To understand this placard, it helps to know that Ngati is the word loosly translated as "the offspring of" and is usually part of the title of an iwi or tribe, although they prefer the word nations. Tribe is a word assigned to these groups by people of European descent and for them is not a precise or accurate understanding of their culture. Maori do not see themselves as one people, but instead see many fiercely independent nations. Their family groups are particularly important to them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwi
This text refers to the different Maori peoples that lived in this area.
At first it was a bit hard to see the seals. They are the same flinty colors as the rocks and lichen around them. But on closer inspection you could see them draped everywhere.
Another interesting section of the hike was the Red Rocks. They are beautiful because of how startlingly different they are from the surrounding landscape. These rocks have a story connected with them, one of the really important ones connected to the discovery of Aoteoroa, or Land of the Long White Cloud (New Zealand). For those of you that may be interested in Maori legends, I have it here, quoted directly from Te Kete Ipurangi; the Maori, Myths and Legends website:
"Kupe and the Giant Wheke
Kupe was a angatira, a great fisherman who lived in Hawaiiki. Surrounding
Kupe's settlement were the traditional fishing grounds where Kupe and his tribe
caught their fish. When the moon and tides were right, the fishermen headed out
to sea and always returned with waka laden with fish of all colours and sizes-
gifts from Tangaroa and Hinemoana which the whole tribe celebrated. The people
gathered at the shoreline to greet them when they returned, to divide the catch
so that each whanau had an even share.
One morning when
the fishermen lowered their lines at one of their favourite fishing grounds,
they didn't get the expected tug on their lines. Instead, when they pulled
their lines from the water, their bait had vanished. This continued through the
morning and into the day, and not one fisherman caught a single fish. This had
never happened before. Many of the tribe were upset when they returned. They
secretly accused the fishermen of disrespecting Tangaroa and therefore causing
their misfortune.
Once Kupe had
considered the happenings of the day, a hui was called. The whole island
gathered around the evening fire to discuss the fate of their village. Kupe
firstly spoke of his respect for the sea, of Tangaroa and Hinemoana, and how
they had sustained their village since time began. Kupe also spoke of the
fishermen who had generously fed and looked after their tribe since he was a
young man, and how respected they were within the whanau. He committed himself
to finding out exactly what had happened.
Early the next
morning, Kupe and the fishermen lowered their lines at their favourite fishing
grounds only to have their bait taken as had happened the day before. Kupe
tried reciting a karakia that would draw fish to his line, but when he pulled
it from the depths of the ocean, his bait was gone.
Kupe noticed a
slimy substance covering his hook and recognised it as belonging to an octopus.
He knew it would be useless to continue fishing and ordered the others to pull
their lines from the water. Once more they headed back to shore empty handed.
That evening Kupe
set out to the other side of the island where a chief called Muturangi resided.
Kupe knew that Muturangi had a pet octopus renowned for its huge size and
influence in the sea world. Kupe described to Muturangi what had been happening
at their fishing grounds, stating that it was the work of an octopus. He asked
if perhaps Muturangi's pet could possibly know who was responsible.
Muturangi looked
at Kupe and laughed, "I don't tell my pet when to eat or what to eat. If
it chooses to eat your bait or your fish for that matter, then that's what it
does." Muturangi asked Kupe to leave.
"Then I will
slay your pet, Te Wheke o Muturangi, and it will never trouble my people
again," Kupe stated as he left.
"Unless it
kills you first," was Muturangi's reply.
Kupe gathered his
people and began to build a canoe, a large ocean going canoe, which he called
Matahorua. When the vessel was complete, Kupe stocked it with supplies,
readying it for a lengthy sea journey. Kupe's wife, Hine-te-Aparangi, their
whanau, and many warriors and fishermen from the tribe boarded the new canoe
and set out on their journey.
Kupe gathered his
people and began to build a canoe, a large ocean going canoe, which he called
Matahorua. When the vessel was complete, Kupe stocked it with supplies,
readying it for a lengthy sea journey. Kupe's wife, Hine-te-Aparangi, their
whanau, and many warriors and fishermen from the tribe boarded the new canoe
and set out on their journey.
Te Wheke o
Muturangi's tentacles broke the surface of the water first searching blindly
for food, each one of its arms much longer than Kupe's waka. A tentacle with
huge suckers gripped onto the side of their waka, threatening to capsize it.
Kupe grasped his mere and slashed at the tentacle, cutting a huge hunk from its
flesh. The wheke thrashed its arms in agony but Kupe struck out again. Te Wheke
o Muturangi's enormous head emerged from the sea looming over the waka, as the
warriors continued to attack the huge tentacle. Kupe pointed his mere at the
wheke and chanted a spell, ensuring it would never again be able to dive to the
depths of the ocean and hide.
Te Wheke o
Muturangi was forced to flee across the surface of the sea. Kupe ordered his
warriors into their sailing positions and the chase was on. The chase continued
for weeks, across the vast Pacific Ocean. Kupe was running out of supplies and
still Te Wheke o Muturangi managed to keep a distance between them. Finally,
one morning Hine-te-Aparangi saw a long cloud in the distance, a sign that land
was near. Hine-te-Aparangi named the land, Aotearoa, land of the long white
cloud.
Hine-te-Aparangi,
Kupe, and the whole whānau were amazed by the beauty of the new land they
discovered. The stories they'd known as children of Maui fishing a great land
from the sea were true.
Kupe landed his
waka on the east coast of Aotearoa. His people explored the new land and
gathered much needed supplies. Kupe took his dog, Tauaru, across land to the
Hokianga harbour. They left footprints in the soft clay while walking around
the shoreline. Over many years the footprints turned to stone and have remained
there to this day.
When Kupe
returned, the pursuit resumed down the east coast of the North Island to
Rangiwhakaoma (Castle Point), where Te Wheke o Muturangi sought refuge in a
cave known as Te Ana o te Wheke o Muturangi.
Kupe realised the
wheke was trapped, but because it was late in the evening, he decided to wait
for dawn before launching an attack. During the night Te Wheke o Muturangi slipped,
undetected, through the black water of the night and back out into the open
sea.
Kupe continued the
chase, down the east coast until arriving at a huge open harbour, Te
Whanganui-ā-Tara ( Wellington Harbour). Kupe's whānau rested at the head of the
fish, as Kupe and his warriors continued on the wheke's trail.
Kupe sailed into
Te Moana o Raukawa (Cook Strait), a turbulent and potentially dangerous stretch
of water between the North Island and South Island of Aotearoa. Knowing the
turbulent waters would be an advantage to the wheke, Kupe chased it into the
calmer waters of Totaranui (Queen Charlotte and Tory Sounds). Because of the
many waterways and islands around those areas the pursuit continued for many
days.
Kupe finally
caught Te Wheke o Muturangi at the entrance to Te Moana o Raukawa from
Totaranui, and the great sea battle began. The wheke lashed out with its huge
tentacles at Kupe's canoe. Kupe and his warriors manoeuvred their canoe to
avoid being overturned. Bracing himself with his legs, Kupe struck at the
tentacles with his mere, but the giant wheke fought back, smashing another of
its arms into the side of the canoe causing a huge gaping hole in the hull.
Kupe threw a bundle of gourds overboard which the wheke mistook for a person
and attacked. Kupe then jumped from his canoe onto the back of the giant wheke
and struck a fatal blow to its head. Te Wheke o Muturangi was finally defeated.
The eyes of Te
Wheke o Muturangi were placed on a rock nearby, which to this day is called Ngā
Whatu (The Brothers).
During Kupes long absence, Hine-te-Aparangi and her
whanau were worried that Kupe had been slain by Te Wheke o Muturangi and would
never return. Matiu and Makaro, his two mokopuna, slashed their breasts with
shells as a mark of mourning. Their blood stained the rocks where they stood.
These rocks are near the entrance to Te Whanganui-ā-Tara harbour, and are now
named Pariwhero (Red Rocks).
Kupe did return
safely to his whanau at Te Whanganui-ā-Tara after successfully defeating Te
Wheke o Muturangi. They all travelled further up the west coast of Te Ika a
Maui (The North Island) naming many places as they went, finally settling in
the Hokianga to replenish their supplies and to ready themselves for their
return to Hawaiiki.
Te Wheke o
Muturangi, which was thought of as a bad omen, had lead them to a new land they
now called Aotearoa, a land Kupe knew future generations would call home."
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