Tūwharetoa i te Aupōuri, also called Tūwharetoa-waekae-rakau, 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 ...

ariki An ariki (New Zealand, Cook Islands), ꞌariki ( Easter Island), aliki (Tokelau, Tuvalu), ali‘i (Samoa, Hawai‘i), ari'i (Society Islands, Tahiti), Rotuma) aiki or hakaiki ( Marquesas Islands), akariki (Gambier Islands) or ‘eiki (Tonga) is o ...

'' (chieftain) 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 ...

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 eponymous ancestor of the

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 ...

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. ...

, who probably lived in the sixteenth century. During his life, he established control over a large section of the Bay of Plenty. In his old age, his children and grandchildren invaded Taupō, which became the centre of the iwi's

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

Life

Tūwharetoa was the son of Mawake-Taupō and Ha-ahuru. Through his father, he descended from

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 ...

, Mataatua, and ultimately from Ngātoro-i-rangi, who arrived in New Zealand on the '' Arawa'' canoe, and the

atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian people such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ). The literal meaning of the Polynesian word is "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of '' mana''. Many of the atua ...

, Rongomai-nui. Through his mother, he was descended from Hapuonone, a tribe that had been settled at Ōhiwa before the arrival of ''Arawa'', and from Mataatua. This ancestry gave him great

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 ...

and a strong claim to the land. On account of this, the tribal elders married him to Paekitawhiti who was also of very high rank. From this marriage were born the pre-eminent chiefly lines of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. At the birth of their first and only son, Rongomai-te-ngangana, Tūwharetoa took the baby up Otukaira hill to announce the birth of the future ''ariki''. After this, Mawake-Taupō told Tūwharetoa to go out with a band to visit the surrounding tribes and lands. At the Mōtū River, he visited the village of Rongomai-ururangi, then paramount chief of

Ngāitai Ngāitai is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) centred around Tōrere in the eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () ...

. Rongomai-ururangi's daughter led a poi dance to welcome the band, which responded with a

haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

. Tūwharetoa and Hinemotu fell in love and she ran off with him. They married at Mawake-Taupō's

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 ...

at Kawerau and settled at Waitahanui, where they had eight children. Once he had succeeded his father as leader of the tribe, he also married Te Uiraroa. John Te Herekiekie Grace reports that Tūwharetoa was a remarkable warrior, a wise advisor, and a master

wood carver Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ...

. With the help of his ally Tūtewero son of Maruka, Tūwharetoa established control of a region encompassing Ōtamarākau, the Awa-o-te-atua ( Tarawera River), and

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distr ...

Invasion of Taupō

When Tūwharetoa was an old man, Tūtewero was attacked by a group called Marangaranga / Maruiwi but handily defeated them. Ngāti Tūwharetoa were ashamed that this conflict had taken place without them, so Tūwharetoa's sons Rakahopukia, Rākei-poho, Rākei-makaha, Taniwha-paretuiri, and Rongomai-te-ngangana formed a war party of 240 men and attacked the Marangaranga / Maruiwi. They suffered a terrible defeat at Kaka-tarae near Runanga Lake, but the survivors were able to avenge their defeat. According to Locke, as the war party was returning from this expedition, they travelled to Hinemaiaia on the coast of Lake Taupō, where they deposited their dead. Then they travelled north along the coast, past Maniaheke and Kowhaiataku to Lake Rotongaio, where an argument with the priestess Hine-kaho-roa culminated in her uttering a powerful curse and comparing Tūwharetoa's ancestors, Rangitu and Tangaroa, to fernroot (i.e. treating them both as food). According to Locke and Te Hata, when the war party departed and reported this to Tūwharetoa at Kawerau, a special sacred force was summoned to Kawerau by Tūwharetoa, who neutralised the curse by sacrificing a lizard. However, Tūwharetoa felt compelled to send an expedition against Ngāti Kurapoto to avenge the insult represented by the curse. According to Grace, the war party returned home to find that Tūwharetoa had died, and the expedition was dispatched by Rakei-Uekaha. This invasion force, led by Tūwharetoa's grandsons Rongo-Patuiwi and Taringa, his great-grandson

Waikari Waikari is a small town in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. Its Anglican parish church is the Church of Ascension, 79 Princes Street, Waikari, where William Orange was vicar in the 1920s. The New Zealand Ministry for Cult ...

, and his son Rereao defeated Ngāti Kurapoto on the northeast shore of Taupō and Ngāti Hotu on the southern shore and occupied both territories.

Death

Tūwharetoa died at an advanced age at Waitahanui. He was buried at the nearby cemetery. According to the section of Ngāti Tūwharetoa that now lives by Lake Taupo, the

tohunga In the culture of the Māori people, Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, ...

Te Ngako later disinterred his bones and moved them to Te Atuareretahi cave in the hills above Kawerau. According to the section still based in the Bay of Plenty, Te Ngako interred the bones in a hole in the trunk of a great

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...

tree, that was still alive as of 1959.

Family

Tūwharetoa married three women and had children with all of them. His senior wife was Pae-ki-tawhiti, by whom he had a daughter and a son: * A daughter, Manaiawharepu, first in a line of female chiefs (''ariki tūpuna'') which continued unbroken until Rangiamohia Te Herekiekie, who died in 1908. John Te Herekiekie Grace, Tamaku's brother gives the line as follows: Manaiawharepu - Topuni - Pitokura - Tutaramarae - Tupara-i-te-Aupouri - Hine-mihi - Te Rangituaiwa - Hinea - Ngarangikaruia - Matakai - Putai - Rangiamohia - Te Arahori - Ngatangi Rongopai - Rangiamohia: * Rongomai-te-ngangana, who died at the battle of Kaka-tarae, but left two sons the ancestor of the ''kāhui ariki'' of Tūwharetoa: :* Tūtapiriao, father of Rongoteahu, father of Piri, father of Tunono the ''upoko ariki'', father of Turangitukua, the ancestor of the Aitanga a Huruao hapū, through his children by Te Rewhangao-te-rangi: ::* Hingaia, who married Rupokohuka and had descendants. ::* Te Maha-o-te-rangi, who had descendants. ::* Te Rangitautahanga, ''upoko ariki'' ::* Hinerangi, who married Taopowaha and had descendants. :* Whakatihi, father of Tūpoto, father of Tāne-turiwera, father of Hinetuki, who married her cousin Taringa. Tūwharetoa's second wife was Hinemotu, by whom he had one daughter and seven sons: * Hinewharangi (daughter) * Rākei-poho :* Rua-wehea :*

Taringa Taringa is a suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser o ...

, who married his cousin Hinetuki (descendant of Whakatihi) and had two sons ::* Te Rapuhoro ::* Tū-te-tawhā, ancestor of Ngāti Te Rangiita and Ngāti Tūrū-makina. :* Rākei-whakaniwha, father of Matangikaiawha, father of Umu-ariki, father of Matangikaiawha, father of Te Rehu * Rereao * Taniwha, father of Rongo-patuiwi, father of

. * Turangiawe * Te Aotahi * Poukopa * Poutomuri Tūwharetoa's third wife was Te Uiraroa, with whom he had five sons: * Rākei-marama * Manuwhare * Rākei-uekaha :* Rereao :* Moepuia * Mawake-hore * Kariawe She subsequently remarried to Awanui-a-rangi, with whom she was ancestor of Te Rangihouhiri (ancestor of Ngati Te Rangihouhiri) and Manu-Tongātea. On a visit to

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, Tūwharetoa slept with Rangiuru, the wife of Whakauekaipapa, the ancestor

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand, tracing its descent from Whakaue Kaipapa, son of Uenuku-kopakō, and grandson of Tūhourangi. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa w ...

, resulting in a son,

Tūtānekai Tūtānekai was a Māori people, Māori rangatira (chief) of the iwi Ngāti Whakaue in the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. He was an illegitimate son of Tūwharetoa i te Aupōuri and is most famous for his romance with Hinemoa, which is refere ...

, who is famous for his romance with Hinemoa.

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, doi-access=free Ngāti Tūwharetoa people 16th-century New Zealand people People from Kawerau Māori tribal leaders