There was once a hill with no name among the many hills and ravines on the edge of the forests of Hautere. This nameless one was pononga, slave or servant, to the great chief Otānewainuku, the forested peak which stands as a landmark for the tribes of Tauranga Moana. To the south-west was the shapely form of the hill Puwhenua, a woman clothed in all the fine greens of the ferns and shrubs and trees of the forest of Tāne. The nameless one was desperately in love with Puwhenua. However, her heart was already won by the majestic form of the chiefly mountain Otānewainuku.
There seemed no hope for the lowly slave with no name to persuade her to become his bride.
The nameless one sorrowed and in despair he decided to end it all by drowning himself in the ocean, Te Moananui a Kiwa. He called on the patupaiarehe, the people with magical powers who dwelled in the forests of Hautere. They were his friends and they plaited the ropes with their magic to haul him from the hill country toward the ocean. As they pulled on their ropes, they chanted their magic chant.
E hika tū ake
Ki runga rā whitiki taua
Hei tama tū
Uea ki te uru
Kumea ki te tonga
Hiki nuku Hiki rangi I arā rā
Ka ngaru e, ka ngaru e
Toia ki te hau marangai
Kia whakarongo taku kiri
Te kikini a te rehutai
O Ngā ngaru whatiwhati
E haruru mai nei
Wī, wī wī
Wā wā wā A! hā! hā!
Horahia ō mata ki a Meremere
Tūahiahi Hei taki i te ara ki a Tangaroa
He atua hāo i te tini ki te pō
E kokoia e ara e
Arise you who slumber
Prepare ourselves
Prove our manhood
Heave to the west
Heave to the south
Move heaven and earth
It awakens, It loosens, shudders
Haul toward the stormy east wind
That the sky may feel
The tang of salt spray
Of the turbulent thundering waves
Wi Wi wi
Wa Wa Wa A! ha! ha!
Cast your eyes heavenward
Toward Venus, the evening star,
To light the path
To the ocean of Tangaroa,
The god who lures many into his embrace,
Into eternal darkness.
Alas, the birds have awakened
Dawn has come.
The patupaiarehe chanted this song and hauled the nameless one from his place among the hills from Waoku. They gouged out the valley where the river Waimapu now flows. They followed the channel of Tauranga Moana past Hairini, past Maungatapu and Matapihi, past Te Papa. They pulled him to the edge of the great ocean of Kiwa. But it was already close to daybreak. The sun rose. The first rays lit up the summit of the nameless hill and fixed him in that place. The patupaiarehe melted away before the light of the sun. They were people of the night and they flew back to the shady depths of the forests and ravines of Hautere. The patupaiarehe gave a name to this mountain which marks the entrance to Tauranga Moana. He was called Mauao which means caught by the dawn, or lit up by the first rays of sunrise. In time, he assumed greater mana than his rival Otānewainuku. Later he was also given another name, Maunganui. He is still the symbol of the tribes of Tauranga Moana:
Ko Mauao te maunga,
ko Tauranga te moana.
There seemed no hope for the lowly slave with no name to persuade her to become his bride.
The nameless one sorrowed and in despair he decided to end it all by drowning himself in the ocean, Te Moananui a Kiwa. He called on the patupaiarehe, the people with magical powers who dwelled in the forests of Hautere. They were his friends and they plaited the ropes with their magic to haul him from the hill country toward the ocean. As they pulled on their ropes, they chanted their magic chant.
E hika tū ake
Ki runga rā whitiki taua
Hei tama tū
Uea ki te uru
Kumea ki te tonga
Hiki nuku Hiki rangi I arā rā
Ka ngaru e, ka ngaru e
Toia ki te hau marangai
Kia whakarongo taku kiri
Te kikini a te rehutai
O Ngā ngaru whatiwhati
E haruru mai nei
Wī, wī wī
Wā wā wā A! hā! hā!
Horahia ō mata ki a Meremere
Tūahiahi Hei taki i te ara ki a Tangaroa
He atua hāo i te tini ki te pō
E kokoia e ara e
Arise you who slumber
Prepare ourselves
Prove our manhood
Heave to the west
Heave to the south
Move heaven and earth
It awakens, It loosens, shudders
Haul toward the stormy east wind
That the sky may feel
The tang of salt spray
Of the turbulent thundering waves
Wi Wi wi
Wa Wa Wa A! ha! ha!
Cast your eyes heavenward
Toward Venus, the evening star,
To light the path
To the ocean of Tangaroa,
The god who lures many into his embrace,
Into eternal darkness.
Alas, the birds have awakened
Dawn has come.
The patupaiarehe chanted this song and hauled the nameless one from his place among the hills from Waoku. They gouged out the valley where the river Waimapu now flows. They followed the channel of Tauranga Moana past Hairini, past Maungatapu and Matapihi, past Te Papa. They pulled him to the edge of the great ocean of Kiwa. But it was already close to daybreak. The sun rose. The first rays lit up the summit of the nameless hill and fixed him in that place. The patupaiarehe melted away before the light of the sun. They were people of the night and they flew back to the shady depths of the forests and ravines of Hautere. The patupaiarehe gave a name to this mountain which marks the entrance to Tauranga Moana. He was called Mauao which means caught by the dawn, or lit up by the first rays of sunrise. In time, he assumed greater mana than his rival Otānewainuku. Later he was also given another name, Maunganui. He is still the symbol of the tribes of Tauranga Moana:
Ko Mauao te maunga,
ko Tauranga te moana.
