Kirihika

Ko te Iwi ko Raukawa

Ko te hapū whakaheke mai ko Ngāti Kirihika

Ko te tupuna whare ko Wehiwehi

Ko Ūkaipō te tūrangawaewae

Ko Pōhaturoa te maunga tapu

Ko Rapurapu te waiwai kaukau a tupuna

Tihei mauri oral

The Raukawa, Kīngitanga and Rātana links are still strong today.

Ngāti Kirihika have close ties with other hapū of Raukawa such as Ngāti Tūkorehe, Ngāti Te Rangi, Ngāti Mōtai and Ngāti Te Apunga. Ngāti Kirihika also have a close association with Ngāti Wehiwehi, the nephew of Tūkorehe.

Ngāti Kirihika and Ngāti Wehiwehi are our tribal whānau links that connect us all to Tainui waka. Te Ōmeka, Rengarenga and Ūkaipō will always hold a special place in the hearts of the local haukāinga, the ahi kā of the Kaimais.

Kirihika 

Kirihika was a wāhine rangatira from Raukawa Te Kaokaoroa-o-Pātetere.  Hutton states in his Raukawa Traditional History report that Kirihika was a descendant of both Tūrongo and Whatihua, with traditional interests on both sides of the Kaimai ranges,  from around  Whāiti  Kuranui  in  the  west  across  to  Tauranga  (around Hangarau) in the east.

Ūkaipō

Ūkaipō marae has a very important place in our Raukawa history, with its connection to the haerenga of Raukawa's mother, Mahinearangi, and her arrival in the rohe of the Tainui waka.

Ūkaipō is the place where Raukawa was fed for the first time by his mother. The tupuna whare on the marae is called Wehiwehi.

Wehiwehi was a descendant of Whatihua, one of two great sons of Tawhao.  Whatihua   was the father of Uenukuterangihoka who was the father of Kōtare who was the father of Te Kauwhata who was the father of Wehiwehi who was the father of Tūtētē who was the father of Urukaitikitiki, the husband of Kirihika.

Our research on Ūkaipō is still incomplete. The haukāinga are very honoured and humble to hold the names of all our tūpuna matua of Ūkaipō. There have been many changes at Ūkaipō over the years. What we see today is the result of the fund-raising efforts of our many whānau.

Urukaitikitiki.

Urukaitikitiki was the mokopuna of Wehiwehi. His rohe was in the Bay of Plenty. He may have taken another wife called Te Noko. Te Kake was their child.

Lands

The Kaimai are the tribal lands of Ngāti Kirihika and Ngāti Mōtai. They lived on opposite sides of the river in the Ongaonga Block and also at the lower Kaimai. The families of the Kaimai area and Ngati Kirihika were all intermarried.

Ngati Kirihika had settlements, pā sites and associated cultivations at Pūkaka pā at Karikari, Te Hanga, and Tupukurua settlement. Today, Ngati Kirihika associate to the marae of Ūkaipō and Te Ōmeka.

The eel weirs of Ngati Kirihika were placed on the Paraiti, Rapurapu and Tukutapere streams. Our landblock interests are the Ngamanawa Block, Poripori, Kumikumi, the Tauwharawhara Block, 'the Ongaonga Block, Te Hanga and Kaimai.

Te Hanga

Te Hanga pā is a settlement of Ngāti Kirihika and Ngāti Tawharangi within I mile of Ūkaipō marae. The tupuna whare that once stood there was named Kirihika. 

The sons of Kirihika and Urukaitikitiki would fight with each other, so their father built a pātaka kai that had two doorways. One doorway was named Hīnana ki Tai ko Hao and the Other Hana ki uta ko Tai. Others say that these are in fact the names of the two sons, ko Hao rāua ko Tai. The full name of the pātaka was Te Pātaka Kai a Urukaitikitiki. E rua ngā tatau o tēnei pātaka koia tēnei. E ua ake nei. The pātaka fell into disrepair in the 1920s. A sister to the late Jimmy Clarke, Mariana, was brought up at Te Hanga for a time. 

Whaiti Kuranui

For a long time Whaiti Kuranui was a special place for Ngāti Mōtai, Ngāti Te Apunga and the wider community of Ngāti Raukawa. It served as a whare wānanga, or school of learning, while the nearby Ngāti Kirihika village of Te Hanga was its preparatory school.