PURAKAU
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Ko te waka taua ko Te Wharau-o-Iroiro
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Kai nga paiaka Pohutukawa kai tahaki o te moana o Te Rotorua nui a Kahumatamomoe tetehi waka taua onamata. He ahakoa kua koerongia to tatau waka whakahirahira e tika
ana kia toutoua nga pungarehu o te takuahi kia rewa ano ai nga korakora o ana ra nui.
Na nga rangatira o Ngati Taketake o Ngati Rangipare me Ngati Katea-a-Uwenuku i tarai i te nehenehe nui o Tawatawataoroa.
Ko Te Waata Taranui ratou ko Te Pokiha me to raua taokete a Te Wehioterangi Te Iwimokai me etehi atu. He tupuna a Iroiro no te takutai moana ehara i a ia nga whenua o Te Ruato. Ka moe i a Rangipare he tamahine na Te Rangitakaroro ka puta ki waho ko nga uri. He tangata mahi whenua a Iroiro ehara i a ia te tangata whawhai. Engari ra he mohio nona ki te kawe i nga tao o te whare huata o Manono.
Kai te whakapae etehi i taraia a Te Wharau-o-Iroiro i te takiwa o te kotahi mano, e waru rau, e wha tekau ahu atu ki te rima tekau. Ka oti te waka te tarai i nga tohunga ka toia ki nga wai o te Rotoiti.
He mahi nui kai te ahua whitu kiromita te tawhito mai i Ikataina ki te one pungapunga, na wai ra ka puta nga tohunga ki nga wai wawara o te roto moana. Ka tu te riri i Tarawera ko Te Ariki. Ka tae nga toa o Ngati Pikiao o Ngati Tarawhai o Ngati Rangitihi o Tuhourangi he kurawaioho te take.
Ka mutu te riri i a ratau ka whakaturia te maunga o te Rongo, ka whakanohia te waka ki uta. Katahi ka tae tatau ki te wa o nga pakanga nui o Niu Tireni. He hiahia no Te Tairawhiti ki te whakawhiti i nga whenua o Te Arawa ko te take he amo i te Kingitanga e kawe riri ana ki te Kawanantanga kai te takiwa o te ono tekau. Kaore a Te Arawa e whakaae ana ki te tono a Te Tairawhiti kia whakawhitia o ratou whenua.
Na ka hi te atatu ka tae te rongo kai te huarahi a Te Tairawhiti e haere ana, ka topu nga karanga hapu o Te Arawa ki Mourea, mangu ana te whenua i nga taniwha oreore o te kainga he rangatira katoa.
Me nga waka huhua hoki kai te moana e potere kau ana, ki te ihu o te kahui papa waka ko Te Wharau o Iroiro, ko Matene Te Huaki he rangatira no Ngati Te Rangiunuora te rangatira hautu waka taua. A kati ka hau atu ki te riri ka hinga te Tairawhiti i a Te Arawa. Ka rere nga manu a Tane kaore rawa I hoki mai ki nga waiariki.
No te taenga mai o Kawana Kerei ki te takiwa o Te Rotorua ka nohia te waka e te Kawana hai waka kawe i a ia ki nga kumore me nga kainga o nga roto moana.
Katahi ka whakaarongia e nga kaumatua kia whakamoea nga waka taua i te korenga o nga pakanga Maori.
Kua hoha hoki pea nga kaumatua ki te whawhai, whaihoki kua whai take te karaipiture ki te takiwa, a, koia nei te huarahi e kaha whaia na e nga hapu o Ngai Te Arawa.
Ka whakatotohungia a Te Wharau-o-Iroiro, ka whakamoea ki te putake o Te Ana ki Kaihau takiwa o Koroki-te-wao.
A, ka tahuri nga wiki, ka haere nga marama, ka rere nga kaupeka. Katahi ka whakatu whakataetae hoe waka e nga kaumatua, ko te take pea hai whakaihiiihi ano i nga wairua kua roa e moe nenehawa ana.Ka whakarewangia e nga tohunga te waka, katahi ka rurukuhia nga rauawa, nga taumanu, te tauihu, te taumaihi me nga wahanga katoa.
E rere ana nga puhi rere o te kaka me nga manu rangatira o taua te Maori katahi na ka kitea e te marea te wehi o tuaukiuki.
Ka ara ake ko te wehi o nga toa kua huri ki Hawaiki Pamamao. No te marama o Pepuere te rua tekau ma wha no te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau ma toru, ka hukere kahukerengia te waka taua ki te takapou o te moana nui a Kahumatamomoe.
Ka hinga nga waka i a ia ko Te Omapere, ko Taheretikitiki ko Apaparata ko Waonui-a-Tane. Ka mutu te whakataetae nui, ka utaina to tatou waka whakahirahira ki Muruika a kai reira ia e takoto ana.
No reira e te ao tawhito, te korepe nui te korepe roa, Ngai Te Arawa o te po takoto mai, takoto mai, takoto mai.
The remains of one of the last true waka taua used to defend the Arawa territory from invasion during the land wars of the 1860s today lies quietly nestled under the Pohutukawa trees that line the shores of Lake Rotorua.
The timber used for the construction of the vessel was pulled from the Ikataina ranges and prepared by Te Waata and Te Pokiha Taranui. They were assisted by their Ngati Te Katea-a-Uwenuku relative, Te Iwimokai and his eldest son Te Wehioterangi. Iroiro is an ancestor of the Ngati Tarawhai who occupied the Waione and Ikataina regions with which these men had connections.
The tree fell upon the high ranges of Te Komotanga, an area with a long history renowned for its abundance of bird life, forest fruits and giant timber. Totara was the most incredible resource in the area and was ideal for waka construction. Te Wharau o Iroiro, the name of the tree, was transferred to the vessel itself.
Appropriately named so, for, in the past, Iroiro was not only a noted leader and warrior chief, but he had married the lineage of Tarawhai the first. The direct descendant of the famous Arawa priest Ngatoroirangi. Iroiro was described as a puaka whakaruruhau.
A great tree of the forest who sheltered his people. This chief did not favour warfare and had a reputation for his stately conduct when brokering peace treaties amongst the warring subtribes.
Quite contradictory to the purpose of the waka taua, however, it slightly leads to the warm nature of the chief endeavouring to shelter his people. It is speculated that the waka was felled and prepared between 1840 - 1850 and finally finished featured in the many intertribal battles of the region.
Two prominent battles that occurred within the area were the battle of Te Ariki that took place upon the waters of Tarawera.
The second greatest battle was a failed attempt to cross through the Te Arawa region undertaken by the warriors of the East Coast who were bravely making their way to join forces with the Kenites who were defending their lands from the ravishes of the Colonial Government of the time.
Matene Te Huaki, a rangatira of the Ngati Te Rangiunuora, had the honour of commanding Te Wharau-o-Iroiro, in which the combined Te Arawa forces were victorious. When the waka was not used for large-scale war operations, it was a vessel incredibly decorated with plumes of the kaka and other noted birds of status.
The last such occasion was when Governor George Grey visited Rotorua in 1870. The great vessel was the primary means of transportation that conveyed the Governor across the region's two great bodies of water.
Rotorua nui a Kahumatamomoe and Te Rotoiti-i-kite-ai-a-Ihenga. With a change of temperature within the area, Te Whanau o Iroiro was sunk not far from Korokitewao like many other waka of the time.
The great waka, however, was awoken from its slumber when competition crept into the Arawa boundary.
A challenge was issued on testing the great vessels of the past again; Taheretikitiki, the legendary waka of the Waikato, was to make an appearance, and so too were Te Omapere, Apaparata and Waonui-a-Tane.
With a grand ceremony, Te Wharau-o-Iroiro was lifted from its watery grave. It was again re-fitted with its rauawa, tokai, taumanu, tauihu and taumaihi before its last dash on the lake of Rotorua on 24th February 1903.
Not much is recalled following the great race; however, it seems that it was stripped of its past regalia and positioned upon the shores of Lake Rotorua, a reminder of the remarkable engineering feats accomplished by the craftsmen of the past.
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