The Finding of Te Awhiorangi Te Kitetanga o Te Awhiorangi Te Awhiorangi is an adze, one of the most sacred possessions of the Maori people. It is said that in the beginning, when Tane separated Rangi the Sky and Papa the Earth, it was with this adze that he cut the sinews that bound them together. Te Awhiorangi is said to have been brought to Aotearoa in Turi's canoe Aotea, which had been made from a tree felled with this adze. During the journey the Aotea was in danger of sinking into Te Korokoro-o-te-Parata, the Throat of Parata (the monster believed to be the cause of the tides). Te Awhiorangi, called upon by Turi in his incantations, is said to have saved them from the depths. According to another version of the story, Te Awhiorangi was brought here in the Takitimu canoe by Tamatea-ariki-nui, who used the adze to cut a path through a storm encountered on the voyage. This account says that Te Awhiorangi passed to Nga Rauru after Turi's daughter Tane-roroa married Tamatea's brother, Uenga-puanake. The name ‘Te Awhiorangi’ is usually translated as ‘The Encircler of Heaven.’ The Maori text published here is a contemporary account of the finding of Te Awhiorangi in 1887, after it had been lost for seven generations. Written by Wiremu Kauika, it appeared in 1888 in issue no. 71 of the Maori newspaper ‘Te Korimako.’ The translation is by ‘Te Ao Hou’. Waitotara is about 20 miles north of Wanganui. Te Kitetanga o Te Awhiorangi E rongo korero kau ana nga iwi katoa o te motu nei ki tenei Toki, ki a Te Awhiorangi, kahore ano i kite tuturu noa tae mai hoki ki a matou, ara, ki te iwi Nga Rauru, ara, ki te iwi nana i huna taua Toki, ara, na to matou tipuna i huna, na Rangitaupea. Tae mai ki a matou ka tuawhitu nga whakatipuranga; a, katahi rawa ano ka kitea inaianei a Te Awhiorangi. Koia i tuku atu ai, kia haria e to tatou mokai, ara, e Te Korimako ki ona wahi e rere ai ia, kia kite nga iwi katoa, Maori, Pakeha, i nga wahi katoa. E hoa ma, tena ra koutou. Tena ano tetahi kainga o matou e tutata ana ki Waitotara, ko Okotuku te ingoa. E rua tekau nga tangata o taua kainga ki te mahi hakekakeka i runga i te 4 ½d. mo te pauna i te taone o Waitotara, Titiriki. Ka haere te iwi ra akuanei, ko tetahi wahine he kotiro, ko te ingoa o taua kotiro ko Tomairangi i moe i a Te Potonga Kaiawha. Ko taua kotiro he tauhou ki taua wahi; kahore e mohio ki nga wahi tapu, ki nga urupa tupa-paku. Ko taua kotiro i haere mai i Ngai Tahu; no reira te whaea, ko te papa no matou, ara, no Nga Rauru. Katahi ka haere te kotiro ra, tona kotahi, The Finding of Te Awhiorangi All of the people of this land have heard of the axe named Te Awhiorangi, but they have not actually seen it. Nor have we of the Nga Rauru tribe seen it until now, though it was our people who hid this axe; it was hidden by our ancestor Rangitaupea. That was seven generations ago; and now, for the first time since then, we have found Te Awhiorangi. It is for this reason that we have permitted our friend Te Korimako to carry word of this wherever it goes, so that people all over the country, Maori and Pakeha, may hear the news. Friends, greetings to you. Near Waitotara there is a place of ours' called Okotuku. Twenty people belonging to that place were gathering hakekakeka (an edible fungus), which is sold at Waitotara for 4 ½d a pound. Now these people were accompanied by a young woman named Tomairangi, the wife of Te Potonga Kaiawha. This woman was a stranger in this part of the country and did not know the sacred places and the burial places, for she had come from the Ngai Tahu tribe; her mother belonged to Ngai Tahu, and