Wednesday 8 November 2017

Te Whare o Pito Haranui - The origins of Maruwharanui and his immediate family.

Sincere thanks to Jamie Tuta, Aunty Florence Amohia and Nathan Peri for manuscript contributions to this post.

Aroha Waetford was commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal to undergo research about Ngati Maru.  In her final report, she noted there was very little in the way of published material about the origins of Ngati Maru and even then, the three works consulted (by Percy Smith, Eddie Ngeru and Hone Pihama) were all in conflict with each other.   She mentioned all three in her work, but noticeably the account by Percy Smith, published as History and Traditions of the Maoris of the West Coast North Island of NewZealand Prior to 1840 (1910) appeared to be the most influential.

Unfortunately, Percy Smith's account is highly flawed.  His account centres around an inaccurate genealogical table by Judge Walter E. Gudgeon, that wrongfully claims that Maruwharanui was the son of Hotunui and Mihi Rawhiti.   Hone Pihama's version [recorded by Commissioner Robert Parris] stated that Mihi Rawhiti was the sister of Maruwharanui.  This version aligns with Ngati Maru versions.  Yet both Smith and Gudgeon's version has been the dominant version, standing unchallenged for over 100 years.   Tony Sole, reprinted Gudgeon's table in his publication, Ngati Ruanui : A History (2005) and it continues to influence readers today.

I was reminded of this in 2016, when a Kaumatua speaking on behalf of the Office of Treaty Settlements welcomed the Ngati Maru negotiations Team as "He uri no Tainui Waka" (Descendants of Tainui Waka).  I quietly cringed at the time, but afterward I mentioned that in Ngati Maru tribal sources (as opposed to published sources), a very different account of our origins could be found.  The Kaumatua smiled and said that in preparation for the day,  he had "GOOGLED" 😜 Ngati Maru (Taranaki) and read Smith's account.   From time to time, well-meaning people outside the tribe, need to access information about Ngati Maru.  They will search online, and they will find Smith, with all its flaws. This blog sets out to give the correct version of the "Origins of Ngati Maru", and for it to be online and widely available.

To be clear, Gudgeon's table is a fallacy, see post : Debunking Gudgeon's Table, for the finer details.  This post is merely to present the Ngati Maru version.

TE WHARE O PITO-HARANUI 

Maruwharanui, also known as Maru Haranui, was the son of Pito Haranui and Manuaea II.  Maru had a younger brother, Marukopiri, and two sisters, Mihi Rawhiti and Hinepango.  (See Table below)




The family had connections to the ancient people of Taranaki,.   Pito Haranui was a direct descendant of a tupuna, MONOA.   One whakapapa, shows Maruwharanui as having been born 19 generations after MONOA.  The lineage from Monoa down to Maruwharanui, is known as the Kahui-Maru.

Kahui Maru was the original identity of Maru Wharanui, so therefore it is our original identity, before the identity of Ngati Maru came into existence.  Connections can also be made to the Kahui-Tara, and Maruwharanui's Mother, Manauea II indicates a connection to Manauea I - of the Kahui-Mounga.

These earlier origins are covered in the blog : "Maru-Mohoao me Te Kahui Maru".    It is enough to say at this stage, that Maruwharanui's parents were Autochthones, a term that indicates that they were not Hawaiiki people, but were rather of the Ancient stock, or the "earlier tangata whenua".

Although Maruwharanui was NOT a descendant of Tainui Waka, this does not mean that we are not connected with the Tainui people.   In fact, there are whakapapa manuscripts that state that both of Maru Wharanui's sisters, Mihi Rawhiti and Hinepango were married to Hotunuku of the Tainui Waka.  This also means that Maruwharanui and his siblings were contemporaries of the Hawaiiki migrants.  Confirmation of the marriages of the sisters to Hotunuku are inserted below (slide 4).


Maruwharanui's Siblings

Slides from Tuta mss. and Kaipuke mss, labelled slide 1 and slide 2 respectively, confirm both the parents of Maruwharanui and the birth order of their four children. Slide 2 especially indicates this, by the phrase Maruwharanui to mua, followed by numbered siblings.   Slide 1 also uses numbered siblings immediately underneath the names Pito = Manauea.

Slide 1
Slide 2

Aside from the Tainui inter-marriages,  a further intermarriage occurred, this time with the Taakitimu Waka.   This is a reference to the well known union of Marukopiri and Hineue, the daughter of the famed explorer, Tamatea-Pokai-Whenua.  Tamatea himself had arrived in Aotearoa aboard the Taakitimu, according to some accounts, this waka was captained by his father, Rongokaako.  In another account the waka was captained by his Grandfather - Tamatea Ariki.    In any case, some  time after the Taakitimu arrival, Tamatea made expedition up the Whanganui River.  A number of place names are a direct result of Tamatea's travels.   Places such as Tangarakau (where Tamatea split wood), and Tangahoe (where Tamatea repaired his paddles) are the more well known ones in the Ngati Maru rohe.   

Tamatea's voyage up the Whanganui is often depicted as fleeting and then ending abruptly at Huka Falls.   Yet Tamatea was in the district long enough to not only marry Mahakiroa, but to have at least four children with her.   One of which was Hineue.  The Wahapa mss. shows the marriage between Marukopiri and Hineue, and one descent line. (See slide 3 - below)   John White, provides the names of a further three sons, Koautamaakiroa, Kahunui, and Apa, in his book Ancient Maori,  (see p.87).     For our purposes though, it is only the offspring of Marukopiri that are included in the Family table.  They were Ruataupo, Uenuku-Popoti [who is in the slide below, on the last line], Uenuku-Tutea and Tamatea Tahuhu.  They are considered as prominent ancestors of the people of the Middle Whanganui River, particularly at Manganui-o-te-Ao. 

Slide 3

As a side note, it is interesting to see in more recent Ngati Maru whakapapa, that Tutanuku Tume (a well known Maru spokesman who lived at the turn of the 20th Century) gave evidence in the land court, that his Father had a sister Mahakiroa.  Sadly this Mahakiroa died without descendants, and with her the reminder of the prominence of the original Mahakiroa has faded.    


Confirmation of Hine-Pango's marriage to Hotunuku, appears in Henare Keremeneta's manuscript.  Confirmation of Mihi-Rawhiti as an additional wife of the same Chief, is found in the Kaipuke manuscripts.  
    

Slide 4

Maruwharanui's Wife 

Maruwharanui wife was Monganui.   No specific information exists [to date] showing Monganui's origin, other than her name mentioned as  Maruwharanui's wife and the mother of his daughter, Te Reimatia.  

In Gudgeon's table, Hineawepara is recorded as a wife of Maruwharanui.  However, given Gudgeon's propensity to fabricate, accepting any tupuna name advanced by him should be with done with caution.  It would be prudent to require further evidence before according pride of place to anyone other than our lineal ancestress Monganui.    


Maruwharanui's Child - Te Reimatia

Te Reimatia, was the daughter of Maruwharanui and Monganui.  To date, all descent lines identified for the hapu and whanau of Ngati Maru pass through Te Reimatia solely.


Intermarriage with Aotea Waka - Te Reimatia and Tamatea-Kopiri

Te Reimatia married Tamatea-Kopiri, the son of Turanga-i-mua, who was in turn the son of Turi, of the Aotea Waka.    Slide 5 - from Wahapa mss. confirms this marriage, as well as providing the names of two of their sons.   The data in this slide has also been converted into table form. 
Slide 5

Slide 6

The Sons of Te Reimatia, Ancestors of Nga Hapu o Ngati Maru

The names of these sons as they appear in the table in slide 5, are (1) TUHUKUAO also referred to as HIKUAO, and (2) TAKAIWAHO also referred to as TUHEKEIWAHO.   Slide 6 is a confirmation from an independant source [Keremeneta] of the lineage from Tuhukuao.

In Tony Sole's work Ruanui, he presents a table that shows TAMANGAPO as an additional son of Te Reimatia and Tamatea Kopiri.  However, in the manuscript material, TAMANGAPO is named as a Grandson, the son of Tuhekeiwaho and his wife Waiti.  Slide 7 shows this.  At first the whakapapa is recorded as if TAMANGAPO is a son, then it has been corrected by the addition of Tuhekeiwaho in pencil.  This line has been highlighted in yellow.

Slide 7

Marukopiri's Children

To complete this blog and to have given reference to everyone who is included in the table Te Whare o Pito Haranui, we provide the source for the children of Marukopiri and his wife Hineue.   This was actually a whakapapa table derived from Native Land Court material.   In a scale of privledging, Manuscript sources or whakapapa books are privledged over versions recorded in the Court minute books.   Mainly because of the agenda/circumstances under which the data has been collected.

Thankfully, in some cases the land court data aligns with manuscript versions, and extra details can be gleaned from this resource.    In our manuscripts, the marriage between Marukopiri and Hineue is confirmed, as well as their daughter Rua Taupo and their son Uenuku Popoti [slide 3].   The whakapapa below, provides us with two further siblings, and given the alignment with other parts of the table, there is no reason to suspect the two additions as fabrication.    

The additional offspring of Marukopiri are Uenuku Tutea and Tamatea Te Huhu, which appear alongside Rua Taupo and Uenuku Popoti - already identified. 
See slide 8.  This is the evidence of Keepa Kumatia, used to claim the Waharangi Block.  The ancestors set up in the Court for Waharangi are contained in orange boxes.   It is interesting to note that they are in the case of two of these tupuna, they are 5th generation descendants of Marukopiri.  This supports the Ngati Maru assertion that Maruwharanui and his family were very early ancestors.   

Slide 8

We are Ngati Maru, we are the descendants of the Autochthone, Maru Wharanui, who was the eldest son of Pito-Haranui and Manauea II, of the Kahui Maru lineage.  We are descendants of Monoa, of the Ancients, who lived in the time of the Kahui Tara and the Kahui Mounga, and these are our true origins.

Tihe i Maru Ora !

   




Monday 25 September 2017

He Timatanga Korero - An Introduction to the Blogs

Kui Merania
(My Great Grandmother)




Ko Taranaki te Mounga
Ko Whanganui te Awa
Ko Maruwharanui te Tangata
He Uri Ahau no Tamatea Teika raua Ko Merania Peri

Ko Pare toku Ingoa - No te Whanau Teika  

Tena Koutou e te Iwi o Ngati Maru ! 



HOW DID THIS START ?  😍

I've been blogging "on and off" for a few years now.  In the past, the purpose of my blogs had been to share information and research findings with my whanau.   Five years ago, the Teika Whanau - became intent on learning more about our Kuia, Merania Wehikore Peri, particularly her whakapapa.  With my research background, I committed to undertake independant research from my base in Hamilton to contribute to the Whanau project.   

Kui Merania had links to Ngati Haua, Ngati Tuwharetoa and of course Ngati Maru.   This gave us a number of choices on which to focus our inquiries.  Yet for some of us, and especially in my own case, Kui Merania's second husband, Titi Tihu had left a clear instruction for us, on her headstone.

Kui Merania's headstone in Taumarunui


The last two lines of the inscription, read "A Maruwaranui, He Uri Rangatira Raua", meaning "Both wives were from the noble stock of Maruwaranui".   Titi paid tribute to both of his wives, Kui Piki and Kui Merania on the headstone, although Kui Merania is the only actual interment here.(1)  But, more to the point is the way that he chose to define his wives as being Ngati Maru.   He could, just as easily described them both as Ngati Haua - because both of them had affilliations there as well.  In fact, given the location of the grave at Taumarunui, pointing out the Haua connection might have been more relevant.(2)  And further more, Titi, had up until this point, not been a "believer" in "headstones".   There seemed to be a definite intention here, a headstone commissioned by him, pointing out the Maru connection.  It seemed he wanted at least some of us, to follow the path back to Ngati Maru.

And so it began ... researching our Kui, in the Ngati Maru research landscape and the sharing of results via the online blogs, before eventually repatriating via a Whanau Reunion at Te Upoko o Te Whenua in 2013. 

Notes
(1) Piki [A]taera Te Pikikotuku (Koro Titi's first wife) died in 1947.  In 1950, Koro Titi married Kui Merania, and they remained together until her death in 1978.  Her first husband, my Great Grandfather Tamatea Teika, died at Purangi in 1933.  He was Titi's Grand-nephew, a descendant of Pea Ngataierua. 
(2) A more indebt account of our Whanau research journey is recorded elsewhere in a partially-completed mss titled 'Merania a Maruwaranui'.   

WHERE DID IT LEAD TO ? 😲

The blogs caught the attention of Karl Burrows (Researcher, Runanga Trustee), of Ngati Maru who contacted me. After some time, Karl contracted me to assist him in the compilation of Ngati Maru's tupuna list (project 1).  
A list of historic Ngati Maru persons who lived between 1880 - 1920, to be used as the basis for Iwi registration.  

In turn, this led to a second contract, commisioned by Holden Hohaia (Chairman of Te Runanga o Ngati Maru) to undertake the Ngati Maru Register Review (project 2).
This involved confirming the descent of all persons on the Ngati Maru Iwi Register to at least one of the tupuna on the tupuna list.  I was then appointed as the inaugural Iwi Registrar, a position now held competently by Leanna Pue.

Concurrent with this position, I undertook the individual biographical research of all 211 tupuna (project 3) on the list.
This resulted in the Tupuna profiles, that listed the immediate family and descendants of each one. 

I later decided to do my thesis (which still remains unfinished - on extention until after the claim) on Ngati Maru.  I  reconstructed Ngati Maru whakapapa (project 4) from Whanau groups back into their Hapu. It was like an exercise of reversing the effects of the individualisation of the Native Land Court.   

This is not about the kumara proclaiming its sweetness, or blowing my own trumpet; but rather to explain, that through these various research projects, I became acutely aware of many aspects of Ngati Maru's history.  My personal research methodology is one of "full-immersion" of the topic.   This led to even more research projects for the Iwi ... 

WHERE AM I NOW ? 😆


A year ago, the Runanga appointed me as the Claim historian and as a Negotiator for Ngati Maru's Historic Treaty Claim.   This is my current position in Ngati Maru and I have recently completed the 'Ngati Maru Sites of Significance Project' (project 5) and 'The Ngati Maru Special Factors Report' (project 6).   

Projects I am working on now, are the 'Ngati Maru Historical Account' (project 7) and 'A report of Ngati Maru's traditional connection with Taranaki Mounga' (project 8).   It's been a very "full on" Year, and it will be for a while yet.


WHY AM I BLOGGING ? 😊

However, claim history is NOT the only kind of History,  there are other findings, derived from my own personal research that fall outside the Claim project briefs.  I do not consider myself to be an authority, but I have researched Ngati Maru for five years, and in the last three years have immersed myself in Maru Historical research every day, and only Maru ... and I do not stop, because there are still things to learn and to know.

Accordingly, there are definitely a few things that I could and should share beyond my whanau and with the wider Iwi.

Although I am currently, the Claim Historian, this is not the position from which I am writing from.   These blogs are simply by Pare Hayward, of the Whanau "TEIKA".  A descendant of Merania and therefore (e ai i te kohatu) a descendant of Maruwharanui. 😉 I'm writing these blogs because of my love of whakapapa, history and for Ngati Maru.

I hope that in some way, these blogs will contribute to the collective body of Ngati Maru historical knowledge.  So in no particular order ... other than inspiration ... here they are ~~~

PAI MARIRE 🙋


He tangi - A Lament by Te Mamanga (aka. Numanga) of Ngati Maru - with translation by Dr Raukura Roa.

We are fortunate to have this moteatea by a tupuna of our own Iwi and equally  fortunate for the translation by Dr Raukura Roa who included ...