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Patukawenga, Died 1836 at Chatham Islands

Below is an online version, from Nga Tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Volume 1 (2001), of the biography for Patukawenga, reproduced with the kind permission of his whānau.

Cover of Nga Tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Volume 1
Now also available in full scanned form on our Wellington Recollect website, with the kind permission of the Wellington Tenths Trust.
Full scanned version on Recollect

Published Text

"Patukawenga, Died 1836 at Chatham Islands". In Nga tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, volume 1. (2001)

Patukawenga was the son of Kaiwhakarua and grandson of Puanaki. His wife Hika was Moturoa's sister. His hapu was Ngati Hinetuhi of Ngati Mutunga and he went to Wharekauri on the first trip of the Rodney on 15 November 1835. Because of his close family connections to both Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama he was able to maintain peace between those two iwi. His sister Ahinga was Moturoa's first wife and his son Ngake remained at Te Whanganui-a-Tara in Moturoa's care when almost 900 of the Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama went to the Chathams. The sons of Te Poki, his father's younger brother, were Te Wharepa, Pania and Toenga and they feature prominently in two later migrations first to Wharekauri and later to the Auckland Islands.

Earlier on Patukawenga had migrated south from Taranaki in the Niho-puta heke of 1824 together with Te Poki, Raumoa, Pomare and others of the Ngati Mutunga iwi. As the group travelled south of Porirua, Patukawenga laid claim to the Kenepuru Valley – saying "Ko taku takapu tenei". "This is my belly". Hence the name Takapu. Te Poki also named Korokoro. Patukawenga defeated the local inhabitants who were called generally, Ngati Kahungunu, and established himself at Pipitea. The next year, 1825 he encouraged his close relatives of Ngati Tama to cultivate land at Kaiwharawhara. He later gave some land there to Moturoa who cultivated potatoes, and also gave some land to Ngati Tama. Later Patukawenga drove ‘Kahungunu' from the Waiwhetu Pa and gifted this area to Te Matoha, Moturoa's elder brother. He then drove out the local people from Okiwi and Whiorau or Lowry Bay. About 1827 the last of the Ngati Ira living on Tapu Te Ranga Island at Island Bay were driven out. On this occasion it was the husband of Tipi - Patukawenga's sister, who led the attack. Tipi had married a man named Taia of Ngati Koata iwi.

Patukawenga himself lived at Pipitea Pa and went to Waiwhetu, a papakainga at the junction of the Hutt and Waiwhetu Rivers, to collect Moturoa who was to marry Ahinga, Patukawenga's sister. They all then lived at Pipitea. In 1832 Patukawenga and Wi Tako assisted Whatanui in taking revenge on an iwi in Hawkes Bay and on his return subdued another group living higher up the Hutt Valley. The following year 1833 Moturoa and Wairarapa moved into the Wairarapa for three years. During this time Patukawenga and Pomare migrated to the Chathams on the Rodney. When Moturoa returned to Wellington he found Pipitea deserted. Patukawenga died at Wharekauri about one year after his people had migrated there.

References:

I Te Reo Māori -

Ko Patukawenga te tamaiti a Kaiwhakarua me te mokopuna a Puanaki. Ko tōna hoa wahine, a Hika, ā, ko ia hoki te tuahine o Moturoa. Ko tōna hapū ko Ngāti Hinetuhi o Ngāti Mutunga, ā, i haere ia ki Wharekauri i te haerenga tuatahi o te Rodney i te 15 o Whiringa-ā-rangi i te tau 1835. Nā ōna hononga whakapapa ki a Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāti Tama, ka taea e ia te mau i te rongo ki waenga i aua iwi. Ko tōna tuahine a Ahinga, ko ia te hoa wahine tuatahi o Moturoa, ā, ko tāna tamaiti a Ngake i noho i raro i te manaakitanga o Moturoa i te wā e āhua 900 ngā uri o Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāti Tama ka haere ki Wharekauri. Ko ngā tamaiti a Te Poki, arā, te teina a tōna pāpā, ko Te Wharepa rātou ko Pānia, ko Toenga, ā, he tīpuna matararahi rātou i ngā hekenga ki Wharekauri me Maungahuka.

I mua atu, ka heke a Patukawenga ki te tonga mai i Taranaki i te heke Niho-puta i te tau 1824, ā, ka haere tahi rātou ko Te Poki, ko Raumoa, ko Pomare mā o Ngāti Mutunga. I tā rātou hekenga ki te tonga o Porirua, ka kokoraho a Patukawenga i te whārua o Kenepuru – ka kī ia, "Ko taku takapū tēnei." Nō konā te ingoa o Takapū. I tapa hoki a Te Poki i a Korokoro. I patu a Patukawenga i ngā tāngata whenua o reira, arā ko Ngāti Kahungunu, ā, ka whakatū i a ia ki Pipitea. I te tau 1825, ka ākina e ia ōna huanga o Ngāti Tama ki te mahi ngakinga ki Kaiwharawhara. I muri atu i tērā, ka tukua e ia ētehi whenua ki a Moturoa hei ngakinga rīwai, ā, ka tukua hoki ētehi whenua ki a Ngāti Tama. I muri atu ka panaia atu e Patukawenga a 'Kahungunu' i te pā o Waiwhetū, ā, ka tukua tēnei takiwā ki a Te Matoha, te tuakana o Moturoa. I panaia anō hoki e ia ngā tangata whenua i Okiwi me Whiorau, arā ko Lowry Bay. I te tau 1827, ka panaia atu ngā morehu o Ngāti Ira e noho ana i Tapu Te Ranga ki Paekawakawa. I tēnei wā ka riro mā te hoa tāne a Tipi – arā, te tuahine a Patukawenga, te whawhai i ārahi. Ā, ka moe a Tipi ki tētehi tāne nō Ngāti Koata, ā, ko Taia tōna ingoa.

I noho tonu a Patukawenga ki Pipitea Pā, ā, ka haere ia ki Waiwhetū, he papakāinga kei te pūruatanga o ngā awa o Te Awakairangi me Waiwhetū, ki te tiki i a Moturoa hei hoa tāne mō Ahinga, te tuahine o Patukawenga. Ā, ka noho katoa rātou ki Pipitea. I te tau 1832, ka āwhina a Patukawenga rāua ko Wi Tako i a Whatanui ki te patu i tētahi iwi i Te Matau-a-Māui, ā, i tana hokinga, ka patu anō ia i tētahi rōpū e noho ana i te pito komata o Te Awakairangi. I te tau 1833, ka nuku a Moturoa rāua ko Wairarapa ki Te Wairarapa mō ngā tau e toru. I tēnei wā, ka heke a Patukawenga rāua ko Pomare ki Wharekauri mā runga i te Rodney. I te hokinga mai a Moturoa ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara, ka kitea e ia ka noho koraha a Pipitea. I mate a Patukawenga ki Wharekauri i te tau whai muri i te hekenga a tōna iwi ki reira.