KIINGI TAAWHIAO AND HUKANUI MARAE

Ki te kotahi te kaakaho ka whati
Ki te kaapuia e kore e whati.

When the reeds stand alone they are vulnerable
But bound together they are unbreakable - Kiingi Taawhiao

The original Whare Tupuna at Hukanui marae which was a whare raupoo at the time was named Tuuturuapapa by Kiingi Tawhiao. It dated back to the 1860s or 1870s. Taawhiao was King at the time of the Waikato land confiscations and the war and he witnessed his people being driven from their lands. He himself was exiled to Ngaati Maniapoto. On his return to the Waikato he renamed the Whare Tupuna at Hukanui marae Tuuturuapapa Kamutu.

The name Kamutu was added to Tuuturuapapa after the ending of maakutu practice by some of those who used it in those times. Taawhiao gathered together all those who were practising maakutu and tested their mana by asking them to put it into a pear tree that was growing at Hukanui. At this point the power of these people and their mana of maakutu came to an end. The whare raupoo was pulled down after that and a new one was built. The pear tree shrivelled up and died.

After the demise of maakutu, Taawhiao said, “Waiho te tatau o taku whare kia tuuwhera mo te hunga e haere ana i te rori, kaingia e te namu”

“Leave the doors of my house open so that those who need shelter may come here and rest”

Naa Whaea Hekeiterangi Broadhurst