How Kaihamu Killed His Enemies At Waiatapu
Like all fierce warrior tribes, the happenings of the ancestors where usually remembered by the battles that they fought, the people they killed, rather than the peaceful things that they did.
When Mango died, his wife Hiaopto, the mother of Kaihamu, returned to her tribal home at Waitara, in the land of the Nga-Rauru.
There she married a man, to whom she bore two sons, named Kare-te-ngu and Kare-te-Wheke, moved to Waitotara, and lived out the rest of her life.
When she was approaching death, she sent for her two sons and told them, “Should I die, and your elder brothers at Kawhia hear of my death, they will probably come to mourn over me, and you will see them”.
“Be careful lest you offend you elder brothers”.
The sons asked her, “How shall we know out elder brothers?”.
The mother said, “When I am dead, and the mourning ceremonies are ended, cut off my head, and set it on the outer lintel of the door of the house”,
“Your elder brothers will come someday when the news of my death reaches them”.
“When they appear before this house, the skull will fall to the ground, of its own accord, without being touched”,
“That will be the sign to you that Uetapu and Kaihamu have come to this place”.
Presently Hiapoto died, and when the tangihanga [wailing and funeral ceremonies] were at an end, the sons did as they were bidden.
They carefully cut off their mothers head and carefully and reverentially treated it in the manner of the Maori in preserving heads by wood smoke, and set it firmly in place on the outer lintel of the door of the large house.
The word went out to Kawhia that Hiapoto had died and the brothers Uetapu and Kaihamu wept at the news of their mother's end.
They called together their people, in order that they may assemble a party to make a ceremonial visit to Waitotara, to lament over their mother in the place of her death.
An armed party of one hundred and forty men were selected, and the brothers set out at the head of their warriors.
They travelled down the coast through Taranaki until they came to the Waitotara River, in the land of the Nga-Rauru.
When Uetapu and Kaihamu reached the Pa [fortified village] where their half-brothers dwelt, they inquired of a man where Hiapoto’s sons, Kare-te-Ngu and Kara-te Wheke lived?
[their names are shortened for the rest of the story to Ngu [the name of the squid], and Where [the name of the octopus].
Squid
Octopus
The man pointed to the largest house in the village, and the brothers led them towards it.
When the people of the village saw them going directly to that house they called out to the Kawhia chiefs, who were, of course, perfect strangers, that the house was a sacred house.
“It is the Tapu [sacred] house of Ngu and Wheke” they cried.
As the brothers approached closely to the front of the house the head of Hiapoto fell from its place, as she had predicted, but the fall was not noticed by the people of Nga-Rauru, the warning went unheeded.
When the people saw that Uetapu and Kaihamu were about to enter the house, they became very loud in their protests, “Beware” they shouted, “Do not enter the sacred house of Ngu and Wheke”.
Upon this Kaihamu grew angry, and he turned and cried to the Nga-Rauru, “I eat the Nga and the Wheke”
This play on the names of the two chiefs was a kanga [curse], and it greatly incensed the people of the village, and they prepared to attack and kill the men from Kawhia. who had by this time entered the large house.
The word went forth, and from all the Waitotara country the warriors hurried to fight these daring men of the Kawhia, and soon there was an armed multitude there, far outnumbering the 140 men from Kawhia, who were crowded into the house.
Kaihamu said to his brother Uetapu, “It is for you to make prayers to the gods, and perform the sacred ceremonies that will enable us to prevail over our enemies”.
But Uetapu confessed that it was beyond his powers, and asked Kaihamu to make the appeals to the gods, “You alone, are the one who can save us”, he said.
So Kaihamu began his ritual of appeal to the unseen powers.
He picked up the sacred head of his mother, Hiapoto, from where it had fallen in the porch of the house, and brought it inside of the house.
He made his Tuahu [his altar] a tapu [sacred place] where he could lay a sacrifice to the gods.
He was unable to go outside so he held up his hand, with the hollowed palm up. And said, “This is my Tuahu”.
He bade Uetapu kill their dog, which had come with them from Kawhia, and when it was killed, he told Uetapu to remove the heart, which he did.
Kaihamu then placed the heart into his left hand, the Tuahu, and with the proper prayers, offered it to his gods.
This having been done, he said to one of the men “Take the body of the dog that has just been slain, and carry it to Kawhia, and place it on the sacred place at Ahurei, the Tauhu of our ancestor, Hoturoa, as an oblation to the gods”.
The messenger left the house by the matapihi [large front window] in the front of the whare, [house].
Kaihamu stood just inside the window and stretched his hand out of the window, repeating a spell, and the messenger took one step, which landed in the middle of the marae [assembly ground in the centre of the Pa].
The second bound landed him on the edge of the cliff that bounded the Pa, the third bound and he was down on the level ground at the base of the cliff, and he was soon out of sight, the tradition says that he reached Kawhia the same day, and laid the body of the dog as requested.
Now Kaihamu called forth the most powerful spell, which was a death stroke against the multitude of his foes, and they fell smitten by the breath of the gods.
To this day a pepeha [proverbial saying] has come down in memory of the utterance of Kaihamu.
“Ko te waha mana a Kaihamu” “The powerful and effective utterance of Kaihamu”
https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-spread-of-the-descendants-of-hoturoa
https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/tainui-canoe-travels-from-hawaiki-to-new-zealand
https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/myths-and-legends-of-new-zealand-intro
https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-this-series-began
https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-warrior-deeds-of-kaihuma
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