Kinohaku was a MÃÂori woman of the NgÃÂti Maniapoto tribe in New Zealand's Waikato region. She lived in the seventeenth century and is the eponymous ancestor of the NgÃÂti Kinohaku sub-tribe (hapà «) of NgÃÂti Maniapoto.
Kinohaku was a daughter of Rereahu, through whom she was a direct male-line descendant of Hoturoa, the captain of the Tainui canoe, and his second wife Hine-au-pounamu, also a descendant of Hoturoa. She had one older half-brother, Te Ihinga-a-rangi, five full brothers, Maniapoto, Matakore, Tà «-whakahekeao, Tà «rongo-tapu-ÃÂrau, Te Io-wÃÂnanga / Te ÃÂio-wÃÂnanga. Two full sister Kahuariari and Te Rongorito.
Kinohaku and her full siblings were raised in region around KÃÂwhia. Subsequently, they settled along the WaipàRiver and the Manga-o-kewa Stream, with a central hub at Te Kà «iti.
Kinohaku married Tà «-irirangi, who was her cousin on both sides, since his father, Huiao son of WhÃÂita, was a great-grandson of Rereahu's brother Kurawari, while his mother MÃÂpau-inuhia was the sister of Hine-au-Pounamu's father Tà «-a-tangiroa. The amount of food gathered by Tà «-irirangi and his tribe for the wedding feast was enormous and remains a source of mana for the descendants of the marriage, NgÃÂti Kinohaku. In response to this, some Tainui people joked that Kinohaku had been âÂÂbought with pipi.âÂÂ
After the marriage Tà «-irirangi and Kinohaku settled at Ngaku-raho, a rocky pinnacle near Hangatiki and very near the final base of Kinohaku's brother Maniapoto at Te Ana-a-Maniapoto / Te Ana-a-uriuri. They had three sons and one daughter together.
After many years, Hinerangi visited Ngaku-raho, while she was fleeing the murder of her father, Mania-takamaiwaho. Tà «-irirangi developed a desire to marry her, but she refused. However, Kinohaku was furious that her husband had planned to marry another woman, so she had an affair with Tà «-irirangi's half-brother Pai-ariki. When Tà «-irirangi found out, he went to Pai-ariki's village, Te Rua-o-te-manu near Te Kà «iti, intending to murder him, but was unable to do the deed. Afterwards, he went away to KÃÂwhia, where he remarried and had another son.
Pei Te Hurinui Jones and Leslie Kelly give accounts of Kinohaku's life, based on oral traditions that they heard from Whare Hotu of Oparure (an 8th generation descendant of Kinohaku).
The NgÃÂti Kinohaku hapu of NgÃÂti Maniapoto are descendants of Kinohaku. They have the following marae (in alphabetical order), most of which they share with various other hapu of NgÃÂti Maniapoto: