The Patupaihere of Tāmaki Makaurau

The Patupaihere of TÄ maki Makaurau

Retold by: Paora Puru.

Illustrated by: Space 7 children from Newmarket School.

Hunua Patupaihere

Waitakere Patupaihere

A long time ago, Maori oral traditions speak of Patupaihere or fairy like people living in parts of Aotearoa when they arrived. In the Auckland region the stories told involve two lived communities of Patupaihere.

Two tribes were known to live in TÄ maki Makaurau. In earlier times these fairy tribes occupied the Hunua Ranges and the Waitakere Ranges in TÄ maki Makaurau.

These tribes lived in these areas and yet they sort of separated themselves by boundaries.

Rakino Motutapu Meaola Reef Kohimarama

Waitemata Harbour

Waiheke

Waitakere Ranges Manukau Harbour

Hunua Ranges

TÄ maki Makaurau

One tribe occupied Te Wainui of Tirira which is the Waitakere Ranges or was the great forests of Tirira, so that's the real name for the Waitakere Ranges.

The other tribe occupied Kohukohunui which is the Hunua Ranges so that is its real name.

The Waitakere Ranges Patupaihere had a handsome charming 'prince'.

He was called Tamaireia. He was the prince of Te Wainui of Tirira.

The Hunua Ranges Patupaihere had a beautiful 'princess' whose name was Hinemai Rangi. She was the princess of Kohukohunui.Â

Now these Patupaihere tribes would go out and gather kai in the night.

Through their travels even though they did not like one another, they did see each other.

What happened was that Tamaireia and Hinemai Rangi saw each other and there was an attraction.

The two tribes of Patupaihere did not like each other and it was believed that it came down to mana such as one tribe felt they were more powerful than the other one and the other thought they were greater than the other.

So they were always seeking a purpose or reason to inict war on one another to challenge to see who had the strongest magical powers, or who had the strongest tohunga or priest as Maori call them.Â

The Patupaihere had certain gifts, such as telepathy and so they would see each other and communicate using only their minds. Each night as they gathered kai, the two young Patupaihere would see each other and would communicate to each other when they would meet. Over a few nights of food gathering, they planned to meet while both knowing that their two tribes would not agree to a union. They agreed to meet secretly and arranged a time and a place. So they did and what they would do was meet up at night time at Manukau Harbour.

At each meeting they would meet at the Manukau Harbour and would shape shift into mermaid like creatures. They would be enveloped in each others arms and together they swam through the Manukau Harbour and came up into what is now known as the Meaola Creek.

In those olden days Meola Creek was still connected to the Manukau harbour. There were caves there then too. So the two young Patupaihere would swim through the caves and come out into what is now known as the Waitemata Harbour, enveloped in each others arms. They would bathe and enjoy each others company in all the outer islands, like Motutapu, Rakino, Waiheke and and in the dierent parts of Kohikohimarama.

However, both the Patupaihere tribes caught on. They realised that the two were not where they should be during the nights of gathering kai. A trap was planned and the young Patupaihere were found still enveloped in each others arms. This became the perfect moment to inict war on each other.Â

Tamairea kept Hinemai Rangi in the Waitakere Ranges and the Hunua Ranges fairy came down from the mountains to get her. The tohunga of the Hunua people incited incantations to summon magical powers. But the fairy people of the Waitakere Ranges or Tamairea’s people were very powerful. They were much more powerful than the Hunua tribe or Hinemai Rangi’s people.

The Waitakere tohunga summoned the two guardians of earthly magic and secrets. One guardian was known as Rūaumoko, the guardian of earthquakes. The other guardian was Mataoho, the guardian of volcanoes.

The two earthly gods, Rūaumoko and Mataoho awoke and were very angry.

The two gods grumbled and roared and demanded, “Who are you to awaken us? You are just Patupaihere.” The gods were angry and erupted over the whole of Auckland.

Over fifty maunga appeared out of the ground. The whole of the Tāmaki isthmus shook and erupted. These mountains are now known as Nga Tapuwae o Mataoho, the footprints of Mataoho.

Fire and volcanoes destroyed the forests and created craters and mountains.

Many Patupaihere from both tribes perished.

Hinemai Rangi of Kohukohunui from the Hunua Ranges and Tamaireia of Te Wainui of Tirira from the Waitakere Ranges survived. Eventually they also travelled to the underworld.

However their love remained in TÄ maki Makaurau.

Many centuries later Tupuna came from Hawaiki and found Tāmaki Makaurau and the network of rivers making travel by waka easier than walking.The two harbours, Waitemata and Manukau Harbours became instrumental for voyaging north and south. As time passed some of the Tupuna intermingled with the Patupaihere and their descendants possessed some of the gifts of Patupaihere. Over time Tāmaki Makaurau has been fought over and desired because of its abundance of food supplies.

Today if you visit Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) you can still see the remains of the footprints of Mataoho in the remaining mountains. The soil is fertile for growing abundant crops such as kumara and the Waitemata Habour and Manukau Harbour provide lots of kaimoana and fish for food. You can visit The Paramount Pa of Maungawhau, Mt Eden known as Te ipu ata Mataoho.

Our school Newmarket Primary is situated on the side of Maungawhau. Our gardens are fertile and we have many birds visit for the abundance of tree berries. We can see evidence of when the volcano erupted. We have a large stone wall built from the volcanic rock. You can also ďŹ nd whau trees growing for which our maunga is named.

Every few years we walk up Maungawhau and visit Te ipu ata Mataoho.

http://www.newmarket.school.nz

This story was retold by Paora Puru.

The images and patterned backgrounds were created by Space 7 children from Newmarket School.