Chapter 1
Mokena Kohere's Antecedents

It is often stated that unless a member of the Ngati-Porou Tribe could trace himself back to the grand-ancestor Tuwhakairiora he could not be of any consequence. But then all Ngati-Porou are descended from Tuwhakairiora.¹ Surely the whole big tribe could not be composed of chiefs. So from the outset I may say that to be able to trace oneself back to a distinguished ancestor does not necessarily prove that one is a rangatira. To be a rangatira one need not only be a descendant of a chief, but also a descendant of a line of successive chiefs. To be the descendant of a line of fighting chiefs, together with the needed character, constitutes a great chief. A new line of chiefs and chieftainesses could not be created. Thus I do not accept the dictum that to be a chief one must be able to trace one's descent to Tuwhakairiora, for it implies that there was only one grand chief.

I recall a little argument I had with a friend who positively laid down that when Tuwhakairiora married Ruataupare the union gave lustre to Ruataupare's name. I expressed disagreement, contending that Ruataupare was of equal rank with her husband, if not of a higher rank.

Tuwhakairiora married Ruataupare, and this union produced the Ngati-Porou premier line.

To continue my contention that Ruataupare was her husband's equal in rank, when their family increased in number their children were called “Te Whanau-a-Tuwhakairiora,” that is, “Tuwhakairiora's family.” Proud Ruataupare reflected and discovered that her powerful husband was overshadowing her own mana. She made up her mind there and then to forsake him and to seek for herself an independent name. Without hesitation she told her husband to get Ihiko for his wife. When he remonstrated that Ihiko had her own husband she taunted him by saying: “I thought you were a rangatira.” Tuwhakairiora, resenting the taunt, went to Puketapu, where Ihiko lived, and took her away from her husband, Tuhauanu.

Finally, Ruataupare left the home at Okauwharetoa² and went first to Tuparoa and later to Tokomaru. She achieved her purpose, for to-day the sub-tribes both at Tuparoa and Tokomaru are called after Ruataupare, their haughty progenitor. Was my friend then justified in his contention that Ruataupare was an inferior person? On the contrary, she was every inch a rangatira, and she hesitated not to defy her powerful husband. It will be shown later that as a chief Mokena Kohere came of both the Tuwhakairiora and Ruataupare lines.

Another great name in the history of the Ngati-Porou Tribe is that of Rangitawaea. Here again is a chief identified with Mount Hikurangi, attesting to his high rank. Whenever the mountain is covered with snow the saying is uttered: “Behold, Rangitawaea gathers up his garments.” Rangitawaea was a great chief, as was Tuwhakairiora. A union of the two lines must therefore produce outstanding chiefs. A grandson of Tuwhakairiora, Whaita, married Manupokai, eldest daughter of Rangitawaea and his wife Kirimamae. The issue was a distinguished line of chiefs, amongst whom was Mokena Kohere.

This is not a story of Tuwhakairiora, which would fill volumes. The Rev. Mohi Turei has given the graphic story of Tuwhakairiora in Te Pipiwharauroa, and it is reproduced in one of my Maori books. I shall, therefore, touch only on the focal points in the chief's history.

Poroumata, with his family, lived at Whangara,² that nursery of the Ngati-Porou Tribe. Here their ancestral canoe, Takitimu, as stated by some authorities, landed. Before that event happened, Paikea, another grand-ancestor of the tribe, lived and died at Whangara. His burial place on the little island, which at low tide is joined to the mainland by a strip of sand, is known to-day as Paikea's Cave. Here at Whangara, Porourangi, after whom the tribe is named, lived and died, and hither his brother Tahu came from Waipounamu (South Island) to lament over the body. From Whangara Tahu, on his return, took his dead brother's widow, Hamo, to be his wife. (The South Island Maoris are named Ngai-Tahu, and are thus first cousins of the Ngati-Porou Tribe.)

After the murder of Poroumata, Atakura and Ngatihau, her husband, with their family and relatives, fled to Opotiki, in the Bay of Plenty. There was reason why they should betake themselves there, for Uehenga-paraoa, a grandancestress of the Ngati-Porou Tribe, came from that district. In due time a daughter was born to Atakura and Ngatihau. They named her Aomihia, the Greeted Clouds, for they often turned their gaze towards the east, from whence they had fled, and greeted the clouds as they sped from that direction. Again Atakura conceived, and as her unborn child moved within her she addressed it in these words: “What art thou that movest within me? Wouldst thou he a son to avenge the cause of my sorrow? “Thus before Tuwhakairiora² was born he was dedicated to Tumatauenga, the god of war. Faithfully in time Tuwhakairiora carried out his mother's cherished wish.

Tuwhakairiora's first exploit towards fulfilling his sacred mission in avenging the death of his grandfather, Poroumata, was an incident in connection with the death of his dog, Tamurehaua. He had gone along the coast in the direction of East Cape when the people in Rangihuanoa pa observed him. He turned for home and they pursued him. Every now and then he reduced his pace and cut down the foremost of his pursuers. He kept on doing this until he came to a flat rock on which was a mound of earth. On to this he leaped and then defied his enemy. By the red kura¹ which he wore, his uncle, Hukarere, who was fishing close inshore, recognised him, and by paddling his canoe to the rock he rescued Tuwhakairiora. The rock, with a tuft of earth on it, is still pointed out as “te pa o Tuwhakairiora “—” Tuwhakairiora's pa.”

Taking twenty-five years to a generation, I reckon that Tuwhakairiora flourished about 300 years ago.