Cover Section

Tu Tangata, Issue 34, 1 February 1987, Cover Page

TE REINGA the legend

N.Z. Forest Products Limited presents a collection of contemporary Maori carvings and their legends. From the Motuti Marae, North Hokianga, New Zealand.

January 1987

Te Reinga was a chief who lived 10 generations ago. Te Reinga himself was the great-grandson of an ancestor called Rahiri, who was reputedly so prolific that his descendants helped populate the entire northern peninsula of Aotearoa, known as Taitokerau. Te Reinga was born into the chiefly line established by his ancestors and so in his turn he assumed the chiefly mantle. His was the Mana Whenua, the authority over the land. He held the right of occupation of the fortified Pa of the region, including amongst others two known as Matareua and Pureirei. Aided by his people, and especially by his two warrior sons, Te Kuri and Niwa, Te Reinga protected the land against the incursions of neighbouring subtribes He established boundaries and set up protection rights over fishing grounds, cultivations and snares in the forest. To violate these sanctions was to invite the death penalty. Te Reinga ruled with such authority that even his name was feared. He and his people were known as Ngati-te-Reinga, the sub-tribe of Te Reinga They were a warrior tribe, continually involved in warfare. In addition to repulsing other sub-tribes in protection of their own territorial rights, they also took the battle to others and, where successful, laid claim to new lands. If they were defeated in battle they retreated only to seek revenge at a later time. The ancestors of Te Reinga are represented in all the sacred burial grounds of the area. Te Reinga married Pare, who was a daughter of Waimirirangi, a famous ancestress, and a sister to Tamatea, after whom the Motuti wharehui is named. Such was Te Reinga's mana, or prestige, that when the original land claims were being settled in 1903, he was declared the pre-eminent ancestor for all the Waihou and Whakarapa blocks of land. To acquire shares in the land the leaders of the time had firstly to prove their descent from Te Reinga, both personally and also in respect of those on whose behalf they claimed. The second prerequisite was that they had to prove continuous occupation of the land. Te Reinga, the chief, was named after the nearby mountain of Te Reinga, as represented in the carving.

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