TAUPO-NUI-A-TIA

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 5, 13 February 1952, Page 1

TAUPO-NUI-A-TIA

TALES OF THE TAUPO COUNTRY (Bd R. H. W.) \ Long ago, probably in the four- ^ teenth century, in Hawaiki, a chief named Tama-te-kapua and his younger brother stole breadfruit from a tree belonging to the high chief Uenuku. As a result of this escapade Tama-te-kapua and his people set forth in the Arawa canoe oyer the Great Ocean of Kiwa, to the land of high mists later to be known as Aotearoa. For the voyage a navigator was required, and Tlama-te-kapua was resourceful enough to kidnap a learned priest, Nga-toroi-rangi, under whose guidance a landfall was made at Cape Runaway. From there Te Arawa was turned northward to Maetu where its passengers landed. The new country was energetically explored and today the tribes of the Bay , of Plenty coast and the Rotorua thermal district are descended from Tama-te-kapua while Ngati-tuwharetoa, the people ^ of Taupo-nui-a-tia, claim descent I from N gatorof-rangi. This occupation by the people of Te Arawa canoe is often described in a saying to the effect that the carved prow of their canoe rests at Maketu while the stern piece is formed by the mountain of Tongariro. So far the ancient tale has undoubtedly the force of history. Ngatoroirangi the navigator became naturally a keen explorer and the record of his explorations is enshrined with mytho-poetic additions in the tale of his bringing of the volcanic fires to the Tongariro group of mountains. In his journeyings he had climbed to the summit of Ngauruhoe and was there caught in a fierce snowstorm, a frightening experience for the newcomer from the warm lands of Hawaiki. Perishing from cold he cried to his priestess sisters in the homelands, "E Kuiwai e! Haungaroa e! Ka riro au i te tonga! Harie mai he ahi moku!" Translated this prayer may be rendered, "0 Kuiwai! O Haungaroa. I am swept away by the cold south wind, I perish: Send . fire to warm me!" f\ Hearing the prayer the two sisters implored the aid of Te Pupu and Te Hoata, gods of the volcanic forces, and the saving fire was sent. It . ' burst forth first at Whakaari and Mou-tohora, then at Roto-ehu, Roto- ! V • lti and Rotorua, Tarawera and Rotomahana. It burst forth too at Paeroa near Waiotapu, and at many places near Taupo. Then swiftly it rushed southward and burst through the mountain top to save the Ariki from the deadly cold. So is recorded the discovery of White Island and Whale Island and the other j places menioned. When Ngatoroi- | rangi first uttered his karakia he killed a female slave Auruhoe as an offering to the gods to strengthen the mana of his prayer, and when the fire broke forth he threw the body into the flaming crater. So did Ngauruhoe get its name, for to the people of the country it was by the variant name of Auruhoe that their mountain was known. So also was it that Tongariro became the name not only of the Tongariro of to-day but also of the whole mountain group. The name comes from the j words in the karakia of Ngatoroi-ra

ngi, "tonga" or south wind and "riri," seized or carried away. And when Ngauruhoe sends up in the bright sun&hine its feather of glistening white, as it is doing as I write, or when it hurl$ forth a mighty ash cloud, the people of Taupo-nui-a-tia know that it is the work of the god of eruptions and earthquakes, Ruamaumoko. But that is another story.