Ngāti Rangitihi retuned to Te Ariki to avenge loss this time with the support of Ngāti Pikiao and a handful of fighters from Te Urewera.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Ngā pakanga ki a Ngai Tuhourangi 1854
Koia te take i ngau ai te pōuri i roto i a Ngāti Rangitihi kīhai i ea te parekura i mate rā te tini o ngā whānaunga.
Ka rupeke mai a Ngāti Pikiao me Te Urewera ki te tū i a Ngāti Rangitihi, he ahakoa te tokomaha atu o ngā toa, kīhai i hinga te hoa ngangare i a Ngāti Rangitihi. Ko ngā rangatira i mate he rahi tonu, ko Te Tikao, ko Te Kirikau, ko Te Paki, ko Te Kaipuke. Nō te atatū ka whakahoki i ngā herehere a Pirika me Haerehuka ki a Ngāti Pikiao, nā wai ki a Ngāti Whakaue.
Me i noho mai rāua tokorua ki te kawe tonu i te riri, kai te ngaro tēnei kōrero. E rūnanga ana ngā rangatira o Ngāti Rangitihi e kore e taea e rātau te kāinga, me pēwhea e hinga ai ngā pūmanawa o Ngai Tuhourangi i a rātau?
Ka karanga atu a Ngāti Whakaue. Kai te ngāhere tō mātau waka e takoto ana, kai Waitangi. Nō Tohi-Te-Ururangi taua waka, nāna tonu i hoko, he ahakoa nā Tuhourangi i whakairo.
He hoiho te nama, ko Turaki te ingoa o te waka. Ka haere a Ngāti Whakaue ki a Tuhourangi ki te karanga ringaringa awhina māna kia tōia mai e rātau te waka i Waitangi ki Ōkareka atu ki Rotorua. Ka haere a Tuhourangi ki tā Whakaue karanga awhina. E mahi ana ka wātea ai te tauā a Ngati Rangitihi ki te kōkiri i ngā kāinga o Tuhourangi.
Kai te tōia te waka e ngā iwi o Ngāti Whakaue me Ngai Tuhourangi. Mai i Waitangi, ka uaua ki Ōkareka, nā wai ki Rotorua.
Nō rātau e mahi ana, ka tauria ngā kāinga e Ngāti Rangitihi, he ahakoa kai te nehenehe ngā toa o Tuhourangi e mahi ana, kīhai i horo ngā kāinga i a rātau hoa ngangare. Nō te rongonga mai o Tuhourangi kua rewa te ope a Ngāti Rangitihi, nā reira ka mohio mai ia kua mamingangia rātau e Ngāti Whakaue.
Ka whati te pahi ki a rua pahi ka oma tētehi ki te aukati i te ope toa a Ngāti Pikiao ko tētehi, ka haere pū ki Te Ariki.Ka pakanga ki Matarumakina i a Ngāti Pikiao, ka uaua te haere , ko rātau i tahuri mai ki te riri ko ērā ngā mea i patua e Tuhourangi e Ngāti Pikiao, e rua, e rua.
He pūkai tō Tuhourangi, he pūkai tō Pikiao.Ka hoki a Pikiao, ka rewa ngā toa a Tuhourangi ka haere ki Te Ariki ki te riri māna. Kai waho a Rangitihi e whakamahea noa atu te tauā kia puta mai ki waho riri ai, nō whea e puta mai he pupuhi tonu mai i roto i ngā maioro.
Tutū te puehu ka mate te tini o Ngāti Manawa me Ngāti Rangitihi. Ko Waikohe, ko Te Wharengaro, ko Waiaua, ko Tahikakapua me te rahi noa atu. He moumou tangata, he moumou rangatira, nā reira ka toko ake te whakaaro o etehi ki te hohou i te rongo.
Matarumakina.
He hōhā ki te pakanga whenua. Ka mutu te whawhai ki Te Ariki. Ka hoki ngā hapū katoa ki ō rātau whenua. A Wāhiao ki Motutawa, a Ngāti Tukiterangi, Ngāti Huarere, Ngāti Te Amo, Ngāti Uruhina, Ngāti Waihakari ki ō rātau kāinga, ā, ka noho mai a Ngāti Taoi me Ngāti Te Apiti ki ō rātau whenua.
Nō te tau kōtahi mano, e waru rau,e rima tekau mā rima ka heke a Ngaputu he wahine rangatira nō Ngāti Pikiao ki te hohou i te rongo ki Te Ariki , ā, nō te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e rima tekau mā rima ka haere a Pareraututu nō Ngati Rangitihi ki Moura ki te hohou i te rongo ki a Rongotaketake ai.
Nō te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e ono tekau mā whā ka rūnanga anō ngā rangatira kei te moutere o Motutawa ki te whakaū i te maunga o te rongo.
He ahakoa i tū ngā riri ki ngā wāhi huhua o Tarawera e ingoangia ana te pakanga ko Te Ariki. Kāti he whakamihi nāku ki a whaea Karen me tōna hoa rangatira a David Walmsley. Totally Tarawera kai runga noa atu kotou.
English Translation
So intent were Ngāti Rangitihi on avenging their losses that they returned to Te Ariki, this time with the support of Ngāti Pikiao and a handful of fighters from Te Urewera.
It was here that Ngāti Pikiao lost their leaders, Te Tikao, Te Kirikau, Te Paki, and Te Kaipuke. On the same morning, Huka and Pirika were released back to their kin group of Ngāti Pikiao. It is not known if they returned to engage in further combat or returned to Rotorua.
It would take strategy to evict the Tuhourangi from their stronghold.
So, it fell to Ngāti Whakaue to execute their plan.
The idea was that Ngāti Whakaue would ask Tuhourangi to assist them in dragging a canoe, and then when they were engaged in the manual work, a signal would be given to attack them.
The waka was called Turaki and was owned by Tuhourangi; however, Tohi Te Ururangi of Ngāti Whakaue purchased the waka for a horse. Turaki was lying at Tarawera.
Despite what was happening, the men of Tuhourangi agreed to help Ngāti Whakaue; gradually, Turaki was dragged via Waitangi into Okareka and eventually overland to Rotorua, a colossal undertaking.
Somewhere along the trail, the order to attack Tuhourangi was given, and lives were lost on both sides; however, with great spirit, the warriors of Tuhourangi maintained their ground, and Te Ariki did fall.
View from Hot Water Beach towards Tarawera.
When the warriors of Tuhourangi heard that their people had been attacked, they split into two divisions. One group cut off the Ngati Pikiao warriors, and a fight ensued at Matarumakina. Then the focus was back upon Te Ariki, where, with great strength, the Rangitihi and Urewera were overwhelmed.
Over this period of fighting, influential people fell. Waikohe, Te Wharengaro, Waiaua, Tahikakapua and many others were slain. Around 1855, after the battle, all those involved in the fighting went back to their lands. Wāhiao went back to Motutawa, Ngāti Taoi and Te Apiti remained on the ground that was theirs, as did the people of Huarere, Te Amo, Waihakari, Tukiterangi, Uruhina and Tuohonoa.
The first gathering took place at Te Ariki in 1855, where it was reported that Ngaputu, a chieftainess of Ngāti Pikiao, encouraged peacemaking.
Wi Matene Te Huaki recalled that a great peacemaking took place at Motutawa in 1857; however, due to continued ill feelings, this was followed up by another one in 1864 at Moura that Mita Taupopoki witnessed.
It’s not recalled at which event Pareraututu was present; however, being the sibling of the slain Ngāti Rangitihi chief Paerau and a wahine rangatira in her own right, her voice of reason kept the hostilities at a distance. And so, it has been since that time that the waters of Tarawera remain calm.
■The writer would like to also acknowledge Aunty Karen and her husband David Walmsley of Totally Tarawera for the pick-up shuttle service from Te Wairoa and the informative boat ride to Hot Water beach near the site of Te Ariki.
