Tupahau Goes Fishing At Marokopa

Some more tales of the great bloodletting and battles of the ancient warriors, as in all verbal histories, things might have grown over the years, the people of the time would battle over any excuse, most of the time, but they are part of the history of the Tainui canoe’s descendants.

Tupahau heard of the great abundance of Kahawai fish at the mouth of the Marokopa River, south of Kawhia.

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So he and his people went south to the Marokopa river to obtain the teeming fish from the river's mouth, and they decided to travel overland to the upper part of the river, make canoes, and sail down to the river's mouth and catch the Kahawai.

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When the tribe of this place, the Ngati-Taranga, heard that some of the people from Kawhia were coming to fish for the Kawhai at their river mouth, they became very angry and resolved to waylay them and slay them.

They discovered that Tupahau intended coming down the river, so they made flax ropes to obstruct their passage and they stretched these ropes across the river just below the surface of the water.

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Parties of men from the Ngati-Taranga remained in hiding ready to ambush the people of Kawhia and slay them.

Tupahau had a premeditation of danger ahead, he called his brother Rueke to stand on the bow of the canoe and look out for ropes in the water, and to catch the ropes and pass them over the top of the canoe when they came to them.

This Rueke did, and the bowmen in the other canoes did the same, so that when the ropes were pulled tight, the canoes passed safely under them and reached the mouth of the Marokopa safely.

There they saw the men of the Marokopa area netting Kawhai in thousands.

These people greeted the newcomers, and when they brought their great catch ashore they gave Tupahau 140 fish, which was one fish each for the men from Kawhia.

This niggardly gift, from such an abundant haul, was considered a deadly insult, so he decided to take revenge.

After taking all of the fish so presented to him, [none were eaten for food]. he laid them on a sacred stone at the river mouth, and he took some land for himself and his men, and built a Pa [fortified village] on a high cliff above the river, at Mangaroa.

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Tupahau, of course, knew that he would not be permitted to rest there in peace, and fish for those teeming Kawhai undisturbed.

He prepared for the defence against the warriors of Marokopa by building a strong stockade, and defending the site so that the only way up to the Pa was a narrow path.

Tupahau then hauled up his canoes from the river, and suspended them by ropes over the narrow path, they then filled the canoes with stones from the riverside.

When Rakapare and Tamaoho, the leaders of the Ngati-Taranga, saw that the Pa at Mangaroa was completed, and that Tupahau intended holding the land he had taken, they resolved to attack, and eject or slay these interlopers and trespassers.

So they gathered great numbers and prepared to carry Tupahau’s Pa by storm.

The defenders watched intently the preparations of the Marokopa warriors for the attack, the advance party came towards the Pa, quickly followed by the main party.

They climbed up the narrow trail, and were soon under the suspended canoes.

When he thought that there was the greatest number under the canoes, Tupahau gave the order for the ropes to be cut, and the canoes and rocks fell down on the advancing warriors, killing many and injuring many more.

When he saw the havoc that had been wrought on the Marokopa warriors, Tupahau called on his 140 warriors to attack and drive home an attack.

The 140 Kawhia warriors rushed down on the remains of the Marokopa’s and killed many of them before the remainder took to flight.

During the pursuit, Tupahau caught up with the chiefs Rakapare and Tamaoho and as he ran he called out to Tamaoho, “E, oho”. [Do not run so fast]

To this Tamaoho is said to have replied, “Fight, he who eats by night, He who eats by day, is off”.

The chase continued until they reached the mouth of the Marokopa River.

Tupahau called to Rakapare, “See the strength of Tupahau” as he hurled his spear right through the back of the retreating man.

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With that feat, the fighting ended at Marokopa.

Some Info From

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-spread-of-the-descendants-of-hoturoa

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/tainui-canoe-travels-from-hawaiki-to-new-zealand

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/myths-and-legends-of-new-zealand-intro

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-this-series-began

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/the-warrior-deeds-of-kaihuma

https://steemit.com/history/@len.george/how-kaihamu-killed-his-enemies-at-waiatapu

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