Te Ihinga-a-rangi was a Maori '' rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand and is the ancestor of the

Ngāti Hauā Ngāti Hauā is a Māori iwi of the eastern Waikato of New Zealand. It is part of the Tainui confederation. Its traditional area includes Matamata, Cambridge, Maungakawa, the Horotiu district along the Waikato River and the Maungatautari ...

and

Ngāti Korokī Kahukura Ngāti Korokī Kahukura is a Māori people, Māori iwi of the Maungatautari area of the Waikato in New Zealand. It was formed by the coming together of two related hapū, Ngāti Korokī and Ngāti Kahukura. It has historic affiliations with Ngāti ...

iwi and the Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu of Ngāti Maniapoto. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Life

Te Ihinga-a-rangi was the first-born son of

Rereahu Rereahu was a Maori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century. He is the ancestor of the Ngāti Maniapoto, N ...

, who was a direct descendant of Hoturoa (the commander of the ''Tainui'' canoe), and his first wife, Rangi-ānewa, daughter of

Tamāio Tamāio was a Maori people, Maori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation, based at Kāwhia in Waikato, New Zealand. He was the first chieftain to lead a war-party inland from Kāwhia, in a war against Ngāti Hā, sometime aroun ...

. He was born in a village called Tihikoreoreo, next to

Waimiha Waimiha is a rural community in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south of Te Kuiti and Benneydale, and north of Taumarunui and Ongarue. History Māori have lived in Waimiha for c ...

. After his birth, Rereahu remarried to Hine-au-pounamu, and had several children, including

Maniapoto Maniapoto was a Māori ''rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand, and the founding ancestor of the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. Initially, he based himself at Waiponga in the Moh ...

. When he had grown up, Te Ihinga-a-rangi settled at Ōngārahu, southeast of Otorohanga.

Conflict with Maniapoto

When Rereahu was on his death-bed he decided to give his mana to Maniapoto, rather than Te Ihinga-a-rangi, because he thought the younger brother had proven himself a better leader. Therefore, he told Te Ihinga-a-rangi to go to the ''tuahu'' (altar) and perform the rituals, promising to pass the mana to him when he returned. While he was away, he called Maniapoto to him, covered his head in red ochre and instructed him to bite the crown of his head, passing the chiefly mana to him. Maniapoto objected, but Rereahu declared that Te Ihinga-a-rangi was illegitimate in some way. Pei Te Hurinui Jones suggests that this was because Rereahu already planned to marry Hine-pounamu when Te Ihinga-a-rangi was conceived and/or because Hine-moana was genealogically senior to Rangi-ānewa. Maniapoto accepted the mana and by the time Te Ihinga-a-rangi returned, Rereahu was dead. One of the guests who came from

Kāwhia Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') 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 southw ...

for Rereahu's tangihanga (funeral) was Tū-tarawa, who was the brother of Maniapoto's mother and whose son was married to Te Ihinga-a-rangi's great-granddaughter, Hine Whatihua. He visited Te Ihinga-a-rangi, who served him a meal of bird-meat, giving Tū-tarawa the worse portion (the heads), while keeping the rest for himself. Te Inhinga-a-rangi indicated that he intended to murder Maniapoto. After this, Tū-tarawa visited Maniapoto's house, Hikurangi, at Mohoao-nui, a little to the northwest. Maniapoto also served his uncle bird-meat, but gave him the better portion, so he told Maniapoto about Te Ihinga-a-rangi's intentions. Maniapoto told Tū-tarawa to return to Te Ihinga-a-rangi and tell him that Maniapoto had decided to abandon Mohoao-nui and settle somewhere in the east. Then Maniapoto and his people left the village, travelled east for a way before circling around and hiding on the river bank to the west of the village. Thinking that the village had been abandoned, Te Ihinga-a-rangi brought a group up to settle there and was ambushed. Most of Te Ihinga-a-rangi's people were killed, but he was captured alive and brought to Maniapoto, who spat on his head, shaming Te Ihinga-a-rangi and securing his own pre-eminence.

Departure and death

Following this defeat, Te Ihinga-a-rangi left the region and relocated with his family to Te Tiki-o-Te-Ihinga-a-rangi, just west of modern Cambridge. He died a few years later and his children interred his bones in Tūtū-hauhau cave near Tīroa.

Family

Te Ihinga-a-rangi married Haeata had three sons: Kāhui-ao, Ue-haeroa, and Turaki-wai. These three elder children were born before he left Ōngārahu and settled at

Ōngarue Ongarue ( mi, Ōngarue) is a rural community in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south of Te Kuiti and Waimiha, and north of Taumarunui. It is in meshblock 1041902, which had a popul ...

and Waimihi after his death, becoming the ancestors of the Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu of Ngāti Maniapoto, which is still based in the region today. After Te Ihinga-a-rangi moved to Te Tiki-o-Te-Ihinga-a-rangi, he had a fourth son, Kurī, by a second wife, Ringa-arikura. Kurī stayed in that region after his father's death and his descendants are Ngāti Hauā (which has marae in Hamilton, Tauwhare, Morrinsville, and

Waharoa Waharoa is a rural community in the Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hami ...

) and Ngāti Korokī Kahukura (which has marae at

Maungatautari Maungatautari is a mountain, rural community, and ecological area near Cambridge in the Waikato region in New Zealand's central North Island. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "mountain of the upright ...

and

Arapuni Arapuni is a rural town centre on the Waikato river in the South Waikato District of New Zealand. The town sits next to the Arapuni Dam, a hydroelectric dam at Lake Arapuni commissioned in 1929. The Arapuni Power Station consists of eight turb ...

). He also had a daughter, Hine-mapuhia, who was an ancestor of Hotu-mauea.

Sources

The story of Te Ihinga-a-rangi and his conflict with Maniapoto is recorded by Pei Te Hurinui Jones, based on oral accounts that he heard from unspecified Tainui elders. The story was cited by Ngāti Maniapoto elders during a conflict about the status of the

tribe within Ngāti Maniapoto in 2016.

Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu

The rohe of Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu centres on the Waimiha area, where they have a marae called Waimiha and a wharenui called Te Ihingarangi. They also share Mangapeehi marae / Rereahu wharenui near

Maniaiti / Benneydale Maniaiti / Benneydale is a small town in the Waitomo District. It is on State Highway 30, approximately southeast of Te Kuiti. History Coal township Coal was discovered in the area in 1931, and a mine was built at the town's present locat ...

, and Te Hape marae / Te Kaha Tuatini wharenui near

Pureora Pureora Forest Park is a protected area in the North Island of New Zealand. Within its rich rainforest are an abundance of 1,000-year-old podocarp trees. It is "recognised as one of the finest rain forests in the world". Established in 1978, af ...

with the

tribal grouping.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last1=Jones , first1=Pei Te Hurinui , last2=Biggs , first2=Bruce , title=Ngā iwi o Tainui : nga koorero tuku iho a nga tuupuna = The traditional history of the Tainui people , date=2004 , publisher=Auckland University Press , location=Auckland .Z., isbn=1869403312 17th-century New Zealand people New Zealand Māori men Māori tribal leaders People from Waikato Ngāti Hauā people Ngāti Korokī Kahukura people Ngāti Maniapoto people