Uruaokapuarangi

Uruaokapuarangi (also Te Waka a Rangi;[1] often known simply as Uruao) was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes (waka) that was used in the migrations that settled the South Island according to Māori tradition.

Uruaokapuarangi
Great Māori migration waka
CommanderRākaihautū, Te Rakihouia
Landed at
Iwi
Settled atWaitaki River

Uruaokapuarangi is linked to many southern iwi, first landing near Nelson. The waka was captained by Rākaihautū, who was accompanied by his wife Waiariki-o-āio, their son Te Rakihouia,[lower-alpha 1] and a man named Matiti.

Origins

Originally, Uruaokapuarangi was said to belong to a chief from Te Patunuioāio[lower-alpha 2] named Taitewhenua.[5] He decided to give the canoe to the renowned tohunga kōkōrangi (astronomer) Matiti, who then gave it to Rākaihautū and encouraged him to use it to explore new lands.[6]

In the 9th century,[7] Rākaihautū, accompanied by his wife Waiariki-o-āio, their son Te Rakihouia, Matiti,[4] and other kin of the Te Kāhui Tipua, Te Kāhui Roko, and Te Kāhui Waitaha tribes, set sail across the Pacific Ocean in search of new land.[5][6]

Voyage and arrival

On the journey to the South Island the heavens and the ocean blocked the canoe's path, until Rākaihautū chanted a karakia and cut a passage with his adze,[8] Kapakitua.[9][lower-alpha 3] He eventually landed the Uruaokapuarangi at Boulder Bank,[7] Nelson, at the top of the South Island.[10]

From Nelson, Rākaihautū and his wife separated from Te Rakihouia and began to explore the Southern Alps down to Foveaux Strait, digging out the island's great lakes and waterways as he went.[11] Te Rakihouia and Waitaa (or Waitaha) took the canoe and continued down the east coast, naming the cliffs at Kaikōura Te Whatakai-o-Rakihouia (The Food Storehouse of Rakihouia) and eventually finding a lake at Banks Peninsula now called Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora, naming its coastline Kā Poupou O Te Rakihouia (The Eel Weirs Of Te Rakihouia).[5][11] The canoe continued, and eventually landed at the mouth of the Clutha River, which they named Matauu (or Mata-au).[9]

Both parties moved back up the east coast from the southerly points that they each landed,[5] meeting at Waihao, near the Waitaki River where the canoe now makes up part of the riverbed at Wai Kakahi (near Glenavy).[7]

See also

Notes
  1. Spelled Rokohuia by Sir Tipene O'Regan in Waitangai: Maori & Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi.[2][3]
  2. Another name for Hawaiki, sometimes recorded as Patunui-o-waio.[4]
  3. Some traditions say that Kapakitua was the name for Ngāti Hawea's canoe that arrived under Taiehu earlier than Uruaokapuarangi,[1] or at the same time.[9]

References
  1. "Ancient Iwi – Ngāi Tahu". ngaitahu.maori.nz. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. "The Ngai Tahu Land Report" (PDF). Ministry of Justice – Tāhū o te Ture. 1991. p. 179. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. Kawharu, I.H. (1989). Waitangai: Maori & Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi. Oxford University Press. p. 236. ISBN 0 19 558175 X.
  4. "Notes and queries, p 385-387". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 1925. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. Te Taumutu Rūnanga. "Our History". Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. "Rākaihautū". University of Canterbury – Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  7. Ashburton District Plan - 02 Takata Whenua Values.pdf (PDF). Ashburton District Council. 2014. p. 3.
  8. Tau, Te Maire (2005). "Ngāi Tahu – Ngāi Tahu and Waitaha". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  9. Stephenson, Janet; Bauchop, Heather; Petchey, Peter (2004). Bannockburn Heritage Landscape Study (PDF). p. 29.
  10. Parliamentary Council Office – Te Tari Tohutohu Pāremata (2014). "Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 No 97 (as at May 2014), Public Act Schedule 58 Statutory acknowledgement for Te Ana-au (Lake Te Anau)". New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  11. Taonui, Rāwiri (2005). "Canoe traditions – Canoes of the South Island". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  • Terea te Waka, a chant that recalls the voyage of the Uruaokapuarangi
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