Ngāti Toa: Tribal Treasures and Tales
The 2015 Matariki theme was he rau tangata, he kōingo aroha (people gather together and affirm love in a myriad of ways).
We take this opportunity to reflect on the events of the past, and the special ways love is expressed, by sharing the taonga (treasures) of the Ngāti Toa Rangatira iwi (tribe).
Ka hui te rau tangata, ka kōingo te ngākau, ka pupu ake te aroha i te whatumanawa mō rātou mā kua riro ki te pō. Koinei ētehi o ngā taonga a Ngāti Toa Rangatira, he rau tangata, he taonga tuku iho, he hokinga mahara, he kōingo aroha.
Many loving caresses and pats have worn down the edges of this hei tiki (pendant in human form).
It belonged to Waitohi (sister of the great chief Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa) and symbolises a child of hers who was killed in a tribal dispute. Waitohi’s female descendants have carried her hei tiki, touching it in remembrance and feeling the importance and value it holds.
Waitohi’s children included Te Rangihaeata, a formidable warrior, and Te Rangi Topeora (pictured here), a well-known leader and composer.Te hei tiki o Waitohi
Hei tuahine, hei kaitohutohu, hei kaitautoko a Waitohi nō Te Rauparaha. I moe i Te Rākaherea (i riro ki Hingakākā) ka puta ko ngā uri rangatira, ko Te Rangihaeata rāua ko Te Rangi Topeora.
E ai ki Te Manahi (he rangatira nō Ngāti Raukawa), ko Waitohi te take i heke ai rātou ki te tonga. I te hekenga o Ngāti Raukawa, i tautohetohe taua iwi ki a Te Āti Awa. Ko Waitohi te takawaenga i te rongomau, ehara i te mahi ngāwari. He wahine whai mana te momo ruahine pēnei i a Waitohi.
The blood of vengeance once smeared this mere pounamu (greenstone weapon).
Rongopāmamao was a beloved wife of chief Te Rangihaeata. When she was killed by Captain Arthur Wakefield’s troops, Te Rangihaeata’s sadness drove him to rage. He used this prized weapon, Te Heketua, to kill ten of Wakefield’s supporters during the Wairau Plain dispute of 1843.
Te Heketua has a long and illustrious history. It has been celebrated in song and stories by many tribes across Aotearoa (New Zealand).Te Heketua
Pako ana te pū ki Wairau, ka hinga a Rongopāmamao, wahine a Te Rangihaeata. Mau herehere ana ngā Pākehā rā, tekau rātou i tukuna e Te Rangihaeata ki te pō mā te rau o te patu hei rānaki i tōna mate. Ko Te Heketua taua patu.
He uri rangatira a Te Rangihaeata, nō ngā kāwai o Ngāti Toa. He toa, he kaingārahu i heke mai i Kāwhia Moana ka riro ngā whenua o te tonga mā te rau o tōna patu. He toki whakairo, he tohunga karakia, he tohunga whakapapa nō tōna iwi.
‘Come, take up this weapon! I no longer seek to survey the earth, but now seek to survey the heavens. Build us a church!’
Te Rauparaha believed a church would provide a good gathering place for the community he loved, though he never converted to Christianity himself.
He had supplied timber but construction had stalled due to conflict in the area. He thrust this sword (a gift from colonial governor George Grey) into the ground and commanded chief Te Pohotīraha to complete the work he had begun.
The church, Rangiātea, was completed in 1851, though Te Rauparaha did not live to see it – he died in 1849.Rangiātea
I mauherengia hētia ai a Te Rauparaha e Kāwana Kerei i te tau 1846. Ahakoa tērā, nā te kāwana rā tēnei hoari i takoha atu ki Te Rauparaha. Ka puta i te mauherehere, ka hui ana iwi ki Ōtaki. Ka poua tēnei hoari e Te Rauparaha ki te whenua me te tohutohu ki Te Pohotīraha, kia whakatūria he whare karakia ki reira, koia ko Rangiātea.
This cloak swathes its wearer in a loving expression of tribal pride, ancestral guidance, and spiritual protection.
The cloak spent many months in the hands of the women of Hongoeka Marae, Porirua. The extraordinary time and effort spent weaving it befitted its purpose: to honour and celebrate the success of Hongoeka whānau (families) at graduation ceremonies and other important tribal events.Te Hihī Kanapa o Hongoeka
Nā ngā ringa maha o Ngāti Mangō, o Ngāti Te Maunu, o Ngāti Kimihia, o Ngāti Haumia tēnei kākahu i whatu. Ko te kaupapa ia ka utaina ki ngā pokowhiwhi o ngā uri kua eke ki ngā taumata. He rau tangata o Hongoeka ka eke, he kōingo aroha.
Chiefs of the Ngāti Toa and Ngāi Tahu tribes agreed to make peace, ending a long history of warring between their North Island and South Island tribes. This weapon, Tuhiwai, was offered in peace by chief Taiaroa of Ngāi Tahu. He exchanged it for the war canoe, Wai-ka-hua, gifted by chief Te Rauparaha.
Inter-tribal marriages have strengthened relations. This photograph shows one of Te Rauparaha’s descendants, Te Rauparaha Wineera, at his arranged marriage with Ria Moheka Taiaroa of Ngāi Tahu.
When people gather for a wedding they share in the hopes of their loved ones and draw closer to their surrounding whānau (family).Whakamoea te patu
He taonga tuku a Tuhiwai nā Te Mātenga Taiaroa (Ngāi Tahu) ki a Te Rauparaha mō te waka taua, Wai-ka-hua. He tino taonga tēnei patu ki ōna uri, ki te whānau Wineera.
Tāpiri atu ki tēnā, ko te whakaahua o te moe takawaenga o Te Rauparaha Wineera (Ngāti Toa) ki a Ria Moheka Taiaroa (Ngāi Tahu). Ka moe te uri rangatira ki te uri rangatira e ea ai te mamae i waenganui i ō rāua iwi.
The owner of this pendant swam 5 kilometres to warn her kin of danger – and she did so with her baby on her back.
Kahe-te-rau-o-te-rangi was an influential and enterprising woman. She was living on Kapiti Island when she noticed war fires on the mainland – an attack on her Ngāti Toa people. She swam the great distance to warn her family, south of the assault, of the impending threat.
That stretch of water is now called Te Rau-o-te-rangi – a tribute to Kahe’s incredible act of familial love.Whakamoea te patu
Nā Kahe-te-rau-o-te-rangi tēnei hei tiki, a Kai Arero. He tuawahine whakaawe, he toa kaipakihi.
Nāna i kauhoe te moana mai i te motu o Kapiti ki uta, i tōna tuarā tana tamaiti a Makere – e 5 maero te tawhiti hei whakaara i ōna iwi. Koia i tapaina te tai i waenganui i Kapiti me Paraparaumu ki tōna ingoa, ko Te Rau-o-te-rangi.
Without this precious book, some family histories would have been lost from living memory.
This manuscript helps members of Ngāti Toa remember their whakapapa (genealogy). It begins with the great migration from the east, nearly 1,000 years ago, and ends in the late 1800s.Whakamoea te patu
Ko te pukapuka tēnei i oti i a Atanatiu Te Kairangi te tuhi mō ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Toa Rangatira i te tau 1881. E whā ngā take i tuhi ai tēnei pukapuka: kia mōhio ai ngā uri ki ō rātou whakapapa, ka tahi; ka rua, kia tupu ake ai hei iwi rangatira; ka toru, kia whakatupu kai ngā uri hei whāngai i te manuhiri; ka whā, ko te āta whakahaere mō te pakanga. Ka mutu, mā reira e tū rangatira ai tēnā me tēnā whakatupuranga o Ngāti Toa.
Kei ngā whakapapa ngā rau tāngata e rārangi mai ana, he kōingo aroha ki ngā tātai heke e tūhono ana i te iwi.