Kai-ihu (or possibly Kaihà «) was a MÃÂori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at KÃÂwhia, New Zealand. He is best known for his part in a raid on Te Huaki in revenge for the murder of his father, Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo. He probably lived in the early seventeenth century.
The earliest record of the story is a manuscript from the collection of Governor George Grey (GNZMMSS 31) composed sometime before 1854. Elsdon Best records a version which he was told in 1894 by Te Karehana Whakataki of NgÃÂti Toa. A version by Wirihana Te Aoterangi, a chief from Raglan who died in 1907, forms the basis of the account by Pei Te Hurinui Jones.
Kai-ihu was a male-line descendant of Hoturoa, leader of the Tainui waka through his father Te-Ata-i-Ã Ârongo, son of Uetapu / Uenuku-tuhatu, the son of Whatihua.
Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo married Rangi-waea who came from à Âkoro but had been raised at Tairutu near Te ÃÂkau. He came to join her there and Rangi-waea soon became pregnant. During this time, Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo went fishing with Rangi-waea's brother. This brother is called Horeta in the version recorded by Wirihana Te Aoterangi and Pei Te Hurinui Jones, but in the Grey manuscript and the version recorded by Elsdon Best he is instead RÃÂkapa-whare, the paramount chief of the tribes of the lower Waikato River. According to Te Aoterangi and Jones only Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo caught any fish, so the brother tricked Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo into diving down to unhitch his fish-hook from a rock and then pulled on the line so that it smashed the rock into Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo's forehead, killing him. The brother abandoned the body in the sea and told Rangi-waea that he had no knowledge of Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo's whereabouts.
In the night, the wairua (ghost) of Te-Ata-i-à Ârongo appeared to Rangi-waea in the form of a disembodied hand, told her of the murder and encouraged her to flee to KÃÂwhia. The ghostly hand led Rangi-waea on the journey, via Te Iringa, Tapuae-haruru, à Âtakahi, Raglan harbour, Rangipà «, Rua-o-te-ata, Kà Ârero-maiwaho, across Papa-i-à Ârongo stream and into Kawhia harbour, where her father-in-law Uetapu had a settlement at Tokatapu. A very similar story about a ghostly hand is told about Tà «heitia and his wife Te Ata.
In Pei Te Hurinui Jones' version, Horeta was abused by the people of his village for his crime and the vengeance that it would bring upon them, and eventually he committed suicide by throwing himself off a cliff.
Kai-ihu was born at Tokatapu and his grandfather, Uetapu, carried out the tohi baptismal ritual, making him tapu against any sharp object touching his head. As a result of this, his head was covered in lice. Uetapu taught Kai-ihu karakia spells and how to fight with weapons. Meanwhile, plans were made for the construction of a waka (canoe) so that the tribe could undertake an expedition to get revenge (utu) for the murder of Te-Ata-i-Ã Ârongo.
When the waka was ready, the leaders of expedition decided not to take Kai-ihu, because he was too young, but when they set off in the canoe, the waves prevented them from leaving Kawhia harbour two days in a row. On the third, Kai-ihu hid in the base of the canoe and when it reached the sea, he leapt up and sang a tauparapara. Different versions of this chant are given by different authorities. Pei Te Hurinui Jones records it as the same chant sung by NgÃÂtoro-i-rangi to enable the Tainui canoe to leave Hawaiki. Wirihana Te Aoterangi gives a set of three separate chants.
The war party now headed for Te Huaki, the base of RÃÂkapa-whare. They landed by night at Te Muruwai creek. The war party dammed the stream while they dragged the canoe ashore and then released the water so that their footsteps were washed away. Then they concealed the waka with seaweed. At dawn, the people of Te Huaki paddled out in canoes to fish and the war party suddenly launched their waka, bore down upon RÃÂkapa-whare's canoe and killed everyone aboard. RÃÂkapa-whare himself leapt into the water and tried to hide under his canoe, but Kai-ihu found him and killed him.