Rākapa Kāhoki was the daughter of Te Wehi o te rangi of Te Arawa.
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See below for English translation
Ko Rākapa Kāhoki he wahine rangatira nō Ngāti Toa Rangatira me Ngāti Whakaue.
Ko Te Wehi o te rangi tōna tane rangatira. Ko Te Rangitopeora he wahine rangatira nō Ngāti Toa Rangatira me Ngāti Raukawa tōna matua wahine.He wahine whai mana a Te Rangitopeora ka tapā te ingoa o Kuini o te tai-tonga ki runga ki a ia e etehi , ko Te Rauparaha tōna matua tāne kaokaoroa, whaihoki ko Te Rangihaeata tōna tuakana. He toa nui katoa ēnei rangatira.He wahine tito waiata hoki a Te Rangitopeora, ā, ka heke iho tēnei mana ki a Rākapa.
He wahine mana nui, he korohī mako, he māreikura otīā he wahine tito waiata a Rākapa Kāhoki. Ka tūponongia e ia tana hoa rangatira a Petera Te Pukuatua i Ōtaki nā tona whakamiharo ki a ia ka titoa e ia e toru waiata hai kawe i ōna whakaaro mō Petera, ko Te Roa o te po tetehi, E ta uru waho tetehi ko Te Hau no Uta te waiata tuatoru.
E ai ki a Pateriki Te Rei kaumātua rongonui kua mate noa atu, hai tāna ka moea ngā rangatira tokorua nei, ka hua mai ko ngā waiata tokorua. Ko Te Roa o te Po me Te Hau no Uta.He pukupā nō Rākapa te take i hoki mai a Petera ki Rotorua. Tēnā kia tirohia e tātou ngā kupu whakamārama a Pateriki Te Rei mō te waiata mō Te Hau no Uta.
Nā tana hokinga ki tōna kāinga ka hua ake te rerenga kōrero nei (’..me tuku koe ki to whenua”) Mai i te tai Tokerau ki ngā waiariki o Te Ruapeka ka hua ake te rerenga kōrero, (” …he kohu Waiariki no Rotorua no Te Ruapeka i te Tai Tokerau i a Petera..”) Nā wai ka hua ake ngā rerenga o te waiata nei, “e te hau tonga hai kawe i ahau ki te hiwi o Horohoro, kia tangi e atu au huri aku kamo he waimoana no Rotorua”)
Ka kitea te wairua orite me te kaha whakamahia o enei rerenga me etehi atu i ngā waiata e rua. E ta uru waho me Te Roa o te po, tera pea ka toko ake te whakaaro i hua ake te waiata a Te Roa o te po i te waiata tō mua, ara, i a E ta uru waho.Ko ngā tūtongi whenua o Rotorua ka kaha whakahuangia e ia i ngā waiata e rua nei.
Horohoro: Tuatahi ake he pae maunga kai te taha tonga o Rotorua ko te roanga atu o tōna ingoa ko Te Horohoroinga o ngā ringaringa a Kahumatamomoe’ Engari anō kai etehi ko Te Horohoro o ngā ringa o Tia. Nō Ngāti Kea me Ngāti Tuara ngā whenua i raro iho nei.He ahakoa whai panga ai a Ngāti Raukawa ki tēnei whenua.
Ruapeka: Ina ka māngere te tangata ka whakarāpopotongia te ingoa tika ki a Rapeka, he whanga kai Ōhinemutu. He pīhi whenua ki tahaki nō Petera me tōna matua tāne, ko Ruatau te ingoa, tata ki Muruika.
Rākapa Kahoki. Photo / Auckland Museum
Rotorua: Ko te roanga atu o te ingoa ko Te Rotorua nui-a-Kahumatamomoe.
Ati Ue: Ko te roanga atu o te ingoa ko Ngāti Whakaue. Ka kite hoki tēnei ahuatanga i ngā waiata o Rangitopeora, ka whakarāpopotongia e ia a Ngāti Toa ki a Ati Toa.
Ko Tairi e whakapae ana etehi ko Otairi pea tēnei hiwi.Kai waenganui o Rangitikei me Patea a Otairi kai te rohe whenua o Ngāti Apa.Ko Ngāti Apa he iwi i raru nui i ngā pakanga whenua ka hinga rātou i a Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Raukawa ka mahue o rātou whenua.
Ka taka te wā ka rongonui haere ēnei waiata i ngā iwi o Rākapa i a Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Raukawa, whaihoki a Ngāti Whakaue.I kitea tēnei āhuatanga e Mervyn McLean nōna e hakoke kohi waiata ana ka noho ia ki tō Tumua Huia nō Ngāti Te Wehi ki te hopu i a ia e waiata ana i Te Hau no Uta i Makomako, nā wai ka tae ki Ōhinemutu ki te hopu i te reo o Hamuera Mītere. Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e ono tekau mā toru ki a Tumua Huia, ā, nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e ono tekau mā wha te tau ki a Hamuera Mītere.
Ko te mea whakaharahara, e waiatatia tonutia ana a Te Hau no Uta me Te Roa o te po e Ngāti Whakaue.
Rākapa Kāhoki was the daughter of Te Wehi o te rangi of Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakaue and other iwi) and Rangitopeora of Ngāti Toa Rangātira and Ngāti Raukawa.
Rangitopeora, sometimes nicknamed the “Queen of the South” after taking Kuini as her baptismal name, was an influential 19th-century leader of Ngāti Toa, niece of the Chief Te Rauparaha and sister of the rebel Chief Te Rangihaeata.
It is said that Rangitopeora was a talented composer, and it is from this wellspring that Rākapa would later draw on.
A brief history of the well-known waiata that is still performed by Ngāti Whakaue: Te hau no uta
As stated previously, Rākapa Kāhoki came from a line of composers. Her mother Rangitopeora and even her mother’s brother, Te Rangihaeata, were all known to have composed waiata.
Is it any wonder then that, upon meeting Petera te Pukuatua at Otaki, Rākapa would choose to vividly describe her feelings in at least three known waiata; “Te Roa o te po”, “E ta uru waho” and “Te Hau no uta”.
Cowan and Orbell suggest that these waiata were composed before the marriage of the two rangātira, Rākapa’s waiata aroha for her distant lover...
Pateriki Te Rei accounts differs in that at least two of the waiata, “Te roa o te po” and “Te hau no uta”, are said to be composed after the two had married; Rākapa having been unable to conceive, leading Petera to return to Rotorua. Te Rei’s version of events explains some of the rich imagery which vividly describes Rākapa’s loss and longing for Petera in “Te hau no uta”.
From his return to his homeland (“..me tuku koe ki to whenua”) in the north to the steaming hot pools at Ruapeka Bay (“…he kohu Waiariki no Te Ruapeka i te tai tokerau i a Petera…”), to Rākapa being carried by the southern wind to Horohoro (“e te hau tonga hei kawe i ahau ki te hiwi o Horohoro”) and Rotorua, where her eyes would weep like the water of Lake Rotorua (“kia tangi e atu au huri aku kamo he waimoana no Rotorua”).
“E ta uru waho” and “Te roa o te po” share a number of similar lines, and it maybe that “Te roa o te po” grew out of the former composition. A number of familiar Rotorua landmarks and iwi are mentioned within “Te Hau no Uta”.
Horohoro: An area 15 kilometers south-west of Rotorua, including the striking Horohoro Cliffs, said by some to have originally been named “Te horohoroinga o ngā ringaringa a Kahumatamomoe” or alternatively, Te Horohoro o Ringa o Tia.
Ngāti Kea and Ngāti Tuara occupied the area, although Rākapa’s Ngāti Raukawa relatives also claimed part of Horohoro.
Petera’s monument covered in the flag “Tutanekai”, at Ohinemutu, 10 March 1906.
Ruapeka: Sometimes shortened to “Rapeka”, the famous bay along the lakefront side of Ohinemutu at Lake Rotorua, stretching from the mouth of the Utuhina Stream to the top of the Muruika peninsula.
Petera, and his father before him, sometimes lived on a section of land called Ruatau, which was bounded by Ruapeka Bay, near Muruika.
Rotorua: Lake Rotorua, or Rotoruanui-a-Kahumatamomoe.
Ati Ue: A shortened version of Petera’s iwi, “Ngāti Whakaue”. A not uncommon technique in Te Arawa mōteatea, such as in “E Tama na tau e”, which also refers to “Ati Ue”.
Rākapa’s mother, Rangitoperoa, also used a similar abbreviation for her own tribe, “Ati Toa” or Ngāti Toa, in her waiata “Kaore te ngongirua”.
The peak of Tairi is also mentioned. Royal thought this to be a reference to Otairi, an idea that seems to be inspired by the entry recorded in Ngā Mōteatea for “te roa o te po”, where the hill is also mentioned.
Otairi is a hill between Rangitikei and Patea, within one of the tribal boundaries of Ngāti Apa. Ngāti Apa were one of those affected by the migration of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Raukawa.
Overtime, these waiata became popular within Rākapa’s own people, Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Raukawa, as well as Petera’s own people, Ngāti Whakaue.
This could still be observed 30 years later when ethnomusicologist, Mervyn McLean, made two recordings of “Te hau no uta” as part of his ongoing waiata preservation project:
■ Tumua (Sam) Huia of Ngāti Te Wehi, recorded at Makomako on 1 March 1963.
■ Hamuera Mitchell et al, at Ohinemutu, Bay of Plenty recorded on 27 April 1964.
