Moteo Marae

The hapu name Ngati Mahu properly belongs to the descendants of Turauwha’s elder son Tumahuki. He and his younger brother Pahau are associated with the territory inland from Tuhirangi where they lived with their brother-in-law Rangituehu.  Tumahuki married Hinetarere of Ngati Whiti and there is evidence that they occupied the upper Tutaekuri, a hunting ground they shared with Ngati Ruapirau.

Old Ngati Mahu tradition speaks of a series of large rocks in the upper reaches of the river known as the seven boulders of Mahu. The first of these boulders lies at the entrance to the Owhakau gorge. The last boulder marked the point of exit from the river on the way to the lakes at Kuripapango.

Tumahuki’s son, Puketurua married Ruahuna, the sister of Tawhao, chief of Ngati Tamawahine. His brother Pahau married Inumia, daughter of Tawhao which expanded their territorial rights from Wharerangi to Puketitiri. The earthworks of at least six pa sites bear silent witness to the occupation of Ngati Mahu both upstream and downstream from the junction of the Mangaone stream with the Tutaekuri and on the lower Mangaone as well. They don’t appear to have been disturbed in their occupation while they remained within this territory.

Six generations down from Tumahuki, his descendents married into the section of Ngati Ruapirau who was driven out of the Okawa district by Taraia II. Initially this hapu, one of the branches of Ngati Whatumamoa, retreated to the heights of Pukekautuku, the large rocky range seen to the west from Dartmoor road. They were neighbours of Ngati Mahu and were associated with the portions of Okawa, Tunanui and Kohurau in the Tutaekuri watershed.

With the passage of time, some branches married into the descent of Taraia II and moved back into the territories they previously occupied.

One branch, the descendants of Tapora, maintained their occupation of the Kohurau district and married into Ngati Mahu. It took a rugged breed to seek out a living from the territory where the ancestor Taita or Tamataita made his home. The Blowhard bush, Gold Creek and the hot springs on the Tutaekuri are all within this area where he occupied the pa sites Te Kowhanga,  Tuawatea and Te Pohue. Te Ahuhu and his sister Te Moeioio, the children of Tamataita married into Ngati Mahu.

Turauwha

Tumahuki

Puketurua

Tutaeata   Ruapirau

Karuiro   Tapora

Taukai   Ngaiokawa

Te Matoe   Tamataita

Te Hinu (F) Te Mu Te Ahuhu=Te Hine (F)   Te Moeioio (F) = Te Mu