Kahungunu

"Kahungunu (also known as Kahu-hunuhunu) was born at the Tinotino pā in Ōrongotea (later named Kaitāia). His father subsequently moved to the Tauranga area, where Kahungunu grew to adulthood.

Tall and handsome, he was renowned for his charismatic leadership. He supervised the planning and building of entire villages, the irrigation and drainage of cultivations, the gathering of food, and the arts of carving, tattooing, weaving and canoe making. ...

In one account of his life, Kahungunu was persuaded to organise the digging of a canal from Awanui to Kaitāia, to enable Ngāti Awa to take their fleet of canoes up to the fertile flats there. But the ambitious task proved too time consuming and wasteful of tools, which were broken on the many obstacles in the swampy ground." (Whaanga, 2017).

He married Rongomaiwahine and their love story is an epic in Maori folklore.

Sources

Downes, T. W. (1915). Old Whanganui., 10-11. W. A. Parkinson & Co. Ltd.

Jones, P. T. (1975). Ngā Kāwei Tūpuna o Ngāti Hāua Genealogical Tables of the Ngāti Hāua. In Ngāpuwaiwaha Marae. [Booklet] Ngāti Hāua.

Jubilee: Te Tiupiri. (1898, April 26). Meiha Keepa Rangihiwinui: He tino kaumatua rangatira no te iwi Maori o Niu Tireni.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/JUBIL18980426.2.4?end_...

Mangatu Blocks Incorporation. (2020). The Carvings. Mangatu.
https://mangatu.co.nz/the-carvings/

Mitira, T. H. (1972). Takitimu: Genealogical tables. Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd

Moteo Marae. (2018). Ngāti Kahungunu.
https://moteomarae.nz/index.php/whakapapa/

Raukawa., Raukawa Settlement Trust., & The Crown. (2012, June 2). Deed of settlement of historical claims [Deed]. New Zealand Government.
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Raukawa/Raukawa-Deed-of-Se...

Waipawa, N. A. (1930, December 1). Nga reta tuku mai. Toa Takitini (111).
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TOATAK19301201.2.9?it...

Whaanga, M. (2017, March 3). Story: Ngāti Kahungunu: Page 3. Kahungunu the man. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/ngati-kahungunu/page-3