tūpaea ngā rangatira ēnei o Ngai Te Rangi. Ka āhua pai te nohonoho o ēnei iwi. I te akau a Te Arawa e noho ana ki te kūmore o Maketu tae atu ki Wairākei, a Ngai Te Rangi mai i Wairakei hoki atu ki Tauranga.
Ka whakaaro ake a Hikairo he rangatira nō Ngāti Rangiwewehi me ētehi anō o ngā rangatira
Ka houhia te rongo ka haere a Te Arawa ki Maungatapu i te tau 1845 ko te take he hohou te rongo, ka pōhwiringia rātou e Tūpaea me Taipari ko reira hoki a Father Reigner he pirihi katorika me Rev Thomas Chapman he mihingare.
Ka oti ngā whaikōrero ka heke ngā hūnuku ki Otumoetai ki reira whaikōrero anō ai ka whakaarahia he pōwhatu, ka takahia te pōwhatu, ka hongi katoa ngā rangatira i te maunga o te rongo i Otumoetai ka hoki ngā rangataira o te Arawa ki ngā waiariki ko ētehi ki Maketu i runga i te tono a Te Pukuatua ki te whakaara ake he pōwhatu maungarongo hoki.
Takato kau ana te whenua ka mutu te whakaheke tangata me te maringi toto. Ka matemate a Te Pukuatua ka heke te mana o te pōwhatu maungarongo ki a Te Hapara, māna e tiaki, no te matenga o Te Hapara ka riro i a Duncan Steele.
Nōna te whakaaro ki a kawea mai ki te takere o te waka, ka whakanōhia ki Muruika i te tau 1937 ka karakiahia te Maungarongo e Te Arawa whānui tonu.
The peace rock called Te Maungarongo that lays in Ohinemutu, Rotorua. Photo / Raimona Inia
Nō reira tēnei pōwhatu whakaharahara i whakakotahi mai ngā mana nui o Waikato o Ngai Te Rangi me Ngā waru pūmanawa katoa o Te Arawa.
Few people know how the land at Maketu was acquired.
The story goes that Haerehuka, a chief of a Ngāti Whakaue subtribe, killed Waikato chief Te Hunga in the year 1835. Te Hunga was dragged from his house and killed with an axe.
Haerehuka was saddened because Manukui, the wife of the dead chief Tokoaitua had betrayed the tribe in the family mausoleum. This act led to the deaths of many people - men, women and children.
Haerehuka decided to bring war upon his people, as he could not openly attack his relation he decided to murder a visiting chief called Te Hunga who was a nephew of the great Ngāti Haua fighting chief Te Waharoa.
As expected, it was not long before Waikato and their allies the Ngai Te Rangi arrived at Maketu in March of 1836. That combined force succeeded. in killing many Te Arawa chiefs including the famous Te Ngahuru.
This was to avenge the murder of Te Hunga and by this action, sadness entered the hearts of all Te Arawa.
It was not long when Ngai Te Rangi and Ngāti Haua fortified the fighting citadel known as Te Tumu, a site that lies along the shoreline of Maketu. In the month of May 1836, Te Arawa amassed a large fighting party and stormed the stronghold.
Many were killed and the Ngai Te Rangi fighters were overwhelmed.
It was said that during the night the corpses were burnt, many survivors fled.
This battle was undertaken by all Te Arawa and following the battle, the land was divided and settled.
Warfare slowly tapered off and when Te Waharoa passed away in 1838, the Ngai Te Rangi leaders withdrew from the shoreline. Te Arawa maintained the area from Maketu to the point known as Wairakei and Ngai Te Rangi maintained the rights over the land from Wairakei all the way back towards Tauranga.
In 1845, Hikairo a chief of Ngāti Rangiwewehi, desired to confirm the peace between the two tribes. Tūpaea and Taipari leaders of Ngai Te Rangi who were accompanied by Father Reigner a Catholic priest, welcomed a large group of Te Arawa and the Rev Thomas Chapman to Maungatapu first then from here they all travelled to Otumoetai where speeches of peace were delivered.
A large slad stone was hauled from Maungatapu it was ceremoniously trampled by all chiefs, therefore, concluding and cementing peace between Te Arawa and Ngai Te Rangi. Te Arawa returned to their lands while some travelled to Maketu and under the direction of Te Pukuatua another peace stone was erected and named Te Maungarongo.
When Te Pukuatua died, the guardianship of Te Maungarogo fell to Te Hapara and when Te Hapara died it fell to Duncan Steele who after consulting the chief's wife made the decision to return Te Maungarongo to Te Arawa where it was unveiled in 1937 by all Te Arawa.
Today Te Maungarongo can still be seen standing in the courtyard of St Faiths as a reminder of the special relationship between Te Arawa and the tribes of Ngai Te Rangi and Ngāti Haua.
