When the Waka named Nga Rakau tapu a Atuamatua left hawaiiki, Tamatekapua the captain & Paramount chief of Ngati Ohomairangi was preparing to leave for Aotearoa, as they were about to leave he tricked the great Tohunga Ngatoroirangi who was suppose to be the tohunga of the Tainui Waka, and Tamatekapua's second cousin.

He asked if he would come on board Nga Rakau Tapu a Atuamatua to do a  Karakia(bless) for the waka to have a safe journey and also said that his Wife Kearoa was on board waiting for him to bless Tama's waka before they left, all was a lie as Tama wanted Ngatoroirangi to be the Tohunga of his waka as he was the most powerful tohunga in Hawaiiki at the time, this was the reasons for Tama's deceit.

As Ngatoroirangi climbed on board Tama had told a few other men to pull up the anchor when he was aboard and prepare to set sail, just before Ngatoroirangi began the karakia the other men quickly pulled up the anchor and set sail, Ngatoroirangi was furious as he knew that his cousin Tama was known for having a bad reputation even though he was the paramount chief by right and Ngatoroirangi could do nothing and had no choice but to stay on board or swim back.

As the waka journeyed to the promised land Ngatoroirangi would spend all nights awake and sometimes sleep during the day as most of the people slept at night with only a few men rowing and stirring the waka with Ngatoroirangi in charge this was to ensure that they were on the right track according to the stars during the day Tama would take charge.

As time went on Ngatoroirangi noticed that his wife Kearoa was acting rather strange and during the days while he slept she would sometimes go missing, he began to get suspicious that Tama who was well known for sleeping with other men's wives and had a feeling his wife was having an affair, so at nights and sometimes during the day Ngatoroirangi would tie some raupo (string) to Kearoa's hair and every now and then he would pull on it to make sure she was there. 

One night when everyone was sleeping Ngatoroirangi pulled on the raupo and could feel the string was tight, a few hours later towards the morning he pulled on it again but felt that the raupo was really tight, he began to get suspicious and went to his wife and found the raupo tied to the sail, he looked around the waka and found Kearoa and Tama togaether.

Ngatoroirangi was furious, he began to chant a karakia (Chant) to Tangaroa to bring forth Te koroto Te Parata the great whirlpool, or great throat of the ocean to come and swallow the waka and all the people aboard.

Takina atu te Kawa

Ko te kawa tuatahi

Ko te kawa tuarua

Ko te kawa tuatoru

Ko te kawa tuawha

Ko te kawa tuarima

Takina atu te kawa

Ko te kawa tuawhitu

Ko te kawa tuawaru

Ko te kawa tuaiwa

Ko te Kawa tuangahuru

Takina atu te kawa

As the Waka started to be swallowed by Te Parata the people and children started to cry and scream.  Tamatekapua tried to plead to Ngatoroirangi to stop but he had to much anger in him and ignored Tama, as the Waka was going around in circles a dark shadow appeared in the water, it was a giant shark, as people fell out of the waka the shark begun to eat them and the waters started to turn red, Kearoa then started to plead with Ngatoroirangi to stop and asked him to forgive both her and Tama as this was not the peoples fault it was theirs, Ngatoroirangi then chanted the words

Eke Eke eke Tangaroa

Eke panuku

Hui e, Taiki e!

The Waka then rose up out of Te Parata and the waters became calm, from that day on Ngatoroirangi changed the name of the waka Nga Rakau Tapu A Atuamatua to the name Te Arawa (The Red Shark) to remember the lives that were lost.  This incident happened off the point of Maketu about 40km from Tauranga not far from where the Te Arawa Waka landed and settled at the Kaituna River because of the incident Ngatoroirangi his wife and son and a few of the people went their own ways and the rest of the people followed Tamatekapua and his son Kahumatamomoe.

This story has been handed down through generations to my people I greatfully acknowledge the kaumatua and Kuia who have taught the stories of my Ancestors if any inquiries please email me This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Peter Ruaporo