Three months after Kahu’s birth her mother, Rehua, died. Porourangi brought her and Kahu back to our village where the funeral was held. When Rehua’s mother asked if she and her people could raise Kahu, Nanny Flowers objected strongly. But Porourangi said, ‘Let her go,’ and Korn Apirana said, ‘Yes, let it be as Porourangi wishes,’ and thereby overruled her.
A week later, Rehua’s mother took Kahu from us. I was with Nanny Flowers when the taking occurred. Although Porourangi was in tears, Nanny was strangely tranquil. She held Kahu close, a small face like a dolphin, held and kissed her.
‘Never mind, girl,’ she said to baby Kahu. ‘Your birth cord is here. No matter where you may go, you will always return. You will never be lost to us.’ Then I marvelled at her wisdom and Rehua’s in naming the child in our genealogy and the joining of her to our lands.
Our genealogy, of course, is the genealogy of the people of Te Tai Rawhiti, the people of the East Coast; Te Tai Rawhiti actually means ‘the place washed by the eastern tide’. Far away beyond the horizon is Hawaiki, our ancestral island homeland, the place of the Ancients and the Gods, and the other side of the world. In between is the huge seamless marine continent which we call Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the Great Ocean of Kiwa.
The first of the Ancients and ancestors had come from the east, following the pathways in the ocean made by the morning sun. In our case, our ancestor was Kahutia Te Rangi, who was a high chief in Hawaiki. In those days man had power over the creatures of land and sea, and it was Kahutia Te Rangi who travelled here on the back of a whale. This is why our meeting house has a carving of Kahutia Te Rangi on a whale at the apex. It announces our pride in our ancestor and acknowledges his importance to us.
At the time there were already people living in this land, earlier voyagers who had come by canoe. But the land had not been blessed so that it would flower and become fruitful. Other tribes in Aotearoa have their own stories of the high chiefs and priests who then arrived to bless their tribal territories; our blessing was brought by similar chiefs and priests, and Kahutia Te Rangi was one of them. He came riding through the sea, our ancestor Kahutia Te Rangi, astride his whale, and he brought with him the life-giving forces which would enable us to live in close communion with the world. The life-giving forces, in the form of spears, were brought from the Houses of Learning called Te Whakaeroero, Te Rawheoro, Rangitane, and Tapere Nui a Whatonga. They were the gifts of those houses in Hawaiki to the new land. They were very special because among other things, they gave instructions on how man might talk with the beasts and creatures of the sea so that all could live in helpful partnership. They taught oneness.
Kahutia Te Rangi landed at Ahuahu, just outside our village, in the early hours of the morning. To commemorate his voyage he was given another name, Paikea. At the time of landfall the star Poututerangi was just rising above our sacred mountain, Hikurangi. The landscape reminded Paikea of his birthplace back in Hawaiki so he named his new home Whangara Mai Tawhiti, which we call Whangara for short. All the other places around here are also named after similar headlands and mountains and rivers in Hawaiki – Tawhiti Point, the Waiapu River, and Tihirau Mai Tawhiti.
It was in this land that Paikea’s destiny lay. He married the daughter of Te Whironui, and they were fruitful and had many sons and grandsons. And the people lived on the lands around his pa Ranginui, cultivating their sweet potato and vegetable gardens in peace and holding fast to the heritage of their ancestors.
Four generations after Paikea, was born the great ancestor Porourangi, after whom my eldest brother is named. Under his leadership the descent lines of all the people of Te Tai Rawhiti were united in what is now known as the Ngati Porou confederation. His younger brother, Tahu Potiki, founded the South Island’s Kai Tahu confederation.
Many centuries later, the chieftainship was passed to Korn Apirana and, from him, to my brother Porourangi. Then Porourangi had a daughter whom he named Kahu.