Whatihua was a MÃÂori rangatira (chief) in the Tainui confederation of tribes, based at KÃÂwhia, New Zealand. He quarrelled with his brother, Tà «rongo, and as a result Tainui was split between them, with Whatihua receiving the northern Waikato region, including KÃÂwhia. He probably lived in the early sixteenth century.
Whatihua was a male-line descendant of Hoturoa, leader of the Tainui waka through his father TÃÂwhao. TÃÂwhao married two daughters of Te Aorere, another descendant of Hoturoa, Pà «nui-a-te-kore and Maru-tÃÂ-hiakina. Whatihua was the first-born son, but his mother was the younger of TÃÂwhao's wives, Maru-tÃÂ-hiakina. His younger brother Tà «rongo was born to the senior wife, Pà «nui-a-te-kore. As a result, the relative status of the two sons was unclear and they competed for pre-eminence.
As youths, Whatihua and Tà «rongo went hunting kà «aka (Bar-tailed godwits) on Kaiwhai island off KÃÂwhia. At first, all the birds came to Tà «rongo and he caught great numbers, but while he was focussed on cooking the birds, Whatihua snuck up behind him and "snatched the hau" (the spiritual essence) from Tà «rongo's head. After that all of Tà «rongo's mana passed to Whatihua.
When the two brothers reached adulthood, Tà «rongo travelled south to PÃÂtea and got engaged to Rua-pà «-tahanga, of NgÃÂti Ruanui. He then returned to KÃÂwhia and began to build a house at Te Whare-o-Ngarue in KÃÂwhia in preparation for her arrival. As he was working on the house, Whatihua came and advised him that the planned house was too big, convincing him to shorten the tÃÂhuhu (ridge beam) in order to complete the task on time. He also convinced him to plant huge gardens, using up all of his kumara, so that he had none remaining in his storerooms. Meanwhile, Whatihua at Te Wharenui ('The Big House') on the Aotea Harbour, where it is said that the outline of the house is still visible in the grass in the summer. While Tà «rongo was waiting to harvest his kumara, Whatihua summoned Rua-pà «-tahanga from PÃÂtea.
Rua-pà «-tahanga made the journey up the Whanganui River, through TÃÂngarÃÂkau, and à Âhura, into the Mokau Valley. The places Te Umu-Kaimata, Taorua, and Te Puna-a-Rua-pà «-tahanga are named after events that took place on her journey. When she arrived at KÃÂwhia, Tà «rongo had no food for her and his house was too small to fit all the people whom she had brought along with her, while Whatihua had plenty of food and space, so she married him instead. Beaten, Tà «rongo left KÃÂwhia.
After Tà «rongo left KÃÂwhia, he had travelled east and married MÃÂhina-o-rangi at Pukehou in Hawke's Bay. After the marriage had taken place, the elderly TÃÂwhao, travelled there and invited Tà «rongo to return to KÃÂwhia. There he divided his lands between Whatihua and Tà «rongo, roughly along the aukati line that later formed the northern boundary of the King Country. The north went to Whatihua, who remained at KÃÂwhia, while the south went to Tà «rongo, who was sent inland and settled at RangiÃÂtea, near Waikeria.
Whatihua and Rua-pà «-tahanga had two sons, Uenuku-tuhatu and Uenuku-te-rangi-hà ÂkÃÂ. Shortly after the birth of Uenuku-te-rangi-hà ÂkÃÂ, Apakura, asked him to catch her an eel, so he went to à Âparau, where there was known to be a large eel, and caught it, using one of Rua-pà «-tahanga's mauri (magic talismans). This so infuriated Rua-pà «-tahanga that she left KÃÂwhia, taking the baby Uenuku-te-rangi-hà Âkàwith her. After a while Whatihua noticed that she had gone and set off in pursuit. At the Matatua headland, she realised that Whatihua was following her and buried the baby in the sand up to his neck, so that Whatihua had to stop to uncover him and fetch people to take him back to the village. While he did this, Rua-pà «-tahanga swum across the Kawhia Harbour, reaching the shore at Te Maika. From there, she passed Lake Taharoa, Taumatakanae, and Harihari, crossed the Marokopa River at the coast, crossed Kiri-te-here stream and reached the base of Mount MoeÃÂtoa, where cliffs extend right to the sea. She stopped to rest there and a small stream at the spot is named for the event, Te Mimi-o-Rua-pà «-tahanga ('Rua-pà «-tahanga's pee').
As she was resting, Whatihua caught up with her and there was nowhere to run, so Rua-pà «-tahanga leapt off the cliffs into the roiling waves, where a taniwha, RÃÂkei, picked her up and carried her away. She shouted to Whatihua, "Go back! You will die in your pursuit of my body, now set apart" or "The tides of RÃÂkei of the hundred monster's eyes have risen," both now proverbial sayings. He returned to Kawhia.
Mangà Â, a cousin of Whatihua who was based at Te Whena on the KÃÂwhia harbour, wanted a comb owned by Whatihua. He broke into Whatihua's house in the night and stole it, wandering around repeatedly so that the tracks would appear to belong to a large group of thieves. However, because of a crooked leg, Mangà  had a distinctive gait and the tracks were easily identified as his in the morning. Whatihua led a war party of a thousand men to Te Whena to reclaim the comb, but Mangà  attacked him with a force of nine hundred at Mahea-takataka. Whatihua's party was defeated and most of his men were killed, but Whatihua himself was captured alive and brought to Mangà Â, who grabbed him by his hair and urinated on his head. After this, Whatihua was allowed to go free, but the defeat had caused him to lose his mana and he was no longer seen as an important leader.
Whatihua had made his base at the village of Manu-aitu. When he grew old he went out to a seaside cliff, which has a cave partway up called Poho-tangi ('sounding belly'), because of the sound it makes as the wind and waves crash against the cliff face. When the people saw Whatihua at the top of the cliff, some rushed to the top and others rushed to the bottom of the cliff, but he leapt off before they could get there. His body was not found at the base and it was believed that he had somehow ended up in the cave, which he had earlier predicted would be his tomb.
Whatihua married Rua-pà «-tahanga and Apakura, but it is not certain which of them he married first.
Rua-pà «-tahanga was a descendant of Turi, leader of the Aotea canoe. With Whatihua, she had two sons:
Apakura was descended from Tamatea, the captain of the TÃÂkitimu canoe. Her children with Whatihua were the ancestors of NgÃÂti Apakura.