Tamāio was a Maori ''

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

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

tribal confederation, based at

Kāwhia Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southw ...

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He was the first chieftain to lead a war-party inland from Kāwhia, in a war against Ngāti Hā, sometime around the middle of the sixteenth century.

Life

Tamāio's father was Uenuku-te-rangi-hōkā, son of

Whatihua Whatihua was a Māori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at Kāwhia, New Zealand. He quarrelled with his brother, Tūrongo, and as a result Tainui was split between them, with Whatihua receiving the northern Waikato regi ...

(through whom he was a male-line descendant of

Hoturoa According to Māori mythology, Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the ''Tainui (canoe), Tainui'' canoe, during the Māori migration canoes, migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor ...

, the captain of the ''

'') and

Rua-pū-tahanga Rua-pū-tahanga was a Māori ''puhi ariki'' (chieftainess) from Ngāti Ruanui, who married Whatihua and thus became the ancestor of many tribes of Tainui. She probably lived in the sixteenth century. Life Rua-pū-tahanga was a daughter of Huetaepo ...

Ngāti Ruanui Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the traditional areas of the iwi. History Early hist ...

(through whom he was a descendant of Turi, the captain of the '' Aotea'' canoe). Tamāio's mother was Te Kete-kura, who was also descended from Hoturoa on her father's side and from the '' Tokomaru'' on her mother's side. He had two half-brothers,

Hotunui Hotunui was a Maori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation of Waikato, New Zealand. Through his son Marutūāhu he is the ancestor of four tribes of the Hauraki Gulf: Ngāti Maru (Hauraki), Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Rongoū, Ngāt ...

, who was born after Uenuku-te-rangi-hōkā had moved to south

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

, and Mōtai.

War with Ngāti Hā

There was a tribe called Ngāti Hā, led by three chiefs, Hā-nui ('Big Hā'), Hā-roa ('Long Hā'), and Hā-kūhā-nui ('Big-thigh Hā'), who was the great-grandson of

Tia TIA or Tia may refer to: Aviation * Tampa International Airport, US, IATA code TPA * Texas International Airlines, US, ICAO code * Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, Albania, IATA code * Trans International Airlines, former U.S. airl ...

, who arrived in New Zealand on the Arawa canoe. gives the line of descent as Tia - Pawheorangi - Hatea - Hā-kūhā-nui. Ngāti Hā had been driven out of the

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wai ...

region by

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua (Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Isla ...

and headed west, establishing a village on the

Mōkau River The Mōkau River is located in the North Island of New Zealand. The river rises as a spring in the Pureora Forest, south of Te Kūiti, on the slopes of the Rangitoto Range. After briefly following a north-westward course, it turns south-west ...

, upstream from Puketutu. Tamāio's cousin

Rereahu Rereahu was a Maori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century. He is the ancestor of the Ngāti Maniapoto, N ...

, one of the chieftains of Tainui in southern Waikato noticed the Ngāti Hā at Te Tīroa while he was foraging for black ponga shoots and reported to Tamāio that they were coming to seize the land. Therefore, Tamāio raised a war party and advanced on the Ngāti Hā village. Since the village was too well-defended to take by force, Tamāio devised a stratagem. He had his party march up onto a hill that was visible from the Ngāti Hā village, then down into a valley that was out of sight, before returning to the hill with their cloaks turned inside out. This was repeated three times and led the Ngāti Hā to believe that Tamāio's war party was much larger than it actually was, so they abandoned the location without a fight, fleeing back to Te Tīroa. Tamāio pursued Ngāti Hā to Te Tīroa, which was also too well-defended to besiege. Tamāio therefore pretended to encamp on one side of the village and then sent a group of his troops around to the woods on the other side of the village, with their weapons tied to the side of their bodies that was not visible from the village. Believing them to be unarmed men collecting firewood, the three chiefs of Ngāti Hā sallied forth from the village with their warriors and were killed. The remaining Ngāti Hā fled, splitting into two groups, one of which went to Taupō, while the other went to

Waimiha Waimiha is a rural community in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south of Te Kuiti and Benneydale, and north of Taumarunui and Ongarue. History Māori have lived in Waimiha for c ...

and then on to Ōngarue, establishing a fortress where the Ōngārue River meets the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

(modern

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of ...

). Tamāio pursued the latter group, but their chief Te Hoata came to meet him and negotiated a peace by marrying his daughter Hinemata to Tamāio.

Family

Tamāio and Hinemata had a daughter, Rangi-ānewa, who married her cousin Rereahu and had many children.

Sources

The story is reported by

Pei Te Hurinui Jones Pei Te Hurinui Jones (9 September 1898 – 7 May 1976) was a Māori people, Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. He identified with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. As a leader of the Tainui confederation of iwi and of the ...

, based on a version told to him by his uncle Te Hurinui Te Wano before 1911. The raid is also referred to in evidence presented to the Otorohanga Land Court by Te Naunau Hīkaka on 15 December 1892.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book , last1=Jones , first1=Pei Te Hurinui , last2=Biggs , first2=Bruce , title=Ngā iwi o Tainui : nga koorero tuku iho a nga tuupuna = The traditional history of the Tainui people , date=2004 , publisher=Auckland University Press , location=Auckland .Z., isbn=1869403312 Tainui people New Zealand Māori men Māori tribal leaders 16th-century New Zealand people