TÃÂkitimu was a waka (canoe) with whakapapa throughout the Pacific particularly with Samoa, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand in ancient times. In several MÃÂori traditions, the TÃÂkitimu was one of the great MÃÂori migration ships that brought Polynesian migrants to New Zealand from Hawaiki. The canoe was said to have been captained by Tamatea.
The TÃÂkitumu was an important waka in the Cook Islands with one of the districts on the main island of Rarotonga consequently named after it. Sir Tom Davis, a former prime minister of the Cook Islands, wrote, in the form of a novel, an account of 300 years of voyaging of the TÃÂkitumu by his own forebears as told in their traditions.
The TÃÂkitimu appears in many traditions around New Zealand. Most accounts agree that the TÃÂkitimu was a sacred canoe. Many also give the name of the captain as "Tamatea", although in different forms. (He is not to be confused with Tama-te-kapua, who sailed the Arawa to New Zealand.)
The Takitimu waka landed at Whangaà Âkena (East Cape), à ªawa (Tolaga Bay), Tà «ranganui (Gisborne), Nukutaurua (on MÃÂhia Peninsula) and other points further south along the East Coast.
Accounts from the northern East Coast indicate that the TÃÂkitimu left Hawaiki after two brothers, Ruawharo and Tà «pai, took the canoe from their enemies and escaped to New Zealand. The vessel landed on the MÃÂhia Peninsula (Te MÃÂhia) and the crew dispersed: Ruawharo stayed at Te MÃÂhia, a man named Puhiariki went to Muriwhenua in present-day Northland, while others moved to Tauranga.
A NgÃÂti Kahungunu account of the TÃÂkitimu is given by J. H. Mitchell, according to whom the explorer Hoaki and his brother Taukata had travelled to New Zealand from Hawaiki in the Tutara-kauika, searching for their sister Kanioro, who had been abducted and taken there by Pou-rangahau. They returned in the Te Ara-Tawhao seeking kumara seeds and bearing the news that the islands were sparsely populated. This inspired Tamatea, the Arikinui ("great chieftain"), who led the tribes of NgÃÂti Hukumoana, NgÃÂti Hakuturi, and NgÃÂti Tutakahinahina, which lived in the villages of Whangara, Pakarae, and Rehuroa, to build a canoe and lead a migration to New Zealand.
Tamatea ordered the construction of TÃÂkitimu. It was made by three craftsmen, called Ruawharo, Tupai, and Te Rongo Putahi. The initial work was done on Titirangi hill, the later work at Tamatea's house in Whangara. Four stones, Kohurau, Ka-ra, Anewa, and Pounamu were used to make five adzes, named Te Awhiorangi, Tewhironui, Rakuraku o Tawhaki, Matangirei, and Hui-te-rangiora. Te Awhiorangi, the most sacred of these adzes, was used by Tamatea to ceremonially cut through the waves, clearing the way for the canoe to travel over the sea. The canoe was first roughly shaped at Titirangi hill and then taken to Tamatea's house at Whangara, where the carving was completed in an extremely sacred enclosure which was off limits to women and commoners. The craftsmen and their tools had to be specially purified in water when their work was over; J. H. Mitchell records the karakia sung by the tohunga (high priest) during this work. All the chips and sawdust from the canoe had to be ritually burnt, because it was too sacred to be used for any other purpose.
Tamatea and Ruawharo consecrated the TÃÂkitimu by singing a karakia which J. H. Mitchell records and pouring a calabash of water over the bow. Then four rollers, called Te Tahuri, Mounukuhia, Mouhapainga, and Manutawhiorangi were used to launch the canoe into the Pikopiki-i-whiti lagoon. After this, it was taken in the night to Te-whetu-Matarau and the tohunga Ruawharo cast various protective spells for the boat, one of which J. H. Mitchell records. J. H. Mitchell forcefully denies stories that Ruawharo alone or with his brother Tupai stole the TÃÂkitimu from the tribes of Te Tini-o-Pekerangi, Te Tini-o-Whakarauatupa, Te Tini-o-Makehukuhu, and Te Tini-o-Tutakahinahina.
The Takitimu was a large, single-rigger canoe. It consisted of rauawa (boards attached above the hull), haumi (extensions to the front and back of the boat), taumanu (thwarts), a kÃÂraho or rahoraho (deck), a tauihu (figurehead), rapa (sternpost), whitikotuku (frame for an awning), tira (masts), puhi (plumes of feathers), kÃÂrewa (buoys) and hoe (paddles). The canoe had six ceremonial paddles: Rapanga-i-te-atinuku, Rapanga-i-te-ati-rangi, Maninikura, Maniniaro, Tangiwiwini, and Tangi-wawana. There were two bailers: Tipuahoronuku and Tipuahororangi.
At the front of the canoe there was a space for the sacred objects in which the atua (gods) of the people resided. These objects represented Ranginui (the sky) and Paptuanuku (the Earth). The objects also represented a number of spirits that protected the Takitimu on its voyage:
The Takitimu was too sacred for women, commoners, children, or cooked food to be allowed onto it, so the crew consisted entirely of prestigious men:
TÃÂkitimu travelled from Hawaiki to Rarotonga in three days. J. H. Mitchell follows Percy Smith in making the ship part of the Great Fleet, but says that because it was a single-rigger canoe, it proved faster than the rest of the canoes and left them behind. TÃÂkitimu made the journey from Rarotonga to New Zealand in only eleven days. A shortage of food forced the crew to pray to Tangaroa and TÃÂne, who provided them with raw fish and birds to eat.
The TÃÂkitimu arrived at Awanui at the base of the Aupà Âuri Peninsula in Northland. Some members of the crew settled in this location, but Tamatea led most of the crew continued around North Cape, and along the east coast of the North Island until they reached Tauranga. Here Tamatea left the TÃÂkitimu, entrusting the command to Tahu, whom he instructed to find a source of pounamu or greenstone (nephrite jade).
As TÃÂkitimu travelled along the east coast, the crew stopped at various locations and gave them names. These included Hikurangi, named after a mountain on Hawaiki, WhÃÂngÃÂrÃÂ, and the Pakarae River. Titirangi hill in modern Gisborne was named after the hill on which the TÃÂkitimu had been built. The tohunga on the TÃÂkitimu conducted fire rituals that placed the mauri (life force) of their traditional knowledge in the land at locations which later became the sites of whare wÃÂnanga (centres of traditional learning).
When the TÃÂkitimu reached Te Papa, near Oraka on Nukutaurua (the MÃÂhia Peninsula), the tohunga Ruawharo left the canoe to settle. At the island of Waikawa at the south end of the MÃÂhia Peninsula, the crew established an important shrine, which was later the site of a whare wÃÂnanga called Ngaheru-mai-tawhiti, which J. H. Mitchell says became the chief source of mauri for the whole East Coast.
At Wairoa, the TÃÂkitimu went up the Wairoa River to Makeakea, now the site of TÃÂkitimu marae. One of the canoe's rollers fell into the river and transformed into a taniwha. Later, part of this roller was recovered and used by a rangatira named Kopu Parapara to build a house at Te Hatepe, which inherited the tapu of the TÃÂkitimu. This house was relocated to Waihirere, but it had become derelict by 1898 and was burnt down. In 1926 it was decided to build the TÃÂkitimu marae on this site as a successor to this aspect of the TÃÂkitimu canoe.
As the TÃÂkitimu passed the mouth of the Waikari River, the tohunga Tupai saw a mountain inland. He lifted up a pÃÂpÃÂuma (a magical wooden carving representing birds), which transformed into a living bird and flew to the top of the mountain, causing it to make a rumbling sound. The mountain was named Maungaharuru ("rumbling mountain") as a result.
When the canoe reached the Wairarapa region, Tupai left the canoe to settle. Here he established a whare wÃÂnanga, where he later educated Rongokako, the son of Tamatea Arikinui.
None of the remaining crew had the power to maintain the special tapu of the TÃÂkitimu, so it became a paraheahea (ordinary, non-sacred canoe). Despite this, Tahu PÃ Âkai led the TÃÂkitimu onward to the Arahura River on the west coast of the South Island, where he found the source of pounamu which he had sought. The TÃÂkitimu was deposited on a flat ledge in the river, where it turned to stone. J. H. Mitchell reports a story that T. W. Ratana attempted to visit the site of the TÃÂkitimu in the early twentieth century, but was thwarted by a supernatural fog.
The tribes of the Tauranga region refer to the canoe as Takitimu. Some traditions say that the Takitimu was captained by Tamatea, father of Ranginui, and Kahungunu the founding ancestor of NgÃÂti Ranginui. NgÃÂti Kahungunu recognise this "Tamatea" as the grandson of Tamatea Arikinui, and refer to him as "Tamatea-pokaiwhenua-pokaimoana". However, accounts in Northland and Tauranga do not indicate the existence of more than one "Tamatea" from the Takitimu.
South Island traditions indicate that Tamatea explored the western and southern coastlines of the South Island. The TÃÂkitimu is said to have been turned to stone at Murihiku. From there, Tamatea is said to have built another canoe, the KÃÂraerae, to return to the North Island.