Kāhu ki Rotorua: The story of the wharepuni Tuhoromatakaka

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

Ki te puku o Te Whakarewarewa he wharepuni e tū ana. Kua roa e tū mokemoke ana. Nā Makereti Papakura te whare puni, ā, ko Tuhoromatakaka tōna ingoa. Nā Tene Waitere, tohunga whakairo nui o Ngāti Tarawhai i whakairo ko Kereopa Hori tana ringa hāpai.

Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, kotahi ngāhuru i oti ai.Ka haria e ia ngā whakairo nei ki Poihākena me te whenua o Ingarangi hai hāpai i āna mahi whakangahau ki ngā iwi tauhou kia kite ai e rātou te ao Māori, wheoi anō he kōrero nui anō tēnā ā taihoa ake nei.

Kia tahuri noa tātau ki te tupuna ki a Tuhoromatakaka, kāore e kaha kōrerongia tēnei tupuna e Te Arawa. E hoki ana aku mahara ki a Tākuta Te Hiko o Te Rangi Hohepa, nōna e takatū haere ana i te mata o te whenua, ka kaha kōrerongia a Tuhoromatakaka e ia.

Engari a koro Hiko nei, ko tōna aroha nui ki tēnei tupuna hai rite ki tōna aroha nui ki ngā tūpuna katoa. Nā Tamatekapua ko Tuhoromatakaka rāua ko Kahumatamomoe. Ko Tuhoromatakaka tō mua. Tō muri mai ko Kahumatamomoe.

Nā reira i whiwhi ingoa ai te moana e tere nei. I whānau rāua i Poronēhia. Atu i tēnā kai te kapo kōrero noa tātau. Ko Tuwhakangenengene he parekura nui he take i wehe ai a Te Arawa i Poronēhia, ka heke ai rātau ki Hawaiki Tahutahu. Ko Tuhoromatakaka, ko tōna makau rangatira me ā rāua tamatāne tokorima.

Ka ū ki Maketu, ka nōhia te tahataha o te moana, nā wai, nā wai, ka puta he raruraru i waenga i a Tuhoromatakaka me tōna taina. Ko Parawai te take. He māra rongonui nō tō rāua matua tāne. Kāti, kai raro a Tuhoromatakaka e takaporepore ana, ko Kahumatamomoe kai runga i a ia. Kua takahia te mana o te mātāmua e te taina.

Ka hoki tētehi, ka hoki tētehi. Nā te mea he rangatira rāua, e kore e tau te puehu i te whenua iti nei. Aonga ake te rā ka wehe a Tuhoromatakaka me tona pahi, whāia rawatia e rātau ngā takahanga a tō rāua matua tāne a Tamatekapua ki Moehau, ki reira ia noho atu ai.

E waimarie ana tātou i ngā whānaunga e pupuri tonu ana i ngā tātai kōrero mō Tuhoromatakaka whare puni otīā rātou ko Tukiterangi, ko Te Awa-i-Manukau.He tūpuna rangatira katoa wēnei nō namata.I takahia rawatia ngā whenua o Tarawera o Parekarangi o Rotorua me Tumunui hoki, kāore e kore ka paru hoki ou rātou waewae i wāhi kē atu.

Ko Tuhoromatakaka Wharepuni.

Nō Īhaia te whenua e tu ana ngā whare puni.He tūpuna heke iho a Īhaia i a Wāhiao, whaihoki hoki he tupuna a Īhaia nō Mākereti. Ko te riu o Te Whakarewarewa te whenua i nōhia ai e ngā tūpuna rau, kai te whenua ngā tātai kōrero mō ngā whakatupuranga huhua hoki.Nō te wā i a Mākereti ka riro i a ia a Tuhoromatakaka hai whare puni mōna.

Ko tēnei kuia rongonui te wahine Māori tuatahi i tae ki te whare wānanga tiketike katoa o Ingarangi, ā, ki Oxford ki reira ia whai ai i tana tohu paetahi Pūtaiao mātauranga tikanga tangata. Ko tana taonga nui ki te whare wānanga whaihoki te ao, ko tona mōhiotanga ki ngā mahi whakahirahira a ngā tūpuna Māori otīā ki ōna rangatira katoa nō Te Whakarewarewa.

Wheoi anō ka tonoa e ia a Tene Waitere kia whakairongia tōna wharepuni, ka oti i a Tene te whakairo i te wharepuni o Mākereti ka wehe he pāhi whakangahau tangata ki Poihakena me Ingarangi, ko Tene tētehi o rātou i haere, ā, ka haria e rātou ngā whakairo o Tuhoromatakaka hai whakakitenga mā te ao.

Ka moe a Rangitiaria, he mokopuna nā Tene Waitere i a William Francis Te Aonui Dennana. He huatahi nā Mākereti. Nō te Hepetema te kotahi ngāhuru mā tahi, nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e toru tekau mā waru mārena ai rāua.

Nō te tau, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e wha tekau mā rua ka mate ai a Te Aonui, ko Te Rangitiaria te rangatira i mahue iho. Ka heke te mana o te wharepuni ki a ia, ā, heke iho ki te whānau Schuster ngā poutiaki i a ia moroki noa nei.

Ko Tukiterangi me Te Awa-i-Manukau he wharepuni nō Bella rāua ko tōna hoa rangatira a Āperahama Moke. Nō te tau, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e rua tekau mā rima whakatu ai a Te Awa-i-Manukau.

Ka whakamanuwhiringia e ia ngā rangatira nui o te pā taunaha me te ao hou hoki. Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e rima tekau ka mate ai a Bella, ka nōhia tona kāinga e Paekiri Moke tae rawa tona matenga. Kai te kapu o ngā ringaringa o te whānau Moke ia e noho tonu ana.

English Translation

Tuhoromatakaka is the name of a small whare puni that stands in the heart of Te Whakarewarewa.

The whare puni housed the famous guide Mākereti Papakura. Under her direction, the whare puni was built and completed in 1910 by the renowned tohunga whakairo rākau, Tene Waitere, assisted by Kereopa Hori. Mākereti Papakura later took the front carvings of the whare to use as props for her concert party as they toured in Sydney, Australia, and London.

The history of the carvings is a story worth sharing later. The stories of Tuhoromatakaka are not well known by those of the Arawa. The last kaumatua the writer can think of who spoke passionately about Tuhoromatakaka was the late Dr Hiko-o-te-rangi Hohepa.

His love for this tupuna was equal to his passion for all tūpuna. Tuhoromatakaka was the eldest son of the famed Tamatekapua. He was also the older brother of the ancestor Kahumatamomoe, after whom the lake of Rotorua is named.

We know that Tuhoromatakaka was born somewhere in the islands of Polynesia. We don’t know anything about his life there; however, with his siblings, they survived the tumultuous battle that raged throughout their original homeland that would lead to their eventual departure and travel across the Pacific Ocean. He travelled to Hawaiki Tahutahu with his father and brother.

Many stories about Tuhoromatakaka and the old wharepuni named Tukiterangi and Te Awaimanukau can be told.

All were famous ancestors who frequented the geothermal valley and the more expansive lands of Rotorua, Tarawera, Parekarangi and Tumunui, possibly many other regions that we haven’t heard about.

Ko Tukiterangi Wharepuni.

These three whare puni are collectively referred to as the Īhāia whānau whare.

They embroil extraordinary rangatira from a bygone era. Mākereti Papakura, recognized as the first wahine Māori to attend the prestigious University of Oxford to study for a BSc in anthropology, made a poignant contribution to the perpetuation of mātauranga Māori especially regarding her people of Ngāti Wāhiao a hapū of Tūhourangi commissioned the tohunga whakairo rākau, Tene Waitere to provide carvings for her tupuna Tuhoromatakaka. Rangitiaria, the mokopuna of Tene Waitere, married William Francis Te Aonui Dennan, a widower engineer who was the only surviving son of Mākereti on 11th September 1938.

Sadly, their union would not last long, for Te Aonui passed away in 1942. They were married for four years. With the passing of Te Aonui, Rangitiaria inherited Tuhoromatakaka, and it remains in the care of the Schuster whānau to this day. Mākereti passed away in the year 1930.

Tukiterangi was a wharepuni for Bella and her husband, Āperahama Moke. Bella, the sister of Mākereti who was a constant in the village of Te Whakarewarewa, ensured that the ahi kā of Te Awa-i-Manukau was maintained, which was built in 1925 by her husband who passed away in 1934. Bella passed away on 27th February 1950, and her wharepuni was occupied by Paekiri Moke until her passing in 1966.

The restoration of the wharepuni by whānau is an appropriate way to acknowledge the contribution of Bella and Makereti to the history of Te Whakarewarewa.