IN ANCIENT MAORI LAND.

Hot Lakes Chronicle, Volume 3, Issue 154, 13 November 1895, Page 3

IN ANCIENT MAORI LAND.

By EESDON BEST

"KOHIKOIIIA NGA 0 MATAATI'A." CHAPTEKin.-(Contiiiued.) Tin. Aboriginal Tribes of the Bay ov Plenty District and Voyage oi-'tjie Aratawitao to Hawaiki. 'J'he. length of (ho Aratawliao, from kei to ihu, wns eighteen fathoms, and the length of tlie haurai was fourteen fathoms. This was the only canoe of ihis lnnd that went to Hawaiki to procure Kumara and there were 140 men %veiit in her, chief of whom was Tama.-. ];i-liikun«]igi. And. one of the strangers remained at Whakatane and the other sailed in Ibo Aratawhao as a guide to Hawaiki. These are the men of Toi who

sailed in the Aratawliao : T.iiiia-ki-hikurangi Ira-te-wehenga l?akeiora Mawako To Puka To Whatu-pouri Tikitiki-o-te-raugi Te Wliatu-potango Awa-hei-nui Tata-puku Ue-apa Kauae-puku Awa-hei roa Nuku-tnria Awa-morehurehu

]'ouranga-hua Awa-nui-a-rangi Whatu-kiore

All these men returned to the parent land, to Aotearon. though it is said that Aratawkao did not return hut was nhondoned in Hawaii;'". [Another informant tells me :- - Whata c kiore and Ira-te-wehenga, and "Wliatu-ptiuri, and Up, and Whatupotnngo, and Tamn'ki-hiku'rangi, returned from Ilawaiki. They assembled and came on hoard the sacred canoe which is called Horouta. The. pilot of that canoe was Kahukura-i' le-rangi, who stood with ono foot upon tho ocean and the other upon the land and when his face appears like iin arch in the heavens that is Kahukura bending down and behind him is his wife, Te Atua-wharoro-mai-te-raneri.

To Uenuku-tawliana —Tho saying for him is Taw liana mai te Atua-wharoro niai-te-rangi Kahukuia i runga Uenuku i rarora A win kau Eahukura. Kua riio Uenuku Te A'ua-wharoro-mai-te-rangi.] Then came tho canoes Mataatua, Te Arawa, Tainui, Takiturou and Kuraliaupo. And with tho newcomers from Hawaiki came evil among tho peaceful tribes of Aotearoa of whom the whakalauki of J Toi says:—"l whakawatea mai ai i to pakanga a Tane, a Tu, a Bongo, a Tangaroa—o nialiea to kapua o to rangi." I will now give you tho nwa-moana of tho Aialawhao, that is of Tama-ki-liiku-rauui. 'J his is the tata of tho Aratawhno: Patu hi, i laku tata Kite iin tapu nui o Tane Jiei kuia, rei ora Kei ora to mahaki-o Ka luruturua, ka poupoua Ki tawhiti o te rangi Manawa mai ao-e Tu mai nwa, tu mai awa Ko koe kei lakahia noatia e an Tope ou nuku, tope ou rangi Whati ki runga, whati ki raro Mauru marara Pera hoki ra Tak i manu nui na Tane Na Toroa

Ko tatau atu ki roto nuku ngaore Mai whiwhia, mai a rawea Mai a whakatokaia Ka taka te huki rawea Koro i rung?, koro i raro Koro i Tawhirimatea Ki kona hoki koo tu mai ai Ka hurato tamatea nunui Ka hura te tamatea roroa Te kanaka nuku, te kanaka rangi Te ai a nuku, to ai a Eangi Te kura mai hukihuki Te kaweau tetero ai Hoatu wakaki uta Ngaru hi:,ga atu, ngaru hinga mai 1 runga te tania-wahiuo I raro to tama-tane llul;i-iiawenaw6 Tenei te awa ka whakairi Koirirangi te waka Ko iiirangi te tangata. Hen is another karakia of tho Aratawhao. (Ko te ingoa o to karakia, lie ruruki i taua wnka.) Rukutia,

Jxukutm i te ihu mata pupuni o Tanc Kukutia i temata tnpu nui o Tane HUkutia i to kohao lapu nui o Tano Rukutia i terauawa tnpu nui o Tane Eei kura, rc-i ora

Ka turaturua Kapoupoua ki tawhito ole raugi h manga mai ao-e We begin again : From Tane des-iended—Rongo-nw« laue, Whetu-nui, Te kura-tupu, Panitinaku, Te Tama-lnpu-nui, Taputapu ariki, Makere-nui, Makere-roa. liataroi and Mataroa

These are the men, Matn-roi and Mata-roa, aud these were the kiunera, Nono-un, Nono-mea, Haki-nono. luese kumara were not brought over on the canoes, they were left behind, fliey were; intended for the Arawa. larna-ki»hiku>rangi: - This was he great mar, of influence (mana) of bis land H lB was the mana of the Pouahu before the arrival of the Matnatuaand[other canoes. Hhtpouahu stood at Whakatnne in the time of J o and before the An awhao went to Hawaiki in search 1 '/ , '."" lra - 1 » Pame of the ng iwa B Ma. Kaka The manuka at Whakatane ul e pouulmatWhakatano'wero iho hinh.n'of that tuahu. There

in the marae of Whakatane stood the tohunga ruanuku, tlio tohunga taua, the toliungn pukenga, and the tohunga tauira. At tlio tuahu they stood and recited the haka : Ka tiinata ko to haka a to manga-manga-i-ntua. Ka hnka te haka ki ut'a Ka haka te haka lei tai E tu ra i te huirangi A ha ha Ka haka Id tai ki to pouaku Ka kni taku rakau ki uta J- a kiii (aku rakau ki tai Hikihiki tai aroa no Tu Tihore Tu Te inati o Tu.

This is a word of explanation in regard io those who went on board the Aratawliao. Tama-ki- hiku-rangi returned to this land. Ho came as a guide for the Matantua canoe which made the land at Whakatane. But the canoe that sailed from this land was tlio Aratawliao. She remained behind at Hawaiki.

The cave where Toi-te-buatnlii and Tama-ki-hiku-rangi and Kakcbora weie buried is at Opihi. 'lhat was the burial pjace of our ancestors, even unto the time of their descendants, that was ever there resting-place.* In later times Putauaki (MountPdgeeumbe) became tho burial-place. Afterwards t lie dead were buried in many places, in rivers and lakes and valleys and hills. The name of Puketapu is from Whakatane. It was there that tho tuahu of Ira-kewa stood. Then our ancestors took the tuahu up the Eangitaiki Valley. Tama ki-hiku'i-angi had a tuahu at Tarawera and also at other places. Te Wai-wliaknata q-Hine-te-ariki is at To Pakira. Te "Wai-tapu-o-Hine-te-ariki is at Eangitaiki. Hine-to-ariki belonged to Waitaha, her daughter was Hahuru, and her descendant was Tuwharetoa-i te au-pouri who married Te Atua-rere-tahi and lived at Kawerau in order to guard his lands.

* Another informant tells nie that, Toi was buried in a swamp called TeHuki-o-te tuna near Whakatane. [TO ])K CUNTINU7 I).]