Tama-te-kapua
In Māori tradition of New Zealand, Tama-te-kapua, also spelt Tamatekapua and Tama-te-Kapua and also known as Tama, was the captain of the Arawa canoe which came to New Zealand from Polynesia in about 1350.[1]
Life
[edit]Tama-te-kapua was said to be very tall – 2.7 metres (9 ft). He was born in Hawaiki, the ancestral home of the Polynesian people. His father was Haumai-tāwhiti (also spelt Houmai Tawhiti), a direct descendant of Ohomairangi, the founder of the Ngati Ohomairangi tribe,[2][3] and his mother was Tuikakapa.[4]
Hawaiki
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The chief Uenuku suffered from an ulcer and gave off a discharge, which was buried secretly because it was highly tapu, but a dog called Potakatawhiti, which belonging to Haumai-tāwhiti dug this material up and ate it. Uenuku and Toi-te-huatahi killed the dog and ate it. Tama-te-kapua and his brother Whakaturia went searching for the dog and discovered what had happened when they heard it howling from within Toi-te-huatahi's stomach.[5]
In revenge, Tama-te-kapua and his brother Whakaturia stole fruit from a tree belonging to Uenuku.[1] Most accounts say that the fruit was poporo (Solanum aviculare), but one waiata calls it kuru (a common Polynesian name for breadfruit, a plant that does not grow in New Zealand).[6] In another version, the stolen crop is kumara.[7] Each night, they entered Uenuku's garden on stilts, so that they left no tracks, and stole all the ripe fruit. Eventually, Uenuku ambushed the pair and captured Whakaturia, but Tama-te-kapua made it to the sea shore, where he managed to escape.[8]
Uenuku and his people decided to execute Whakaturia by tying him to one of the roof rafters above the fire of Uenuku's house, so that he would die painfully from smoke inhalation.[9] Tama-te-kapua climbed up on top of the roof undetected and told Whakaturia to shout down to the people in the house that their singing and dancing were very bad and that he could do far better than them. They let him down and he danced out the door, which Tama-te-kapua locked, so that Uenuku's men could not follow them as they escaped.
In revenge Uenukue and Toi-te-huatahi attacked the village of Ngati Ohomairangi, which was repelled only thanks to invocations by Haumai-tāwhiti, Tama-te-kapua, and Whakaturia.[10] The two brothers decided to flee to Aotearoa, which had been discovered by Ngāhue of the Tāwhirirangi canoe.[11]
Voyage to Aotearoa
[edit]Tama-te-kapua ordered the construction of a canoe (waka) The waka was completed and berthed in Whenuakura Bay while Tama-te-kapua, chief of the canoe, which was named Ngā rākau kotahi puu a Atua Matua (also known as Ngā rākau maatahi puu a Atua Matua or Ngā rākau rua a Atuamatua "the two trunks of Atuamatua") in memory of Tama-te-kapua's grandfather Atua-matua.[11]
Some legends describe Tama-te-kapua asking Ngātoro-i-rangi, tohunga and navigator of the Tainui waka, to come aboard the Arawa with his wife Kearoa to bless the vessel. Once they boarded, Tama-te-kapua set sail and kidnapped the pair.[12][13] Tama Te Kapua also took two women who were the wives of other men with him, one of whom was Whakaotirangi.[14][15][16] The other was the wife of Ruao. Tama-te-kapua asked Ruao to fetch an axe left by his house, and while he was ashore, Tama-te-kapua raised the anchor and left Ruao behind.[12]
During the voyage, Tama-te-kapua became desirous of Kearoa. Ngātoro-i-rangi noticed this and guarded his wife during the night while he was on deck navigating, by tying one end of a cord to her hair and holding the other end in his hand. However, Tama-te-kapua untied the cord from Kearoa's hair and attached it to the bed in order to have sex with her, repeating this over a number of nights. One night he was nearly caught in the act by Ngātoro-i-rangi, but managed to escape, though forgetting the cord in his haste. Ngātoro-i-rangi found the cord and deduced that Tama-te-kapua had been with Kearoa. In revenge, he raised a huge whirlpool in the sea named Te korokoro-o-te-Parata ('The throat of Te Parata'). The waka was about to be lost with all on board, before Ngātoro-i-rangi took mercy and calmed the seas.[17]
During these events, all the kūmara on board the canoe were lost overboard, except a few in a small kete being held by Whakaotirangi.[18] After the calming of the seas, a shark (known as an arawa) was seen in the water. Ngātoro-i-rangi renamed the waka Te Arawa, after this shark, which then accompanied the waka to Aotearoa, acting as a kai-tiaki (guardian).
Landing at Whangaparaoa
[edit]Several other canoes fled at the same time, including the Tainui and Matatūa. When the Arawa landed at Whangaparaoa, in the North Island, Tama found that the Tainui had arrived before them and claimed possession of the land, but through strategic cunning, Tama managed to disprove their claim. On landfall, an argument took place with members of the Tainui canoe over the ownership of a beached whale. Tama-te-kapua again used deceit to take possession of the whale despite the rightful claim of the Tainui. Tainui tell a similar story, but with the roles reversed. This incident is the subject of much dispute between Tainui and Arawa.[19]
Settlement
[edit]The Arawa then went on to Maketu,[14] where Tama-te-kapua settled. His descendants peopled this part and the Rotorua region. Today their descendants say of the Arawa canoe that the bow piece is Maketu and the stern-piece is Mount Tongariro.[1]
He was buried at the top of Mount Moehau (on Cape Colville, the northernmost tip of Coromandel Peninsula).[14] Kahu-mata-momoe placing a mauri stone on Boat Rock is associated with the naming of the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland.[20][21]
Family and commemoration
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Tama-te-kapua had two sons, Tuhoromatakaka and Kahumatamomoe.
The meeting house at Te Papaiouru Marae is named after Tamatekapua.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Tama-te-kapua". New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Tama Te Kapua". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 2 gives the line of descent as Tama-te-kapua - Haumai-tāwhiti - Tuamatua - Ruatapu - Mawake - Tumamao - Ohomairangi - Puhaorangi and Te Kuraimonoa
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 37.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 2. This event is referred to in a traditional proverb.
- ^ Buck 1858, p. 39.
- ^ Shortland 1856, p. 32.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 3.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 4.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 5.
- ^ a b Tapsell, Paul (2005). "Te Arawa – Origins". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ a b Walker 2004, p. 44.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 14.
- ^ a b c Tregear, Edward (1891). The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington, NZ: Lyon and Blair. p. 20,459. Retrieved 29 November 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Tregear, Edward (1891). "The Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary". Wellington, NZ: Lyon and Blair. p. 20,459. Retrieved 29 November 2020 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Whakaotirangi". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
- ^ Steedman, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Stafford 1967, p. 15.
- ^ Jones & Biggs 2004, p. 36-39.
- ^ ""Waitemata." Meaning and History. A Popular Error". Auckland Star. Vol. LXII, no. 282. 28 November 1931. p. 12. Retrieved 17 May 2022 – via Papers Past.
- ^ Wilson, Karen (28 August 2018). "Brief of Evidence of Karen Akamira Wilson on Behalf of Te Ākitai Waiohua" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
Bibliography
[edit]- 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. 16–50. ISBN 1869403312.
- Stafford, D.M. (1967). Te Arawa: A History of the Arawa People. Rotorua, New Zealand: A.H. & A.W. Reed.
- Steedman, J.A.W. He Toto: Te Ahu Matua a Nga Tupuna.
- Walker, Ranginui (2004). "Nga Korero o Nehera". Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou - Struggle Without End (Second ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books. p. 44. ISBN 9780143019459.
External links
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Media related to Tamatekapua at Wikimedia Commons
