Rakataura

Rakataura, also known as Hape^[1] or Rakatāura, is a legendary Polynesian navigator and a progenitor of many Māori iwi. Born in Hawaiki, Rakataura was the senior tohunga (priest/navigator) who led the Tainui migratory canoe to New Zealand. Rakataura is associated with stories involving the Manukau Harbour, the Te Tō Waka (the Ōtāhuhu Portage) and the Waikato. Many place names in Tāmaki Makaurau (modern-day Auckland) and the Waikato region reference Rakataura, or are described in oral traditions as being named by Rakataura.

Oral history

Rakataura was born in Hawaiki, and was the eldest member of the senior line of his hapū.^[2] He received the name Hape, due to his inward-turning feet.^[2] Rakataura was the senior tohunga (priest/navigator) of the Tainui migratory waka, and in some traditions, is identified as the shipbuilder of the vessel.^[3]

In Waiohua oral tradition, Rakataura / Hape travels supernaturally to New Zealand, ahead of the Tainui crew. In this version, Rakataura was chosen to represent his hapū on the Tainui canoe, however this was not popular due to his disability, and only the young and those with sound bodies and minds could travel. Rakataura prayed to Tangaroa for his feet to be restored, however instead of healing his body, Tangaroa sent Kawea Kawea Ki te Whenua a Kupe, a taniwha (supernatural being) in the shape of a stingray to transport him. Rakataura arrived at the Manukau Harbour, waiting at Ihumātao for the Tainui crew to arrive. Days later, the crew arrived, not from the mouth of the harbour, instead from the east (having crossed the Te Tō Waka at Ōtāhuhu over the Auckland isthmus). Rakataura called out from the hill, hence the name Karangahape ("The Call of Hape").^[2] Another supernatural tradition involves Rakataura beating the Tainui crew to reach the Kawhia Harbour by leaping underground between the Māhia Peninsula and Kawhia.^[4]

In Te Kawerau ā Maki oral tradition, Rakataura travelled to the Waitākere Ranges, bestowing names to the locations he visited.^[5] Some of these names include Hikurangi, the name he gave to a location near Piha which referenced a location in his homeland and became one of the traditional names for West Auckland and the Waitākere Ranges,^[5] and One Rangatira, the traditional name for Muriwai Beach, a name which commemorated his visit.^[6]

Other traditions link Rakataura to the Ōtāhuhu Portage between the Tāmaki River and the Manukau Harbour. In some traditions, he is the tohunga who creates the portage,^[7] while in others he attempts to block the Tainui crew from using it and settling to the west. In these traditions, Rakataura quarrels with Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui, because he refused to let Rakataura marry his daughter Kahukeke. Instead of crossing the portage, Hoturoa and the crew of the Tainui sail around the entire Northland Peninsula to the Manukau Harbour. Rakataura and his sister Hiaroa lit fires and sung incantations to prevent the main Tainui crew from settling around the harbour or the Waikato area.^[8][9] Rakataura travelled south to the Whāingaroa Harbour (Raglan Harbour), establishing a tūāhupapa (sacred altar) on the mountain Karioi, and continued to sing incantations to dissuade the Tainui crew from discovering the areas he found.^[10] Rakataura travelled further south to the Kawhia Harbour, where he met the Tainui crew, reconciled (either here or further south at Whareorino),^[8] and married Kahukeke (the daughter of Hoturoa), later returning to settle at Karioi.^[10]

Rakataura is credited with exploring the forested interior of the Waikato region with his wife, naming places after the members of the Tainui crew, to establish land rights.^[9][10] He placed mauri stones from Hawaiki along the journey, as a way to entice birds to the areas he visited.^[11] During their travels, Kahukeke fell ill at Wharepūhunga, where Rakataura built a house for her to rest in and recover.^[11] Kahukeke fell ill a second time at Pureora, however did not survive.^[11] After she dies, Rakataura names Kakepuku after the shape of his wife when she was pregnant, and the area where he eventually settled, Te Aroha, after the love he felt for his wife.^[9][12] There, he married again, to a woman named Hinemarino.^[4]

Some traditions describe Rakataura as settling at Rarotonga / Mount Smart in Tāmaki Makaurau with his wife, before travelling to the Waikato later in life.^[12]

Legacy

Rakataura / Hape is the namesake of Karangahape Peninsula and Karangahape Road in Auckland,^[1] and some of the Māori language names for Ōwairaka / Mount Albert, Te Ahi-kā-a-Rakataura ("The Continuous Fires of Rakataura")^[13] and Te Wai o Raka ("The Waters of Raka").^[7] Te Motu a Hiaroa (Puketutu Island), one of the first permanent settlements of the Tainui people, is named after Rakataura's sister Hiaroa.^[14] Rakataura is cited in oral traditions as the figure who named many areas of the Waikato, including the Whāingaroa Harbour), Karioi, Maungatautari, Whakamaru, Pureora and Te Aroha.^[10][11]

The officially designated name for Mount Maunganui in the early 20th century was Rakataura, named after the tohunga by Bay of Plenty settler J. C. Adams, however this name never came into popular use.^[15]

Rakataura is considered one of the ancestors of Tainui (including Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Raukawa),^[16][11] historical Auckland iwi Ngā Oho,^[17] Te Kawerau ā Maki,^[18] and Waiohua tribes.^[2]

See also

• Tainui (canoe)

References

1. "Karangahape Peninsula". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
2. Wilson, Maurice. "The History of Our Marae". Makaurau Marae. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
3. Jones, Pei Te Hurinui; Biggs, Bruce (2004). Ngā iwi o Tainui : nga koorero tuku iho a nga tuupuna = The traditional history of the Tainui people. Auckland [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press. pp. 16–19. ISBN 1869403312.
4. Taonui, Rāwiri (24 September 2007). "Ngā waewae tapu – Māori exploration". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
5. Murdoch, Graeme (1992). "Wai Karekare - 'The Bay of the Boisterous Seas'". In Northcote-Bade, James (ed.). West Auckland Remembers, Volume 2. West Auckland Historical Society. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-473-01587-0.
6. "Muriwai Beach". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
7. High Court of New Zealand (9 February 2021). "In the High Court of New Zealand: Auckland Registry CIV-2015-404-002033 Between Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust and Attorney-General and Marutūāhu Rōpū Limited Partnership" (PDF). Retrieved 1 March 2022 – via Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
8. Jones, Pei Te Hurinui; Biggs, Bruce (2004). Ngā iwi o Tainui : nga koorero tuku iho a nga tuupuna = The traditional history of the Tainui people. Auckland [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press. pp. 44–49. ISBN 1869403312.
9. Pōmare, Māui; Cowan, James (1930). "The Travels of Rakataura. — The Mauri of the Forests". Legends of the Maori (Volume 1). Retrieved 17 March 2022 – via New Zealand Electronic Text Collection.
10. Ellison, Sean; Greensill, Angeline; Hamilton, Michael (Malibu); Te Kanawa, Marleina; Rickard, James (August 2012). "Oral and Traditional Historical Report" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
11. "Waikato Regional Pest Management Plan 2017/18: Appendix 1: Statutory Acknowledgements" (PDF). Waikato Regional Council. 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
12. Walker, Ranginui (2004). "Nga Korero o Nehera". Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou – Struggle Without End (Second ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books. p. 46. ISBN 9780143019459.
13. "Ōwairaka / Te Ahi-kā-a-Rakataura MOUNT ALBERT". Tūpuna Maunga Authority. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
14. Hutt, Kendall (5 May 2019). "Volcanic island's cones to be rebuilt with millions of tonnes of human waste". Stuff. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
15. Rorke, Jinty. (PDF). Tauranga City Libraries. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
16. Jones, Pei Te Hurinui; Biggs, Bruce (2004). Ngā iwi o Tainui : nga koorero tuku iho a nga tuupuna = The traditional history of the Tainui people. Auckland [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 1869403312.
17. Pishief, Dr Elizabeth; Adam, John (2015). "Te Tātua a Riukiuta Three Kings Heritage Study" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
18. Taua-Gordon, Robin (July 2017). "Cultural Impact Assessment for Warkworth North Structure Plan" (PDF). Te Kawerau a Maki Settlement Trust and Tribal Authority. Retrieved 17 March 2022 – via Auckland Council.