Kāhu ki Rotorua: Te Motu tapu ā Tinirau - The lone sentinel, Mokoia Island

In the heart of Lake Rotorua stands the lone sentinel, Mokoia Island.

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Click here for English translation
Ki te roto moana tā tātou poitō whakaharahara e pōtere kau ana, te manu tūtei o te iwi, te tumu whakatau pahi e kīa ai ko Mokoia. He pā-onamata, he kāinga, he waerenga, he urupā, waihoki he takapou ahurewa nō ngā tupuna.

E toru ona ingoa karanga ko Mokoia, ko Te Motutapu-a-Tinirau, ā, hai Kepa Ehau ko Te Motutapu-a-Kahumatamomoe.

E toru ōna ingoa me te tapu hoki o ia karangatanga ingoa. Nā Ihenga pea, he pōtiki nā Kahumatamomoe i tapaina ko Te Motutapu a Kahumatamomoe, ka kitea e ia te moana e hora nā, ka tapaina ko Te Rotoruanui-a-Kahumatamomoe hai pākuha ki tōna matua tāne kaokaoroa a Kahumatamomoe, nā wai ka mōea a Hinetekakara, he tamahine nā Kahumatamomoe e Ihenga.

Nō tēnei wā pea i tapaina ai te moutere ko Te Motutapu a Kahumatamomoe, he whakapae nōku. Kia ahatia.

Nō Hawaiki te ingoa tūturu a Te Motutapu a Tinirau. I haria mai e ngā tūpuna hai whakamaumāharatanga ki te whenua me ngā rangatira i mahuetia. E ai ki a Te Arawa, he tamaiti a Tinirau nā Tangaroa. Ina hoki te whakaaro nuitia e tōna matua tāne mōna ka riro te mana nui o Te Puna i Rangiriri i a ia.

Kai tētehi moutere tapu rawa tēnei puna, ā, nā te mea kua whakaturia a Tinirau hei pou kaiāwha mō tēnei moutere ka tapaina te wāhi nei ko Te Motutapu-a-Tinirau. He ahakoa haere ai te tangata ki hea i te puku o te moana nui o Kiwa ka kitea tēnei ingoa a Te Motutapu-a-Tinirau, ki Tahiti, ki Huahine, ki Rarotonga ki te Waitemataatanga-a- Ngatoroirangi tae noa mai ki te takere nui o Te Arawa waka.

E kore rawa te tangata e hōhā i tana titiro atu i tātahi ki te motu rā me tona āhua he rite ki te tohorā nui hai whakamaumahara i a tātou ki te hononga o te tangata ki ngā kararehe o te moana.

Waikimihia - Hinemoas Pool on Mokoia Island. Photo / Te Rawhitiroa Bosch

Ko te tuatoru o ngā ingoa, nō te wa i a Kawaarero. He uri nō Ika tētehi o ngā rangatira nui o runga o Te Arawa, hei hoa haere mō Tamatekapua rātou ko Ngāti Ohomairangi.

Whoi anō, nō te wā o tēnei tangata kua kapi noa te waiariki ki ngā uri o Rangitihi, kai tahataha wētehi kai Te Motutapu anō wētehi.

Ko Kawaarero ki Te Motutapu ko Uenukukopako ki te pūtake o Whakapoungākau. Ka riria a Kawaarero e ngā toa o uta. Ko Uenukukopako to rātou kurī unutoto, ko Te Rangiteaorere hoki tētehi o ngā ringa kaha ka mate katoa te tini o Kawaarero i a rāua me ō rāua tangata.

Ka ara ake te kōrero toa, i werohia te kanohi o Kawaarero ki te kō ka mate, koia i tapaina te moutere, hei whakamaumāharatanga ki tēnei riri ko Mokoia.

Nā reira te motu e takoto nei. Kai te kaha ātawhaitia tonutia e ngā karanga hapū o Te Arawa mātua i a Ngāti Whakaue rātou ko Ngāti Rangiwewehi, ko Te Ure-o-Uenukukopako, ko Ngāti Te Rangiteaorere.

English Translation

In the heart of Lake Rotorua stands the lone sentinel, Mokoia Island.

Also known as Te Motutapu a Tinirau— or, as it was claimed by Kepa Ehau the late Te Arawa scholar — Te Motutapu-a-Kahumatamomoe.

Three names with three separate stories.

It can be presumed that the name Te Motutapu-a-Kahumata-momoe was given by his nephew Ihenga when he discovered the body of water that we today know as Lake Rotorua. Its true and full name is Te Rotoruanui-a-Kahumatamomoe so named as it was the second large body of water discovered by Ihenga when exploring the central North Island area.

The discovery was also a great gift to seal the marriage between Ihenga and the daughter of Kahumatamomoe, Hinetekakara.

The more traditionally acknowledged name of the island traces its origins back to the far distant homeland of Hawaiiki.

The mysterious motherland for the Te Arawa tribe.

Here once lived a great chief named Tinirau who was the son of Tangaroa the parent of the great ocean and all life. So great was the authority of Tinirau that he was charged with the care of sea life that came forth from the sacred living waters known as Te Puna i a Rangiriri. The island where this sacred body of water lay was upon the Sacred Island of Tinirau.

Throughout all of Polynesia sacred islands where sea life was abundant were named Te Motutapu-a-Tinirau.

This name is found in Huahine, upon the island of Rarotonga, in the Auckland Harbour and finally here within the Rotorua area. From the shoreline looking across the water the great shape of a whale can be seen as a reminder of the mana that was Tinirau's.

Te Motu Tapu ā Tinirau. Whakaahua/Raimona Inia

The latter name traces its origin back to the people of Kawaarero who were the descendants of the chief Ika who travelled upon Te Arawa waka with his kinsman, Tamatekapua, and other great Arawa chiefs.

Arorangi was a great chief who traced his genealogy from Kawaarero and during his time his people ruled over Mokoia.

Kawaarero was attacked by a great force from the shore, these were the warriors of Whakaue who were led by their chief Uenukukopako and one of the most dashing of Te Arawa fighters, Te Rangiteaorere.

Arorangi it is remembered was eventually caught when the island was being attacked.
Uenukukopako killed Arorangi by piercing his face with a kō, a traditional digging implement used to plant and harvest kūmara.

The action permanently tattooed the face of Arorangi.

Mokoia is a cruel play on words as the Māori word "moko" means to tattoo and "ia" is a pronoun meaning him, her, he or she.

So, it is the majestic island of Mokoia the island that today is looked after by Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngati Rangiteaorere and Ngāti Uenukukopako