āna pō me āna tikanga mō te pou kūmara. Kotahi te waha o te kō ki te pou, kotahi anō te anga o te hunga pou. Kāore e anga kē e pare kē. E mau nei ēnei tikanga i ngā hapū o Te Whānau-a-Apanui nei, mai i a Kaiaio, heke iho noa mai ki ēnei whakatupuranga. Ko tēnei iwi ko Te Whānau-a-Apanui he iwi hākere, mā te waewae taka tonu ki tōna aro-aro, ka maringi noa āna kai, ka makere anō āna taonga, ka ngahoro noa āna kōrero. Ka taka mai nei ki te wā o te whakapono nei, kātahi ka hurihia ngā pō whakatipu kai a tēnei iwi ki ngā pō whāngai i te wairua; kāore he tohu o ngā pō a te wairua. I kōrerotia, kotahi anō, me anga nui ō koutou kanohi ki runga, kaua e tiro whakararo, nō te mea kei runga hoki ngā hōmaitanga papai katoa. Ka hurihia ngā whakaaro o ēnei hapū ki te whai i ēnei pō-tikanga rānei. Ka taka te whakaaro i ēnei hapū kia whaka-arahia e rātau he whare karakia ki Whanga-parāoa hei pupiri i te mauri o te whakapono ki waenganui o tēnei karangatanga hapū o roto i a Te Whānau-a-Apanui, arā, i te Whānau-a-Kauaetangohia. Mā te huruhuru hoki te manu ka rere! Ka takoto he pūtea i te whānau nei, me ngā tikanga katoa e ara ai te taonga. Huri rawa iho ngā kanohi i whakatirohia whaka-rungatia rā, kua eke kē te pūtea nei kai runga i te waka nei i a *Ki etahi, ko Te Aratawhao. Marutawhao hai tiki i te kūmara i Hawaiki. E te wairua ki āu pō, ‘Ka runga te kōrero, kai raro te rahurahu’. Ka wāhi rua i konei a Te Whānau-a-Apanui, te mauri pupuri i te whakatō o te kai; pupuri i te mauri tangata, i te mauri pupuri hoki i te whakapono. Kua tiro kē, kua huri kē, kua kuhu kē, kua whaka-angaanga te hinengaro, ki konei rānei, ki kō rānei; me pēnei rānei, me pērā rānei; me te mamae iho anō o te ngākau ki ngā taonga ātaahua whakarerenga iho a ngā tīpuna kua tere nei i te ia o te wā …. ki Whananui e te hoki mai nei tō wairua ora ki te ao nā …. nā Pūwharariki, Te Ranga-a-te-anewa Apanui derived their knowledge of correct planting times and methods of cultivation of the kumara. At planting time, the planters worked always in unison. The digging sticks were all lifted in one way and the planters all faced in one direction. No one would move in a different direction from the others. These customs have been retained by the various subtribes of the Whanau-a-Apanui, from the time of Kaiaio right down to the present generation. The Whanau-a-Apanui people are careful with their food, but are at the same time generous. Their generosity and their careful husbanding of food supplies enable them, when they have guests, to be lavish in their hospitality and to lay before their visitors not only a wealth of their finest provisions but also a feast of stories and traditions. With the coming of Christianity, the people likened the growth of the new religion to their planting; but there were no signs to guide them in the things of the spirit. They were told, “You must be steadfast in turning your faces up towards heaven. Don't look down, for all your blessings come from on high.” So the people of these sub-tribes devoted all their thoughts to cultivating their spiritual well-being. They decided to erect a church at Whangaparaoa (Cape Runaway) as a shrine for the deep faith of this sub-tribe of Te Whanau-a-Apanui, the Kauaetangohia people. As the proverb says, the wherewithal is necessary before we can accomplish anything. A fund was established by the people and money raised in various ways. However, by the time the eyes that had been turned heavenwards returned to earth, the fund had gone with the ancestral canoe, Marutawhao, on its long journey to Hawaiki to bring back the kumara. So much for the things of the spirit; as the saying goes, ‘A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country’. From this time, Te Whanau-a-Apanui became a divided people, in their allegiance to different beliefs; the things pertaining to their agricultural activities, the part of them that held on to the cultural values and the call of their religion. Some are looking in one direction some in another, turning this way and that to find a satisfactory means of sustenance; not any more a people all of one mind; wondering whether to stay here, or to go there; whether to do this, or to do that; and with all this, constantly concerned over the priceless traditions left to them by their ancestors which are now drifting away on the current of the times. by Puwharariki, Te Ranga-a-te-anewa