Te Rehu

Te Rehu was the son of Matangi of Ngāti Apa. When Te Rehu was young, Matangi severely beat Hine-mihi, who was either his stepmother or his wife.[1][2] Her relatives, led by her father Waikari, gathered a force and attacked Ngāti Apa, catching and killing Matangi at Moerangi. Hine-mihi interceded on behalf of her step-grandchild Te Rehu, and he was taken in by Waikari's youngest son, Te Iwikinakia, who raised him as a son at Tauranga Taupō.[2]

When Te Rehu grew up, he learnt that Te Iwikinakia was not his father, but the killer of his father, Matangi. Therefore, he travelled to Patea to form a war party., He was joined by Tū-makau-rangi of Ngāti Whitikaupeka according to Hoeta Te Hata or of Ngāti Tama according to Thomas William Downes.[1][3] Either way, they attacked Te Iwikinakia at Tauranga Taupō, cooked him with his own kumara and ate him.[1][3] Then Te Rehu settled at Tū-makau-rangi's fortress, Kirimara, which was located at Moawhango.[3]

Shortly after this, a war party of Ngāti Tūwharetoa attacked Kirimara in order to get revenge for the murder of Te Iwikinakia. The inhabitants of Kirimara tried to flee, but most of them were not able to swim and drowned as they tried to cross the river – Te Rehu among them.[3]

The fall of Kirimara marked the final end of the conflict between Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Whitikaupeka, which had been ongoing since the outbreak of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa–Ngāti Whitikaupeka War.[3]

• Downes, T. W. (1909). "Early History of Rangitikei, and Notes on the Ngati Apa Tribe". Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 42: 74–114.
• Te Hata, Hoeta; Fletcher, H. J. (1916). "Ngati-Tuhare-toa occupation of Taupo-nui-a-tia". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 25: 104–116, 150–162.