Kāi Tahu

Several modern-day iwi are said to descend from Tahupōtiki and his father's lineage. In theory, it might be possible to trace back and find the approximate time that his lineage 'arose' or arrived in New Zealand. This would require kits from several dozen men of his direct descent, but would most certainly be well worth it for the advancement of our knowledge and mana. It may be better to work backwards by establishing the birth dates of hapū ancestors first.

Known lineages for Māori include:

• C-FT133111 - currently estimated to have 'been born' around 1077 CE
  • C-FT241071 - ... around 1098 CE
  • C-F3571 - ... around 1142 CE
  • C-FT132419 - ... around 1244 CE
  • Unnamed lineage - only has one tester so far who does not descend from the preceeding 'siblings'.
• C-FT11868 - currently estimated to have 'been born' around 1105 CE
  • C-FT13115 - ... around 1265 CE
  • Unnamed lineage.
• C-FT349907 - currently estimated to have 'been born' around 1248 CE
• Other modern areas of science typically credit Polynesians with arriving in New Zealand from at least 1250 CE
• One of my best guesses for when Tahupōtiki may have been born is around 1445 CE.
• C-FTB49615 - currently estimated to have 'been born' around 1452 CE
• O-FTC6067 - currently estimated to have 'been born' around 1542 CE

In Ngāti Porou traditions

The progenitor of Kāi Tahu, Tahupōtiki, is considered by association with Paikea to be a relative of Porouariki (Porouariki Matataraawhare, te tuhimāreikura o Rauru) the progenitor of Ngāti Porou,[1][2] and to that effect he is known to them as Tahupōtiki Te tuhimāreikura o Oho, a tamawahine.

Typically they are considered brothers.[3] Ngata said they inherited Toikairākau, Uenuku, Kahutiaterangi, Paikea, and Ruatapu blood. Also in their traditions the progenitor of Ngāti Kahungunu is the grandson of Porouariki.[4]

One of Beattie’s informants (1915) described Kāi Tahu and ‘Kati-Porou-raki or Kati Kahukunu’ as being connected.[5]

In Kāi Tahu traditions

Tūhawaiki (1851) named a child of Tahupōtiki’s as Oira, and stated that he lived at Tūranga, calling it ‘Turanga-nui-a-rua’.[6] Te Mamaru (1894) also listed Oira, and noted that Tukumoana, Te Aomataki, and Pakea’s lines branched from Uenuku-horea.[7]

Rahera Tainui (1946) lists Iratahu as a child.[8]

Tau (2005) has said that Paikea was Tahupōtiki’s grandfather,[9] and lists IraaTahu, Iraaparoa, and Iramanawapiko as his three children.[10]

Tiramorehu's Whatiua line

• Huatakataka married a man named Rakaikikura.
• Hinepari married a man named Hikaraeroa.
• Hinetewai married a man named Tikokauamo.

Offspring

• Tūhawaiki (1851) and Te Mamaru (1894) name Rangateurumanu as Oira’s child.[11]
• Tainui listed Rakaitehurumanu as Iratahu’s child.
• Tau (2005) listed Rakatehurumanu as IraaTahu and Iwi’s child. He married Matiheraki.
• Sciascia (2012) listed Rakatehurumanu as IraaTahu and Huiarei’s child. He married Matiheraki.[12]

Rakawahakura

Tahumuri’s child is Rakawakakura (‘i heke mai i Turaka’),[13] or Rakaiwakakura,[14] or Rakawahakura.[15] Several old men (Beattie 1922) referred to him as a leader of Kāti Kurī. He was later killed near Waikato.[16]

Rakawahakura is an ancestor shared with Ngāi Tāmanuhiri[17] Wordpress sources say that the iwi was formerly known as Ngāi Tahu, and then Ngāi Tahupo, as they are descendants of Tahunui, also called Tahupōtiki, or Tahumatua.[18]

Te Whataroa

Owing to growing tensions between the iwi inhabiting Gisborne District, many groups began their migration away from Waerenga-a-Hika. An early instance of tension was when Rākaihikuroa, grandson of Kahungunu, killed his own twin brothers out of jealousy, and was banished after his own son Tupurupuru was killed in revenge.

Following that, local Turaka chief Tūtekohi invited Rākaihikuroa's other son Rākaipaaka to his pā only to feed the prepared feast to his kurī, Kauerehuanui. This was an insult Rākaipaaka, who showed no reaction at the time. After leaving, Whaitiripoto instructed Whakaruru-a-Nuku to go back and eat the kurī in revenge. War thus broke out against the Takutai-o-te-rangi pā and her allies.[19]

A particular engagement occurred with Kāi Tahu, involving Rakawahakura, Whaitiripoto, and Whakaruru-a-Nuku.[20] [21] Kāi Tahu sent a party out to visit the people of Turaka, and while there the youths were playing games which the elderly joined in. One visitor, Maiwerohia, would bring his opposing playmate out of sight and murder him, one man after the other until the elders began to question where their young men were disappearing to.[22]

Kāi Tahu then invited them to a feast for which the fish and birds were actually cleverly carved chunks of wood, designed to give the impression of those foods being prepared in the storehouse, and it is for this reason that the battle is called Te Whataroa. The children began playing games, enticing the adults to join in as a distraction while the hosts began to form their attack, even killing the visitors' kurī before turning on the guests and cooking them in the already-lit umu.

Tūtekohi ultimately won the war, and so Kāi Tahu was forced to move further down Aotearoa.

Beattie's sources (1922) reported a ‘Kāti Kurī song’ composed while the iwi was still on Aotearoa. It was printed as follows: