Turi, according to Māori tradition, was the captain of the '' Aotea'' canoe and an important ancestor for many Māori

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. ...

, particularly in the

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 ...

region.

Arrival in New Zealand

Turi was a vassal to chief

Uenuku Uenuku (or Uenuku-Kōpako, also given to some who are named after him) is an atua of rainbows and a prominent ancestor in Māori tradition. Māori believed that the rainbow's appearance represented an omen, and one kind of yearly offering made ...

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 ...

. One year, after Turi's tribute to Uenuku was insufficient as the annual harvest was not as plentiful as usual, Uenuku killed Turi's son Potikiroroa for food supply. Turi's father Rongotea retaliated by killing Awepotiki, the son of Uenuku, and hiding his heart inside a kūmara (

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

) tribute to Uenuku. The conflict led Turi and his people to depart for New Zealand with many others in the ''Aotea''. This canoe had been given to Turi by Toto, father of Turi's wife

Rongorongo Rongorongo ( or ; Rapa Nui: ) is a system of glyphs discovered in the 19th century on Easter Island that has the appearance of writing or proto-writing. Numerous attempts at decipherment have been made, but none have been successful. Although ...

. In some traditions, Turi and his party stopped at Rangitāhua, believed by some to be Raoul of the

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( ; ) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total area and uninhabit ...

, where they encountered some of the crew from the ''

Kurahaupō ''Kurahaupō'' was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand in Māori tradition. In Taranaki tribal tradition, ''Kurahaupō'' is known as ''Te Waka Pakaru ki te moana'' or 'The Cano ...

'' canoe. Continuing, Turi and his followers eventually arrived and settled at

Aotea Harbour Aotea Harbour () is a settlement and smallest of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located between Raglan Harbour to the north and Kawhia Harbour to the south, 30 kilom ...

on the west coast of the

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 ...

. After some time at Aotea Harbour, Turi settled the

Pātea Patea ( ) is the third-largest town in South Taranaki District, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Pātea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Whanganui on . Hāwera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the eas ...

region, where he lived with his people along

Pātea River The Pātea River is in Taranaki in the North Island of 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 ...

. His daughter Tāneroroa married Ruanui, the eponymous ancestor of

Ngāti Ruanui Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori people, Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki Region, Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the rohe, traditional ...

References

* * * *R.D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989). Māori mythology Legendary Polynesian people Legendary progenitors Polynesian maritime navigators {{Māori-myth-stub