The Ngati Hotu were the original people who lived around Lake Taupo / National Park. A fair-headed, light-skinned people, they were one of the last surviving sub-tribes of the Patupaiarehe, pockets of whom survived into colonial times. The elusive Patupaiarehe retreated inland and are regarded by Maori as fairies or ghosts because of their appearance.
There will be many tribes descended from the Patupaiarehe. I find it really interesting, but our learned establishment does not. It goes against the narrative and history books no longer have any mention of tribes who were pre-Maori.
How can we prove the existence of these people? I have heard it said, “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word will be established,” 2 Corinthians 13:1.
Using this rule, I’ll give evidence from four sources – an old map, book, a photo and the testimony of Monica Matamua, the matriach of a surviving remnant of the Ngati Hotu.
First, an old map …
An old tourist map of Lake Taupo from the 1920s, mentioning the original inhabitants of the Taupo region, “a Moriori known as the Tangata Whenua, Ngati Hotu.
Ngāti Tūwharetoa, the Maori tribe now based around Taupo, described the vanquished tribe as “Urukehu.” According to Martin Wikaira (‘Ngāti Tūwharetoa – Warfare’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand) the tribe were referred to as ‘urukehu’ (fairy people) because of their unusual red hair and fair skin. (See below in the links.)
Second, an old book …
James Cowan, a bilingual writer who lived from 1870 to 1943 saw Urukehu women in Taupo. He described their appearance page 113 and 114 of his book “The Tongariro National Park” where he writes, “The Ngati Hotu were one of three aboriginal tribes; Ngati Hotu, Ngati Kahupungapunga and Ngati Ruakopiri.”
No doubt these old tribes were a part of that ancient race variously called ‘Te Iwi-a-Maui’, ‘Maruiwi,’ ‘Te Marangaranga .’ ‘Ngati Tumutumewhenua,’ and other names, who had been in the land for untold centuries.
They were somewhat different in appearance from the Arawa canoe men who discovered them and whose offspring fought and conquered them, slaughtered the men and married the women.”
Page 114:
“The Urukehu, the fair-hair strain, is to be observed in many Taupo people of the present time. There were two handome Urukehu women, pure Maori, in the wharepuni at Otukou when we discussed this racial subject one night.”
Third, an old photo
< On the left is an old photo of Maori women at Waireki, Taupo. Despite her appearance, the woman between the twins is not European, Victorian women would never wear a robe off the shoulder like that.
Monica Matamua of Ngati Hotu
Monica Matamua is a living descendant of Ngati Hotu. “Eyes are the windows to the soul and for 72-year-old Monica, her eyes tell a story better than any words can. Those hazel eyes speak of a tribe of people, steeped in history and entwined throughout the years of Maori folklore, yet until now, fobbed off as eccentrics, strangers and in some cases, ‘mystical beings’.”
“I always knew I was different, but it has been a long and difficult fight to tell my story.”
Source: elocal
Links / Notes
Monica is part of the third generation of her family to battle through the Maori Land Court and now the Waitangi Tribunal, to be recognised. As part of the Ngati Hotu tribe, Monica’s family have fought for generations to prove that they are not extinct.
Te Rena
Although they kept a low profile for a long time, the Ngati Hotu tribe still had strong emotional connections with the Mangakeke Pa, which had been occupied by Ngati Hotu before they were driven away. It wasn’t until many decades later that Monica’s family would begin the long and arduous task of buying the land back from local land owners and Monica’s parents went on to lease the site of Te Rena Taurewa, near Taumarunui, in 1946.
The land was leased to graze cattle on and the family slowly went on to buy almost 100 acres. “It’s sad we have had to buy back what we never sold, but when you are invisible or ‘extinct’, you have no choice,” Monica says.
Sadly, this was not the end of their woes, in fact the land would go on to become involved in a bitter dispute between Monica’s family and the Tuwharetoa tribe.
When her family’s papakainga, Te Rena Taurewa, near Taumarunui was taken from her under the crown, Monica’s heart truly broke but she continued to fight to live there. In 1996 the family was allowed to stay on the land, and built a house which was set up as a campers’ lodge to provide income for the marae and offer an affordable place for travellers to stay.
Although Monica has documentation to prove that her grandmother, Te-Oti-Mihiterina, owns the land, it has since been taken from her and Monica has continued to fight to get her land back.
Wai 1029 claim
Ultimately, Monica Matamua and the other Wai 1029 claimants, who they say number in the thousands, do not wish to identify as Ngāti Tūwharetoa possibly for historical reasons, but more likely because of present-day factors. In 1991, the claimant’s whānau returned to begin farming the Taurewa 4 West E2B1 block which had been amalgamated into the Taurewa Farm.
This 250-acre block, before the amalgamation, had been the sole property of the claimant’s grandmother – te Oti Mihiterina. Her whānau planted 200 fruit trees as well as flax and wetland trees to control flooding and they built the Whakahou Lodge at a cost of approximately $48,000 .
They had turned their attention to re-building Whakahou Marae which had burned down in 1967 when the trustees of the Taurewa West trust evicted them – in fact, not once they say, but five times over the 14 year period since they returned. They now seek compensation for the loss of the hapū’s land base. The claimants say that the documentary record, which presents Hinewai as a descend-ant of Tūwharetoa, is based on the evidence of Ngāti Tūwharetoa witnesses at the Taupō nui ātia investigation and is, therefore, biased. Once Taurewa was included in that investigation ‘only arguments based on Tuwharetoa whakapapa could carry any weight’, they state.
– The National Park District Inquiry Report, Page 70
One Woman’s battle for Recognition of Ngati Hotu
The public gathered at Dargaville Museum to hear an address by 75-year-old Monica Matamua of the Waitaha but integrated and descended from the Patupaiarehe people (and the Urukehu) who are well known for their light skin, fair hair and translucent eyes, which is evident when looking at Monica. These same features are still appearing through her family.
Source: The Mangawhai Focus: Forbidden history, or just not accepted?
Ngati Hotu in Hawkes Bay
While the descendants of Ngāti Kahungunu fought for control of Heretaunga, Rangitāne were consolidating their occupation of Tamaki nui-ā-Rua through the efforts of Tāwhakahiku and Māngere, the sons of Tarapata, who fought and defeated the Ngāti Hotu, Ngāti Moe (Mamoe) and Ngāi Tara at Te Umutaoroa (just north of present-day Dannevirke). Source: Te Mauri o Rangitāne o Manawatū (Council of Elders)
According to T.M.R. (Boy) Tomoana, a Waipatu elder who was interviewed in 1971, the original inhabitants of the Otatara area (Taradale) were the Ngati Hotu and Ngati Apa tribes. The former tribe is now non-existent and the Ngati Apa is reduced to a very small number.Source: DOC, ASSESSMENT OF HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
OTATARA PA HISTORIC RESERVE JUNE 1997
Urukehu, a description by Martin Wikaira of Ngāti Tūwharetoa
The Ngāti Hotu people were living in the Taupō district when the priest Ngātoroirangi and explorer Tia arrived. The tribe were referred to as ‘urukehu’ (fairy people) because of their unusual red hair and fair skin.
Threatened with invasion by Tūwharetoa groups from Kawerau, Ngāti Hotu sought to defend their rights.
The chiefs of Tūwharetoa at the time were Tūrangitukua, Waikari and Ruawehea. With the support of Tūtewero from Kawerau the chiefs overwhelmed Ngāti Hotu, and the tribe of Tūwharetoa established its mana in the Taupō region.
Martin Wikaira, ‘Ngāti Tūwharetoa – Warfare’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ngati-tuwharetoa/page-4, Story by Martin Wikaira, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Mar 2017
Ngati Tuwharetoa
The conquering Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe. They settled in the area somewhere in the 1500s, conquering and intermarrying with Ngati Hotu who had lived in the Taupo Lake area. Their lands stretched from Ngakuru, south of Rotorua, to Mount Ruapehu and included Lake Taupo.
Source: Kete Taupo
Tongariro Motel – Fishing for the truth? The TRM in Turangi reference the book ‘A Museum Underfoot’, asking if Maori are indigenous to NZ.
Ngāti Ruakōpiri
Ngāti Ruakōpiri (Te Patutokotoko) and Ngāti Hotu. Two early kin groups who migrated together to the region from the Bay of Plenty were ngāti Ruakōpiri and ngāti Hotu . Their origins are unclear, although some claim Ruakōpiri were the descendants of Waitaha-ariki-kore, who, as stated earlier, arrived in his own waka, te Paepae-ki-Rarotonga.
It is believed that the two groups were living in the Taupō district when Ngātoroirangi and Tia, another member of te Arawa waka, made their exploratory trips. Having migrated from Matahina, east of the Kaingaroa Plains, ngāti Ruakōpiri lived for some time east of Taupō where they were attacked by ngāti Tahu (whose origins are also blurred) . They fled to Murimotu, where they took refuge among ngāti Rangi and ngāti Tamakana and other hapū of the Manganui-o-te-ao and upper Whanganui region.
In 1878, ngāti Ruakōpiri were based in upper Whanganui at te Ure-iti. Resident magistrate R W Woon believed they were a hapū of te Patutokotoko, while te Keepa te Rangihiwinui (Major Kemp), who had whakapapa connections reaching right up the Whanganui River, said that te Patutokotoko was a name that ngāti Ruakōpiri had adopted in the nineteenth century.
The National Park District Inquiry Report, page 39
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