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Te whakatuwheratanga o Te Tumu Herenga Waka : 6 Tihema 1986, Poneke, Te Whare Wananga o Wikitoria

3b. APANUI and TUKAKI

3b. APANUI and TUKAKI

3b APANUI/TUKAKI

3b APANUI/TUKAKI

The top figure of this poupou depicts Apanui, sometimes known as Apanui-ringa-mutu, Apanui-te kuti or Apanui-te-wera. He was of high birth of the Ngati Porou and Te Whanau-a-Apanui tribes. His mother, Rongomaihuatahi was a direct descendant of the well known carver Hingangaroa of the Ngati Porou tribe. Hingangaroa was in turn a descendant of Porourangi (see 5b).

Apanui's father, Turirangi was a grandson of the famed Te Arawa carver Tuariki, who was an ahorangi at their particular school of carvers. Tuariki was a great grandson of Tamatekapua who captained the Arawa canoe.

Through the marriage of Turirangi and Rongomaihuatahi, Apanui was born and he was the founder of the Te Whanau-a-Apanui iwi. The territory of Te Whanau-a-Apanui extends from Te Taumata-o-Apanui, just a few kilometres north of Torere in the Bay of Plenty, to as far north east as Potaka near Hicks Bay. Beyond the Taumata-o-Apanui boundary line are the Ngai Tai tribe of Tainui waka. Beyond the Potaka boundary line lies the Ngati Porou tribe.

Apanui fearing the loss of the art of carving within his own people travelled eastwards to his grandfather's people of the Uawa district, to seek more knowledge of the art. When he arrived there he was told that he would have to sacrifice one of his fingers before he could get what he wanted. His shortest finger was amputated and he was told that on his way home when he crossed the boundary line that divides the Ngati-Porou and the Te Whanau-a-Apanui people, the first person he met would have the knowledge that he was seeking. That person was his own son Tukaki. This is how Apanui received the name Apanui Ringamutu. This is also the reason for the three fingers depicted on the Te Whanau-a-Apanui carvings. The lower figure of this poupou is Apanui's son Tukaki. The large carved meeting house that stands at Te Kaha is named after Tukaki and its carvings follow the style of the Te Kaha pataka that stood at Maraenui before it was dismantled and hidden in caves near Te Kaha.