Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Tērā tētehi iwi mana nui o Ngai Te Arawa otīā he karanga hapū nō te whare tapu o Ngāti Ohomairangi, koia ko Ngāti Tarawhai. Tētehi iwi mātanga pakeke ki te whakairo rākau.
I kaha nōhia ngā tahataha, ngā pari tū me ngā mania o Ikataina, he roto moana kai tūā o Tarawera ki roto iti nei o te moana i kitea ai e Ihenga. Kapi kau ana ngā tahataha i te rākau Māori.
He rākau puaka, he kahikātea, ā, he tōtara hoki. Ka hū a Rotomahana i te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e waru tekau mā ono ka rere ngā morehu. Ka paru katoa ngā roto moana, ko Tarawera, ko Tikitapu, ko Rotokakahi, ko Okareka whaihoki ko Ikataina.
Nā te paru o Tarawera i ngoikore ai te ihi o te whenua me te nehenehe mō tētehi wā roa. Ka mate ngā tangata, ka hinga ngā rākau otīā ka oma te iwi. Ko te pā whakairo onamata ko Te Koutu.
Te kūrae kōtuku e toitu nā i ngā wai tuku kiri o te iwi. He pā tawhito, he kāinga, he waerenga, ā, he urupā. Kai te tihi o te pā tētehi whare kōwhatu nā te katipā tonu i whakatu.
Ko Te Rangitakaroro te waharoa. I whakatūngia i mua o te taenga mai o Hongi ki te patu i a Te Arawa, ā, koia hoki tētehi i puta i te pakarutanga o Rotomahana. Kāti ! kai te takiwā o te kotahi mano e iwa rau, kotahi tekau mā wha ka kitea te waharoa e tētehi tangata kohi taonga.
He katipa, nō Tamakimakaurau ko Cheeseman te tangata nei. Koia te rangatira o te Mūheama i taua taimā. Ka uru mai te hiahia ki tōna ngākau kia tū te waharoa nei ki te Mūheama.
Ka tāti ia ki te whakatakoto rautaki. Nā ko Ben Keys tana tangata ki Te Waiariki.
He ahakoa he katipa hoki tēnei tangata he tino mōhio ki te reo o te takiwā me ngā tikanga. Ka riro māna tēnei kaupapa e hāpai. Ka hui ia me ngā kaumātua o Ngāti Tarawhai otīā ngā korokē o Ngāti Te Iwimokai. Ko Neke Kapua te māngai. He mātanga nui hoki tēnei tohunga.
Ka puta mai te whakatau. Ki te Mūheama te waharoa. Engari me oti kē i a rātou te whakatū i tētehi whare kōwhatu hei tiaki i ngā kōiwi o ngā tūpuna kua roa e moe nā ki te kōpū o te whenua.
Hai tā Cheeseman hoki, e pai ana kia kāua e piki ake te nama hai hoko i te waharoa i te wha tekau pauna – e mea ana hoki koe e koro!
Ka mana te hui. Ka tae te tangata mahi whare kōwhatu. He katipa ko Henderson.Kāore au i mōhio nō whea te tangata engari tana rangi tuatahi ki Te Koutu, ka wehi katoa te tapeha, ka oma atu.
Ka tae anō tetehi rangi mahi ka hoki atu te tangata me tana huatahi, ka oti i a rāua te mahi, ka wehe. Ka puta mai ngā kaumātua o Ngāti Te Iwimokai ki te hahu i ngā koiwi tūpuna.
Ka oti ana, ka kīa te whatitoka o te whare kōwhatu. Kāore e roa ana pea, ka puta te rongo kua rāwekengia ngā kōiwi e ngā totohe. Ka nehua ngā kōiwi ki te tihi o te pā maioro. Ko tētehi mea anō hoki kia kōrerongia e ahau tērā ko te mana o tō tātou kuia ko Keita.
Ko Te Ata Keita Whitika he tamāhine nā Te Motuoha koia te mātāmua o Neke Kapua. Ka tae etehi rā etehi pō ka hoki tēnei kuia me tana tūpara ki te pā kia kāua anō e rāwekengia te urupā e ngā ringa whēnako.
Wheoi anō. Kai te tihi o te pā te whare kōwhatu e tū nenehawa ana. Ki te haere koe ki reira, kia tika hoki. He urupā, he wāhi tapu. I te Mūheama o Rotorua tō tātou tupuna ko Te Rangitakaroro, engari nā te rū o te whenua i ngā tau kua pahemo kua whakahokia ki te Mūheama o Tamaki Makaurau.
Taihoa pea e hoki mai ai tō tātou rangatira ki te arahi i a tātou ngā kākākura o Te Kokotā.
Among the tribes of Ngai Te Arawa and Ngāti Ohomairangi is a people famed for their skill in manipulating wood.
The Ngāti Tarawhai people once occupied the lake region of Ikataina before departing following the eruption of 1886, which decimated the surrounding Tarawera, Tikitapu, Rotokakahi and Okareka bodies of water.
The tremendous outpouring of scoria and volcanic ash would forever change the landscape of the once fertile land of Oruaroa-Oruarangi north towards the shoreline of Tauranganui.
Apart from the people, a few remaining physical taonga have survived the ravages of the eruption.
The famous citadel of Te Koutu stands at the north end of the lake. Today it serves as an urupā for the elders of the tribe and at the apex of the fortress is a lonely tomb with an exciting story.
Te Rangitakaroro was the known gateway that survived the raids of Mokoia of 1823 and stood through the eruption of 1886. Eventually, in 1914, the famous gateway caught the attention of Mr Cheeseman, curator of the Auckland Museum.
With the help of Ben Keys, a local translator of the Rotorua area, a discussion was held with the elders of Ngāti Te Iwimokai, under the leadership of the renowned master carver Neke Kapua.
All present agreed that a concrete vault would be created on behalf of the Museum to house the bones of the elders who lay at the base of the gateway, and the Museum would take the gateway to stand as a feature in their collections.
Mr Keys was also instructed to pay no more than 40 pounds for the exquisite gateway Te Rangitakaroro named after a prominent leader and descendant of the high priest Ngātoroirangi.
Te Rangitakaroro, the gateway, was carved by two masters, Mahikore and Te Awatapu, and their apprentices Wero Tāroi, Te Amo, Mātakitaki and others.
A local tomb master, Mr Henderson, was employed to carry out the erection of the tomb that would be used to house the bones of the past chiefs.
It did, however, take a lot of convincing by Mr Keys, as the first day that Mr Henderson arrived at the old pā, feeling a little unnerved, he promptly departed from the site with great haste.
After further discussions with Mr Key, Henderson returned with his son to continue and complete the work. The process of placing the bones of the local elders buried at the base of the site was undertaken by the Ngāti Te Iwimokai.
The tomb, however, served more as a beacon to artefact seekers who had no problem breaking into the vault, scattering the bones of the elders across the site of the pā in the hope of finding taonga.
Eventually, the elders of the tribe would return to re-bury their relatives. And to ensure that such an act would never again occur, the elderly kuia Te Ata Keita Witika would frequent the area with her father's double-barreled shotgun.
Today the tomb still stands upon the apex of the ancient cemetery of Te Koutu, and the gateway, Te Rangitakaroro, was housed within the local Rotorua Museum until removed due to earthquake damage to the complex.
Mark Hohua, known as Shark, was allegedly beaten to death by fellow gang members in 2022.