Hine-Tokata

Te Ao Hou, March 1968, Page 7

Hine-Tokata by S. C. Brooking I noho ki Wairata ko Taiatea rāua ko tōna tuahine, ko Hine-Tokatā. Ko Wairata kei te pito whakarunga o te one o Punaruku. Ka pāngia a Taiatea e te mate, ā, i te taumaha o tōna mate, kua kore a ia e kaha ki te mārangaranga ki runga. He rite tonu tana tangi wai unu mōna, te wai o Taranaki. Ko tēnei wai he puna kei Whakaoramate, kei roto whenua; he wai rongonui, ā, e waiatatia ana i roto i ngā waiata a te Māori. E tata ana ki tētahi puna anō, ko Tukuroimata te ingoa. Ka rere mai te wai o te puna o Tukuroimata, ka tūtaki ki te wai o te puna o Taranaki. Ka rere tēnei wai whakawaho, ka tūtaki atu ki te wai o Oruakarahea, i rere mai nei i te Pōhatu-a-Tamapikotahi; i konei, kua kīia tēnei awa ko Waingaue, te putanga atu ki te moana tata tonu atu ki Wairata. I te hotu o te tangi a Taiatea, ka pōuri tōna tuahine, ka mea atu ki a ia, ‘Kāti tō tangi; e haere ana au ki e tiki wai mōhou i te puna o Taranaki.’ Ka mau a Hine-Tokatā ki ōna tahā, ā, ka haere i te pō, mā roto i te awa o Waingaue, tae noa atu ki te puna o Taranaki. Ka whakakī i ōna tahā, ā, ka huri te aroaro mō te hoki ki tōna tungāne, ki a Taiatea, kei Wairata. Kāore a Hine-Tokatā i hoki mā roto i te awa o Waingaue, i te mea kei te haere mai te awatea. Kātahi a ia ka poka tata atu mā te tuawhenua. Kāore a ia i tae ki tōna tungāne. Ka mau i te rā, kātahi ka hurihia hei pōhatu. E anga tīraha mai rā me ana tahā i tēnei rā, kei waenganui i ēnei roto, Te Rewa rāua ko Te Whakamarumarunga. Taiatea and his sister, Hine-Tokata lived at Wairata, at the northern end of the Punaruku beach. Taiatea became ill and was in such a serious condition that he did not even have the strength to stand up. He kept crying for a drink of water from the spring called Taranaki. This particular spring, which is some distance inland, is known as Whakaoramate, and is famous among the Maori people, being mentioned in many of their ancient poems and songs. It rises quite close to another spring named Tukuroimata. The stream that flows from Tukuroimata meets and joins the stream that flows out of Taranaki. This stream now runs seawards and is presently joined by the Oruakarahea which rises at the rock called ‘Te Pohatu-a-Tamapikotahi’; from this junction onwards the stream is known as the Waingaue; the mouth, where it enters the sea is quite close to Wairata. Taiatea's distressful sobbing grieved his sister so deeply that she said to him, ‘Don't cry any more; I'm going to bring some water for you from the Taranaki spring.’ That night, Hine-Tokata set off with her calabashes and, travelling by way of the Waingaue stream, reached the spring, Taranaki. Having filled her calabashes, she turned homewards to her brother Taiatea, at Wairata. She did not return by way of the Waingaue stream but, because daylight was approaching, took a short cut across country. She never reached her brother. Overtaken by the sunrise, she was turned into a rock, and there she lies to this day with her calabashes between the lakes Te Rewa and Te Whakamarumarunga, her gaze still fixed on Wairata. The author writes: ‘The two springs Taranaki and Tukuroimata mentioned in this story, and also a portion of the creek Waingaue, are on my little farm. Taranaki is a very cold spring, and during the summer months, the hotter the day, the colder it gets.’