Leaving TūranganuiAt Turanganui, (near Gisborne) there were four great-grandsons of Kahungunu: Tupurupuru, Taraia, Tawhao and Te Aomatarahi.The eldest, Tupurupuru, had the highest mana, but two young cousins, talented twin boys, began to attract great mana also. Tupurupuru was afraid the twins would eclipse him, so he killed and buried them. To find the murderer, some tohunga flew kites that flew above Tupurupuru’s house. (This was called witchcraft, but was more likely to have been applied psychology, with cunning kite-flying that preyed apon the murderer’s feelings of guilt). The twin’s father gathered a war party, killed Tupurupuru and desecrated his body. In shame, Taraia and his younger brothers left and went south with 150 followers. At Mahia they were grieviously insulted by Rakai-weriweri who escaped to the Pukuwheke pa at the mouth of the Aropaoanui River (30 km north of Napier). Taraia and his warriors attacked the pa, and after failing the first time, they eventually took it. A prisoner they took captured there told them of abundant estuarine lands at Awahuri and Tukituki. The Ngati Kahungunu then moved south into Hawke Bay, first overcoming the Maruiwi in the Heipipi Pa on a hill at today’s Bayview, and in the Otatara Pa above Taradale. Tawhao settled by the Ahuriri estuary (at Napier) and Taraia settled along the Tukituki (near Hastings). Full story |