Manawa Kāi TahuWaiata mō Huirapa

Stories of Kāi Tahu Tipuna – Our Language, Our People, Our Place, Our Culture
nā Tahu Potiki

Following the incident with Tūtekohi the descendants of Rakawahakura moved further south and settled in the Hawke’s Bay area. His granddaughter, Tūhaitara, married Marukore who belonged to the local tangata whenua, a little-known iwi called Te Kāhea. They had 11 children, many of whom are founding ancestors of senior Ngāi Tahu hapū.

Following a serious fallout between Tūhaitara and Marukore, which quickly extended to their respective iwi, a series of battles ensued that saw father and sons in combat against each other. Ultimately the children grew powerful and skilled enough to defeat their parents. However, they still left the district.

By this time, Hinehou, one of the daughters of Tūhaitara and Marukore was already living in the Wairarapa, and this location was offered as a place of refuge for her siblings. This, in turn, provided a cause for the continuation of the Ngāi Tahu migration south and it was not long before they were an influential force in the Wairarapa and Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

The Battle of Pakiaka

Following the migration of the descendants of Rakawahakura from Waerenga-a-hika to the Heretaunga district his senior granddaughter, Tūhaitara, who was considered to be a chief of significant lineage, chose to marry a local chief Marukore. He was from the original occupants of the district, the Te Kāhea people which, for many, amounted to Tūhaitara marrying below her status. Their children included Tamaraeroa, Huirapa, Tahumatā, Pahirua and Hinehou.

After many years together Tūhaitara turned on her husband and slighted him with a complex insult, stating, “You are not a real man but of low-born stock where parrots will pick your bones, you are only worthy of greasy oven stones, and to be dressed with low-grade fern leaf mats.” This not only was a direct insult suggesting he would be cooked and eaten in a second rate oven; it also referred to, and belittled, his ancestry.

Tūhaitara then instructed her eldest sons, Tamaraeroa and Huirapa, to seek out and kill their father.

The two boys did pursue their father but they were defeated by Marukore at a battle known as Hūkete. Ultimately the bodies of the two warriors were lain down in the house of their sister, Hinehou, who decided to leave her household articles alongside the tapu bodies as a means of reminding her grandchildren of the deaths. The house was burnt down and subsequently the incident became known as Kārara Kōpae – The Laying Down of Fighting Chiefs.

Two younger brothers, Pahirua and Tahumatā, took up the challenge to defeat their father but first took instruction from a local chief of some renown, Rākaimoari. Unfortunately there was also tension between the sons and the chief due to a disparaging remark made by Hinewai-a-tapu, the daughter of Rākaimoari, towards Tahumatā. This led to a battle that went for some days and became known as Te Pakiaka (The Roots), because Hinewai-a-tapu hid under some tree roots. Tahumatā discovered and captured her, and made her his wife.

Eventually Marukore was captured, having been enticed to visit an important Kāti Mamoe chief, Hikaororoa, who had successfully contained the entire party in his visitor’s house. Hikaororoa approached the door of the house and asked that the chief of the long plume be delivered to him. Marukore walked towards the door but was stopped by his younger cousin Rokopaekawa who took his feather head dress, the sign of his status, and placed it upon his own head and offered himself up as the sacrifice.

He was killed and placed in the oven, but when the plume was seen to be protruding from the soil it was considered a bad omen. The young chief did not cook properly and was discarded and the incident became known as Pikitūroa – The Long Standing Feather Plumes.

There was a further battle, Tapapanui, which did see the demise of both Marukore and Tūhaitara. This led to the remaining children of these tragic parents seeking refuge with their sister who, at this stage, was living at Te Oreorehua.

This was the reason that the ancestors of Ngāi Tahu moved even further south and occupied the Wairarapa before they migrated to the South Island.

I muri i te pakaka o Te Whataroa i heke whakatetoka kā uri o Rakawahakura ki te noho ki Poroporokihuariki. I moe tana mokopuna, a Tūhaitara, i a Marukore tētahi rakatira nō roto i te iwi taketake o taua rohe, ko Te Kāhea te ikoa o taua iwi kāore i mōhiotia whānuitia. Nā rāua kahuru mā tahi kā tamariki i puta, arā ko Tamaraeroa tō mua, ko Huirapa tō muri, ko Hinehou, ko Hinekuha, ko Hinepūtauhinu, ko Pāhīrua, ko Whakapuna, ko Tāhau, ko Whakaata, ko Te Hauwhakakino, ko Tahumatā te mutuka.

Nāwai rā, nāwai rā ka toheriri a Tūhaitara rāua ko Marukore, ā taihoa rā ka tae atu taua raru ki ō rāua iwi, ka tīmata kā mātua ki te kakari me kā tama. Hai te mutuka iho ahakoa ko toa kā tamariki ka riro atu rātou ki te noho ki wāhi kē.

I taua wā i te noho a Hinehou ki Te Oreorehua ki Wairarapa. Nāhana tōna kāika i tuku hai ōraka mō ōna tukāne me āna tāina. He take anō tēnei puta kia hunuku kā tūpuna ō Kāi Tahu ki Te Wairarapa me Te Whakanui-a-Tara.

Ko Pakiaka te Puta

I muri i te hekeka a kā uri ō Rakawahakura mai i Te Waereka- a-hika ki Poroporokihuariki i moe tana mokopuna tapairu a Tūhaitara i a Marukore. Nō te iwi o Te Kāhea a Marukore, ā, ki ētahi o te iwi o Tūhaitara he moe taurekareka tana moe ki a ia.

I noho pai rāua, tokomaha kā tamariki i puta mai, ā, kātahi ka raruraru haere, ka kimokai pēnei atu a Tūhaitara ki tana tane, “Ehara koe i te takata; he taurekareka koe nō roto i te kākā kaiamio; i puta mai
koe i roto i te pōhatu pāremoremo, i te aruhe taratara.”

He nui rawa te kino o āna kupu i te mea he kōrero mō te umu takata ka tahi, ka rua he kōrero whakahāwea mō ōna tūpuna arā, ko Te Kākākaiamio, ko Te Pōhatu Pāremoremo rātou ko Te Rauaruhe Taratara. Kātahi ka tohua a Tamaraeroa rāua ko Huirapa e tō rāua hākui, ā, Tūhaitara, kia whai atu rāua i a Marukore kia patu whakamate.

I tae atu rāua ki a Marukore ekari nāhana rāua i patu rawa kia mate. Ko Hūkete te ikoa o taua patuka. I whakatakotohia kā tūpāpaku ki rō te whare o Hinehou ki raro i ana kūpeka hao ika. Nā taua mahi ko tapu kē aua kūpeka ki tā Hinehou hai maharataka mō āna mokopuna. I tahuna te whare. Ko Kārara Kōpae te ikoa o taua patuka.

Kātahi ka haere kā tāina arā ko Pāhīrua rāua ko Tahumatā ki te ako i te mahi mau rākau. Nā Rākaimoari rāua i tohutohu. He tino rakatira ki Poroporohuariki a Rākaimoari. I te mea nā tāna tamāhine (Hinewai-a-tapu) a Tahumatā i taunu ka kakari hoki rāua i a Rākaimoari. He roa taua pakaka, ā, i huna a Hinewai-a-tapu ki raro i kā pakiaka o tētahi rākau. Nā Tahumatā i whakarau hai wahine māhana, ā, ka mate hoki a Rākaimoari.

Nāwai ra ko mauherea a Marukore e Hikaororoa tētahi rakatira nō Kāti Māmoe. Nāhana ia i tāware kia tomo ki rō tōna whare. Kātahi ka karaka atu ia, “Ko Marukore kai roto nā?”

“Āe. Kai konei ia,” te whakautu.

“Tēnā tukuna mai te Pikitūroa ki au,” te kī a Hikaororoa.

I te hikoi a Marukore ki mua o te whare ka torona te rikarika o tana taina a Rokopaekawa ki te nanao ake te rau kōtuku i tōna ūpoko, ā, kātahi ka titia ki tōna ake mahuka. Ka puta a Rokopaekawa ki waho hai kai mā te umu.

Ko patua a Rokopaekawa kia waiho ia ki te umu hai puru rourou mō te iwi o Hikaororoa. I a ia e takoto ana i puta tou tana raukura ki waho o te umu, ā, he tohu kino tērā. Kāhore taua rakatira i taona ai heoti anō i whiua ki waho. Ko Pikitūroa te ikoa o taua puta.

I mate hoki a Marukore rāua ko Tūhaitara ki te puta o Tāpapanui. Ko ēnei pakaka te take ka wehe atu ā rāua tamariki ki te whai oraka kai Te Oreorehua ki Wairarapa i mua i tā rātou haereka ki te toka ki Te Waipounamu.

Waiata mo Pakiaka
Hei konei tonu au e hine,
Whakaroko ake ai,
Ki taumata, ki moepuku
kete hurahura rawa i ona puta,
I Aorangi raa i Tapapanui auinaiho,
Ki Tiwha, ko Pararei
I whakatau koa e Tahumata ona rakau
ki reira,
He matakai paki ki Tahuroa,
I manuka pikitia koa e hine kapitanga,
Ki te Kohurau,
Ko Waikoau te puta,
Ko Pakiaka te pa,
Ko Huiawai,
Kara koa Rua te Kuri ma,
Tawhao ma
Kahuka ma i reira,
Kai waiho koutou hei poori,
Eii.