Whātonga, Captain of the Kurahaupo Waka

Whatonga / Atonga / Hatonga (Hongi, 1898; Poverty Bay Herald, 1937).

"... one of three who commanded the Kurahaupō waka... " (Rangitāne o Manawatū et al., 2015).

"...[ Whātonga] was the second son of Ruarangi and Rongaueroa. He was thus a grandson of Toi Kai Rakau." (Rangitāne o Wairarapa and Rangitāne o Tamaki Nui-ā-Rua et al., 2016; Durie & Durie, 2017).

"One of Toi’s sons, Ruarangi, married a woman called Rongoueroa. She gave birth to Rauru, and to Whātonga, whose son Tara gave his name to Wellington Harbour and environs – Te Whanganui-a-Tara (the great harbour of Tara)." (Love, 2017).

"The Rangitāne tribe trace their origins to Whātonga, one of three chiefs who commanded the Kurahaupō canoe as it sailed to New Zealand. According to tradition, the canoe was hewn out of a tree from the Tawhitinui forest, in the Pacific homeland Hawaiki. It survived an epic voyage across the Pacific Ocean and landed at Nukutaurua, a small bay on Māhia Peninsula, around 1350 (some accounts give a date two centuries earlier). There, the canoe is said to have been turned into stone by the tohunga Hau.
Whātonga eventually settled in Heretaunga (the Hastings area). He married Hotuwaipara, and their son Tarataraika became the ancestor of the Ngāi Tara people in the Wellington region. The harbour there is called Te Whanganui a Tara (the great harbour of Tara). Whātonga’s second wife, Reretua, bore him a son, Tautoki, and a daughter, Rerekitaiari. Tautoki married Waipuna, a great-granddaughter of the great navigator Kupe, and their child was named Rangitāne (also known as Rangitānenui, Tānenui-a-rangi and Rangitānenui-a-rangi) – from whom the tribe took its name." (Durie & Durie, 2017).

"The Rangitāne story begins with the arrival of the Kurahaupō waka. One of the principal chiefs aboard this waka was Whātonga. His descendants eventually migrated south from Māhia Peninsula to settle much of the lower North Island and the top of the South Island.
The tribes associated with this waka include Rongomaiwāhine (Mahia), Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi (Wanganui), Rangitāne (Manawatu, Tamaki Nui a Rua, Wairarapa, and Wairau), Ngāti Apa (Rangitikei and Marlborough), Muaupoko (Horowhenua), Ngai Tara (Wellington and Kapiti), Ngāti Kuia (Pelorus), and Ngāti Tumatakokiri (Golden Bay)." (Ranford, 2019).

"Whātonga moved to what we know as the Hawkes Bay area and built a pa, which he named Heretaunga. This later became the name adopted for the larger Hawkes Bay area. Oral tradition speaks of Whātonga embarking on a journey of discovery after displeasing his wife, Hotuwaipara. She had cut her hand on a nohu (rock cod) that he had caught on a fishing venture. This incident led to their first son being named in remembrance of the event – Tara Ika, meaning ‘fish spine’. Whātonga’s journey brought him to the Wairarapa for the first time. He settled for some time at Rangiwhakaoma (Castlepoint) where he built a pa called Matirie or Matira, which was situated where the current lighthouse stands. From here he journeyed down to Whanganui a Tara (Wellington) up past Kapiti Island and Horowhenua before moving inland up the Manawatu River and Te Apiti (Manawatu Gorge). It was at this point that he first laid eyes upon a vast virgin forest that stretched beyond his view filled with giant native trees. It was of such splendour that he gave it his own name – Te Tapere Nui o Whatonga or ‘the great domain of Whātonga. It is from this once great forest that Pukaha Mt Bruce remains as one of the last significant stands of native bush." (Horizons Regional Council, 2013).

"Some generations later the Rangitāne tribe migrated to Tāmakinui-a-Rua (around present-day Dannevirke), Wairarapa, Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington), and Wairau in the south, and Manawatū and Horowhenua to the west. The Rangitāne people continue to claim mana whenua (traditional authority over the land) in these places.

The tribe’s expansion led to the saying:
Tini whetū ki te rangi Ko Tānenui-a-rangi ki te whenua. Like the multitude of stars in the sky So great is Rangitāne on the earth.

As the tribe grew, some groups such as Muaūpoko became tribes in their own right, but most hapū (sub-tribes) remained part of a wider tribal consortium that endures in the 21st century. These groups include Ngāti Kere, Ngāti Parakiore, Ngāti Hāmua, Te Rangiwhakāewa, Ngāti Mairehau, Ngāti Hauiti, Ngāti Hineaute, Ngāti Tauira, Ngāti Rangiaranaki, Ngāti Rangitepaia, Ngāti Kuia and Ngāti Huataki." (Durie & Durie, 2017).

"Whātonga and his second wife Reretua had a son called Tautoki, who married Waipuna, a great granddaughter of the navigator Kupe." (Rangitāne o Manawatū et al., 2015).

Sources

Durie, M., & Durie, M. (2017, March 3). Rangitāne - The origins of Rangitāne. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/rangitane/page-1

Hongi, H. (1898, February 15). Tatai whakapapa Maori. Jubilee: Te Tiupiri [Volume 1, issue 7].
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/JUBIL18980215.2.4?item...

Horizoms Regional Council. (2013). Manawatu Gorge restoration project - cultural elements update.
https://www.horizons.govt.nz/HRC/media/Media/Agenda-Reports/Regiona...

Jubilee: Te Tiupiri. (1898, April 26). Meiha Keepa Rangihiwinui: He tino kaumatua rangatira no te iwi Maori o Niu Tireni.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/JUBIL18980426.2.4?end_...

Love, M. (2017, March 1). Te Āti Awa of Wellington. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/te-ati-awa-of-wellington/print

Maaori. (n.d). Te Aohuruhuru.
https://maaori.com/whakapapa/aohuru.htm

Poverty Bay Herald. (1937, October 8). House of Whātonga [Volume LXIV, issue 19450].
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19371008.2.133?item...

Ranford, C. (2019, August 3).Look Who's Talking: Rangitāne. Stuff.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/114624255/look-whos-talking-rangitane

Rangitāne o Manawatū., The Trustees of The Rangitāne o Manawatu Settlement Trust., & The Crown. (2015, November 14). Deed of settlement of historical claims [Deed]. New Zealand Government.
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Rangitane-o-Manawatu/Rangi...

Rangitāne o Wairarapa and Rangitāne o Tamaki Nui-ā-Rua., The Trustees of the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā Trust., & The Crown. (2016, August 6). Deed of settlement of historical claims [Deed]. New Zealand Government.
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Rangitane-o-Wairarapa-and-...

Vickyinglis. (2018, July 27). 11 Great Day Hikes in New Zealand [Image]. These Vagabond Shoes.
https://thesevagabondshoes.org/2018/07/27/11-great-day-hikes-in-new...