TARARUA MAUNGA

Tararua is the central mountain range to the west of the Wairarapa Valley. There are several versions of how the mountains attained their name. As you will see Whatonga is the ancestor of the other men attributed with the naming of Tararua maunga.

Whatonga

One day Whatonga captain of the Kurahaupo waka, from whom the Rangitane iwi descend, went on a fishing trip to Te Matau A Maui (Cape Kidnappers), the fishhook of Maui, where he caught many fish. In his kete there was a nohu (rock cod) that his wife Hotuwaipara cut her finger on. The couple’s first child was named Tara Ika after this event to remind Whatonga of the accident. At this point Whatonga set off again on a journey of exploration. This time he travelled down the East Coast of the North Island, to the top of Te Waipounamu (South island), Wellington and up the west coast until he came to the mouth of the Manawata River. Following the river inland he came upon an extensive area of forest that became Known as le Tapere Nui-o-Whatonga (Seventy-Mile or Forty-Mile Bush) or the great district of Whatonga.

He had been away for a lengthy period of time by now and was thinking about his home and family walked out of the forest into a clearing the clouds overhead parted revealing two peaks on a mountain range. His thoughts turned to his two wives Hotuwaipara and Reretua, imagining that the mountains represented their reclining bodies and so he called the mountains Tararua after his two wives. Following this event Whatonga began the long walk home to Heretaunga.

Note: Uha is a word for the female element of creation and is symbolized through mountains. An-other definition for tara are part of the female genitalia, the explanation of which is often pur-posely avoided so as to not offend peoples sensitivities. However the whare tangata or womb and genitals for our people versed in traditions are not seen as dirty or pornographic. Rather they are extremely sacred in that they are literally the house of humankind from which we all come.

Tara ika

Nga waewae e rua a Tara means the spanned legs of Tara and is an extended version of Tara-rua.

Tara-ika and Tautoki were the sons of Whatonga and like their father explored and settled the lower north island. “Nga waewae e rua a Tara” means that the people of Tara-ika who took the iwi name of Ngai Tara had a foothold on either side of the Tararua mountain ranges. Another meaning for Tararua is “the walkway of Tara”

Rangikaikore

Rangikaikore was a Ngai Tara man, a descendent of Tara ika. Rangikaikore (Rangi the foodless) broke his spear when hunting in the mountains. The two (rua) spear points (tara) now form the two main peaks of the range, these are called Pukeamoamo and Pukehurangi. Or Peggys and Mitre peaks.

A simpler explanation is that Rangikaikore thrust his spear into the ground thereby reinforcing his mana upon the land.