Kaihamu
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Kaihamu was a
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 ...
''
rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land ( ...
'' (chieftain) of the
Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...
tribal confederation from the
Waikato region The Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City, as well as ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century.


Life

Kaihamu, whose name means 'scrap-eater', was the son of Mangō, who was based at Te Whena and had become the most prominent ''rangatira'' around the
Kāwhia Harbour Kawhia Harbour () is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. ...
after defeating
Whatihua Whatihua was a Māori people, Māori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at Kāwhia, New Zealand. He quarrelled with his brother, Tūrongo, and as a result Tainui was split between them, with Whatihua receiving the norther ...
in a battle at Mahea-takataka. Through his father Kaihamu was a direct descendant of
Hoturoa According to Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the ''Tainui'' canoe, during the migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor of the Tainui confederation of tribes (iwi), who now in ...
, the captain of the ''Tainui'' canoe. His mother was Hiapoto, who came from
Waitōtara Waitōtara is a town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. Waverley, Taranaki, Waverley is 10 km to the north-west, and Whanganui is 34 km to the south-east. New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highway 3 passes through it. The Waitōtara Riv ...
in south
Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...
and belonged to the
Ngā Rauru Ngā Rauru (also ''Ngā Rauru Kītahi'') is a Māori iwi in the South Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 4,047 Māori claimed affiliation to Ngā Rauru, representing 12 hapū. History Early history The early history of Ngā Rau ...
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
. John White and
Māui Pōmare Sir Māui Wiremu Piti Naera Pōmare (1875 or 1876 – 27 June 1930) was a New Zealand medical doctor and politician, being counted among the more prominent Māori political figures. He is particularly known for his efforts to improve Māori he ...
say that he had a brother, Uetapu, but other sources disagree. As a youth Kaihamu learned magic and became a skilled ''
tohunga In the culture of the Māori people, Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, ...
''. As an adult, Kaihamu made his base at Moeātoa, to the south of
Kāwhia Kawhia Harbour () is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. Ka ...
.


Journey to Waitōtara

After Kaihamu was born, Mangō took Hiapoto back to Waitōtara and she remarried to one of her own people, with whom she had two further sons, Ngū ('squid') and Wheke ('octopus'). When Hiapoto was dying, she told Ngū and Wheke that they should place her bones in a carved coffin inside a little house on a raised platform in the courtyard at the centre of the village and that if their elder half-brothers ever visited, her skull would fall from the platform so that they would recognise them. In another version, her head was smoked and placed on the ''pare'' (
lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...
) above the door of their house. Years later, Kaihamu and Uetapu wished to meet their mother so they travelled to Taranaki with a party of 140 men. When they arrived in Waitōtara, Hiapoto's skull fell from the platform as predicted, but Ngū and Wheke did not remember their mother's words and did not recognise Kaihamu and Uetapu as their brothers. When Kaihamu and Uetapu arrived in the
marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...
they violated '' tapu'', either by sitting in the position normally taken by Ngū and Wheke, or by trying to enter their house. The Ngā Rauru objected and tried to stop them, but Kaihamu said, "I eat squid, I eat octopus, and you are also food for me." The Ngā Rauru were furious and secretly began summoning men to come and kill Kaihamu and his party. The villagers began to prepare fires in order to
cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...
Kaihamu and his comrades, pretending that they were preparing a feast for them. One of Kaihamu's men went out and in the dark the Ngā Rauru did not recognised him and let slip that they were planning to kill the guests. When he reported back, Kaihamu used his mother's preserved head as the ''tuahu'' altar for the sacrifice of a ''kuri'' dog and then magically sent his comrade, Tuatangiroa out the window and all the way to Kāwhia in a single day, where he placed the body of the dog on the ''tuahu'' of Hoturoa. Then Kaihamu went out and announced his parentage and they repented, but Kaihamu pulled off his belt and chanted a ''
karakia Karakia are Māori incantations and prayer used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection.whau stick, Te Whaka-itu-pawa to carry the scalps of the dead people back to Kāwhia, so that he could perform the victory ceremonies, and then to travel back to Waitōtara in a single day. These ceremonies freed the men from any culpability for the murders and Ngā Rauru never took vengeance.


War with Rangi-houhiri of Ngai Te Rangi

Rangi-houhiri, a ''rangatira'' of
Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tūhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east. ...
from
Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...
in the eastern
Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...
, attacked Waitaha, an
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
within
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 ...
, which was based 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, ...
in the western Bay of Plenty. He captured Maketu and then treacherously killed their ''rangatira'' Tukutehe when he came to negotiate a peace. Tukutehe's wife, Tū-parahaki, a descendant of
Hotunui Hotunui was a Māori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation of Waikato, New Zealand. Through his son Marutūāhu he is the ancestor of four tribes of the Hauraki Gulf: Ngāti Maru (Hauraki), Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Rongoū, Ngā ...
, was distraught and went into seclusion for two years, refusing to marry any of her many suitors unless they avenged her husband by killing Rangi-houhiri. One of Tukutehe's relatives, the elderly Mōtai-tangata-kotahi ('one-man-Mōtai'), was angry because his people had stopped delivering food for him. Therefore, he sent a messenger to Moeātoa to fetch Kaihamu in order to defeat Ngāi Te Rangi. Kaihamu was chosen because he was a distant cousin of Tū-parahaki. gives her line of descent as Hoturoa – Hotuope – Hotu-āwhio – Hotu-matapū – Mōtai – Ue – Rakamaomao – Kākāti and his first wife Ururangi –
Tāwhao Tāwhao was a Māori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at Kāwhia, New Zealand. He probably lived around 1500 CE. He was the last chief to lead the whole of Tainui, as the feud between his two sons Whatihua and Tūron ...
Whatihua Whatihua was a Māori people, Māori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at Kāwhia, New Zealand. He quarrelled with his brother, Tūrongo, and as a result Tainui was split between them, with Whatihua receiving the norther ...
– Uenuku –
Hotunui Hotunui was a Māori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation of Waikato, New Zealand. Through his son Marutūāhu he is the ancestor of four tribes of the Hauraki Gulf: Ngāti Maru (Hauraki), Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Rongoū, Ngā ...
– Pākā – Kahu-reremoa – Tū-parahaki, so they were both descendants of Kākāti.
Kaihamu came with a war party which was so small that the Waitaha said "This war party will not even disturb the dew," but Kaihamu responded, "It's just a small cloud descending from Moeātoa's peak – there are many stars in the sky, but a small cloud can hide them all." He captured one fortress immediately, then at dawn the next day he attacked
Te Teko Te Teko is a small inland town along the banks of the Rangitaiki River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The township includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was est ...
and the blood from the slaughter turned the
Rangitaiki River The Rangitaiki River is the longest river in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand's North Island. It is long, and rises inland to the east of the Kaingaroa Forest in the Taupō District. The Rangitaiki catchment covers an area of . It flo ...
red. He had managed to make his attack before any of Tū-parahaki's other suitors by bribing the slave who was meant to watch the sky and tell the ''rangatira'' where the constellations were in the sky, so that they would know what the time was. When they woke up the slave told them that 'Tama-rereti's canoe' (the
Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...
) had not yet 'turned over' and that its anchor (the
Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...
) remained high in the sky. He also made his war party seem bigger than it really was by having his men shake vines against the trees at the edge of the tree cover. At this point, Rangi-houhi arrived with a force. He and Kaihamu met in
single combat Single combat is a duel between two single combatants which takes place in the context of a battle between two army, armies. Instances of single combat are known from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The champions were often combatants wh ...
and Kaihamu decapitated him, taking his ''
mere Mere may refer to: Places * Mere, Belgium, a village in East Flanders * Mere, Cheshire, England * Mere, Wiltshire, England People * Mere Broughton (1938–2016), New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist * Mere Smith, American television ...
'' club and his ''tōpuni'' (dog's skin cloak). Te Arawa tradition says that this battle took place at Pōporo-huama, at the mouth of the Waihi River.
Māui Pōmare Sir Māui Wiremu Piti Naera Pōmare (1875 or 1876 – 27 June 1930) was a New Zealand medical doctor and politician, being counted among the more prominent Māori political figures. He is particularly known for his efforts to improve Māori he ...
says it took place between the mouth of the Waihi and the mouth of the
Kaituna River The Kaituna River is in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the outflow from Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, and flows northwards for , emptying into the Bay of Plenty at Maketu. It was the subject of a claim concern ...
at Te Whare-o-te-Rangimarere. Both locations are very near Maketu. Returning to Maketu, all of the warriors gathered around Tū-parahaki claiming to have killed Rangi-houhi and throwing severed heads on the ground in front of her to prove it. Finally, Kaihamu came forward and laid out the ''mere'', the ''tōpuni'', and Rangi-houhi's head. Then Tū-parahaki agreed to marry Kaihamu and made the journey to Moeātoa. Kaihamu had gone in advance to prepare everything for Tū-parahaki's arrival and she was led by Kaihamu's dog which indicated the spot which Kaihamu had made ''tapu'' for her camp each night on the journey. Māui Pōmare reports the ''
pōwhiri A pōwhiri (also called a pōhiri or pōwiri in some dialects) is a formal Māori culture, Māori welcoming ceremony onto a marae, involving speeches, cultural performance, singing and finally the ''hongi''. Traditionally, the was a way by whi ...
'' chanted by the people of Moeātoa when Tū-parahaki arrived.


Family

Kaihamu and Tū-parahaki had one son, Te Urutira, who himself married Kearangi / Takikawehi and had five sons: Tū-pāhau, Pari-nui, Te Awha, Puha, and Kiore-pukahu.


Sources

John White describes the Kaihamu's visit to Waitōtara in the fourth volume of ''The Ancient History of the Maori'' (1888). He does not name his source. Māui Pōmare also recounts the story in ''Legends of the Maori''. Virtually the same story is told by Percy Smith about the sons of
Rua-pū-tahanga Rua-pū-tahanga was a Māori people, Māori ''puhi ariki'' (chieftainess) from Ngāti Ruanui, who married Whatihua and thus became the ancestor of many tribes of Tainui. She probably lived in the sixteenth century. Life Rua-pū-tahanga was a daugh ...
.
Pei Te Hurinui Jones Pei Te Hurinui Jones (9 September 1898 – 7 May 1976) was a Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. As a leader of the Tainui tribal confederation and of the Māori King Movement, he participated in negotiations with t ...
argues that the attribution to Kaihamu and Hiapoto is the correct one and the link to Rua-pū-tahanga is mistaken.
Pei Te Hurinui Jones Pei Te Hurinui Jones (9 September 1898 – 7 May 1976) was a Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. As a leader of the Tainui tribal confederation and of the Māori King Movement, he participated in negotiations with t ...
recounts the story of Rangi-houi and Tū-parahaki based on an oral account which he heard from Āihe Huirama and Te Nguha Huirama of
Ngāti Tamainupō Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in the Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zeal ...
in November 1932 and May 1933. Māui Pōmare also recounts the story in ''Legends of the Maori''.


References


Bibliography

* * * *{{cite book , last1=White , first1=John , title=The Ancient History of The Maori, his Mythology and Traditions: Tai-Nui , date=1888 , publisher=Government Printer , volume=4, location=Wellington , url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Whi04Anci.html Tainui people 17th-century Māori tribal leaders People from Waikato