Māhaki (''fl.'' 1470s) 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 ...

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

'' (chieftain) in the area north of modern Gisborne on the

East Cape East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is at the northern end of the Gisborne District of the North Island. East Cape was originally named "Cape East" by British explorer James Cook during his 1769–1779 voy ...

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 ...

and the ancestor of the

Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki is one of the three principal Māori people, Māori iwi of the Gisborne District, Tūranga district; the others being Rongowhakaata and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngai Tamanuhiri. It is numerically the largest of the three, with 6, ...

iwi 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. ...

. He may have lived in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Life

Māhaki was the son of Tamataipūnoa and Tauhei-kurī. Tamataipūnoa was a direct descendant of Toroa, captain of the ''

Mātaatua ''Mātaatua'' was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, according to Māori tradition. Māori traditions say that the ''Mātaatua'' was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori ...

'' canoe, while Tauhei-kurī was descended from Kahungunu and

Tamatea Arikinui Tamatea Arikinui or Tamatea Mai-Tawhiti was a Māori people, Māori ''ariki'' (chieftain), who captained the ''Tākitimu'' canoe on its journey from Hawaiki to New Zealand, where he settled at Tauranga and became the ancestor of the Ngāti Kahungu ...

, captain of the ''

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

'', and

Paikea is a notable ancestor who originated in Hawaiki according to Māori tradition. He is particularly known to tribes with origins in the Gisborne District such as , and . is the name assumed by because he was assisted by a whale to survive an ...

. Around 1475, Tamataipūnoa accompanied his half-brother Tūtāmure on a raid to attack Maunga-a-kāhia, where Tauhei-kurī lived with her elderly father, Kahungunu. The latter brokered a peace which was to be sealed by the marriage of Tauhei-kurī and Tūtāmure. But when Tauhei-kurī was brought before Tūtāmure and Tamataipūnoa, she did not know which of them was which. Since Tamataipūnoa was more handsome, she sat before him repeatedly. Tūtāmure looked at his reflection in a pond, said "Oh! I am very ugly!" and allowed her to marry Tamataipūnoa. The pond is known as Te Wai-whakaata o Tūtāmure (Tūtāmure's mirror). Māhaki eventually named one of his sons Whakarauora-tanga-a-Tūtāmure ("Lives spared by Tūtāmure") in memory of this truce. Māhaki had an older brother, Tawhiwhi, and a younger one, Kahukuraiti. Tawhiwhi was killed and eaten when he was quite young. Māhaki fell in love with and married his cousin Hinetapuarau, a great-granddaughter of Kahungunu. She had already been engaged to Hingānga, a descendant of Ruapani and Kahungunu, so the pair fled to Pakarae, where they were protected by Tamateakuku. Later they established their own

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

(fortified village) called Pāwerawera at Waikohu (north of modern Gisborne).

Battle of Te Paepae o Rarotonga

Māhaki's cousin

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 ...

sought to make his son Tūpurupuru the preeminent chieftain of the area. To achieve that, he or Tūpurupuru murdered the twin sons of Kahutapere, another cousin of Māhaki. Māhaki came to the aid of the latter, with his son Ranginui-a-Ihu. They attacked Tūpurupuru's advance party, killing its commander Pouarau and eating his heart, as normal for the ''mātāika'' (first casualty of a battle). Māhaki's youngest son, Whakarau, had been away hunting when the call to arms came and had therefore been left behind, but he found the stake that had been used for cooking Pouarau's heart (the ''kōhiku-manawa''), tracked the war party to Pukepoto, made his way to the front line and killed Tūpurupuru with a spear strike to the throat, ending the conflict. After Whakarau had struck Tūpurupuru, Ranginui-a-Ihu attempted to strike Tūpurupuru, but Whakarau pushed him away with his

taiaha A taiaha () is a traditional weapon of the Māori people, Māori of New Zealand; a close-quarters staff weapon made from either wood or whalebone, and used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with efficient footwork on the part of the wi ...

, saying ("leave alone the staggering fish on the hook of the last son of Hine-tapuarau"). Whakarau's descendants are called Ngā Pōtiki after this saying. In recognition of this deed, Kahutapere allowed Whakarau to marry his daughters, Pare and Kura. Tūpurupuru's body was hung in a

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...

tree, swinging over a stream, and Rākei-hikuroa tried but was unable to pull it down. The victors took turns throwing spears at it. Eventually, Māhaki and Ranginui-a-ihu stopped this desecration. Rākei-hikuroa gave Ranginui-a-ihu his

pounamu Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone found in the South Island of New Zealand. They are highly valued in New Zealand, and carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture. Name The Māori word ...

patu A patu is a club or pounder used by the Māori. The word 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 with this ...

(greenstone club), Ngawhakatangiura, and four cooking boulders in thanks for this. After this Rākei-hikuroa and his people left the region. Māhaki received their land west of the

Waipaoa River The Waipaoa River is in the Gisborne District, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of the Raukūmara Range, flowing south for to reach Poverty Bay and the Pacific Ocean just south of Gisborne. For a ...

, which had previously been the demesne of Tūpurupuru and gave it to his sons Ranginui-a-Ihu and Whakarau.

Conflict with Rakaipaaka

The east side of the river was held by Rākei-hikuroa's siblings, Rakaipaaka and Hinemanuhiri. One of Rakaipaaka's followers, Tupuho, slept with Māhaki's wife, Hinetapuarau. Later another follower killed and ate Kauere-huanui the

kurī The Kurī is an extinct breed of Polynesian Dog kept by Māori people. 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 ...

(dog) of Tu-te-kohi, the ''rangatira'' based at Tūranga (modern Gisborne). Desiring revenge, Tu-te-kohi convinced Māhaki to join him an attack on Rakaipaaka, along with the twins Rongomai-mihiao and Rongomai-wehea of Uawa (

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

). Rongomai-mihiao and Rongomai-wehea attacked Rakaipaaka's village, Waerengaahika and drew him into a pursuit. When they reached Kaitaratahi ridge, Tu-te-kohi and Māhaki 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 Māhaki brokered a peace agreement, according to which Rakaipaaka and Hinemanuhiri had to go into exile. Māhaki received their land on the east side of the Waipaoa River, thus gaining control of all the land that had once belonged to the great chief

Ruapani Ruapani was a rangatira ( chief) of the Māori in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (the Poverty Bay-region on the East Coast of New Zealand) in the 15th and 16th century. He is said to have been the paramount chief of all the Tūranganui-a-Kiwa tribes around 15 ...

Family

Māhaki and Hinetapuarau had five children: * Rakai-te-awe (daughter) * Ihu or Ranginui-a-Ihu (son), married Te Nonoikura :* Whakauaki (son) :* Taupara (son), married Puha-i-terangi and became ancestor of Te Whanau a Taupara ::* Whakauika (son), married Tonoa-Ki-Aua, daughter of Hine-te-Ariki: :::* Pikihoro (daughter) :::* Hine-uru (daughter) :::* Tama-i-uia (son) :* Kaikoreaunei (son), married Whareana and Te Haaki and became ancestor of Te Whanau a Kai. :* Tauwheoro (daughter), married Iwipuru and became ancestor of Te Whanau a Iwi * Hikarongo (son), married Tukorako and became ancestor of Ngāti Hikarongo * Rakaiaotea (daughter) * Whakarau-ora-tanga-a-Tūtāmure (son or grandson), ancestor of Ngā Pōtiki

Commemoration

Māhaki is the ancestor and namesake of the Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki iwi, which remains settled in the East Cape area. One of the ''pou'' (posts) in the ''Whare Whakairo'' of the Māngatu Blocks corporation depicts Māhaki with his son Hikarongo. Other ''pou'' depict Ranginui-a-Ihu and Whakarau. At Parihimanihi, 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 ...

(meeting house) is named Te Poho o Mahaki and the ''wharekai'' (dining hall) Te Kura o Mahaki in Māhaki's honour.

References

Bibliography

* * * (an account of the conflict between Rākei-hikuroa and Kahutapere transmitted from Hiraina Riria Pere, Hetekia Te Kani Pere II, and Hiraina Hinetoko). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahaki Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki people 15th-century New Zealand people 16th-century New Zealand people People from the Gisborne District