Tamāio 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 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, based at

Kāwhia Kawhia Harbour () 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 southwest of Hamilton. Ka ...

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

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 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 people, 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 norther ...

(through whom he was a male-line 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 captain of the ''

'') and

Rua-pū-tahanga Rua-pū-tahanga was a Māori people, 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 daugh ...

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

(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 Māori ''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, Ngā ...

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

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

, 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 most commonly refers to the transient ischemic attack, a "mini-stroke". TIA or Tia may also refer to: People * Tia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * TiA, stage name of a female ...

, 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 located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

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 ...

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, 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 Kūiti and Benneydale, and north of Taumarunui and Ongarue. History Māori have lived in Waimiha fo ...

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 natur ...

(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 Kūiti and 55 km west of T� ...

). 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. They had one child,

Te Ihinga-a-rangi Te Ihinga-a-rangi was a Māori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand and is the ancestor of the Ngāti Hauā and Ngāti Korokī Kahukura iwi and the Te Ihinga-a-rangi hap ...

, who was Rereahu's eldest son.

Sources

The story is reported by

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 ...

, 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

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 ...

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 Māori tribal leaders 16th-century New Zealand people