Toi-te-huatahi, also known as Toi and Toi-kai-rākau, is a legendary

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 ...

''tupuna'' (

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

) of many

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. ...

(tribes) from 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 ...

area, including

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 ...

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tūhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east. ...

and

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning 'steep' or 'high noon'. Tūhoe people a ...

. The Bay of Plenty's name in te reo Māori, Te Moana-a-Toi, references Toi-te-huatahi.

Names

His name Toi-te-huatahi is a reference to Toi being an only child. Toi-kai-rākau ("Toi the Wood Eater"), was a name given to him by later settlers in the region who introduced agriculture, and is a reference to how Toi would eat the foods of the forest.

Traditions

Toi-te-huatahi's legendary ancestor in

Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the ...

was the tīwakawaka (

New Zealand fantail The New Zealand fantail (''Rhipidura fuliginosa'') is a small insectivorous bird, the only species of fantail in New Zealand. It has four subspecies: ''R. f. fuliginosa'' in the South Island, ''R. f. placabilis'' in the North Island, ''R. f. p ...

). Based on the traditional genealogies of Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāi Tūhoe, Toi-te-huatahi is estimated to have lived between the 13th and 14th centuries. According to different traditions, Toi was either born in

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

and came to Aotearoa by a migratory canoe (waka hourua), or was one of the first people to be born in Aotearoa. Toi's people are said to have inhabited the Bay of Plenty region before the arrival of the '' Arawa'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' migratory waka. One of the most well-known stories of Toi involves

Uenuku Uenuku (or Uenuku-Kōpako, also given to some who are named after him) is an atua of rainbows and a prominent ancestor in Māori tradition. Māori believed that the rainbow's appearance represented an omen, and one kind of yearly offering made ...

. Chief Uenuku of

Rangiātea Rangiātea in New Zealand Māori culture and tradition, is considered to be simultaneously a physical place as well as a metaphysical place. The physical Rangiātea is somewhere in the Pacific Islands, possibly Ra'iātea Island in the Society Is ...

becomes annoyed with a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

and kills it, after which Toi-te-huatahi consumes the dog. The ancestor

Tamatekapua In Māori tradition of New Zealand, Tama-te-kapua, also spelt Tamatekapua and Tama-te-Kapua and also known as Tama, was the captain of the '' Arawa'' canoe which came to New Zealand from Polynesia in about 1350. A trickster, his theft of fruit ...

and his brother Whakatūria, sons of Houmai, search for the dog, and hear it barking inside Toi's belly. In revenge, they created stilts for Tama (the taller of the brothers) and stole the fruit from Uenuku's poroporo tree. Uenuku declares war, and with his friend Toi he attacks the village of Houmai, but the forces of Uenuku were ultimately defeated. Ngāti Awa and Ngāi Tūhoe traditions state that Toi lived at a

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 ...

named Kaputerangi near modern-day

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 ...

. Many place names around Whakatāne and the Bay of Plenty reference Toi, such as

Te Whaiti Te Whaiti or Te Whāiti, formerly called Ahikereru, is a forested area in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is at the northern end of the Ahikereru valley – Minginui is at the southern end. ...

(Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi). In

Hauraki Māori The Hauraki Māori are a group of Māori 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, ...

traditions, Toi lived at

Whitianga Whitianga is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is located on Mercury Bay, on the northeastern coast of the peninsula. The town has a permanent population of as of making it the ...

on the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...

. The meeting house at Waikirikiri Marae in

Ruatoki Ruatoki North is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand, just south of the small town of Tāneatua and approximately south of the town of Whakatāne. The Whakatāne River runs northwards through the Ruatoki Valley and has formed broa ...

is named after Toi-kai-rākau. Toi-te-huatahi is said to have visited the

Mahurangi Peninsula Mahurangi Peninsula is a landform in the Rodney Local Board Area in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located between two bodies of water: the Mahurangi Harbour Mahurangi Harbour is a natural harbour in New Zealand ...

, and planted a karaka grove at

Ōtara Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River. The area is traditionally part of t ...

, Tāmaki Makaurau.Graham – "Tainui" (1951), p.90 (f.n)

Descendants

Descentants of Toi are known as Te Tini-o-Toi, while descendants of his grandson Awanuiārangi often refer to themselves as Te Tini-o-Awa. Descendants of Toi were some of the first settlers of Little Barrier Island / Te Hauturu-o-Toi in the Hauraki Gulf."Features: Little Barrier Island Nature Reserve (Hauturu-o-Toi)"

Department of Conservation (New Zealand) The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori language, Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand ...

. Retrieved 8 September 2012. Whātonga, who in some oral histories is described as the captain of the ''

Kurahaupō ''Kurahaupō'' was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand in Māori tradition. In Taranaki tribal tradition, ''Kurahaupō'' is known as ''Te Waka Pakaru ki te moana'' or 'The Cano ...

'' waka, was the grandson of Toi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toi-te-huatahi Legendary Māori people Legendary Polynesian people Legendary progenitors Polynesian maritime navigators