Kāhu ki Rotorua: Te whenua e karangangia ko Mataipuku - Series of battles to avenge death of relative

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He parekura tēnei nō Te Waharoa, ko Mataipuku. Ki ngā rekereke o Ngongotahā māunga ki te hauāuru o Rotorua tētehi pīhi whenua e karangangia ko Mataipuku.

Nō te tuarima me te tuaono o Akuwhata o te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e toru tekau mā ono ka parekuratia a Ngai Te Arawa i te ringa kaha o Te Waharoa. He rangatira nui nō Ngāti Hāua. Ko te take o tana parekura he ngaki utu.

I kōhurungia tana pōtiki a Te Hunga e tētehi o ngā rangatira o Ngāti Whakaue i tae ai a Ngāti Hāua a Ngāti Maniapoto me Ngāti Tamaterā ki konei. Ko ngā kōrero itiiti kua ngaro noa atu engari kua waimarie tātou i ngā tuhinga a ngā pakeke o mua.

Ka tae ngā mātua o Te Waharoa ka noho ki kahukurī he whenua kai te taha tonga o Ngongotahā māunga kai te takiwā e karangangia i ēnei rā ko Western Heights.

Ka takoto te mātua. Ka tōpū katoa ngā hapū o Te Arawa ki Te Pukeroa te pā whakairo onamata. Whakatōpūngia katoangia ngā toa, ko Ngāti Pikiao, ko Tarawhai me wai atu o ngā hapū me tētehi wahanga iti nō Tūhoe, ana, tae mai a Te Pūrewa i runga anō o tōna tinana. Nō Ngāti Whakaue tōna māmā a Kōkāmutu.

Ko Te Pūrewa tētehi o ngā toa i Pukekaikaahu i hinga ai a Tūhourang me Ngāti Rangitihi i te tau kotahi mano e waru rau e rua tekau mā rua. Kāti he kōrero kē atu.

Ko Korokai rāua ko Ngāhīhī ngā tohunga nui ki roto o Te Pukeroa, ka haere ki Makawe tētehi o ngā atua nui o Ngāti Whakaue ka mutu ngā karakia ka karangangia te iwi. Ko ngā tohutohu a Makawe kia kāua a Te Arawa e puta i Te Pukeroa kia ū kia noho ki te māhau o te pā whakairo. Ki te kore a Te Arawa e ū ki te kōrero, ka rere ki waho, ka hinga i ngā toa rau o Ngāti Hāua.

Ka noho a Te Waharoa me ōna rangatira ki te whakatakoto riri. Nō te aonga o te awatea kua whakatumatumangia e Te Waharoa te pā o Te Pukeroa me ōna toa. He ahakoa ngā kōrero whakatūpato a ngā rangatira nui pēnei i a Tohi Te Ururangi me Te Pūrewa ka rere pokanoa ngā rangatira iti ki te waha tieke o te Hinenuiotepō.

Kua wehewehengia e Te Waharoa tana ope tāua kia toru ngā mātua. Ko tētehi mātua ko te māunu, mā rātou e whakapoapoa ngā rangatira i Te Pukeroa, he waetea ngā tangata. Ka nui te pai, kua whāia rātou e ngā rangatira o Te Arawa, te whakareretanga atu kua whati, ka karanga kia whakahokia – hai aha noa atu mā te manu takiata ka rere poupou noa atu ki te hāputa o te riri, kāore he titiro ki te ao. Tae ki tētehi wāhanga ka hura te nui o Ngāti Hāua, kua mau a Te Arawa i te hīnaki a Te Waharoa.

Ki taha tētē he rau toa me ngā pū ki taha kōmako he rau toa me ā rātou pū. Ka pūhia haerengia i te awaawa ka mate ngā rangatira. Me ngā rangatira nui hoki o Te Arawa. Ko tētehi o ngā rangatira ko te matāika o te riri ko Mataipuku he rangatira nō Ngāti Tuara.

Tētahi rangatira nō Ngāti Whakaue e korerotia ana ko Tohi Te Ururangi.

Nā reira i ingoangia ai te parekura ko Mataipuku. Anei anō tētehi wāhanga raruraru ka mate hoki ētehi o ngā toa o Maniapoto o Tamaterā me Ngāti Hāua i te whakawhitinga o te pupuhitanga o ngā toa ka mate i ngā mata pokanoa.

Nā reira i manawawera ai a Te Pohepohe, ka matataki-a-Whiro rāua ko Te Waharoa nō te kuhutanga mai o ngā toa kāore i maringi toto. Ka aroha iti nei rāua. Ka hoki atu rāua me ngā tupapaku huhua ki Kahukurī, ka poroa ngā ūpoko, ka tapahia ngā tupapaku, taona rawatia, mitikia ake, ka mutu.

I hinga a Te Arawa i reira i nōhia mai i roto i te nehenehe kātahi ka rewa te mātua ka hoki ki ō rātou whenua. Ko te take o te riri he ngaki utu, ehara i te noho whenua.

Whoi anō, tētehi anō kōrero itiiti. Nō Te Arawa hoki tētehi wāhanga o Te Waharoa. Ka rua, nōna e itiiti ai ka rauorangia a Te Waharoa e Pango Ngāwene, he tohunga nui nō Ngāti Whakaue.

E taitamariki ana ka hoki a Te Waharoa ki ōna tangata. Tērā ētehi ka kī mai ka whakaitia , ka whakaparahakongia a Te Waharoa e ōna tangata, nā reira pea ka tupu kinongia ai tōna mauāhara ki a Ngāti Whakaue, ka pakeke haeretia ka puta mai ki ngā waiariki me te mārama noa o tana porotū i tōna iwi whakaangi. Ka roa tēnei mamae ki te whatumanawa o Te Arawa.

To the west of Rotorua township, below the peak of Ngongotahā mountain near where Clayton Road, Lake Road, and Fairy Springs cross lies the old battlefield named Mataipuku.

The 5th and 6th of August 1836 is a significant period for Te Arawa. During this year, Te Waharoa of Ngāti Hāua, joined by the Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Tamatera, travelled to Rotorua to avenge the murder of their relation Te Hunga; their plan was simple — to attack the Ngāti Whakaue and avenge their loss.

The finer details have been lost to time; however, snippets of writings left by past elders reveal that when Te Waharoa arrived in the Rotorua area, they camped at a place known as Kahukurī at a site that lies around the general Western Heights area.

What is most outstanding is the outside forces that participated in the battle. As outlined earlier, Te Waharoa was joined by his relative of Maniapoto and fighters from Tamatera. The Ngāti Whakaue were bolstered by warriors from Ngāti Pikiao, Tarawhai and other sub-tribes due to their lineage; remarkable also was the attendance of the famous Tuhoe fighter Te Pūrewa his mother being from Ngāti Whakaue.

Te Pūrewa had featured in an earlier battle with the Tuhourangi and Rangitihi warriors at an earlier fight called Pukekaikaahu. These subtribes of Te Arawa suffered a monumental defeat; however, that is another story.

The combined Te Arawa force gathered upon Te Pukeroa, refortifying also Muruika and other sections of present day Ohinemutu. The leading tohunga consulted their Atua Te Makawe, and the priests explained that if the warriors left the safety of their stronghold, they would be defeated.

Te Waharoa had devised his strategy also, making off into a clearing he offered himself as bait, standing in the distance he taunted the Arawa, he dared them to attack him eventually the younger men overcome with rage took up the challenge.

The old battlefield named Mataipuku. Photo / Rawinia Phillips Smith

Disobeying the readings of the priests, sections of the Arawa flew down from Te Pukeroa towards the awaiting chief.

One story tells how Te Waharoa, having drawn the Arawa from Te Pukeroa, had successfully drawn them into his trap. What the Arawa is that Te Waharoa had divided his men into three sections.

First, he sent his fastest runners to entice the Arawa from the stronghold; this was successful. The pursuers had no idea that they were being led into a trap. At a specific section, the two other groups of warriors stationed to the sides in the forest were to open fire upon the tiring Arawa men.

Te Purewa tried in vain to pull his relations back. So did the Ngati Whakaue chief Tohi Te Ururangi, but to no avail; many young leaders lost their lives in the ensuing crossfire from Te Arawa Mataiawhea led out the Ngāti Tuara from Te Pukeroa, where Mataipuku was the first killed, hence the name of the battlefield.

Warriors of Ngati Haua, Maniapoto and Tamatera were also shot, accidently. This blind oversight resulted in Te Pohepohe feuding with Te Waharoa; it was on the account of their men getting in between these two strong headed men that no blood was shed. Content with their victory, they returned to Kahukurī victorious.

Before leaving the territory altogether.

As an added note, Te Waharoa, the mighty leader of Ngati Haua, was himself saved as a youth by the priest Pango Ngawene, he was then raised by the Ngāti Whakaue before returning to his people where it said that he was tormented by his relations for being taken captive.

Maybe this gnawed away at his heart for when an adult the grief, pain, loss of life and torment that he inflicted upon the Arawa left a great scar.