Tamatea Arikinui, Captain of the Takitimu Waka

TAMATEA-ARIKI-NUI (Tamatea the High Lord) (c.A.D. 1350). Archpriest, navigator, and captain of Takitimu canoe. The canoe Takitimu left Hawaiki for New Zealand about A.D. 1350.

This Waka (canoe) was very tapu (sacred) as it carried the Maori gods, Kahukura, Tamaiwaho, Tuniateika, Hine Korako, Ronomai and Ruawharo. The waka was not permitted to carry any woman or food on its journey. and among its crew were those schooled in the old-time lore of Hawaiki.

His sons, Rangi-nui and Kahungunu, had come with him as had the priests, Ruawharo, Tupai and Te Rongopatahi.

Takitimu was one of the ancestral waka, which Hawaiki-nui, Hawaiki-roa, and Hawaiki-pamamoa sailed in to the land of Aotearoa.

It arrived at the western end of Ninety-mile Beach at a place called Awanui and then travelled on round the island to the safe landlocked harbours of the East Coast. As Tamatea decided to stay at Tauranga, Tahu took charge of the canoe as it travelled on in search of greenstone. When Tamatea had decided where to settle, he took to wife a descendant of the Toi people and acquired the name Tamatea-mai-tawhiti (Tamatea-from-a-distance). He was respected for his past accomplishments and died shortly after the birth of his son Rongokako. With Tahu and other chiefs, the canoe proceeded to Wairoa (Hawke's Bay) where a skid fell off and was used as a tiki to adorn Kopu Para Para's home which, tradition has it, was named “Takitimu”. The canoe voyaged on to Wairarapa, where the priest Tupai settled, and then down the Westland coast to the Arahura River (between Greymouth and Hokitika) where they found greenstone. The crew of the Takitimu became the ancestors of the Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu, and the Ngai Tahu tribe of the South Island. Source: https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/tamatea-ariki-nui

Traditional Story: Takitimu Te Waka, Tamatea Te Ariki: The canoe Takitimu arrived off Tirikawa, North Rock, at the base of the mountain Mauao, which we now call Maunganui, at the entrance to Tauranga Moana [in c.1290 - from The Treaty of Waitangi in Tauranga by Debbie McCauley, p. 36]. The commander Tamatea decided to go ashore and give thanks for a safe landfall after a long sea journey. Tamatea and his people climbed to the summit of Mauao and performed the ancient ceremony of implanting the mauri, the spirit or life force of his people, on this hill. Because he had come from far distant Hawaiki, Tamatea was given the name Tamatea mai tawhiti. He was also known as the great chief, Tamatea ariki nui. Tamatea and some of his people stayed in Tauranga Moana and built a pa on Mangatawa. When he died Tamatea was buried on Mauao. Source: http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/tauranga_moana_tauranga_whenua/topics/s...

It was not until they reached Tauranga that the personnel was again reduced. Here Tamatea, the commander, decided to remain and he handed over the vessel to the command of Tahu, the younger brother of Porourangi. Tamatea's life in the new land was not, however, a completely happy one. On reaching Tauranga, or Kawhai-nui as it was called, his first act was to plant a sacred flax, called Whara-whara-nui. He then built a pa and named it Te Manga-Tawa. He took a wife from the descendants of Toi, who had peopled this part of the country. Thus his wife was a descendant of his own people. Though the people of the land gave him a new name, or rather changed the latter part of his name, rendering it Tamatea-mai-tawhiti (Tamatea from a distance) it seems that he was respected more by reason of his past accomplishments than because of his present powers. In his own land he had had a definite job to do, but here in the new land the people had their own ariki well versed in the local lore and practices. The life of Tamatea would be aimless and by reason of his high caste the ordinary avenues of common tasks would not be open to him. No doubt his life could be summed up in the oft used Maori proverb, He tangata ano te tangata ki tona kainga a he ariki ki tona iwi (A person is of importance in his own land and an ariki amongst his own people). He lacked prestige of a real kind and also an avenue for his knowledge and power. Shortly after a son was born, whom he named Rongokako, and Tamatea-Ariki-nui, alias Tamatea-mai-tawhiti, passed away to the spirit home of his forefathers. Source: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-MitTaki-t1-body-d1-d5-...

(c.A.D. 1350).

Archpriest, navigator, and captain of Takitimu canoe.

The canoe Takitimu left Hawaiki for New Zealand about A.D. 1350. It carried sacred relics and among its crew were those schooled in the old-time lore of Hawaiki. It arrived at the western end of Ninety-mile Beach at a place called Awanui and then travelled on round the island to the safe landlocked harbours of the East Coast. As Tamatea decided to stay at Tauranga, Tahu took charge of the canoe as it travelled on in search of greenstone.

When Tamatea had decided where to settle, he took to wife a descendant of the Toi people and acquired the name Tamatea-mai-tawhiti (Tamatea-from-a-distance). He was respected for his past accomplishments and died shortly after the birth of his son Rongokako.

With Tahu and other chiefs, the canoe proceeded to Wairoa (Hawke's Bay) where a skid fell off and was used as a tiki to adorn Kopu Para Para's home which, tradition has it, was named “Takitimu”. The canoe voyaged on to Wairarapa, where the priest Tupai settled, and then down the Westland coast to the Arahura River (between Greymouth and Hokitika) where they found greenstone.

The crew of the Takitimu became the ancestors of the Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu, and the Ngai Tahu tribe of the South Island.

Sources

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

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...