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 nane 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 experimental gardener. Her name has been translated as "completion from the sky" or "the heavens complete". [1] [2]
Early accounts describe her as a leader, who may even have contributed to the building of the canoe. [2]
Whakaotirangi is described in both Tainui and Te Arawa 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 in the Waikato, but moved around experimenting and testing plants for food and medicinal uses. In Te Arawa traditions, Whakaotirangi planted her kūmara garden of toroa-māhoe at both Whangaparaoa Bay (near Cape Runaway), and Maketu in the Bay of Plenty. [3] The colder climate of New Zealand required new growing methods, particularly for kūmara, which develop a characteristic taste when exposed to frost. [1] She may also have used hue ( Lagenaria siceraria, calabash gourd), para ( Marattia salicina, king fern), aute (paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera) and karaka (New Zealand laurel). [2] Moving to Aotea, she built a garden called Hawaiki Nui, where medicinal plants are still found.
Depictions of Whakaotirangi (for example, at the Ōtāwhao marae ) show her with her basket of kūmara seed potatoes. She is embodied in both karakia and many whakataukī. [2]
In 2017 Whakaotirangi was described by the Royal Society Te Apārangi as one of New Zealand's first scientists, selected for their "150 women in 150 words" celebrating the contribution of women to knowledge in New Zealand. [1]
Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are other Tainui iwi whose tribal areas lay outside the traditional Tainui boundaries – Ngāi Tai in the Auckland area, Ngāti Raukawa ki Te Tonga and Ngāti Toa in the Horowhenua, Kāpiti region, and Ngāti Rārua and Ngāti Koata in the northern South Island.
Maketu is a small town on the Western Bay of Plenty coast in New Zealand.
Arawa was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes in Māori traditions that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand.
In Māori tradition, Ngātoro-i-rangi (Ngātoro) is the name of a tohunga (priest) prominent during the settling of New Zealand (Aotearoa) by the Māori people, who came from the traditional homeland Hawaiki on the Arawa canoe. He is the ancestor of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and his travels around Lake Taupō and up onto the Volcanic Plateau are the basis of Ngāti Tūwharetoa's claim to those regions.
Tainui was one of the great ocean-going canoes in which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand approximately 800 years ago. It was commanded by the chief Hoturoa, who had decided to leave Hawaiki because over-population had led to famine and warfare. The ship first reached New Zealand at Whangaparāoa in the Bay of Plenty and then skirted around the north coast of the North Island, finally landing at Kawhia in the western Waikato. The crew of the Tainui were the ancestors of the iwi that form the Tainui confederation.
Mātaatua was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, according to Māori tradition. Māori traditions say that the Mātaatua was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori settlements in New Zealand. The Mātaatua was captained by Toroa, accompanied by his brother, Puhi; his sister, Muriwai; his son, Ruaihona; and daughter, Wairaka.
Uenuku is an atua of rainbows and a prominent ancestor in Māori tradition. Māori believed that the rainbow's appearance represented an omen, and one kind of yearly offering made to him was that of the young leaves of the first planted kūmara crop. He was a tribal war god invoked before battles, particularly in the northern half of the country. It was said that if a taua appeared under the arch of the rainbow, it would be defeated in battle, and likewise, if they appeared to either side of the rainbow, they would be victorious. The Māori identified hawk feathers and a particular star called Uenuku as being sacred to him.
Kinohaku was a Māori woman of the Ngāti Maniapoto tribe in New Zealand's Waikato region. She probably lived in the seventeenth century and is the eponymous ancestor of the Ngāti Kinohaku sub-tribe (hapū) of Ngāti Maniapoto.
Whatihua was a Māori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at Kāwhia, New Zealand. He quarrelled with his brother, Tūrongo, and as a result Tainui was split between them, with Whatihua receiving the northern Waikato region, including Kāwhia. He probably lived in the early sixteenth century.
According to Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the Tainui canoe, during the migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor of the Tainui confederation of tribes (iwi), who now inhabit the central North Island.
Kahupeka was a Maori healer in the 1400s who helped pioneer herbal medicine in New Zealand. She is remembered in oral history as a Tainui explorer who travelled the North Island, naming several locations and experimenting with herbal medicines.
Sweet potato cultivation in Polynesia as a crop began around 1000 AD in central Polynesia. The plant became a common food across the region, especially in Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand, where it became a staple food. By the 17th century in central Polynesia, traditional cultivars were being replaced with hardier and larger varieties from the Americas. Many traditional cultivars are still grown across Polynesia, but they are rare and are not widely commercially grown.
Mātauranga is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. Māori traditional knowledge is multi-disciplinary and holistic, and there is considerable overlap between concepts. It includes environmental stewardship and economic development, with the purpose of preserving Māori culture and improving the quality of life of the Māori people over time.
Toi-te-huatahi, also known as Toi and Toi-kai-rākau, is a legendary Māori tupuna (ancestor) of many Māori iwi (tribes) from the Bay of Plenty area, including Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāi Tūhoe. The Bay of Plenty's name in te reo Māori, Te Moana-a-Toi, references Toi-te-huatahi.
Tūrongo was a Māori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at Rangiātea, near Waikeria, New Zealand. He quarrelled with his brother, Whatihua, and as a result Tainui was split between them, with Tūrongo receiving the southern Waikato region. His marriage to Māhina-o-rangi created a genealogical link between Tainui and Ngāti Kahungunu of the East Coast, which is still commemorated. He probably lived in the early sixteenth century.
Hotunui was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation of Waikato, New Zealand. Through his son Marutūāhu he is the ancestor of four tribes of the Hauraki Gulf: Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Rongoū, Ngāti Tamaterā, and Ngāti Whanaunga. He probably lived in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
Whāita was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of the Ngāti Raukawa iwi in the Tainui tribal confederation based at Wharepuhanga near Rangitoto in the Waikato region, New Zealand and is the ancestor of the Ngāti Whāita hapū. He probably lived in the mid-seventeenth century.
Kaihamu was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand. He probably lived in the first half of the seventeenth century.
Rakataura, also known as Hape or Rakatāura, is a legendary Polynesian navigator and a progenitor of many Māori iwi. Born in Hawaiki, Rakataura was the senior tohunga (priest/navigator) who led the Tainui migratory canoe to New Zealand. Rakataura is associated with stories involving the Manukau Harbour, the Te Tō Waka and the Waikato. Many place names in Tāmaki Makaurau and the Waikato region reference Rakataura, or are described in oral traditions as being named by Rakataura.
Pare-kāwa was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of Ngāti Tūwharetoa from the region around Lake Taupō, New Zealand. She is the ancestor of the Ngāti Parekāwa hapū. She probably lived in the mid-seventeenth century.