Mount Taupiri

Last updated
Kaitotehe, the pa of Potatau Te Wherowhero, with Mount Taupiri in the background (Angas 1846) Taupiri.jpg
Kaitotehe, the pā of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, with Mount Taupiri in the background (Angas 1846)

Mount Taupiri is a hill at the southern end of the Taupiri Range in the Waikato. The highest peak in the range, it rises to 288 metres above sea level and overlooks Taupiri township immediately to its south. It is separated from the Hakarimata Range to the south by the Taupiri Gorge, through which the Waikato River flows from the Waikato Basin to the Lower Waikato. The Mangawara Stream joins the Waikato River at the base of the hill.

Mount Taupiri is a sacred mountain and burial ground for the Waikato tribe of the Māori people. [1] Until sometime in the 19th century a large Māori village or town, Kaitotehe, stood on the flat land on the other side of the river, below the Hakarimata Range. [2] In early years it was the home of Pāoa, brother of Mahuta, before Pāoa moved to Hauraki. [3] It became the headquarters of the Ngāti Mahuta people. [4] Brothers Whare and Tapuae, grandsons of Mahuta and the leaders of Ngāti Mahuta, lived there. After the two brothers were killed, Tapuae's son Te Putu built Taupiri pā on the summit of a spur of Taupiri mountain, in the 1600s. When Te Putu was an old man in the 1700s, he was treacherously killed by Ngātokowaru of Ngāti Raukawa at Te Mata-o-tutonga, his home outside the pā by the banks of the Waikato River. He was buried at the pā, which thus became tapu (sacred) and was abandoned. Early European travellers in the area were obliged by Māori to cross to the other side of the Waikato River to avoid the sacred area. [3]

In the early 19th century Kaitotehe was the home of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the paramount chief of Ngāti Mahuta who became the first Māori King. English explorer and artist George French Angas visited Kaitotehe in 1844 and painted a scene depicting a hui (meeting) taking place in the village. Taupiri mountain is seen in the background on the other side of the Waikato River (which is not visible below the far palisade). The lower peak on the far right shows signs of the terraces of Te Putu's abandoned pā. To its left, in about the middle of the painting, is a still-lower bush-clad hill, which was the burial ground in Te Putu's time and below which his home of Te Mata-o-tutonga stood. [3]

The present-day burial ground is directly above State Highway 1 and the North Island Main Trunk railway line on a steep slope. Parking and access is difficult, because the road and railway lie largely on land at the foot of the slope that has been reclaimed from the river. Access is being improved by a bridge from the township over the Mangawara Stream, [5] open in May 2020. [6] The deceased Māori kings and queen are buried in the highest part of the cemetery, on the summit where Te Putu's pā stood.

Notable people buried there

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tāwhiao</span> Leader of the Waikato tribes and second Māori King (c. 1822–1894)

KīngiTāwhiao, known initially as Matutaera, reigned as the Māori King from 1860 until his death. After his flight to the King Country, Tāwhiao was also Paramount Chief of the Rohe Pōtae for 20 years, until 1881. A Waikato Tainui nobleman, rangatira, and religious figure, Tāwhiao amassed power and authority during a time of momentous change to become de facto leader of the Waikato tribes. He was a member of the Ngati Mahuta hapū, who comprise the kāhui ariki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Puea Hērangi</span> Waikato woman of mana, Kingitanga leader (1883–1952)

Te Puea Hērangi, known by the name Princess Te Puea, was a Māori leader from New Zealand's Waikato region. Her mother, Tiahuia, was the elder sister of King Mahuta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Atairangikaahu</span> Queen of the Kingitanga

Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Her title Te Arikinui and name Te Atairangikaahu were bestowed when she became monarch; previously she was known as Princess Piki Mahuta and, after marriage, Princess Piki Paki. Her full whakapapa (lineage) name, linking her to previous Māori monarchs, was Te Atairangikaahu Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māori King Movement</span> Shared monarchy of numerous Māori iwi of New Zealand

The Māori King Movement, called the Kīngitanga in Māori, is a movement that arose among some of the Māori iwi (tribes) of New Zealand in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the British colonists, as a way of halting the alienation of Māori land. The Māori monarch operates in a non-constitutional capacity with no legal or judicial power within the New Zealand government. Reigning monarchs retain the position of paramount chief of several iwi and wield some power over these, especially within Tainui.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pōtatau Te Wherowhero</span> First Māori king

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato iwi, the first Māori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known just as Te Wherowhero and took the name Pōtatau after he became king in 1858. As disputes over land grew more severe Te Wherowhero found himself increasingly at odds with the Government and its policies.

Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori iwi based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand on the Tainui waka. The tribe is named after the Waikato River, which plays a large part in its history and culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korokī Mahuta</span> Māori King

Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was the fifth Māori King. He was the elder son of the fourth Māori King, Te Rata Mahuta, and Te Uranga Matai of the Ngāti Korokī tribe.

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

Te Rauangaanga was the chief of the Ngāti Mahuta tribe of the Waikato tribal confederation and principal war chief of the confederation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His son Pōtatau Te Wherowhero became the first Maori king.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parengaope</span>

Parengaope was a Māori high chieftainess of Ngāti Koura, a hapū (subtribe) of the Waikato tribal confederation. She was the wife of Te Rauangaanga and mother of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the first Māori king and grandmother of King Tāwhiao.

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

Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe of the Waikato tribe of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand. The territory (rohe) of Ngāti Mahuta is the Kawhia and Huntly areas of the Waikato region.

There are at least four different people called Te Kanawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tūheitia Paki</span> Te Kīngi Māori

Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, crowned as Kīngi Tūheitia, is the Māori King. He is the eldest son of the previous Māori monarch, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, and was announced as her successor and crowned on 21 August 2006, the day her tangihanga took place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taupiri</span> Town in Waikato, New Zealand

Taupiri is a small town of about 500 people on the eastern bank of the Waikato River in the Waikato District of New Zealand. It is overlooked by Taupiri mountain, the sacred burial ground for the Waikato tribes of the Māori people, located just to the north.

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

Ngāti Pāoa is a Māori iwi (tribe) that has extensive links to the Hauraki and Waikato tribes of New Zealand. Its traditional lands stretch from the western side of the Hauraki Plains to Auckland. They also settled on Hauraki Gulf islands such as Waiheke.

Whatumoana Paki was a New Zealand Māori royal elder. Paki was the husband of the Māori Queen, Te Atairangikaahu, who reigned from 1966 to 2006. He and Te Atairangikaahu were the parents of the present Māori King, Tūheitia Paki.

Piupiu Te Wherowhero was a female leader within the Māori royal family in early 20th century New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pei Te Hurinui Jones</span> Ngati Maniapoto leader, interpreter, land officer, writer, translator, genealogist

Pei Te Hurinui Jones was a Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. As a leader of the Tainui tribal confederation and of the Māori King Movement, he participated in negotiations with the New Zealand Government seeking compensation for land seizures, served on several boards, and authored a number of works in Māori and English, including the first history of the Tainui people.

Ngāti Te Wehi is a Māori iwi (tribe) based in Kawhia on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whakaawi</span>

Whakaawi was a Māori woman of high birth in both the Ngāti Te Wehi tribe and Ngāti Mahuta tribe, who was the senior wife of the chief Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, who died in 1860. His other wives were Waiata, Raharaha and Ngāwaero.

Pāoa ('smoke') was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand. He is the ancestor of the Ngāti Pāoa iwi. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century.

References

  1. ↑ Swarbrick, Nancy (8 December 2011). "Waikato places - Ngāruawāhia". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
  2. ↑ "Introduction". The New Zealand Railways Magazine. 9 (6). 1934. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Kelly, Leslie G. (1940). "Taupiri pa". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 49 (193): 148–59.
  4. ↑ "Taupiri Community Plan 2008 - 2018" (PDF). Waikato District Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Mangawara Bridge Project". www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  6. ↑ "Mangawara Bridge project close to completion". Waikato District Council. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  7. ↑ "The University of Queensland Homepage".
  8. ↑ Akuhata, Karla (2011-09-26). "Revered Kingitanga elder reunited with Dame Te Ata, Whatumoana Paki laid to rest". Waikato Times . Retrieved 2011-10-16.

37°36′17″S175°11′10″E / 37.6048°S 175.1862°E / -37.6048; 175.1862

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.