Takitimu

A number of stories have been passed down centring on the Takitimu, which is said to have been a waka endowed with great spiritual significance. Here are some of them.

He waka tapu a Takitimu, i kawe mai i nga rangatira, nga tohunga me nga matauranga o te ao tawhito ki Aotearoa. Anei etahi korero mo te waka tapu a Takitimu.

Carried on Takitimu

Nga Kawenga o Takitimu

Takitimu is said to have brought the following to New Zealand:

Sacred symbols of the gods
Sacred adzes
Sacred knowledge taught in the whare wananga (houses of learning) of Polynesia
It is said that taniwha (guardians of the water) accompanied Takitimu.

Koinei etahi o nga kawenga o Takitimu mai i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa

Te tapu o nga Atua
Nga toki tapu
Nga matauranga o nga whare wananga i Hawaiki
Nga taniwha kaitieki.

A Sacred Waka

Te Waka Tapu

Many accounts tell of Takitimu as a highly sacred waka. Only selected chiefs and priests voyaged on Takitimu. With them from Polynesia they carried matauranga (wisdom), whakapapa (genealogies and legends), karakia (prayers and incantations), the mauri (life force), and representations of the gods. The karakia performed on Takitimu while it was being built were very tapu – they were the most sacred that existed.

Ko Takitimu te waka tapu i kawe mai i nga tino rangatira, nga tino tohunga, me nga matauranga tapu o te ao tawhito mai i Hawaiki ki Turanganui-a-Kiwa.

Paraki and Parata

Paraki raua ko Parata

According to some accounts, Takitimu was the first waka to arrive in the Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) region. It was captained by the brothers Paraki and Parata. Paraki stayed in Aotearoa (New Zealand), while Parata returned to Polynesia on Takitimu and told of the incredible faraway land he had seen. Several generations later, Kiwa (a descendant of Parata) and Pawa (a descendant of Paraki) returned to Turanganui-a-Kiwa on Horouta.

Ko Paraki raua ko Parata tetahi tokorua i u tuatahi ki Turanganui-a-Kiwa, ki runga i te waka o Takitimu. Ka noho a Paraki ki Turanganui-a-Kiwa, engari ka hoki a Parata ki Hawaiki me nga korero mo nga whenua i kitea e raua. Ka heke te wa, ko a raua uri ka u ki Turanganui-a-Kiwa.

Kiwa

According to other stories, Kiwa was first to arrive in this region, on Takitimu. He waited for the waka Horouta, which was carrying his son, at a place near the wharf named Turanganui-a-Kiwa ('the long waiting place of Kiwa').

Ki ta etahi ko Kiwa te rangatira o te waka o Takitimu. Ka u tuatahi ia me tona waka ki Turanga, a, ka tatari ki te waka o Horouta, na whai ano ka tapaina te wahi nei ki te ingoa, Turanganui-a-Kiwa.

Tamatea-Arikinui, Ruawharo and Tupai

Tamatea-Arikinui

Other accounts hold that Takitimu was captained by Tamatea-Ariki-Nui, and Ruawharo and Tupai were its tohunga (navigating priests). Takitimu first made landfall at Awanui, at the western end of Ninety Mile Beach. Some of the crew decided to settle at Kaitaia, while the rest continued voyaging – travelling north around Cape Reinga, then down the East Coast of the North Island.

At each place they stopped, Tupai and Ruawharo implanted the mauri (life force) of the whare wananga (houses of spiritual learning) in the land. In the Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne) region, they planted mauri to entice whales at Papawhariki (Sponge Bay) and mauri to look after the koura (crayfish) at the mouth of Kopuawhakapata Stream. They also named Titirangi, after the Polynesian hill Takitimu was built on.

Ko Tamatea-Arikinui te rangatira o te waka o Takitimu, a, ko Ruawharo raua ko Tupai nga tohunga. Ka u a Takitimu ki Awanui, ki Te Oneroa-a-Tohe, a, ka noho mai etahi uri ki Kaitaia. Ka heke tonu a Takitimu ki te Tairawhiti, a, ka whakato a Tupai raua ko Ruawharo i te mauri o nga whare wananga ki nga whenua. I Papawhariki ka whakato i te mauri o nga tohora, i Kopuawhakapata ka whakato i te mauri o te koura. Na raua hoki i tapa te maunga ki te ingoa Titirangi – i tarai te waka o Takitimu ki runga i te maunga o Titirangi ki Hawaiki.

Map of the route of Takitimu waka from Awanui, at the top of the North Island, down to Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne).

Taniwha Guides

Nga Kaitieki

It is said that taniwha (guardians of the water) forged the way for Takitimu to come to Aotearoa. The taniwha Te Arai Te Uru (who Te Arai River in Turanganui-a-Kiwa region is named after) cleared the way in the front, while another taniwha named Ruamano pushed the waka from the back.

Tokotoru nga kaitieki o Takitimu. Ko Te Arai Te Uru ratou ko Ruamano, ko Hine Korako.