HE MAEMAE MO WAHINE-ITI A DEATH CHANT FOR WAHINE-ITI (Ngati Raukawa) By Ngati Kauwhata, sub-tribe of Ngati Raukawa Translation and footnotes by Pei Te Hurinui Ko wahine-iti he rangatira nui no Ngāti Kauwhata, hapū o Ngāti Raukawa, o te wā ano e noho ana a Ngāti Kauwhata i te takiwa ki Maunga-tautari, i mua atu i te heke o Ngāti Raukawa i raro i a Te Whatanui i roto hoki i ngā ope a Te Rauparaha i heke ai ki te takiwa ki Kapiti. Na Ngāti Kauwhata tēnei maemae mo Wahine-iti i tōna matenga. I haere a Wahine-iti rāua ko Hape i roto i te ope-taua a Ngāti Maru o te takiwa ki Ohinemuri. Itaua wā he rangatira toa-taua a Wahine-iti rāua ko Hape no Ngāti Raukawa. He tungāne a Hape no Pare-kōhatu, te whaea o Te Rauparaha. I moe a Pare-kōhatu i a Werawera o Ngāti Toa ka puta; ko Rangi-katukua, ko Wai-tohi, ko Te Kiri-pae-ahi, me te whakapākanga, ko Te Rauparaha. He taitamariki te nuinga o te ope a Ngāti Maru, a ko ta rātou haere e ahu ana ki ngā whenua ki te tonga ki te rapu me te muru taonga mo rātou i roto i ngā poka me ngā ana tūpapaku. Kāore i whakaae a Ngāti Kauwhata kia haere a Wahine-iti, kaati kāore a ia i whaka-rongo ki te pupuri a tana iwi i a ia; ka kī a ia kāore ia e pai me mate tara-a-whare a ia, ēngari me hinga ki te pakanga; ma te rau o te patu ma te taoroa rānei. I ngā waahi i haere ai te ope-taua a Ngāti Maru he tō wāhine ētehi o a rātou mahi. I te taenga ki te wā i hoki mai ai ki te wā kāinga i ahu mai rātou ma Roto-a-ira, ka piki mai ma Te Ponanga a ka tae mai ai ki Te Rapa, ki a Te Heuheu 11. He whanaunga a Te Heuheu ki a Hape, a nāna i hoatu ngā i hoatu ngā waka hei whakawhitinga i te Moana o Taupo. I mua i te hoenga o ngā waka ka kī atu a Te Heuheu ki a Hape, “E Hape, kia mau te ihu o te waka ki Tōhine-o-tu.” He kūrae a Tōhine-o-tu kei te taha hauauru o te Wahine-iti was a high chief of the Ngāti Kauwhata, a sub-tribe of the Ngāti Raukawa, of the time when the Ngāti Kauwhata were living in the Maunga-tautari district, and before the Ngāti Raukawa migrated under Te Whatanui as part of the migration under Te Rauparaha to the Kapiti district. This death chant was composed by Ngāti Kauwhata on the death of Wahine-iti. Wahine-iti and Hape accompanied a war-party of the Ngāti Maru of the Ohinemuri district. Wahine-iti and Hape were warrior chieftains of the Ngāti Raukawa. Hape was a brother of Pare-kōhatu, the mother of Te Rauparaha. Pare-kōhatu married Werawera of Ngāti Toa and had: Rangi-ka-tukua, Wai-tohi, Te Kiri-pae-ahi and Te Rauparaha, the lastborn. Most of the Ngati Maru war-party were young men, and their expedition was to southern lands to seek and plunder for treasures for themselves in the graves and burial caves of the dead. The Ngāti Kauwhata were not in favour of Wahine-iti going, but he took no heed of his people's pleas to detain him; saying that he did not want to die in his own house, but that he would rather die in battle; laid low by the blade of the war club or by the long spear. In the various places raided by the Ngati Maru war-party they sometimes committed outrages against the womenfolk. When they turned back on the homeward journey they proceeded by way of the lake of Roto-a-ira, ascended by way of Te Ponanga and arrived at Te Rapa, to the presence of Te Heuheu 11. Te Heuheu was related to Hape and he lent the canoes for the crossing of Lake Taupo. Before the canoes set off Te Heuheu spoke to Hape and said, “O Hape, keep the bow of the