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Ka karangatia nuitia a Hongi, " Mō te atatū tātou ka haere!".
Nō te ata awatea ka puta atu ki te riri .Tū mai a Hongi e kakahu nei ki ngā kahu hoia nō Ingarangi nā Kīngi Hori te tuawha ki a ia i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e rua takau.
He kahu mekameka - rino tētehi, he pōtae mārō hoki tētehi, kai ōna ringaringa he pū ngutu pārera ko 'Patu Iwi', kua kore tana hāpai i ngā rākau a ngā tūpuna Māori ko te anamata o te riri kai te kaha o te pū.
E mau pū ana te hokowhitu e hia mano katoa ngā toa a NgaPuhi. Ka tūtakarerewā ai ngā karoro i te rongotanga atu i ngā waka e hoe tataku ana, ka maranga te iwi ki te riri atu ki te tauā o Hongi mā.
Kai te waka o Te Wera Hauraki a Te Aokapurangi, me ōna whakaaro huhua aroha ki tōna iwi. Kai Mokoia he kotahi noa iho te pū a Te Arawa ko Haereata, e pupuritia ana e Te Awaawa, ka puta mai te ihu o te waka o Hongi i te kohu, ka whakakerongia atu te ihu o te pū ki te ūpoko o te kākā kura – pākū ana te hāmama, ū noa te mata ki te rae o te rangatira, ka hinga a Hongi! Hōtō – ehara i te tangata! Maranga ake te tupua, ka ora i tōna pōtae mārō rino.
Me i tika te tū ki tētehi atu wāhanga o te tinana kua ora a Te Arawa, ehara! Ka kōkirihia tona tauā. Ka ū te mātua ki uta.Ka huakina te riri.
Ko Hongi te wetini o te tauā ko Te Wera ki tētehi paihau ko Tāreha ki tētehi atu paihau me ngā rangatira tokomaha e kōkirihia ana i ō rātou ake hapū.
Koia ko te kāwau mārō. He aha rā te āhuatanga o te riri e pōhewa ai ngā whakaaro, kai te ūmere atu ngā rangatira o Te Arawa ki te whakaū i te wairua kaha ki roto ki ngā tangata, e tangi wawara ana ngā tamariki, katahi ka tomokia tonutia mai e ngā wāhine, mākū kau te whenua i te toto me te paru o te tangata.
He taiaha tā Hikairo e ngangahū kau atu nā, he paiaka tā Te Korekore kātahi ka rere tonu mai ngā toa o te tauā rā, e tika ana te āhuatanga o to tātou karangatanga i huaina ai ko te Heketanga a Rangi. Kātahi anō ka whakahokia e te hokowhitu o Te Arawa.
Kai te moana ētehi o NgaPuhi e pupuhi tangata ana hai uwhiuwhi i te whakaeketanga ki runga ki te moutere, ka apongia te mātua ki te whakakōkiri i ngā toa mā reira pea e whati ai te ngohi o Ngapuhi i te rarahi o ngā tūtai o Te Arawa e kore hoki e mana ai ngā pū engari mā te āpititū mā te ngūha e rere ai te ate o ngā mere pounamu.
Ki te mura o te ahi a Te Aokapurangi e whakaemiemi ana i tōna iwi, ka rokohanga atu he wāhi whakaora i te iwi, ko te mea i rokohanga ko Tamatekapua wharenui. Kai te ngākau ngā kupu a Hongi.
Ka piki atu a ia ki te haeoratū o te whare ka tūwhera ōna waewae me te karangatanga ki te iwi ki a kuhu mai ki te poho o te whare. Kua whakawarewarengia a Hongi e Te Aokapurangi. Ka ora pea te iwi.
Ka hia rau o te tangata i kuhu atu ki raro i ona waewae ko te hunga ēnei i ora ai e kīkī ana te whare. Ka toro atu ai tōna mana ki te marae ātea koia te pepehā a te iwi, " Anō nei ko te whare whawhao a Te Aokapurangi.
"Nā wai rā ka ekengia a Mokoia e NgaPuhi mangu te whenua he ahakoa i kaha te tū o Te Arawa he kaha ake te mana o te pū. Ka oma te tokomaha o te tangata ki te moana ka kauria ngā wai kerekere, ka whāia rawatia rātou e ngā waka tauā, ka patua haeretia te nuinga o ngā manukāwhaki e NgaPuhi. Nā te tini hoki o ngā herehere ki etehi waka, ka tahuri ngā herehere ki te patu i ngā toa mauhere,ko Hori Haupapa tētethi o ēnā toa, ae, hai tāna ka toromi ētehi.
Ko Te Rākau he rangatira nō Ngāti Whakaue ka huna i te ao, pō rawa mai ka puta ia ki te hahau i a NgaPuhi ka tōīa te tupapaku ki tana ana kai raro kai te moana ka whakairia ngā tupapaku.
E rua ngā rangi e patu tangata nei ka kauria te moana ki Kāwaha. Ka patua ngā tangata me ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki e NgaPuhi, ka taona, kakai, ka mākona.
Kātahi te whakamatenga whakamataku hoki a Te Kuruotemarama he tamaiti nā Mokonuiarangi he rangatira nō Ngāti Rangitihi.
Kātahi ka ea te mate o Te Paeoterangi. Whoi anō e teitei ana ngā puku o NgaPuhi i te kikokiko tangata ka puta ake te whakaaro ki a Te Hihiko, he tamaiti nā Te Aokapurangi ki a hoki atu ia ki Mokoia ki te kōrero ki tōna whāea ko te roanga ake o tēnei kōrero e kite ai tātou i te whatumoana me te toanga o tēnei wahine rangatira.
Tāria te roanga atu.
"With the morning sun we will attack."
That was Hongi's command to the gathered Chiefs as the sun climbed over the ranges of Rangitoto and the many waka headed to Mokoia.
At the bow of the lead waka he stood, an impressive figure dressed in Western battle attire which had been presented to the warrior chief by King George IV in 1820. That is when Hongi had travelled to England with his companion Waikato and sought an audience with the king.
There they were presented with gifts by the King, which Hongi now wore in battle — comprising a shirt of chain mail and a Morion cap (pikeman's pot).
Lastly, he took up 'patu iwi', a musket purposely to punish his enemies. Nearly all warriors carried muskets, with numbers ranging from between 500 and 3000.
Quietly this body of men made its way across the calm waters. The startled seagulls, on sensing movement in the water, alerted the resting Arawa, who quickly formed ranks under their leading warriors – hence the birds today still hold a special place in the memories of Te Arawa.
The defenders made ready for the engagement – Te Aokapurangi was travelling with her husband, Te Wera Hauraki; one can only imagine what she was thinking or what she had prepared to save her people.
Haereata was the only musket in possession of the Arawa.
As the bow of Hongi's waka made its way ever closer to the shoreline, Te Awaawa took aim and fired! Great shot.
The musket ball hit and laid Hongi low; for a moment, it looked as though the invasion was a failure. But just as quickly as Hongi fell over, he was up again, leading his warriors forward. Hongi had been struck in the head; however, the helmet that he was wearing saved his life.
Te Arawa almost pulled off one of the most significant victories in the chronicles of the musket war era.
The attack had commenced – Hongi was at the head of his men, flanked by the other warrior leaders of the various sub-tribes of the north. A hard day lay ahead for the attackers and defenders; this morning would determine the outcome of the lives and fate of the tribe.
Yet, led by their brave chiefs with their traditional weapons, thousands stood in defiance of the wave of the new era of warfare.
Gradually men armed with muskets firing from the water's edge provided cover for the assault party; the Arawa regrouped and charged the invaders hoping that their numbers would penetrate the lines where the musket's length would be rendered useless.
Te Aokapurangi, amid the carnage, ran for Tamatekapua, the house of Ngāti Whakaue, located at the southern end of the island. Recalling the words of Hongi, she climbed up on the large house and stood at the apex with her legs astride.
She called her people to enter into the safety of the whare. Many heard, and many responded. She had outwitted Hongi.
A significant number passed between her legs, filling the house with survivors until gradually the house could take no more. As the numbers grew upon the courtyard, her influence ensured their survival.
Hence the creation of the proverb still used by the orators when in a fully packed house,
"Tis like the crowded house of Te Aokapurangi." Gradually the island was overrun, many survivors took to the waters, swimming in large groups.
They were fortunate enough to overturn the waka hunting them; as Hori Haupapa pointed out, many drowned. Te Rākau, the chief of Whakaue, managed to hide in an underwater cave; at night, he would make his way among the NgaPuhi, kill, and then return the body to his lair.
He continued this for at least two nights before swimming to the mainland. Again, enslaved people were taken, killed and eaten.
Te Kuruotemarama, the son of Mokonuiarangi, suffered a terrible death. Mokonuiarangi was a crucial figure in the murder of Te Paeoterangi and the NgaPuhi upon Motutawa island in 1821.
As the victorious NgaPuhi filled their bellies with the spoils of war, Te Hihiko, the son of Te Aokapuarangi, who had made it to safety on the mainland, decided to return to the island to see his mother.
What would unfold from this meeting would again stand as testimony to the strength of this remarkable woman.
To be continued.
The couple were walking home when Mark Kimber sped through an intersection and hit them.