Rongokako was the son of
Tamatea Arikinui, who captained the
Tākitimu canoe from
Hawaiki to Aotearoa New Zealand. His mother was Tato, a direct descendant of
Toi-kai-rākau, who harnessed Tamatea when he landed at
Mauao and thereby forced him to marry her.
William Colenso quotes a genealogy naming him as son of Tato and brother of Hikutapuae, Hikitaketake, Rongoiamoa, Taihopi, Taihapoa, Kahutua,
Motoro, Te Angi,
Kupe,
Ngake,
Paikea, and
Uenuku.
Fetching the rimurapa ) growing on the shore Rongokako studied at the
whare wānanga (school of learning) in
Wairarapa under the patronage of
Tupai, who had been one of the Tākitimu's tohunga. According to tradition, the Wānanga's final examination required the students to use the
karakia (chants) they had learnt in order to make supernatural leaps through the air. To prove that they had mastered this ability, the students had to bring back wet leaves from the
rimurapa, a kind of
kelp that could be found only on an offshore island. Rongokako was a poor student, so he was barred from taking this test, but when the other students attempted it, they all brought back dried leaves that had washed up on the nearby shore, showing that they had been unable to make the leap to the offshore island, and they all failed. Rongokako successfully performed the
karakia, made the leap, and returned with wet
rimurapa, thus earning his initiation as a tohunga.
Race with Pāoa After this, Rongokako decided to court Muriwhenua, who was famous for her beauty. His chief rival was
Pāoa and the two decided to race to be the first to her home at
Hauraki. Pāoa was a great navigator and – to be sporting – he offered Rongokako a seat in his
waka (canoe), which was denied. Rongokako used his leaping power to leap ahead of Pāoa as he sailed up the coast. He first appeared at
Cape Kidnappers, then at Whangawehi on the
Māhia Peninsula, where marks in the rock are said to be his footprints. On his next leap he reached a place near
Whangara, which was therefore named
Te Tapuwae o Rongokako ("The footprints of Rongokako"). Then Pāoa realised that Rongokako had the advantage. Accordingly, he set a trap on a hill between
Tokomaru Bay and
Waipiro Bay, but Rongokako leapt over even this and sprung the trap with his toe. The hill is known as Tāwhiti-a-Pāoa ("Pāoa's snare") because of this. The stick holding the trap open was thrown into the sky and landed in
Waikato, where it grew into a tree that still stood as of 1913. Rongokako reached Muriwhenua first and won her hand in marriage. Rongokako and Muriwhenua had one son,
Tamatea Urehaea, himself the father of
Kahungunu. Through their grandson, they are ancestors of Ngāti Kahungunu and
Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki. . In another version of the story, Rongokako possessed a giant magic
kiwi, which granted its owner great power. The footprints of this kiwi were said to be visible at the mouth of the Waikanae Creek in
Gisborne in 1912. Pāoa wished to capture this kiwi and therefore set a giant snare at Tāwhiti-a-Pāoa, with its base at
Mount Hikurangi. Rongokako spotted the trap as he travelled along the route described before and sprang it with his walking stick. It shook upright with such force that Mount Aorangi to break off from Mount Hikurangi and become a separate peak, while the loop of the snare fell to the southwest, becoming
Mount Arowhana. Rongokako carried on to
Horoera, from which he departed from New Zealand.
Death at Te Mata , the final resting place of Rongokako In death, Rongokako is associated with
Te Mata Peak, whose full name is Te Mata o Rongokako ("the face of Rongokako"). When looking at the peak from the east, it appears to be the silhouette of a person lying down, which is said to be Rongokako. There are several stories about how he died. In one version, Rongokako started capturing and
eating travellers around the
Heretaunga Plains, so a young woman from
Pakipaki, called Hinerākau was sent to stop him. He fell in love with her and her relatives set him impossible tasks in order to prove his love for her. The last of these tasks was biting through a hill, which caused him to choke and die. A gap in the hills, called Pari Kārangaranga, is said to be Rongokako's bite mark. The heartbroken Hinerākau committed suicide by jumping off Te Mata. A
Waimārama story tells this same story, but attributes it to a chief named Te Mata. In another version from the
Gisborne District, Rongokako was sent from
Hawaiki to find the
Horouta canoe, captained by Pāoa. He found him at
Ōhiwa in the
Bay of Plenty, but the pair argued over Pāoa's wife and Rongokako fled south, leaving footprints at
Wharekahika, Kaiora near Whangara, Nukutaurua on the Mahia peninsula,
Cape Kidnappers, and
Wellington, where he leapt across
Cook Strait and disappeared. ==Sources==