Maori Religion and Mythology: Illustrated by Translations of Traditions, Karakia, &c., to Which Are Added Notes on Maori Tenure of LandShortland, Edward
Religion
Maori Religion and Mythology: Illustrated by Translations of Traditions, Karakia, &c., to Which Are Added Notes on Maori Tenure of Land
Shortland, Edward
Land tenure (Māori law); Mythology, Maori; Māori (New Zealand people) -- Religion
After they had dwelt two whole years at Parawai Kahu determined to visit
his nephew Taramainuku. Taramainuku and Warenga, the elder brothers of
Ihenga, had abandoned the land at Moehau. The former had gone to the
Wairoa at Kaipara, and the latter to the Kawakawa at the Bay of Islands,
and had settled there. So Kahu set out with his son-in-law Ihenga, and
his son Tawaki, and some travelling companions. He left behind at
Parawai his daughter Hine-te-kakara, and her son Tama-ihu-toroa. He also
left Uenuku, the son of Tawaki, and his wife, Waka-oti-rangi, to keep
possession of Parawai as a permanent abode for them.
Arriving at the hills they rested, and Kahu sought a shelter under a
_rata_ tree, which he named Te Whaka-marumaru-o-Kahu (Kahu’s shelter).
Thereupon Ihenga perceiving that Kahu was giving his own name to the
land, pointed to a _matai_ tree; for he saw a root jutting out from the
trunk of the tree resembling a man’s thigh; he therefore named it Te
Ure-o-Tuhoro. He named it after his father’s _ure_ to weigh down the
name of Kahu, his father-in-law, so that the place might go to his own
descendants. And it went to his descendants, and is now in possession of
Ngatitama. As they went on Kahu’s dog caught a _kakapo_, so he named the
place Te Kakapo. A little further on they came to a part of the hill
where a stone projected from the face of the cliff. Then Kahu chanted a
_karakia_ called _Uru-uru-whenua_:—
I come to Matanuku,
I come to Matarangi,
I come to your land,
A stranger.
Feed thou on the heart of the stranger.
Put to sleep mighty spirits,
Put to sleep ancient spirits,
Feed thou on the heart of the stranger.
So he named the place Matanuku, which name remains to this day.
Arriving on the banks of the river Waikato he crossed over and rested
while food was being cooked. The young men were very dilatory, and Kahu
was angry at their laziness; so he named the place Mangare. Afterwards
they came to the river Waipa, crossing which they passed over Pirongia
to Waingaroa, and thence along the sea beach to the mouth of the river
Waikato. Here they fell in with Ohomairangi. He came in Tainui. He was
the brother of Tuikakapa, a wife of Houmaitahiti, and mother of
Tama-te-kapua and Whakaturia.
From Waikato they proceeded along the sea beach to Manuka, so named by
Kahu who set up a _manuka_ post there as a _rahui_ or sacred mark. Here
Kahu’s companions embarked in a canoe, while he prevailed on a _taniwha_
or sea monster of that place, named Paikea, to carry him on his back. At
length they drew near to Kaipara, and falling in with some of the men of
Taramainuku were conveyed by them in their canoes to Pouto, where Tara
was residing on the banks of the river Wairoa.
The _tangi_ resounded, and speeches of welcome followed—“Come here, come
here, my father. Come to visit us, and to look on us. I have deserted
your elder brother and your father” (meaning their bodies left buried at
Moehau).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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