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 Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

in about 1350. The reason for his leaving his homeland was that he and his brother Whakaturia had stolen breadfruit (''kuru'' or ''poroporo'') from a tree belonging to a chief named

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 ...

. They had stolen the fruit in revenge for the theft and consumption of a dog belonging to Haumai-tāwhiti by

Toi-te-huatahi Toi-te-huatahi, also known as Toi and Toi-kai-rākau, is a legendary Māori ''tupuna'' (ancestor) of many Māori iwi (tribes) from the Bay of Plenty area, including Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāi Tūhoe. The Bay of Plenty's name in te r ...

and Uenuku. The two brothers fled after tribal war broke out because of the incident. Tama Te Kapua also took two women who were the wives of other men with him, one of whom was Whakaotirangi. The other was the wife of Ruao. Tama-te-kapua asked Ruao to fetch an axe left by his house, and while he was ashore, Tama-te-kapua raised the anchor and left Ruao behind. Some legends describe Tama-te-kapua asking Ngātoro-i-rangi,

tohunga In the culture of the 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, builders, teache ...

and navigator of the ''

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are ...

'' waka, to come aboard the ''Arawa'' with his wife to bless the vessel. Once they boarded, Tama-te-kapua set sail and kidnapped the pair. Several other canoes fled at the same time, including the ''Tainui'' and '' Matatūa''. When the ''Arawa'' landed at

Whangaparaoa The Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 25 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 30,672 residents in 2013, many of them in the eponymous town of Whangaparaoa on its southern side. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. ...

, in the North Island, Tama found that the ''Tainui'' had arrived before them and claimed possession of the land, but through strategic cunning, Tama managed to disprove their claim. The ''Arawa'' then went on to

Maketu Maketu is a small town on the Bay of Plenty Coast in New Zealand. Maketu is located in the Western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Maketu has an estuary from which the Kaituna River used to flow. It is also adjacent to Newdicks Beach located on t ...

, where Tama-te-kapua settled. His descendants peopled this part and the Rotorua region. Today their descendants say of the ''Arawa'' canoe that the bow piece is

and the stern-piece is

Mount Tongariro Mount Tongariro (; ) is a compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of th ...

. Tama-te-kapua was said to be very tall – – and the son of Haumai-tāwhiti (also spelt Houmai Tawhiti) of

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

, the ancestral home of the

Polynesian people Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island South ...

. Tama-te-kapua had two sons, Tuhoro and Kahu-mata-momoe. He was buried at the top of

Mount Moehau The Moehau Range is the northernmost range on the Coromandel Peninsula, extending from the settlement of Colville, New Zealand northwards to the tip of the peninsula. Mount Moehau is the highest point of the range, at 892m above sea level. Physic ...

(on

Cape Colville Cape Colville is the northernmost point of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It lies 85 kilometres north of Thames, and 70 kilometres northeast of the city of Auckland, on the other side of the Hauraki Gulf. The small settle ...

, the northernmost tip of

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) 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 ...

). Kahu-mata-momoe placing a mauri stone on Boat Rock is associated with the naming of the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

in Auckland. The meeting house at

Te Papaiouru Marae Te Papaiouru is a marae at Ohinemutu, Rotorua, New Zealand. It is the home marae of the Ngāti Whakaue subtribes Ngāti Tae-o-Tū and Ngāti Tūnohopū. The marae's carved wharenui (meeting house), Tamatekapua, is named after Tama-te-kapua, the ...

is named after Tamatekapua.

References

Māori mythology Arawa (canoe) Legendary Polynesian people Polynesian navigators {{Māori-myth-stub