Matakore 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) of

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 ...

in the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...

tribal confederation from the

Waikato region The Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City, as well as ...

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 ...

. He is an ancestor of the Ngāti Matakore

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 ...

(sub-tribe) of Ngāti Maniapoto and of the southern branch of

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupō and Manawatū/ Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti ...

. He probably lived in the early seventeenth century.

Life

Matakore was the third-born son of Rereahu, who was a direct descendant of

Hoturoa According to Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the ''Tainui'' canoe, during the migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor of the Tainui confederation of tribes (iwi), who now in ...

(the commander of the ''Tainui'' canoe), and his first wife, Rangi-ānewa, daughter of Tamāio. His mother was Hine-au-pounamu, Rereahu’s second wife, whose parents were Tū-a-tangiroa of Tainui and a daughter of the Ngāti-Hā chief Hā-kūhā-nui. Matakore had an older half-brother, Te Ihinga-a-rangi, five full brothers (

Maniapoto Maniapoto was a Māori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand, and the founding ancestor of the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. Initially, he based himself at Waiponga in the M ...

, Tū-whakahekeao, Tūrongo-tapu-ārau, Te Io-wānanga or Te Āio-wānanga, Kahu-ariari), and two sisters ( Kinohaku and Te Rongorito), many of whom were the ancestors of

(sub-tribes) of Ngāti Maniapoto. Kahikatea

Matakore and Maniapoto both settled in the Mohoao-nui swamp, east of

Ōtorohanga Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located south of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton and north of Te Kūiti, on the Waipā River. It is a service town for the surrounding Da ...

. They both decided to build houses at Waiponga on the north bank of the

Waipā River The Waipā River is in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. The headwaters are in the Rangitoto Range east of Te Kūiti. It flows north for , passing through Ōtorohanga and Pirongia, before flowing into the Waikato Ri ...

a little to the east of Ōtorohanga. Matakore found a tall

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 ...

at Mangawhero which he chopped down and brought there to use as the

tāhuhu 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 ''whare'' ...

(ridge beam) of his house, but Maniapoto advised him that its length meant that it was in danger of splitting and advised him to cut it shorter. Then Maniapoto went into the forest and chopped down a taller kahikatea for himself, so that he would have the larger house. Matakore's house was called Mata-keretū and Maniapoto's was called Mata-whaiora. As of 1898, their foundations were still visible. When Rereahu was on his death-bed he decided to give his

mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

to Maniapoto, rather than Te Ihinga-a-rangi, because he thought the younger brother had proven himself a better leader. This led to a conflict between Maniapoto and Te Ihinga-a-rangi, in which Matakore supported Maniapoto. As a result, after his victory, Maniapoto favoured Matakore highly and granted him control of all his lands south of the

and in the

Rangitoto Range Rangitoto Range is in the Pureora Forest Park in the North Island of New Zealand. Its main peaks are Ranginui (), Mt Baldy (855 m) and Rangitoto (873 m). It has the headwaters of the Waipā, Puniu and Mōkau Rivers and forms the eastern bounda ...

. Tania Ka'ai cites the relationship between the two brothers as an exemplary case of the “mutually satisfying relationship” expected between ''tuakana'' (‘elder brother’) and ''teina'' (‘younger brother’) in Māori culture. Elaeocarpus_dentatus_fruit

Matakore spent the rest of his life at peace and was very prosperous. Due to his great

it was customary for the people to offer him the first part of anything that they caught in the river or in the mountains. A Tainui tradition reports that, on one occasion, the people came with these offerings when he was asleep, but when they woke him up, he looked at the food and then went back to sleep, saying “If you wake me up, let it be for the ''whatu turei'' of Rua.” ''Whatu turei'' was a cake made out of hīnau berries, but the phrase is a sexual

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

. The story is told as a contrast with the gluttonous behaviour of some other chiefs and Matakore’s phrase has become a Māori proverb (''whakataukī'').

Family

Matakore married Wai-harapepe, a descendant of Hekemaru, son of the

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

chief Pikiao and they had a son: * Mania-takamaiwaho, who married Tore-kauaea, daughter of Tū-te-ao-mārama. He also married Tuki-taua, daughter of Wairere and had a daughter: * Waiko-hika, who married Te Kanawa the elder and had two daughters: Pare-nga-ope and Tira-manu-whiri. Matakore’s descendants, Ngāti Matakore, share seven

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

in the southern Waikato with various other hapū of Ngāti Maniapoto, and one marae in Manawatu with hapū of

and

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of ...

Sources

Pei Te Hurinui Jones Pei Te Hurinui Jones (9 September 1898 – 7 May 1976) was a Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. As a leader of the Tainui tribal confederation and of the Māori King Movement, he participated in negotiations with t ...

gives an account of Matakore’s life based on accounts he had heard from Tainui elders.

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book , last1=White , first1=John , title=The Ancient History of The Maori, his Mythology and Traditions: Tai-Nui , date=1888 , publisher=Government Printer , volume=4, location=Wellington , url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi04Anci.html 17th-century Māori tribal leaders People from Waikato Ngāti Maniapoto people Ngāti Raukawa people