Hotunui was a MÃÂori rangatira (chieftain) of the Tainui tribal confederation of Waikato, New Zealand. Through his son Marutà «ÃÂhu he is the ancestor of four tribes of the Hauraki Gulf: NgÃÂti Maru, NgÃÂti Rongoà «, NgÃÂti TamaterÃÂ, and NgÃÂti Whanaunga. He probably lived in the latter half of the sixteenth century.
According to the Tainui traditions reported by Pei Te Hurinui Jones, Hotunui was the son of Uenuku-te-rangi-hà ÂkÃÂ, son of Whatihua (through whom he was a male-line descendant of Hoturoa, the captain of the Tainui) and Rua-pà «-tahanga of NgÃÂti Ruanui (through whom he was a descendant of Turi, the captain of the Aotea canoe). He had two half-brothers, TamÃÂio and Mà Âtai. Uenuku-te-rangi-hà Âkàwent to live in south Taranaki, the homeland of his mother, settling at Taukà Âkako, near TaiporohÃÂnui, where Hotonui was born.
NgÃÂti Maru tradition appears to identify Hotunui with Hoturoa, but while Jones concedes that Hotunui may be an alternative name for Hoturoa, he insists that the father of Marutà «ÃÂhu is a different, later individual.
When Hotonui grew up, he married a lady from KÃÂwhia, Mihi-rÃÂwhiti (perhaps originally named Whaea-tapoko) daughter of MÃÂhanga (son of Tà «heita, rival of Kà Âkako and a descendant of Hoturoa), and they split their time between Taranaki and KÃÂwhia. Their first two sons, Manu-kà Âpiri and Maru-wharanui, were born in south Taranaki. During a stay in KÃÂwhia, some of MÃÂhanga's kà «mara were stolen and Hotonui's footprints were found outside, so he was accused of the theft. In his fury, MÃÂhanga went out, uprooted all of Hotunui's kumara plants and crushed their mounds. Hotunui was so angry and ashamed at this that he left, an event known to Tainui as 'Te Mara-tuahu-kau' (the cultivation mounded without result). Mihi-rÃÂwhiti was pregnant at the time and Hotonui instructed her to name the child in memory of his expulsion: Maru-tà «ahu ('crushed mound') if it was a boy and Pare-tà «ahu if it was a girl. In the end she had a boy.
Hotunui settled among the Uri o Pou / NgÃÂti Pou at Whakatëwai on the Hauraki Gulf, where he married a local woman. According to Pei Te Hurinui Jones, she was a sister of the local chief Te Whata (or Te Whatu). According to a Hauraki NgÃÂti Maru account reported by John White, she was Waitapu, daughter of Rua-hiore.
When Maru-tà «ahu grew up, he set off for Hauraki in search of his father. Along the way he was met by two daughters of Te Whata, Hine-rehua (or Hine-urunga) and Pare-moeahu, who both instantly decided that they wanted to marry him. After they had discovered who he was, Pare-moeahu ran to Hotonui and told him of his son's arrival. Maru-tà «ahu subsequently married her. According to Pei Te Hurinui Jones Hine-rehua married Hotunui's other son PÃÂkÃÂ, but NgÃÂti Maru tradition says that she also married Maru-tà «ahu.
Hotunui and Mihi-rÃÂwhiti had three children:
Hotunui and Waitapu had one son:
A Tainui account of Hotunui is recorded by Pei Te Hurinui Jones but, unusually, he does not report his source. It also appears in S. Percy Smith's History and Traditions of the Maoris of the west coast North Island of New Zealand prior to 1840, published in 1910. Hauraki NgÃÂti Maru versions are recorded by George Grey in 1853 and by John White in 1888.