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Te-Hoe-o-Tainui______________________________ Legend
Two Centuries ago, as an old Maori descendent of the Tainui told me the Waikato River entered the ocean at the Firth of Thames. The Maoris having crossed the Pacific from their homes in Hawaiki reached New Zealand or Aeo-te-Roa in 1350 A.D.D. In sighting Aeo-te-Roa some canoes went down the West Coast and others the East. The Tainui and the Orawa sailed down the coast into Raglan harbour and landed there. Hoturoa, chief of the Tainui, gave a “Hoe or Paddle” to a minor chief named Tamati, to signify he was a chief among his people. Tamati then led his people inland to find a new home, and after many months of wandering through swamp and bush, they came across the Waikato and followed it. Shortly they came across a pleasant valley on the banks of the river. They settled here and Chief Tamati named the valley after the paddle “Te Hoe-o-Tainui – The Paddle of the Tainui”. They built their pas on the hills and named the range Pa-te-Roa or Range of Pas. This tribe is known as Ngatipauas. One night they were awakened by thunder coming out of the earth, and in the morning they found that the Waikato gone and in its place another range of hills, and the Waikato forced back to its present course through the Taupiri Gorge. As this tribe increased, many people wandered across the Hauraki Plains to the Thames coast. A story is told by another old descendent about them capturing a redheaded Scot whaler, and to torture him, they tattooed him more than any of their chiefs. Because of his courage they made him a minor chief and gave him many wives. And this no doubt accounts for the reddish tinge in the Ngatipauas tribe’s hair. The crater of the volcano, which blocked the Waikato, can still be seen between Hoe-o-Tainui and Tahuna. Hoe-o-Tainui.
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