Tuhaitara

According to the legend, Tuhaitara, a Ngāi Tahu princess, sent her eldest son, Tamarairoa to Papanui to kill her former husband Marukore. But Marukore was aware of his sons intentions and when Tamarairoa and his younger brother arrived Marukore killed them both and burnt their bodies on a huge pyre.

GEDCOM Note

TUHAITARA was a woman of the Ngai-tahu tribe, who lived sixteen or seventeen generations ago (see Table 1). She was married to Marukore of the Ngati-mamoe. One day, being angered by her husband, she insulted him with a “mokai, ” or particularly offensive remark imputing slavery to the person addressed. The mokai was as follows:“Ehara koe i te tangata; he taurekareka no roto i te kaka kai amio; i puta mai koe i roto i te pohatu paremoremo, i te aruhe taratara.” This may be translated, “You are no man; you are a low person from amongst the parrakeets, constantly on the move in search of food; you are a survivor from the slippery stones (oven stones slippery with grease), from the oven covered only with rough ferns (i.e., not of sufficient importance to be covered with plaited mats).”
Naturally, this terrible insult was resented by Marukore, and the incident led to the outbreak of war between Ngai-tahu and Ngati-mamoe.

Following the incident with Tūtekohi the descendants of Rakawahakura moved further south and settled in the Hawke’s Bay area. His granddaughter, Tūhaitara, married Marukore who belonged to the local tangata whenua, a little-known iwi called Te Kāhea. They had 11 children, many of whom are founding ancestors of senior Ngāi Tahu hapū.

Following a serious fallout between Tūhaitara and Marukore, which quickly extended to their respective iwi, a series of battles ensued that saw father and sons in combat against each other. Ultimately the children grew powerful and skilled enough to defeat their parents. However, they still left the district.

By this time, Hinehou, one of the daughters of Tūhaitara and Marukore was already living in the Wairarapa, and this location was offered as a place of refuge for her siblings. This, in turn, provided a cause for the continuation of the Ngāi Tahu migration south and it was not long before they were an influential force in the Wairarapa and Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

The Battle of Pakiaka
Following the migration of the descendants of Rakawahakura from Waerenga-a-hika to the Heretaunga district his senior granddaughter, Tūhaitara, who was considered to be a chief of significant lineage, chose to marry a local chief Marukore. He was from the original occupants of the district, the Te Kāhea people which, for many, amounted to Tūhaitara marrying below her status. Their children included Tamaraeroa, Huirapa, Tahumatā, Pahirua and Hinehou.

After many years together Tūhaitara turned on her husband and slighted him with a complex insult, stating, “You are not a real man but of low-born stock where parrots will pick your bones, you are only worthy of greasy oven stones, and to be dressed with low-grade fern leaf mats.” This not only was a direct insult suggesting he would be cooked and eaten in a second rate oven; it also referred to, and belittled, his ancestry.

Tūhaitara then instructed her eldest sons, Tamaraeroa and Huirapa, to seek out and kill their father.

The two boys did pursue their father but they were defeated by Marukore at a battle known as Hūkete. Ultimately the bodies of the two warriors were lain down in the house of their sister, Hinehou, who decided to leave her household articles alongside the tapu bodies as a means of reminding her grandchildren of the deaths. The house was burnt down and subsequently the incident became known as Kārara Kōpae – The Laying Down of Fighting Chiefs.

Two younger brothers, Pahirua and Tahumatā, took up the challenge to defeat their father but first took instruction from a local chief of some renown, Rākaimoari. Unfortunately there was also tension between the sons and the chief due to a disparaging remark made by Hinewai-a-tapu, the daughter of Rākaimoari, towards Tahumatā. This led to a battle that went for some days and became known as Te Pakiaka (The Roots), because Hinewai-a-tapu hid under some tree roots. Tahumatā discovered and captured her, and made her his wife.

Eventually Marukore was captured, having been enticed to visit an important Kāti Mamoe chief, Hikaororoa, who had successfully contained the entire party in his visitor’s house. Hikaororoa approached the door of the house and asked that the chief of the long plume be delivered to him. Marukore walked towards the door but was stopped by his younger cousin Rokopaekawa who took his feather head dress, the sign of his status, and placed it upon his own head and offered himself up as the sacrifice.

He was killed and placed in the oven, but when the plume was seen to be protruding from the soil it was considered a bad omen. The young chief did not cook properly and was discarded and the incident became known as Pikitūroa – The Long Standing Feather Plumes.

There was a further battle, Tapapanui, which did see the demise of both Marukore and Tūhaitara. This led to the remaining children of these tragic parents seeking refuge with their sister who, at this stage, was living at Te Oreorehua.

This was the reason that the ancestors of Ngāi Tahu moved even further south and occupied the Wairarapa before they migrated to the South Island