WhÃÂita was a MÃÂori rangatira (chieftain) of the NgÃÂti Raukawa iwi in the Tainui tribal confederation based at Wharepuhanga near Rangitoto in the Waikato region, New Zealand and is the ancestor of the NgÃÂti WhÃÂita hapà «. He probably lived in the mid-seventeenth century.
WhÃÂita was the son of Kurawari and Wharerere. Kurawari was a daughter of Raukawa and granddaughter of Tà «rongo, the first chieftain of the southern Waikato region, and through him a direct descendant of Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui canoe. Wharerere was also a descendant of Hoturoa, through a collateral line.
WhÃÂita had a sister, called Korokore, Koroukore, or Korokoro, who married Parahore or Purahore, rangatira of the NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga, who inhabited the upper banks of the Waikato River, from PutÃÂruru to ÃÂtiamuri.
The people of Tainui desired the land of NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga, especially their two maunga manu ('bird mountains'), Whakamaru and Tà «-aropaki (now site of Mokai Power Station). Because the people of NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga knew this, they resented their chieftain's wife, Korokore, especially when they were required to hand many of the birds that they caught over to her, so a group of them, led by Te Maru-huoko, gathered together and murdered Korokore at Waotà «.
Walter Edward Gudgeon and D. M. Stafford report an alternative version, in which WhÃÂita's lover Waiarohi, wife of Te Ruamano, a rangatira of NgÃÂti Huarere, was left her in the care of NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga for safekeeping only for them to murder her.
One of Korokore's slaves escaped and brought news of this murder to Tame-te-hura, a cousin of Korokore. He passed the news on to WhÃÂita at Wharepuhanga, who gathered a war party. He was joined by Tama-te-hura's brothers Upoko-iti and Pipito, as well as Wairangi, who may have been a brother of Tama-te-hura or WhÃÂita.
The Tainui war-party marched past Maungatautari and attacked the local forts of NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga on the west side of the Waikato River. Then the war party split into two groups, which moved up the river on opposite sides. Wairangi and Upoko-iti stayed on the west side, while WhÃÂita, Pipito, and Tama-te-hura crossed the Waikato River and advanced on the Waotà « region, where NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga had three fortresses: Pirau-nui (a foothill of Matawhenua), Puke-tà Âtara / à Âmaru-o-aka, Pawa-iti, and Hà Âkio, which WhÃÂita captured.
From there, NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga fled south of Whakamaru, where they had two fortresses, Te-Ahi-pà « and Te Aho-roa. Again, WhÃÂita defeated them. At Te Aho-roa, all the NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga dead were burnt, as revenge for their murder of Korokore, which had taken place on the site. At nearby Turihemo, WhÃÂita personally killed one NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga rangatira, Manuawhio, while Pipito captured a number of NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga hiding in a cave near Tokoroa and brought them back to Te Aho-roa to be eaten.
The Te Arawa tribal confederation of the Bay of Plenty now intervened. Jones suggests that they were worried about WhÃÂita continuing into their lands or that they had marriage ties with the NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga. WhÃÂita defeated the Te Arawa forces that had entered NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga lands and pursued them into Te Arawa land, where however, his forces were routed and forced to flee for the Waikato River, with Te Arawa in pursuit. At Te Whana-a-WhÃÂita ('The springing back of WhÃÂita'), WhÃÂita rallied the troops and defeated Te Arawa. This place remained the boundary between Tainui and Te Arawa thereafter.
According to Gudgeon, WhÃÂita's illness had prevented him from joining the expedition against Te Arawa, which he says was led by Tama-te-hura and reached Waikuta on the shores of Lake Rotorua before Te Arawa turned the force back, took Tama-te-hura prisoner, and killed Pipito. He says that the leader of the Arawan forces was Ariari-te-rangi, son of Hinemoa and Tà «tÃÂnekai. In this account Te Arawa pursued the Tainui forces all the way back to Te Whana-a-WhÃÂita, where WhÃÂita rallied them, as in Jones' version.
The last of the NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga made their stand at Pà Âhatu-roa, a hill just west of modern ÃÂtiamuri. WhÃÂita and Wairangi's war-parties reunited and surrounded the hill. Eventually hunger sapped the defenders' strength and they were unable to deflect a Tainui assault, which captured the mountain. At this point there was a disagreement about what to do with the captured NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga â Tame-te-hura wanted to keep them as slaves, but WhÃÂita insisted that they must all be killed, so that they would not return with Te Arawa support to reclaim the land. Jones agrees that all the NgÃÂti Kahu-pungapunga died, while Gudgeon speculates that they may have fled to join Te Arawa.
WhÃÂita had one son, Huiao, who married two daughters of Uenuku-tuhatu, son of Whatihua. With the first daughter, MÃÂpau-inuhia, he had a son, Tà «-irirangi (ancestor of the NgÃÂti Kinohaku hapà « of NgÃÂti Maniapoto) and a daughter, Hine-moana, who married Tà «pito. With the second daughter, Waengarangi, he had Pai-ariki.
WhÃÂita's descendants, the NgÃÂti WhÃÂita, have their marae at à ÂngÃÂroto, on the north bank of the Waikato River, a little west of ÃÂtiamuri. Stafford reports that WhÃÂita fought a decisive battle against NgÃÂti Kahupungapunga there and erected a set of 170 standing stones at a place nearby called Te Pae o Tawhiti, one for each enemy killed.
A detailed account of WhÃÂita's exploits during the war was published by Walter Edward Gudgeon in the 1893 issue of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, with no indication of the sources on which it is based. A similar account is given by Pei Te Hurinui Jones, based on oral testimony given at the MÃÂori Land Court at Cambridge in a dispute over ownership of the Waotà « area. A similar account was given by Hà Âri Wirihana of NgÃÂti Kauwhata in evidence to the MÃÂori Land Court at à Âtorohanga on 17 August 1886.