Te Ihinga-a-rangi 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

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupō and Manawatū/ Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti ...

in 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 ...

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 iwi of the Maungatautari area in the North Island of New Zealand. It was formed by the coming together of two related hapū, Ngāti Korokī and Ngāti Kahukura. It has historic affiliations with Ngāti Raukawa ...

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. ...

and the Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu of

Ngāti Maniapoto Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...

. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Life

Te Ihinga-a-rangi was the first-born son of Rereahu, who 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 commander of the ''Tainui'' canoe), and his first wife, Rangi-ānewa, daughter of Tamāio. He was born in a village called Tihikoreoreo, next to Waimiha. 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 M ...

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

Ōtorohanga Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located south of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton and north of Te Kūiti, on the Waipā River. It is a service town for the surrounding Da ...

Conflict with Maniapoto

When Rereahu was on his death-bed he decided to give his

mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

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 Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...

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 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 ...

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 () 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 ...

for Rereahu's

tangihanga , or more commonly, , is a traditional funeral rite practised by the Māori people of New Zealand. were traditionally held on , and are still strongly associated with the tribal grounds, but are now also held at homes and funeral parlours. Wh ...

(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 Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. 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 and had three sons: Kāhui-ao, Ue-haeroa, and Turaki-wai. These three elder children were born before he left Ōngārahu and settled at Ōngarue 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 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 ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, Tauwhare,

Morrinsville Morrinsville () is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. Morrinsville is a service town for the local dairy industry; the area surrounding the town has the highest concentration of dairy cattle in New Zealand. ...

, and

Waharoa A waharoa is an entrance gateway to a marae complex in New Zealand. Waharoa may refer to: * ''Waharoa'' (Aotea Square sculpture) (1990), a sculpture by Selwyn Muru in Aotea Square, Auckland * ''Waharoa'' (1990), a sculptural entranceway to the Auc ...

) and Ngāti Korokī Kahukura (which has marae at

Maungatautari Maungatautari is a mountain near Cambridge in the Waikato region in New Zealand's central North Island. The mountain is an extinct stratovolcano. It is a prominent peak and is visible across the Waipa District. The mountain is the site of Sanc ...

and Arapuni). 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

, 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 Rereahu tribe within Ngāti Maniapoto in 2016.

Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu

The

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

of Te Ihinga-a-rangi hapu centres on the Waimiha area, where they have a marae called Waimiha and a

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

called Te Ihingarangi. They also share Mangapeehi marae / Rereahu wharenui near Maniaiti / Benneydale, and Te Hape marae / Te Kaha Tuatini wharenui near Pureora with the Rereahu 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 Māori tribal leaders People from Waikato Ngāti Hauā people Ngāti Korokī Kahukura people Ngāti Maniapoto people