Maungatautari

Transcription

[Inia Te Wiata sings Ngati Raukawa song 'He puru taitama'] He pūru taitama e He pūru taitama hoki He pūru taitama He pūru Ōtaki He pūru tukituki e Ka haere tāua e [Narrator] Maungatautari, near the Waikato town of Cambridge is a wildlife reserve, and is the ancestral home of the Ngāti Raukawa tribe. An extinct volcano, Maungatautiri is now the home to some of New Zealand's most precious birdlife. During the 1820s, due to inter-tribal conflict known as the Musket Wars, Ngati Raukawa migrated to the south of the North Island. But they still consider Maungatautari their sacred mountain and refer to it in their songs and proverbs. Ngāti Raukawa are descended from Raukawa, who was the son of Tūrongo and Māhinarangi. The story of the famous romance between Raukawa's parents tells how Raukawa got his name. Tūrongo was a chief from the Waikato. He and his brother Whatihua grew to be rivals. After becoming an adult, Tūrongo travelled to south Taranaki, and fell in love with the beautiful Ruapūtahanga, of the Aotea people. Following Tūrongo's courtship of Ruapūtahanga, her family agreed that she should marry him. He returned to Kāwhia to build a house for his future wife. On hearing of the marriage, Turongo's brother, Whatihua, became secretly jealous and decided to try and win Ruapūtahanga. While Tūrongo was building his house, his brother suggested that Ruapūtahanga may not be impressed by such a big house, and he could perhaps build a smaller one. He also told Tūrongo that his prospective wife preferred small kūmara, so he should fill his storehouse with them. After dispensing this advice, Whatihua travelled to Aotea to build a magnificent big house in the hope of winning Ruapūtahanga. When Ruapūtahanga arrived with her entourage she was unimpressed with Tūrongo's small house. She was disappointed at the size of the small kūmara that Tūrongo provided. Whatihua then arrived to suggest that Ruapūtahanga and her party journey to his house, as they would not be able to fit inside Tūrongo's. Tūrongo was deeply embarrassed and fled to a village in Hawke's Bay. He soon became renowned for his ability in constructing houses. A couple of high rank, Angiangi and Tūaka, suggested to their daughter, Māhinaarangi, that she should consider the fine man as a husband. The shy Māhinaarangi agreed and began to think how she might attract Tūrongo. She had noticed that each evening Turongo would follow a particular path through the forest to where he was staying. So Māhinaarangi hid in the dark and waited for him. Tūrongo encountered her along the way, and after a while they became lovers. However, Māhinaarangi kept her identity a secret. Because of the dark, Tūrongo was not able to identify his lover except by her perfume, made from the aromatic leaves of the raukawa plant. Turongo admired Māhinaarangi and suspected she was his lover. While she was playing a stick game in the daylight he came close to her. Her identity was assured when he smelt the raukawa perfume [Inhale and sigh]. They married and Māhinaarangi gave birth to a son. She and Tūrongo named Raukawa, after the perfume his mother wore during her courtship. Before Europeans arrived in New Zealand, the country had abundant birdlife. But deforestation and the introduction of predators such as rats, stoats, and possums, saw many native flightless birds disappear. By the end of the century the North Island takahē was extinct. However, its South Island cousin, one of the world's rarest birds, clung on. It is now the focus of breeding programmes at several conservation sanctuaries including Maungatautari. Today Maungatautari Ecological Island is one of three fenced sanctuaries on mainland New Zealand. The fence was finished in 2006 and Maungatautari once again houses important native birds including the kaka, kererū, kiwi, and takahē.