Whakaotirangi was the daughter of Tainui and the wife of Hoturoa who was the Captain of the Tainui Canoe and a High Priest. Their son Hotuope is the ancestor of the main chief line of the Tainui Tribe in Aotearoa / New Zealand. Tainui was not the Tribe of Hoturoa as this is the name of Whakaoterangi's father - it is their son Hotuope who is the beginning of the Tainui bloodline in Aotearoa / New Zealand. Whakaotirangi was also 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 ...
experimental gardener. Her name has been translated as "completion from the sky" or "the heavens complete".
Early accounts describe her as a leader, who may even have contributed to the building of the canoe.
Whakaotirangi is described in both
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 ...
and
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 ...
traditions as the woman who carried seeds of important plants on the journey to New Zealand / Aotearoa including kūmara (sweet potato). According to Tainui tradition, Whakaotirangi landed at
Kawhia
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, Ne ...
in the
Waikato
The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
, but moved around experimenting and testing plants for food and medicinal uses. In Te Arawa traditions, Whakaotirangi planted her
kūmara
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 the ...
garden of ''toroa-māhoe'' at both Whangaparaoa Bay (near
Cape Runaway
Cape Runaway () is the eastern extremity of the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 157 kilometres northeast off Whakatāne and 65 kilometres west of East Cape. It is a predominantly Māori region, with 85.7% of the popula ...
), and
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
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 ...
.{{Cite journal, issn = 0032-4000, volume = 56, issue = 4, pages = 325–332, last = Tapsell, first = Enid, title = Original kumara, journal = The Journal of the Polynesian Society, date = 1947 The colder climate of New Zealand required new growing methods, particularly for kūmara, which develop a characteristic taste when exposed to frost. She may also have used hue (''
Lagenaria siceraria
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...
,'' calabash gourd), para (''
Marattia salicina
''Ptisana salicina'', or king fern, is a species of fern native to Norfolk Island, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Large and robust with a distinctive tropical appearance, it has fronds up to 5 metres (16 feet +/-) tall that arise from a starc ...
,'' king fern'')'', aute (paper mulberry, ''
Broussonetia papyrifera
The paper mulberry (''Broussonetia papyrifera'', syn. ''Morus papyrifera'' L.) is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Asia,karaka (New Zealand laurel). Moving to Aotea, she built a garden called Hawaiki Nui, where medicinal plants are still found.
Recognition
Depictions of Whakaotirangi (for example, at the Ōtāwhao marae'')'' show her with her basket of kūmara seed potatoes. She is embodied in both
karakia
Karakia are Māori incantations and prayer used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection.whakataukī.
In 2017 Whakaotirangi was described by the
Royal Society Te Apārangi
The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings (i.e., Marsden grants and research fe ...
as one of New Zealand's first scientists, selected for their "
150 women in 150 words
The "150 women in 150 words" project was undertaken by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and published during their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. The aim of the project was "celebrating women's contributions to expanding knowledge in New Z ...
" celebrating the contribution of women to knowledge in New Zealand.