Mokoia Island

Last updated

Mokoia under stormy skies, seen from the south Mokoia Island.jpg
Mokoia under stormy skies, seen from the south

Mokoia Island is located in Lake Rotorua in New Zealand. It has an area of 1.35 square kilometres. The uninhabited [1] island is a rhyolite lava dome, rising to 180 metres above the lake surface. It was formed after the Rotorua caldera collapsed and rhyolitic magma was pushed through the cracks. One of the cracks was below where Mokoia island is today. The foreshores of the island have geothermal springs with hot spring water forming the Hinemoa pool, known to locals as Waikimihia. It also has very rich volcanic soil, which was why the local Māori grew kūmara on it. The stone statue of Matuatonga on the island protected the island's kūmara crop, and tohunga would bring seed kūmara to touch the statue. [2] It was also a very good strategic location, which was why it was often fought over.

Contents

Mokoia Island is privately owned by local Māori iwi, who run it in conjunction with the New Zealand Department of Conservation. It is a bird sanctuary and access is limited to tour parties only. It is home to several rare species, including the North Island kokako, the North Island brown kiwi, and a breeding population of the endangered North Island saddleback. [3]

The island is also the location of regular Mau rākau training camps in the Māori martial art of taiaha.

Hinemoa and Tūtānekai

The island is sacred to Māori of the Te Arawa iwi, and is the location of one of the most famous legends of New Zealand, that of Hinemoa and Tūtānekai, which has parallels with the classical Greek tale of Hero and Leander. [4] [5]

According to legend, the two lovers were forbidden to marry, and Hinemoa's father Umukaria, a chief from the shores of the lake, ordered that she not be allowed to travel by canoe to Tūtānekai's tribal village on the island. Hinemoa decided to swim 3.2 kilometres across the lake to the island, guided by the sound of Tūtānekai's flute-playing. For flotation she wrapped rushes (a type of reed) around her and swam her way to the island. [6] [7] According to another version, she made a flotation device from gourds. [8] [9] [10]

The Te Arawa version of the widely known traditional Māori love song "Pōkarekare Ana" references the story of Hinemoa and Tūtānekai. The lyrics imply Hinemoa's crossing the lake to reach Tūtānekai.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotorua</span> City in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Rotorua is a city in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompassing Rotorua and several other nearby towns. It has an estimated resident population of 58,800, making it the country's 13th largest urban area, and the Bay of Plenty's second-largest urban area behind Tauranga.

"Pōkarekare Ana" is a traditional New Zealand love song, probably communally composed about the time World War I began in 1914. The song is written in Māori and has been translated into English. It enjoys widespread popularity in New Zealand as well as some popularity in other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Rotorua</span> Lake in the North Island of New Zealand

Lake Rotorua is the second largest lake in the North Island of New Zealand by surface area, and covers 79.8 km2. With a mean depth of only 10 metres it is considerably smaller than nearby Lake Tarawera in terms of volume of water. It is located within the Rotorua Caldera in the Bay of Plenty Region.

Arawa was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes in Māori traditions that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand.

Hatupatu was a Māori rangatira of the Te Arawa, who travelled from Hawaiki to New Zealand on the Arawa. Legend tells of his wily escape from the bird-woman Kurangaituku, by hiding inside a rock and then leading her into a boiling mud pool. Having grown into a man of ability and confidence, he led his people in battle against their enemy, chief Raumati, who had burned the Arawa canoe. Killing this powerful enemy, he gained great respect and mana, and set himself on the path to becoming one of the most famous of all Māori warriors. The parents of Hatupatu were Tamateahirau and Okarikiroa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Arawa</span> Confederation of Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes)

Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapū of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (waka). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas and have a population of around 60,117 according to the 2018 census, making the confederation the sixth biggest iwi in New Zealand. The Te Arawa iwi comprises 56 hapū (sub-tribes) and 31 marae.

Ngāti Rangiteaorere is a Māori iwi of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The iwi is based on the eastern shores of Lake Rotorua, also sharing interests with other iwi on Mokoia Island and in coastal lands near Maketu.

Ngāti Rangitihi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, based in the Bay of Plenty.

Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand, tracing its descent from Whakaue Kaipapa, son of Uenuku-kopakō, and grandson of Tūhourangi. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. The Ngāti Whakaue chief Pūkākī is depicted on the New Zealand 20 cent coin.

Tūhourangi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand with a rohe centered on Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Okaro, Lake Okareka, Lake Rotokākahi, Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotorua. It is part of the Te Arawa tribal confederation.

Te Uri o Uenukukōpako is a Māori iwi of the Te Arawa confederation in the Bay of Plenty of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute</span> Art school in New Zealand

The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) is an indigenous traditional art school located in Rotorua New Zealand. It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Papaiouru Marae</span>

Te Papaiouru is a marae at Ohinemutu, Rotorua, New Zealand. It is the home marae of the Ngāti Whakaue subtribes Ngāti Tae-o-Tū and Ngāti Tūnohopū. The marae's carved wharenui, Tamatekapua, is named after Tama-te-kapua, the chief or captain of the Te Arawa canoe, which came to New Zealand from Polynesia in about 1350.

The region around the city of Rotorua, in New Zealand's North Island, contains several lakes which have a total area of about 250 square kilometres. The term Rotorua lakes is ambiguous as it has been used historically for a New Zealand administrative area. From biggest to smallest, these are Lake Rotorua, Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotoiti, Lake Rotomā, Lake Okataina, Lake Rotoehu, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Rerewhakaaitu, Lake Rotokākahi, Lake Okareka and Lake Tikitapu. There are also smaller lakes including: Lake Okaro, Lake Rotokawa, Lake Rotokawau and Lake Rotongata. Most of the lakes have formed due to volcanic activity and some have current geothermal activity. The region is part of the Taupō Volcanic Zone, the world's most active area of explosive silicic volcanic activity in geologically recent time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hēni Te Kiri Karamū</span> New Zealand Māori warrior and temperance organiser (1840–1933)

Hēni Te Kiri Karamū, known later as Hēni Pore, was a New Zealand Māori wāhine toa 'woman warrior'. In later life she worked in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and was elected corresponding secretary of its Ohinemutu chapter and served as the WCTU NZ honorary secretary for the Māori Mission of Rotorua.

Ngāti Tarāwhai is a Māori iwi of the Rotorua area of New Zealand, and a member of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. The iwi's rohe covers the western shore of Lake Ōkataina.

Ōwhata is a semi-rural suburb of Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngāti Whakahemo</span> Māori iwi in New Zealand

Ngāti Whakahemo is a Māori iwi of New Zealand.

<i>Polynesian Mythology</i> (book)

Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race as Furnished by Their Priests and Chiefs is an 1855 collection of Māori mythology compiled and translated by Sir George Grey, then Governor-General of New Zealand, with significant assistance from Te Rangikāheke. The English edition is a translation of Ko ngā mahinga a ngā tūpuna Māori, published in 1854, which was an expanded version of a manuscript entitled Ko ngā mōteatea, me ngā hakirara o ngā Māori originally published in New Zealand in 1853.

Matuatonga is a Māori stone sculpture on Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua, New Zealand, which is a mauri (relic) or whakapoko and belongs to Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, and other tribes of Te Arawa. It is the most famous atua kumara and was traditionally involved in rituals connected to the sowing of the annual kumara crop. The sculpture has a male figure carved on each side, one representing Matuatonga, god of growth, and the other Matuatehe, god of decay. According to some traditions, Matuatonga was brought to New Zealand from Hawaiki ca. 1350. It was buried in the 1820s and exhumed in 1866, at which point a smaller sculpture was given to Governor George Grey and deposited in the Auckland Museum. Some sources claim that this smaller sculpture is the "true" Matuatonga and that the one on Mokoia today is only a replica.

References

  1. ↑ "Population by meshblock (2013 Census)". Stats NZ. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Kumaras and Kumara Magic". Te Ao Hou: 36–39. December 1962.
  3. ↑ "Conservation on Mokoia Island". Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "Jottings of journeyings in the North Island". Wellington Independent. 2 April 1872. p. 3.
  5. ↑ "The legend of Hinemoa". Clutha Leader. 30 March 1883. p. 3.
  6. ↑ "Legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai". Dunstan Times. 7 May 1875. p. 4.
  7. ↑ The legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai at RotoruaNZ.com Archived 7 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Lake lore. No. 2.—The legend of Hinemoa". Observer. 28 July 1883. p. 11.
  9. ↑ Grey, Sir George (1865). "The Story of Hinemoa and Tutanekai". Polynesian Mythology.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ Wilson, J. M. (6 July 2003). "Hinemoa and Tutanekai" . Retrieved 19 July 2016.

38°4′52.52″S176°17′3.89″E / 38.0812556°S 176.2844139°E / -38.0812556; 176.2844139 (Mokoia Island)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.