Rakaipaaka was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

'' (chieftain) of the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

'' and ancestor of the

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...

Ngāti Rakaipaaka Ngāti Rakaipaaka is a Māori people, Māori ''hapu'' (subtribe), from the Nūhaka area of northern Hawke's Bay on New Zealand's North Island. It is a subtribe of Ngāti Kahungunu. Marae and wharenui Northern Hawke's Bay Ngāti Rakaipaaka has si ...

. He grew up in the area of modern Gisborne, but was defeated in battle by Tu-te-kohi and resettled at Moumoukai on the Nūhaka River in northern

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, where his descendants still live today. In his later life, he supported his nephew Tama-te-rangi in a conflict with Ngāi Tauira.

Life

Rakaipaaka was the son of Kahukuranui and Tū-teihonga. Through his father he was a direct descendant of Tamatea Arikinui, captain of the ''

Tākitimu ''Tākitimu'' was a ''waka'' (canoe) with ''whakapapa'' throughout the Pacific particularly with Samoa, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand in ancient times. In several Māori traditions, the ''Tākitimu'' was one of the great Māori migration ...

'' canoe. He was born at Waerengaahika (modern

Hexton Hexton is a small village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, about west of Hitchin. This parish is a salient of Hertfordshire jutting northwards into Bedfordshire. The southern half of the parish is part of the chalky downs of the ...

, near Gisborne). He had one full sister, Hinemanuhiri, two paternal half-brothers,

Rākei-hikuroa Rākei-hikuroa was a ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Kahungunu, who may have lived in the fifteenth century. His efforts to establish his son Tūpurupuru as ''upoko ariki'' (paramount chief) of Ngāti Kahungunu led to a conflict with his br ...

and Tamanuhiri, one paternal half-sister, Rongomai-tara, and one maternal half-sister, Tu Rumakina. As an adult, Rakaipaaka lived at Waerengaahika with the family of Hinemanuhiri and controlled the area west of modern Gisborne as far as the Te Ārai River. When Rākei-hikuroa was defeated by Kahutapere and Te Māhaki-a-tauhei, he decided that he had to leave the region and asked Rakaipaaka to accompany him, but the latter refused and Rākei-hikuroa prophesied ("It would be well in future had you done so, that you would not have been blown away in the storm"). Sometime later Rakaipaaka was defeated by Tu-te-kohi and forced to migrate south.

Conflict with Tu-te-kohi

Tu-te-kohi, the ''rangatira'' based at Tūranga (modern Gisborne), invited Rakaipaaka to visit him, but offered poor hospitality, giving all the best food to his

kurī Kurī is the Māori name for the extinct Polynesian dog. It was introduced to New Zealand by the Polynesian ancestors of the Māori during their migration from East Polynesia in the 13th century AD. According to Māori tradition, the demigod M ...

(dog), called Kauere-huanui, which he allowed to run around all over the eating area. Rakaipaaka restrained his anger and went home, but one of his followers, Whakaruru-a-nuku snuck back into the village, killed the dog, and ate it. Desiring revenge, Tu-te-kohi raised a force together with Māhaki, whose wife had slept with another one of Rakaipaaka's followers, and the twins Rongomai-mihiao and Rongomai-wehea of Uawa (

Tolaga Bay Tolaga Bay ( mi, Uawa) is both a bay and small town on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island located 45 kilometres northeast of Gisborne and 30 kilometres south of Tokomaru Bay. The region around the bay is rugged and remote, and for many ...

). Rongomai-mihiao and Rongomai-wehea attacked Waerengaahika and drew Rakaipaaka into a pursuit. When they reached Kaitaratahi ridge, Tu-te-kohi and Mahaki ambushed Rakaipaaka and his men from behind. Surrounded, they took heavy losses, but some of them escaped back to Waerengaahika. Tu-te-kohi then attacked Waerengaahika, defeated them again and drove them to Taumata-o-te-kai, at which point Mahaki brokered a peace agreement for his cousin. Under the terms of this agreement Rakaipaaka had to go into exile. Hinemanuhiri and her family travelled southwest and settled at Te Mania in Marumaru (north of

Wairoa Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...

). Rakaipaaka went directly south to the Mahia Peninsula, the homeland of his grandmother

Rongomaiwahine Rongomaiwahine was a Māori people, Māori chieftainess and chief ancestress of the Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki ''iwi''. She lived on the Māhia Peninsula, probably in the late fifteenth century. Life Ron ...

. From there, he went west to

Nūhaka Nūhaka is a small settlement in the northern Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's eastern North Island, lying on New Zealand State Highway 2, State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne. The road to Mahia turns off the highw ...

, and then up the Nūhaka River to mount Moumoukai, where he settled. This remains the

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''. The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...

of Ngāti Rakaipaaka to this day.

Conflict with Ngāi Tauira

Rakaipaaka's nephew Tama-te-rangi decided to go to war with his neighbours Ngāi Tauira because of an insult that his son had received from their ''rangatira'', Mutu, and he sent his sons Rakai-hakeke and Tama-te-hua to Rakaipaaka with a

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...

of ''huahua'' (cooked birds, preserved in their own fat) to seek his assistance. Rakaipaaka accepted the calabash, symbolising his agreement to help, and gave part of it to his son Kaukohea and his follower Kahutauranga, symbolising his request for them to come as well. His war party met up with that of Tama-te-rangi at Te Poti (near

), where they held a ''hui'' (discussion), until Rakaipaaka's teenage son, Urewera, shouted "Are we here for the black or the red?!" (to talk like a black

tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a boisterous medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze colored with a distinctive white throat tuft. It is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only spe ...

bird or to fight like red warriors), which became a proverbial saying. Rakaipaaka gave Urewera his

patu A patu is a club or pounder used by the Māori. The word ''patu'' in the Māori language means to strike, hit, beat, kill or subdue. Weapons These types of short-handled clubs were mainly used as a striking weapon. The blow administered wit ...

(club) and the forces set out. The force went up the east side of the Wairoa River, forded it at Waharera, came down the west side of the river and were crossing the Waiau River when Ngāi Tauira attacked. They defeated Ngāi Tauira and chased them to Kokopu, where Kaukohea and Kahutauranga joined them. The combined force continued to pursue Ngāi Tauira, finally defeating them on the Taupara flats at Awamate, near Aranui. In total, Ngāi Tauira lost 4,000 men in the attack and they were nearly wiped out. Tama-te-rangi now led a war party against Tu-te-kohi to get revenge for his earlier conflict with Rakai-paaka, and was successful, but was himself killed in revenge for this attack shortly thereafter.

Family

Rakaipaaka married Tu-rumakina, who had the same name as his half-sister, but was a descendant of Kahungunu through another line, and had ten children: * Rakairaumoa * Kaukohea, who married Mawate: :* Tutekanao, who married Tamateahirau, a descendant of Rākei-hikuroa: ::* Tureia, who married Hinekimihanga, a descendant of Kahungunu: :::* Te Huki ::* Kaunohanga ::* Kurahikakawa, ancestor of

Ngāti Kura Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

::* Mamangu * Whakapirikura * Mataiauahi * Pokia * Urewera * Mahakipare * Marotauia * Puke * Rawaru

Commemoration

The bridge over the Nuhaka River on State Highway 2 is named Rakaipaka Bridge, in honour of Rakaipaaka.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* Homepage of Ngāti Rakaipaaka. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rakaipaaka Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Ngāti Kahungunu people People from the Gisborne District Ngāti Rakaipaaka people