Ihakara's Story

Te Ao Hou, March 1966, Page 30

Ihakara's Story Now my tamaiti as you are a stranger in these parts, it is necessary that I should warn you of the rock of Hatupatu which we will pass on our left. When passing you must either close your eyes or look in the opposite direction; disobedience of this will surely bring aitua or even the same tragic end of Kurangaituku. However on your return this way you may look upon the rock and inspect it for you will no longer be a stranger. You will then pay your respects to them by placing a sprig of manuka or fern at the foot of the rock. Kurangaituku was an ogress who lived in the depths of that almost impenetrable forest country towards Taranaki. Although cruel in many respects she was exceedingly fond of birds as mokais—pets. These she caught with her long fingernails and duly transferred to her cave, a portion of which was partitioned off as an aviary. Her pets were tended with the greatest care by her slave Hatupatu.

Now Hatupatu was a dwarf and one day while Kurangaituku was absent from home, he on mischief bent killed these birds with the exception of one, a riroriro, which escaped. This little bird flew over the mountains and after considerable search found Kurangaituku and told her what had happened. She at once returned to her cave to find the bodies of her pets strewn all over the place and the home a shambles. She wept bitterly and swore vengeance on Hatupatu who was nowhere to be seen. In a trice she was on a mountain top for she could stride from peak to peak, and there she scanned the spaces. Towards the horizon and in the direction of Atiamuri she spied a tiny figure of a man. Another look and she was satisfied it was Hatupatu. With great swinging strides she followed in pursuit and soon Hatupatu became aware that the ogress was not only following him but was dangerously close on his heels. As Kurangaituku was about to entwine her frightful claws around Hatupatu, the latter appealed to this very rock to save him. He cried: ‘Matiti, matata!’ The rock opened and closed, completely sheltering Hatupatu. Ihakara Kuhuao, of Maroa-nui-a-Tia, north of Taupo, and his grandson, Harry Delamere Dansey, at Rotorua in 1886. It was about this time that Ihakara told his grandson the story of Hatupatu and Kurankaituku which is told in the accompanying article. In due time Hatupatu emerged only to find Kurangaituku waiting for him. Now round this mountain of Maungaiti you will see openings in the ground at almost equal spaces; some of them are overgrown and others time has obliterated. These mark the places where Hatupatu in his desperation to escape dived into the earth and emerged further on only to find Kurangaituku still pursuing. Some 20 miles from here there is a place named Pakaraka where Kurangaituku followed Hatupatu. This is marked by a rock bearing distinct marks of the ogress's claws. Hatupatu eventually found his way to Whakarewarewa and there Kurangaituku had him almost at her mercy but the slave, being small in stature, was able to dodge between the boiling cauldrons of the region. Kurangaituku, handicapped by her unwieldy proportions, was less fortunate and was scalded to death. A new industrial arts block costing £16,000 has been opened at Ngata Memorial College, Ruatoria. It contains a draughting room, woodwork and metalwork rooms and a farm engineering bay. Mr Tame Amotawa has been appointed a member of the Arawa Trust Board. Mr Amotawa will represent the Tumatarewa subtribe in place of Mr Hakopa Aterea Mohimoke, who recently resigned his position on the board. Tommy Ratana, aged 10, has been officially congratulated by the South Auckland Education Board on his outstanding record in not missing a day's school in four years. Tommy lives at Waiohau, a small settlement between Murupara and Kawerau. At Te Teko last December representatives of 4,200 Maori landowners decided to join the Tasman Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd. and the Crown in establishing a 60,000 acre exotic forest in the Tarawera Valley. With the exception of one family group which owns 1,140 acres, the Maoris agreed to merge their 38,095 acres and join the company, which owns 19,350 acres, and the Crown, which has 18,691 acres. The three parties will become sole shareholders in a new company, Tarawera Forests Ltd.