Kia noho mātāmua te reo Māori, ka whakarāpopotohia te kōrero nei i takohatia mai e ngā koroua o Ngāi Te Rangi, otirā ngā tuhinga kei te muri o ngā kōrero nei.
For te reo Māori to remain at the forefront, an overview will be provided of the historical account regarding Ōtūmoetai presented by our elders of Ngāi Te Rangi and the written sources presented at the end of this account.
He kōrero tēnei nā Ngāi Te Rangi mō te Pā rangatira o Ōtūmoetai, engari kaua ko te rohe kua tapaina e te pākehā i ēnei rā. Nā runga anō i tōna mana, i tohea rawatia. Mai i te wā o Tamawhariua tae noa ki te pakanga o Pukehinahina, i a Ngāi Te Rangi te mana o te pā nei, heoi anō, mutu kau ana te pakanga nui ki a Tauiwi i whakarērea te pā e te nuinga. Ko te nuinga o ngā waihotanga iho kua mōhiotia nuitia, nō Ngāi Tukairangi, arā, ko Ruawahine me tana hoa a John Lees Faulkner, ko Taiaho Hori Ngatai, ko Renata Turiri mā, i te houanga mai o te rautau 1900.
This is an account of Ngāi Te Rangi regarding the prominent pā of Ōtūmoetai, however it does not refer to the area renamed by pākehā as it is known today. It was also commonly argued due to the mana it possessed. From the time of Tamawhariua right through to the battle of Pukehinahina, Ngāi Te Rangi held the mana over the pā, although shortly after the big battle with Tauiwi, the majority of its inhabitants fled. The majority of those that remained in the beginning of the 1900 century were known to be of Ngāi Tukairangi, such as Ruawahine and her husband John Lees Faulkner, Taiaho Hori Ngatai, Renata Turiri and others.
Ko te tupuna a Hei, he tūngāne nā Tamatekapua, ā, nāna hoki te rohe o Tauranga Moana (mai i Katikati ki Otawa) i tapaina, i ōna wā, te ingoa Te Takapū o Waitaha. Ko Taiwhanake I, he mokopuna nā Waitaha, i nōhia ki Ōtūmoetai i te wā o Waitaha i Tauranga Moana.
The brother of Tamatekapua was called Hei and at this time he claimed all the land around Tauranga Moana and named it Te Takapū o Waitaha (the belly of his son Waitaha). Taiwhanake I, grandson of Waitaha, also resided at Ōtūmoetai when Waitaha resided in Tauranga Moana.
Kua herea a Ngāti Ranginui me Waitaha mā te tātai whakapapa, ngā herenga matua ko Ihuparapara, he tamāhine nā Ruarangi o Waitaha, he wahine ki a Tamatea.
I te pakanga o kōkōwai, i a Kuraroa te mana ki Ōtūmoetai Pā, he mokopuna nā Ranginui. I takea mai ngā kōrero nei i a Tawaha o Ngāi Tamawhariua (1883):
“Ka kitea e Kuraroa, ka mea iho kia Tamawhariua ko wai tēnā? Me he rangatira pea koe e ora aku wahine aku tamariki?
Ka kī a Tamawhariua; Ko ahau ko Tamawhariua, ki te whati te ope nā he rangatira au, ki te kore e whati he tūtuā au. Haere kia Takau waiho mai a Otumoetai kia au, ka hoatu a Tamawhariua te patu a Matawhero, ka ki atu a Tamawhariua kia Kuraroa; ki te kā te ahi ki Otumoetai kia hohoro iho - ki te tūtaki koe i a Ngāi Te Rangi hapainga atu a Matawhero, kia rnohio ai a Ngaiterangi kua mau te rongo.
Ka horo Otumoetai, ka kite a Kuraroa i uta, ka whakatika mai Kuraroa. Ka tūtaki ia Ngāi Te Rangi e patua haeretia ana ā Ngāti Ranginui - ka hapainga rnai a Matawhero, ka mutu te patu a Ngāi Te Rangi - ka riro tēnei pā o Otumoetai ia Ngāi Te Rangi.”
Ngāti Ranginui and Waitaha are closely connected in whakapapa, one of the main connections is Ihuparapara, which is a daughter to Ruarangi of Waitaha, and is also the wife of Tamatea.
At the battle of kōkōwai, Kuraroa possessed the mana at Ōtūmoetai Pā, the grandchild of Ranginui. The following quote came from Tawaha of Ngāi Tamawhariua (1883):
“Kuraroa sees something and says to Tamawhariua, who is there? If you are a chief, are you going to kill my wives and children?
Tamawhariua says; it is me Tamawhariua, if the party falls, then yes I am a chief, if not then I am of low birth. Go to Takau and leave Ōtūmoetai to me, and Tamawhariua gives the patu named Matawhero and says to Kuraroa, if the fire is set on Ōtūmoetai, escape swiftly – if you should come across Ngāi Te Rangi, hold fast to Matawhero so that Ngāi Te Rangi knows we have established peace. Ōtūmoetai was taken and Kuraroa was seen ashore. It was here that the battle between Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui was witnessed and it was here that Ngāi Te Rangi succeeded in possessing the pā at Ōtūmoetai”
I hohou te rongo i a Te Rangihouhiri a Kahukino rāua ko Takau mā te hononga a te tamāhine a Takau, a Hinewa, rāua ko Te Rangihouhiri a Kahukino. I riro i a Te Rangihouhiri a Kahukino te pā heke iho mai ki ōna uri, o Te Materāwaho.
Peace was settled between Te Rangihouhiri a Kahukino and Takau through the marriage of Takau’s daughter, Hinewa, and Te Rangihouhiri a Kahukino. Te Rangihouhiri a Kahukino gained the pā of Ōtūmoetai and passed it down to their uri of Te Materāwaho.
I haere a Tamawhariua ki te taunaha whenua i roto i te rohe o Tauranga Moana. Ka riro ngā whenua ki tana mokopuna a Hurihuri, tama a Tukorako. Koia nei te mana tuku iho nō Tamawhariua ki ōna uri maha.
Tamawhariua laid claim to a few places in Tauranga Moana which was passed on to his grandson Hurihuri, the son of Tukorako. This was the mana passed down to the many generations of Tamawhariua.
Nō ngā kāwai rangatira katoa o Ōtūmoetai, te Ariki Taungaroa, a Hoori Kingi Tūpaea. Ko tōna mana i heke iho i tōna whaea, a Hineteoro, arā he uri nā Tamaoho rāua ko Tauwhao, nā Tukorako, nā Puhirake te tuatahi. Ko tōna pāpā, ko Te Waru, he uri nā Rāwahirua rāua ko Tauwhao, nō Tauaiti. I ōna wā, i pakangahia a Ngāpuhi, a Hauraki, a Te Arawa mō te pā o Ōtūmoetai, ka mutu, nāna anō te rongo i hohoutia. Waihoki, i ōna wā, ko tēnei hoki te wāhi tūturu o te tupuna a whare o Ngāi Tauwhao ki Rangiwaea, a Te Haka a Te Tupere.
The paramount chief, Hoori Kingi Tūpaea, descends from the chiefly lines of those that possessed the mana at Ōtūmoetai. His mana stems from his mother, Hineteoro, a descendent of Tamaoho and Tauwhao, Tukorako and Puhirake I. His father, Te Waru, descends from Rāwahirua and Tauwhao, of Tauaiti. In his time, he fought Ngāpuhi, Hauraki and Te Arawa over the pā of Ōtūmoetai and it was also him that established peace to the land. This was also the original place of the ancestral house of Ngāi Tauwhao at Rangiwaea, named Te Haka a Te Tupere.
Ngāi Tukairangi, Ngāti Kuku, Te Matewaitai
Ko Taiaho Hori Ngatai te ariki o Ngāi Tukairangi i ōna wā, nōna hoki tētahi wāhanga nui o te pā, mai i te mutunga o te pakanga nui ki tōna matenga i te tau 1912. He hononga whakapapa ōna ki a Te Materāwaho mā tōna whaea, ki a Ngāi Tukairangi mā tōna matua. He hononga nui tō Ngāi Tukairangi, tō Ngāti Kuku, tō Te Matewaitai, tō Te Materāwaho me Ngāi Tamawhariua.
I ōna wā, ko Ōtūmoetai he whanga āhuru i te tangata, he whanga hokohoko anō hoki. Ko tētahi o ngā tupuna wahine rangatira o Ngāi Tukairangi, engari nō Ngāi Tamawhariua anō hoki, kua mōhiotia whānuitia i tana nōhanga ki Ōtūmoetai, ko Ruawahine. I moea tētahi pākehā rongonui mō te mahi hokohoko, arā ko John Lees Faulkner.
Taiaho Hori Ngatai was the prominent chief of Ngāi Tukairangi within his time, he also had one of the biggest sections of the pā, which he possessed from the end of the big battle right through to his death in 1912. He has whakapapa to Te Materāwaho through his mother and to Ngāi Tukairangi through his father. Ngāi Tukairangi, Ngāti Kuku, Te Matewaitai, Te Materāwaho and Ngāi Tamawhariua are all very closely linked.
During its time, Ōtūmoetai was a shelter for many people and a place of trading. Ruawahine, a well known and high ranked woman of Ngāi Tukairangi, and from Ngāi Tamawhariua, is known throughout for her residence at Ōtūmoetai. She married John Lees Faulkner, a pākehā well-known throughout the country and the globe for his trading.
Ngā Tohutoro│ Written Sources
Aku Taumata kōrero; Ngā Marae me ngā iwi o Tauranga Moana, nā Tauranga Moana Truat Board 1990.
Te Kōrero mō Tamawhariua; He kōrero ēnei nā Tawaha o Ngāi Tamawhariua;
17 Hakihea 1883
Whārangi 381-383 Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana Pukapuka II
“Te Matewaitai, a Ngāi Te Rangi hapū”, (footnote 84) – “a large hapū based at Otumoetai 1858” aligned with the Kingitanga movement (Pg 66 Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana Pukapuka I)
“Tomika Te Mutu and Te Kuka of Ōtumoetai” – hui with Grey 14 May 1864 (pg 124 Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana, Pukapuka I)
Mathesons Farm - Debbies McCauley sorced from;
“Korero mō Ngāi Tauwhao” - Brown, Archdeacon Alfred Nesbit, Journal, typescript, Tauranga District Libraries.
“Kōrero mo Ngai Tauwhao” Chapman, Rev. Thomas, Letters and Journal, typescript, Auckland Museum Library
Korero mo Otumoetai - Maori Land Court Minute Books, Rotorua District (Henare Te Pukuatua, Maketu Minute Book Vol. lll folio 55-57