Kāhu ki Rotorua: Hongi Hika’s clash with Te Arawa

Te Pane ō Matawhaura.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

Nō te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e rua tekau mā rua ka tere te ope tauā a Hongi Hika ki ngā muka whānui o te ahi nō Māui he takitaki mate te haere.

Kua kaha ake a Hongi me ōna rangatira i te pū, ā, kai te tihi o te whakaaro ngā mate nui ōna. Ka tae te ope ki pā Mātakitaki kai Waipā kai te takiwā o Pirongia ki reira rātau patu tangata haere ai.

Ka hia rau rangatira i mate. I patua, i hangina, i kainga.

Me te rau hoki o ngā herehere. Ko ētehi o ngā rangatira o taua wā ko te wahine rangatira o Potatau Te Wherowhero me tōna matua wahine, engari kāore te mere a Hongi i pā atu ki a rāua, otīā rātau hoki ngā ariki nui.

Ko Kahuwhariki he wahine rangatira nō Ngāti Mahuta me Ngāti Ngamuri Kaitaua. Ka mau heretia, ka pupuringia tēnei rangatira e Hongi Hika.

E ai te kōrero me ko Kōpū rere ata ki te takapau o Te Ikaroa ko Kahuwhariki ki te mata o te whenua. Ka mahuetia te whenua pākākā e Hongi, ka huri te ihu o tana hiahia patu tangata ki te takiwā Waiariki.

Ko Te Arawa hai kai māna. Ka rewa te ope tauā.

E ai te kōrero ka haria a Kahuwhariki me etehi atu o ngā wahine rangatira hai māunu,hai tāruru i te pōkaikutu a Te Arawa kia puta ki waho o te pā.

Ngaraka Hauiti Moore ( Te Whareputara). Daughter of Te Whareputara Hauiti and Kahuwhariki.

Ko te wahine tēnei i whakamiharotia nuitia e ngā rangatira katoa o te motu, nō reira me pēwhea e kore ai e puta a Te Arawa i ngā tūwatawata.

Ka takahia e Hongi ngā whenua o Ngāti Kawiti ko te ope o Hongi i rokohanga mai e Te Whareputara.

Ko Te Whareputara Hauiti he rangatira nui nō Ngāti Kawiti. Ka wawe tāna hekenga iho i tōna pā kia riria atu rātau te hoa ngangare. E warea katoatia ngā kanohi o te hoa ngangare ki te nehenehe me te tarapeke haere o ngā kokako pekewero, ka kawhakina a Kahuwhariki e Te Whareputara.Anō nei he manu motu i te koromahanga.

Ka moea a Kahuwhariki e Te Whareputara ka whānau ko Ngaraka.Ka nōhia ngā whenua o Ngāti Pikiao. He ahakoa i mauheretia a Kahuwhariki kāore e whakaparahakongia tōna kāwai i ngā rangatira o Ngāti Kawiti. I arohaina a Kahuwhariki e ngā rangatira katoa o ngā wai wawara o Te Rotoiti, ka nui hoki te koa o Ngāti Mahuta me Ngāti Ngamuri Kaitaua i te rongonga e manaakingia kahangia ana tō rātau puhi e ngā rangatira o Ngāti Kawiti.

Kāore e mōhiongia te tau i mate ai tēnei wahine rangatira, wheoi anō nō te tau kotahi mano,me waru rau,e toru tekau ka whānau a Ngaraka.Nō te kotahi mano,e iwa rau, kotahi tekau mā iwa i hemo ai.Kua tanu mai ki Pukearuhe.

Marara noa ona uri i te nuku o te whenua. Ko tētehi o rātau ko tō tatou wahine kohi kōrero mō Kahū Ki Rotorua, ko Raukura. Nāna ngā kōrero nei mō tōna kuia rangatira.

English Translation

In 1822, Hongi Hika raised a large war party intending to move throughout the North Island to settle past grievances.

His confidence was significantly bolstered with his acquisition of guns and ammunition. New weapons would severely change the landscape of warfare throughout New Zealand.

Around this time, Hongi was laying siege to the defiant fortified stronghold known as Mātakitaki. It has been reported that Hongi had a force numbering 3000 men, warriors with a large percentage armed with muskets.

It was here that the prominent war chief Te Wherowhero made a brave stand; in the opening stages of the battle, his warriors were fortunate enough to catch the overconfident Ngapuhi by surprise, killing a substantial amount before retreating to the pā however, later withdrawing altogether.

It was during this period that a series of remarkable events unfolded. Hongi had taken the site; however, he did not harm the wife nor mother of Te Wherowhero; instead, he treated them with the respect of their rank. He did, however, secure many captives and befell upon Kahuwhariki—a rangatira herself who was famed for her beauty.

Te Pane ō Matawhaura.

Having avenged his past grievances at Mātakitaki, Hongi moved upon Te Arawa. He was spotted as he moved through the lands to the north of Matawhaura. A local chief called Te Whareputara Hauiti fell upon the advance guard of Hongi, and in the commotion, Kahuwhariki was captured.

Though the eventual outcome for Te Arawa would prove disastrous, Te Whareputara and his people would survive.

Throughout Ngāti Pikiao Kahuwhariki was loved by her husband’s people, and recognized as a high-born lady of Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Ngamuri kaitaua were pleased when they got news of the union between their daughter and a Ngāti Pikiao Chief.

Eventually Kahuwhariki and Te Whareputara Hauiti would become parents, and their daughter Ngaraka would live through the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the period known as the New Zealand Land Wars and World War 1.

She passed away in 1919 and is buried at Pukearuhe with her people. Her descendants are numerous and found throughout the country, if not the world.

Through one such descendant, Raukura, we again hear the story of Kahuwhariki.