Māhaki
Māhaki was a Māori rangatira in the area north of modern Gisborne on the East Cape of New Zealand and the ancestor of the Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki iwi. He may have lived in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
Life
Māhaki was the son of Tamataipūnoa and Tauhei-kurī. Tamataipūnoa was a direct descendant of Toroa, captain of the Mātaatua canoe, while Tauhei-kurī was descended from Kahungunu and Tamatea Arikinui, captain of the Tākitimu, and Paikea. Around 1475, Tamataipūnoa accompanied his half-brother Tūtāmure on a raid to attack Maunga-a-kāhia, where Tauhei-kurī lived with her elderly father, Kahungunu. The latter brokered a peace which was to be sealed by the marriage of Tauhei-kurī and Tūtāmure. But when Tauhei-kurī was brought before Tūtāmure and Tamataipūnoa, she did not know which of them was which. Since Tamataipūnoa was more handsome, she sat before him repeatedly. Tūtāmure looked at his reflection in a pond, said "Oh! I am very ugly!" and allowed her to marry Tamataipūnoa. The pond is known as Te Wai-whakaata o Tūtāmure. Māhaki eventually named one of his sons Whakarauora-tanga-a-Tūtāmure in memory of this truce. Māhaki had an older brother, Tawhiwhi, and a younger one, Kahukuraiti. Tawhiwhi was killed and eaten when he was quite young.Māhaki fell in love with and married his cousin Hinetapuarau, a great-granddaughter of Kahungunu. She had already been engaged to Hingānga, a descendant of Ruapani and Kahungunu, so the pair fled to Pakarae, where they were protected by Tamateakuku. Later they established their own pā called Pāwerawera at Waikohu.
Battle of Te Paepae o Rarotonga
Māhaki's cousin Rākei-hikuroa sought to make his son Tūpurupuru the preeminent chieftain of the area. To achieve that, he or Tūpurupuru murdered the twin sons of Kahutapere, another cousin of Māhaki. Māhaki came to the aid of the latter, with his son Ranginui-a-Ihu. They attacked Tūpurupuru's advance party, killing its commander Pouarau and eating his heart, as normal for the mātāika. Māhaki's youngest son, Whakarau, had been away hunting when the call to arms came and had therefore been left behind, but he found the stake that had been used for cooking Pouarau's heart, tracked the war party to Pukepoto, made his way to the front line and killed Tūpurupuru with a spear strike to the throat, ending the conflict. After Whakarau had struck Tūpurupuru, Ranginui-a-Ihu attempted to strike Tūpurupuru, but Whakarau pushed him away with his taiaha, saying waiho te ika o te matau a te potiki a Hine-tapuarau kia kahakihaki ana. Whakarau's descendants are called Ngā Pōtiki after this saying. In recognition of this deed, Kahutapere allowed Whakarau to marry his daughters, Pare and Kura.Tūpurupuru's body was hung in a kahikatea tree, swinging over a stream, and Rākei-hikuroa tried but was unable to pull it down. The victors took turns throwing spears at it. Eventually, Māhaki and Ranginui-a-ihu stopped this desecration. Rākei-hikuroa gave Ranginui-a-ihu his pounamu patu, Ngawhakatangiura, and four cooking boulders in thanks for this.
After this Rākei-hikuroa and his people left the region. Māhaki received their land west of the Waipaoa River, which had previously been the demesne of Tūpurupuru and gave it to his sons Ranginui-a-Ihu and Whakarau.
Conflict with Rakaipaaka
The east side of the river was held by Rākei-hikuroa's siblings, Rakaipaaka and Hinemanuhiri. One of Rakaipaaka's followers, Tupuho, slept with Māhaki's wife, Hinetapuarau. Later another follower killed and ate Kauere-huanui the kurī of Tu-te-kohi, the rangatira based at Tūranga. Desiring revenge, Tu-te-kohi convinced Māhaki to join him an attack on Rakaipaaka, along with the twins Rongomai-mihiao and Rongomai-wehea of Uawa. Rongomai-mihiao and Rongomai-wehea attacked Rakaipaaka's village, Waerengaahika and drew him into a pursuit. When they reached Kaitaratahi ridge, Tu-te-kohi and Māhaki ambushed Rakaipaaka and his men from behind. Surrounded, they took heavy losses, but some of them escaped back to Waerengaahika. Tu-te-kohi then attacked Waerengaahika, defeated them again and drove them to Taumata-o-te-kai, at which point Māhaki brokered a peace agreement, according to which Rakaipaaka and Hinemanuhiri had to go into exile. Māhaki received their land on the east side of the Waipaoa River, thus gaining control of all the land that had once belonged to the great chief Ruapani.Family
Māhaki and Hinetapuarau had five children:- Rakai-te-awe
- Ihu or Ranginui-a-Ihu, married Te Nonoikura
- Hikarongo, married Tukorako and became ancestor of Ngāti Hikarongo
- Rakaiaotea
- Whakarau-ora-tanga-a-Tūtāmure, ancestor of Ngā Pōtiki