Haungaroa was legendary

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

woman, who travelled from

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

to New Zealand to warn

Ngātoro-i-rangi In Māori tradition, Ngātoro-i-rangi (Ngātoro) is the name of a tohunga (priest) prominent during the settling of New Zealand (Aotearoa) by the Māori people, who came from the traditional homeland Hawaiki on the '' Arawa'' canoe. He is the anc ...

that Manaia was planning to attack him. She was responsible for naming

Kaingaroa Forest Kaingaroa Forest covers of the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand, and is the largest forest plantation in New Zealand, and the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere (after the Sabie/Graskop plantation in South Africa). The forest stretc ...

and various other places in central

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

, according to

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

and

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...

traditions.

Life

Haungaroa was born on Hawaiki. She had a brother, Ngātoro-i-rangi, who was a powerful priest and founding ancestor of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and a sister called Kuiwai, who was married to an important chief in Hawaiki, called Manaia. Some time after the departure of the '' Arawa'' canoe from Hawaiki, Manaia held a feast, at which the food cooked by his wife, Kuiwai, was found to be under-cooked. Manaia angrily cursed his wife and threatened to cook her brother Ngātoro-i-rangi as poorly as Kuiwai had cooked the meal. Kuiwai invoked the gods Kahukura, Itupawa, and

Rongomai In Māori mythology, Rongomai refers to several entities: * a deity by whose assistance Haungaroa traveled from Hawaiki to New Zealand as she went to tell Ngātoro-i-rangi that he had been cursed by Manaia. * a being in whale form which attacked ...

and received approval to send warning to Ngātoro-i-rangi, who was in New Zealand at this time.

Journey to Taupō

All traditions agree that Haungaroa undertook this voyage, but they disagree about who she travelled with and how she travelled.

Gudgeon A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., ''female'') fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, ...

says that Haungaroa and Kuiwai travelled to New Zealand in the canoe ''Utupawa''. John Te Herekiekie Grace reports the Tūwharetoa tradition according to which Haungaroa and Kuiwai travelled with a man called Tanewhakaraka and two maids in the canoe

Rewarewa ''Knightia excelsa'', commonly known as rewarewa (from Māori), is an evergreen tree endemic to the low elevation and valley forests of New Zealand. It is found in the North Island and at the tip of the South Island in the Marlborough Sounds (4 ...

and made landfall at Tawhiuwhiu in Hawkes' Bay. They took two gods with them, Maru and Kahukura. Stafford reports the Arawa tradition, according to which Haungaroa travelled with Kuiwai's daughter and three maids. Stafford says that they were carried over the sea by the gods, until they reached

Whakaari / White Island Whakaari / White Island (, , lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty. The island covers a ...

and came ashore at Tawhiuwhiu. They travelled inland towards

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...

, where Ngātoro-i-rangi had settled. When the party reached Waiwhakaari in the Taupō area, they found that Ngātoro-i-rangi had departed. According to Grace, the god Horomatangi, who had been brought to New Zealand by Ngātoro-i-rangi, came from Whakaari / White Island to guide the travellers. He travelled underground to Lake Taupō and then burst up, spraying

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of extremely vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicula ...

all around, so that they travellers saw him. Diving back down he created a whirlpool. This act is said to have created the deep current in the lake east of Motutaiko Island, as well as a periodic whirlpool. He squirted out a jet of water pointing north to show them the direction that they needed to travel. This spray became the Karapiti blowhole. Horomatangi remained in the lake where he is identified with a particular black rock, although he is also said to come ashore as a lizard called Ihumataotao.

Naming of Kaingaroa

After travelling inland they stopped to eat and Haungaroa took so long with her meal that the other women commented on it. As a result the area was named Kaingaroa ("Long meal"). According to Grace, this happened before reaching Taupō; according to Stafford it happened afterwards. In Grace's account, the women laft Haungaroa behind. When she tried to rejoin them, the ladies kept speeding up so that she could not catch up and Haungaroa responded by using a ''

karakia Karakia are Māori incantations and prayer used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection.ti trees. In Stafford's account, Haungaroa hit two of the maids when they complained about her slow eating and they fled into the forest. She chased after them and turned them into tī trees. These trees were pointed out by travellers and it was said that, when travellers approached them, they would moved away and could never actually be reached. Later in the journey, Haungaroa screamed out on top of a hill because she missed the people of Hawaiki. The hill was named Te Tangihanga ("the mourning") as a result. The travellers caught sight of

Lake Rotorua Lake Rotorua () is the second largest lake in the North Island of New Zealand by surface area, and covers 79.8 km2. With a mean depth of only 10 metres it is considerably smaller than nearby Lake Tarawera in terms of volume of water. It i ...

at Piopio and stopped to enjoy the view at the east end of Te Tihi-o-tonga. They also caused the beginning of

geothermal Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to: * Geothermal energy, useful energy generated and stored in the Earth * Geothermal activity, the range of natural phenomena at or near the surface, associated with release of the Earth's internal he ...

activity at

Whakarewarewa Whakarewarewa (reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning "The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao", often abbreviated to Whaka by locals) is a Rotorua semi-rural geothermal area in the Taupō Volcanic ...

Arrival at Maketu

Finally, they found Ngātoro-i-rangi's house at

Maketu Maketu is a small town on the Western Bay of Plenty coast in New Zealand. It is located roughly from Paengaroa, from Te Puke, from Tauranga, from Rotorua and from Whakatane. Maketu has an estuary from which the Kaituna River used to flow, ...

. Instead of entering by the gate, they climbed over the fence and sat in the most sacred part of the compound. This was a violation of tapu and news of it was taken to Ngātoro-i-rangi, but he realised who they must be and welcomed them without complaint. They told Ngātoro-i-rangi the story and he launched an expedition back to Hawaiki to get revenge on Manaia. Elaeocarpus_dentatus_12

Gudgeon reports that a hinau tree called Hunahuna-o-po on the Horomanga-o-po stream near

Galatea Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white". Galatea, Galathea or Gallathea may refer to: In mythology * Galatea, three different mythological figures from Greek mythology In the arts * '' Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'', ca ...

, which was still visible in 1906, was said to have been brought from Hawaiki by Haungaroa and Kuiwai, but he concluded that the tradition was unreliable because the story did not record the reason why they had brought this tree.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{Cite book, last1=Stafford, first1=D.M., year=1967, title=Te Arawa: A History of the Arawa People, publisher=A.H. & A.W. Reed, location= Rotorua, New Zealand Ngāti Tūwharetoa people 14th-century New Zealand people Legendary Māori people New Zealand women Te Arawa people