Pipiwharauroa
Page 13
Pākohai
Pakohai Marae
Continued from last month
Old time pā and important kāinga of Te Whānau ā Kai Pākōhai lays at the eastern extremity of the Te Whānau ā Kai rohe. This section briefly describes the pā that our tipuna lived in lands that stretched from here west to the very slopes of Maungapōhatu.
Nihotētē. Rangitawhiao's pā is where the Repongaere homestead stands. A swamp and lake protected Pukepoto from the west, with a wide waterway (Kākā ki te awa) around the eastern and southern sides. The only land access was Pukepiripiri above, which was defended with broad ditch and defensive palisades. It was from Pukepoto that the exodus to Te Matau a Māui (Hawke's Bay) began for Rakaihikuroa and Taraia. Pukepoto remained occupied until Pakeha settlement. Some of Ngāti Hine hapū lived there at the time of the Ngāpuhi invasion, they also fleeing with Tipoki's people from Pātūtahi in advance of that ope taua.
known as Te Whānau a Kai lands of today, but within the influence of our people of old.
Hungangahenga pā, above the Waerenga a Kuri, was on the southern boundary, with Pōhā and then Tārere at the junction of the Mangawehi stream with the Hangaroa being other living places and pā. To the north of the Hangaroa Te Ramanui a Pakura was located high on what is now Tangihau Station, named after the house that stood at Te Houpapa, at the Ngāti Maru pā of Arikitutu in the time of Te Ranginui a Ihu.
Te Pā o Kaikore The first pā that was specifically for Te Whānau ā Kai was built by Kaikore for his two wives, the sisters Te Haaki and Te Whareana. Te Pā o Kaikore is located on the lower reaches of the Tōtangi stream, just upstream from where the Wharekōpae river meets the Waikohu on SH2. Koreotaia was the valley of occupation for them; the upper parts of the Tōtangi stream. A significant house stood at Te Pā o Kaikore, its building being ordered by Te Haaki in the absence of Kai. When he returned and saw the completed house, he named the house Tātaiwāhine, acknowledging the mana wahine that rested upon Te Haaki.
Pātūtahi pā Pātūtahi pā was established at the junction of the Waipāoa and Waikākāriki by Torohina, grandson of Whareana and Kai. The hapū Ngāi Te Whakahone dwelt here and occupied the Kaimoe and the lands across the Waipāoa. In the mid 1820s Pātūtahi, then under Tipoki, was attacked by Ngāpuhi under Te Wera Hauraki. At the time of Waerenga-ahika, (1865) there were four carved houses within the pā; Tātaiwāhine was one that was named to remember the earlier house (sometimes also called Ngāruawāhine), also the carved houses Nui Tireni, Ngātorea and Karatia. Matenga Ruta is remembered as the kaiwhakairo. After the loss of the Pātūtahi pā, through the confiscation of the 1870s, the people were scattered although many moved to Pākōhai. The Pātūtahi urupā was requested to be returned to the people but although that request was granted by government agencies, Pākehā then located their own cemetery on top of the urupā.
Tokitoki whare wānanga Tokitoki was the whare wānanga that stood across the Waikakariki from Pātūtahi pā. The sacred fire had been lit there by Tupai of the Takitimu. Tokitoki operated until the arrival of William Williams, and was dismantled by Tupai, the father of Matenga Ruta, grandfather of Peka Kerekere and Heni te Auraki. Associated with the whare wananga was Taramarama (above) the star observation site located above Lake Repongaere.
Taramarama, the star observation site for Tokitoki.
Pukepoto Across the road from Pākōhai is Pukepoto, a cluster of four pā that was the home of Rakaihikuroa and his sons Tūpurupuru, Taraia and Rangitawhiao. The land between the Waipāoa and the roto Repongaere, that includes Pukepoto, is named
Pukepoto with Rakaihikuroa's Kakarikitaurewa pā (left), Tūpurupuru's pā (centre), and Taraia's pā (right)
Tupurupuru's watch (sentinel) pā, Putakari, stood close by to Pukepoto, on the ridge line above, overlooking both Waipaoa, Pākōhai and Repongaere, guarding and watching over the pā of the whanau of Rakaihikuroa at Pukepoto.
Further up the Hangaroa, close to Waimaha is Kaingaungau, one of the two fortified pā of our tipuna for these western lands, the other being Ngātapa. Absence of strongly fortified pā indicates the relative peace that existed in these lands.
Putakari as seen from Pākūhai (left); and from Lake Repongaere (below)
Pukeamionga pā, above Pātūtahi, which was built for the Pai Mari re, and Te Horoenga, near Brunton road, are pā that along with many kāinga associated with pā tuna, were located along the banks of the Waipāoa, Waikakariki and Kokakonui streams. Along the Waikakariki, heading towards the Ngātapa community are the pā Tītīrapua, Te Taumata o te Rangiaia, Pukekiore, the Okare kāinga, and then the five-pa cluster of Ōkāhuatiu and Pukehuia where dwelt the Ngāti Hine hapū to the time of Paeko, and Ngārangitūehu, son of Tupurupuru prior to his leaving with Rakaihikuroa for Te Matau a Māui, afterwards occupied by descendants of Te Rangiaia and Paka, his brother. There were many settlements at the roto Repongaere, and nearby on the Pouarua stream was Te Waikoukou o Kahutapere, where Kahutapere stayed awhile on his gradual exodus from the area after the death of four of his children. Along the Waipaoa river, the Te Whānau a Kai hapū, descendants of Whareana, had pā at Mapourika near Kaitaratahi, Whaitiri near Te Karaka, and Pikauroa within Mangatu apparently well away from what are
The Papokeka stream, that joins the Hangaroa at Tahunga, was an important living area in the earlier times of the descendants of the ancestor Tui, they living her before migrating to occupy the Houpapa and Koranga areas. Te Pōkerekere, near the Papokeka valley, was the Ngāi te Ika pā of Tupai in the very early 1800s.
On the Makaretu stream not far from the Rere falls, was the Wharekōpae pā of Te Pokingaiwaho, our tipuna who brought together the Mahaki and Ngāti Maru and Ngāti Hine lines, the hapū afterwards known as Ngāi te Pokingaiwaho. This pā was used by Te Kooti, in the Makaretu battle between the colonial associated Māori forces and those with Te Kooti. Close by is Ngātapa, the ancient fortified hilltop pā of Ngāti Hine. Several kāinga were located under the northern slopes of Mokonui-a-rangi, Te Rae o Taeha being the one still able to be seen today.
Further to the west, under the southern slopes of our tipuna maunga Maungatapere is the Ngāti Hine Pā-rewarewa, sited on the lower slopes of Pukerewarewa where stood the first house called Ngatorea. Te Houpapa pā of Arikitutu of Ngāti Maru across the Ngutuwera nearby where the house Te Ramanui a Pakura stood. A number of kāinga were located around the margins of the Houpapa clearing. The Ngāti Hine kāinga Omāpara is located on the northern side of Maungatapere. Both Pāwerawera and Omapara were used by Te Kooti. Further down the Koranga River, the lands of Ngāti Hine are found the old settlements of Rautara, Puketara, Te Rangiora, Te Papa and Puketōtara, the latter where Hoera Kapuaroa and Tamati Te Rangituawaru, sons of Tipoki the chief of Pātūtahi, both lived at one time. Te Turi o Kahutapere is also to be found here, where Kahutapere resided before he finally left this district, with Rongomaitara, to take up residence close to the present day Tāneatua town centre. Many Ngāti Maru and Ngāti Rua kāinga stood along the banks of the Hangaroa river within the Waimaha lands. Two other marae are within Te Whanau a Kai lands, Ngātapa and Mokonui-a-rangi, lands given to Tūhoe people in the early 1900s who were living and working on the lands of Te Whānau ā Kai. To Be Continued