Hinemihi 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 Co ...

woman 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 ...

from

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...

in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

, who married Tū-te-tawhā of

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 ...

from the southern part of

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She is the ancestor of the Ngāti Hinemihi

hapū In Māori language, 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 ...

of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Te Ponanga saddle between

and

Lake Rotoaira Lake Rotoaira (sometimes written ''Lake Roto-aira'') is a small lake to the south of Lake Taupō on the North Island Volcanic Plateau in New Zealand. It covers an area of 13 km2. Lake Rotoaira is one of the few privately owned lakes in New ...

is named for an incident in her life. She probably lived in the seventeenth century.

Life

Hinemihi grew up at

on the Bay of Plenty. She had one brother, Tū-hereua, an elder sister called Hine-aro, and a younger sister called Te Aki-pare.

Te Ponanga-o-te-hei-o-Hinemihi

One day, Hinemihi's sister Hine-aro came to Whakatāne along with a group of Ngāti Kurapoto, bringing ''huahua'' (cooked birds, preserved in their own fat). This was Hinemihi's favourite food, but when she tried to eat some, her brother Tū-hereua grabbed her hand and said "If you like ''huahua'' so much, why don’t you go to Taupō and marry Tū-te-tawhā!” Hine-aro and the Ngāti Kurapoto took Hinemihi and a third sister, Te Akipare, back to Ōpepe, where Hine-aro lived with her husband Pakira of Ngāti Poto. From there, Hinemihi asked to visit Tū-te-tawhā, travelling until she reached the high point of the pass between Lake Taupō and Lake Rotoaira. There she made herself up, in order to make the best impression on Tū-te-tawhā. She combed her hair, put on a ''korohunga'' (a cloak with a decorated border) and a ''paepaeroa'' (a fine cloak with

tāniko Tāniko (or taaniko) is a traditional weaving technique of the Māori of New Zealand related to "twining". It may also refer to the resulting bands of weaving, or to the traditional designs. The tāniko technique does not require a loom, alt ...

borders). Then she doused herself in tarata,

tāwhiri ''Pittosporum tenuifolium'' is a small evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand – growing up to – commonly known as and black matipo, and by other Māori names and . Its small, very dark, reddish-purple flowers generally go unnoticed, and are ...

, mokimoki,

taramea ''Aciphylla'' is a genus of about 40 species of herbaceous plants in the family Apiaceae, all but two of them endemic to New Zealand (the remaining two species are found only in Australia). They range from small cushion plants to tall flower spi ...

, and tītoki perfumes. Finally, she placed an

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

feather behind her ear and a white heron feather called Te Rau-o-Tītapu (“the feather of the bellbird”) in her hair. The place where she did this was henceforth known as Te Ponanga-o-te-hei-o-Hinemihi ("The Binding of the Necklace of Hinemihi"). From there she went on to Tū-te-tawhā's village and as she approached the people cried out, comparing her to the famous beauty Te Au-o-Karewa, and Tū-te-tawhā married her immediately. Shortly after this, she and Tū-te-tawhā resettled from Lake Rotoaira, to the Karangahape cliffs at the south end of Lake Taupō, due to disagreements with

Ngāti Whitikaupeka Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

, and Tū-te-tawhā built a fortress on Motuwhara Island. Tū-te-tawhā subsequently defeated the Ngāti Whitikaupeka at the Battle of Uwhiuwhi-hiawai, with the help of Hinemihi's brother Tū-hereua. Lemonwood leaves in evening light.jpg, Tarata Pittosporum tenuifolium kz12.jpg,

Tāwhiri ''Pittosporum tenuifolium'' is a small evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand – growing up to – commonly known as and black matipo, and by other Māori names and . Its small, very dark, reddish-purple flowers generally go unnoticed, and are ...

Dendroconche scandens, Fern House (Christchurch Botanic Gardens), New Zealand 04.jpg, Mokimoki Aciphylla colensoi Skippers Canyon.JPG,

Taramea ''Aciphylla'' is a genus of about 40 species of herbaceous plants in the family Apiaceae, all but two of them endemic to New Zealand (the remaining two species are found only in Australia). They range from small cushion plants to tall flower spi ...

AlectryonExcelsus.jpg, Tītoki Diomedea sanfordi - SE Tasmania.jpg, Toroa (albatross) Kotuku_·_Rina_Sjardin-Thompson_WCSW.jpg, white heron

Family

Hinemihi and Tū-te-tawhā had three sons and one daughter: * Te Rangi-ita, ancestor of the

Ngāti Te Rangiita Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

* Tuara-kino * Parapara-hika * Turu-makina, the ancestor of Ngāti Turumakina, who married her cousin Tukino, grandson of Hinemihi's brother Tū-hereua and was the ancestor of

Herea Te Heuheu Tukino I ''Herea'' is a genus of moths in the subfamily Arctiinae The Arctiinae (formerly called the family Arctiidae) are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical specie ...

Ngāti Hinemihi

The Ngāti Hinemihi hapū of Ngāti Tūwharetoa is descended from Hinemihi. It currently makes use of three marae: *Kauriki Marae, with the

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

Te Ōhākī, in

Ngāpuke Ngapuke or Ngāpuke is a village and rural community in the Ruapehu district and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the south side of the valley of Pungapunga River, a tributary of the upper Whanganui Ri ...

, which is shared with Ngāti Turumakina, *

Maniaiti Marae (Wallace Pā) Maniaiti Marae or Wallace Pā is a marae in Manunui, 8km south-east from the outskirts of Taumarunui, in the central North Island of New Zealand. Members of the marae are mostly the descendants of Nehuora and Te Wakatahurangi Te Warahi (née Cha ...

, with the wharenui Te Aroha o Ngā Mātua Tūpuna, which is shared with

Ngāti Manunui Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

, * Petania Marae with the wharenui Hinemihi near Taringamotu, which is shared with the

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 th ...

hapū of Hinemihi, Parewaeono and Rōrā

References

Bibliography

* * * *{{cite journal , last1=McCallum-Haire , first1=Hermione , last2=Te Nana , first2=Rihi , last3=Gallagher , first3=Joanne , title=Hihiko O Mangarautawhiri: Power Sovereignty for a Prosperous Whānau and Hapū , journal=Scope: Contemporary Research Topics (Kaupapa Kai Tahu) , date=2021 , issue=6 , pages=33–43 , doi=10.34074/scop.2006011, s2cid=244679019 , doi-access=free Ngāti Awa people Ngāti Tūwharetoa people New Zealand Māori women 17th-century New Zealand people People from Whakatāne