Tongātea (or possibly Tongatea) 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

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 ...

, based at

Pātea Patea ( ) is the third-largest town in South Taranaki District, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Pātea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Whanganui on . Hāwera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley, Taranaki, Waverley 17 ...

in southern

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 ...

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 probably lived in the early sixteenth century.

Life

Tongātea was the son of Huetaepo and a direct descendant of Turi, the captain of the '' Aotea'' canoe. gives two lines of descent: * Turi – Turi-matakana – Turi-mata-o-rehua – Te Kōutu-o-te-rangi – Te Kapunga-o-te-rangi – Houtaepo * Turi – Tāne-roa, who married Ruanui – Rānui – Whaea-tomokia – Whareirua – Kaokao, who married Te Kōutu-o-te-rangi. He had a sister,

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 ...

, who married

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 ...

, the ''rangatira'' of the northern part of

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 ...

, who was 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 ...

. When Rua-pū-tahanga gave birth to her first son, Uenuku-tuhatu, Tongātea set out from Pātea in order to carry out the ''tohi'' baptismal ritual, but at

Marokopa Marokopa is a rural community in Waitomo District and Waikato region of New Zealand. It is located close to the coast between Awakino and Kawhia Harbour. The meshblock includes the coastal township of Marokopa, at the mouth of the Marokopa Riv ...

he met and married a lady of

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

, named Manu. Tongātea established a ''mauri ika'' ('fish talisman') at Marokopa, which was believed to be responsible for the annual spawning of kahawai in the

Marokopa River The Marokopa River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand. It flows west to join the Tasman Sea at Marokopa. The main part of the river is long, with about of tributaries. The catchment is some . Near Te Anga, the river flows over the ...

, which was still being fished according to traditional rules in 1932. After a while, Tongātea decided that it would be good to settle at Marokopa permanently, so he planned to return to Taranaki in order to gather a raiding party to seize the place. However, when he told Manu that he was leaving she guessed the reason and told her brothers, who caught him on his way back to Pātea and killed him. Tongātea was known as a greedy eater, who did not even bother to peel his kumara and karaka before eating them. As a result, when Manu gave birth to his daughter after his death, she was named Peha-nui ('Many peelings'), but other versions give her name as Pēhā-nui. She was the mother of Manu-Tongātea.

Source

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 ...

records the story of Tongātea based on an oral account which he heard from Āihe Huirama and Te Nguha Huirama of

Ngāti Tamainupō Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand o ...

Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on the ...

, and

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

in 1932.

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 Ngāti Ruanui people New Zealand Māori men Māori tribal leaders 16th-century New Zealand people