'Te kāinga okiokinga o ngā Kīngi': Ko te hirahira o te Maunga Taupiri

Wednesday, 4 September 2024

Ka tū Taupiri Maunga i tētahi wāhi hirahira i roto i te tanumanga o Kīngi Tūheitia.

Ko te urupā i runga i te maunga te wāhi i tanumia ai ngā ariki Māori katoa.

Ka rere atu a Kīngi Tūheitia i te Awa o Waikato ki te maunga, ā, ka hīkina ia ki tōna wāhi okiokinga whakamutunga.

Kua whakamāoritia tēnei pūrongo e tētahi hinengaro rorohiko, ā, kua hihiratia e te kaiwhakamāori a Puna, ko Joel Maxwell, nāna te pūrongo i whakapai hoki i mua i te whakaputa hei pūrongo reorua. Nā Straker me Microsoft te hinengaro rorohiko i whakawhanake.

This story, originally in English only, was translated into reo Māori by an AI tool then checked and edited by Stuff kaiwhakamāori Joel Maxwell before publication as a bilingual news story. The AI tool was developed by Straker and Microsoft.

I ngā rā tata kua taha, e hia kē ngā mano o ngā tāngata i tua o te motu e haere ana ki Tūrangawaewae Marae i Ngāruawāhia ki te tuku i ō rātou mihi whakamutunga ki te Kīngi Tūheitia.

Over the past few days, tens of thousands of people from across the motu have been making their way to Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia to pay their final respects to the late Kīngi Tūheitia.

Ka whakatakotoria te ariki Māori me te kaiārahi o te Kīngitanga kia okioki i te Tāite, e whakamutu ana i tana tangi e ono rā.

The Māori monarch and leader of the Kīngitanga will be laid to rest on Thursday, concluding his six-day tangi.

Ko te aronga matua o te nehunga ko Taupiri Maunga, ko te wāhi e tanumia ai te Kīngi.

A central point of the funeral will be Taupiri Maunga, which is where the King will be buried.

Read this story in English here.

E tū nei te tihi ki te tonga o te pae maunga Taupiri i Waikato, e tirohia ana e te maunga e 288m tana teitei ki te taone o Taupiri, ā, he tino taonga ia ki ngā iwi Waikato-Tainui me te Kīngitanga katoa.

Lying at the southern end of the Taupiri range in Waikato, the 288m-tall mountain overlooks the Taupiri township and is of utmost significance to both Waikato-Tainui iwi and the Kīngitanga movement.

Nō muri i te 1881, ko te maunga te whenua tanumanga tapu mō Waikato-Tainui me te Kīngitanga.

Since 1881, the mountain has been the sacred burial ground for Waikato-Tainui and the Kīngitanga.

I te tuatahi he pae pā i hangaia e te Ariki Te Putu, ko te maunga te kāinga ki te iwi o Ngāti Mahuta.

Initially a pā site built by Chief Te Putu, the maunga was home to the Ngāti Mahuta tribe.

Heoi anō, i te 1798, ka patua a Te Putu i waho o te pā i ngā taha o te Awa o Waikato.

However, in 1798, Te Putu was killed outside the pā on the banks of the Waikato River.

I tanumia a ia ki te pā, a, ka noho tapu te pae ā muri ake, ā, ka whakarērea.

He was buried at the pā, with the site becoming tapu thereafter and abandoned.

Kua tanumia katoatia ngā ariki Māori ki te urupā e noho ana i te taha o te maunga e tū tata ana i te Great South Road.

All the Māori monarchs have been buried at the urupā that sits on the side of the mountain overlooking Great South Road.

Ko te ariki i mua tata nei e tanumia ana, ko te Kuīni Māori, ko Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu i te 2006.

The last monarch to be buried there was the Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu in 2006.

I roto i te nehunga i haere mai i te tekau mano, ka rere whakararo te Kuini i te Awa o Waikato i runga i te waka i mua i tana hiki ki tōna wāhi okiokinga whakamutunga.

In a funeral attended by tens of thousands, the Queen was sailed down the Waikato River on a waka before being carried up the mountain to her final resting place.

Ka kitea anō ēnei tirohanga i te Tāite mō Kīngi Tūheitia, ā, ko tōna haerenga mai i Tūrangawaewae Marae ki te maunga, e rua haora pea.

These scenes will be repeated on Thursday for Kīngi Tūheitia, with his journey from Tūrangawaewae Marae to the maunga likely to take two hours.

Hei tā Tukoroirangi Morgan, te upoko o Te Arataura, te poari nui o Waikato-Tainui, ki a Puna kua tapu tonu te maunga ki Waikato.

Tukoroirangi Morgan, the chair of Te Arataura, Waikato-Tainui’s executive board, told Stuff the maunga has always been sacred to Waikato.

'Tērā tētahi kōrero ā iwi, i te whakamaioha ki a Te Wherowhero, ka whakamaiohatia ia e tōna maunga, e tona awa, e tōna iwi hoki. Ko Te Wherowhero te tangata, ā, ko Taupiri te maunga. Mai rā anō ko Taupiri te maunga tapu mō te iwi o Waikato mai i a ia te kīngi.'

“There is a tribal saying, when Te Wherowhero was acknowledged, he is acknowledged by his mountain, by his river, and by his tribe. Te Wherowhero is the man and Taupiri is the mountain. Taupiri has always been the sacred mountain for the people of Waikato since he was the king.”

Ko ngā ariki Māori e tanumia ana ki te wāhi tiketike rawa o te urupā, a, he kore kōhatu ki ō rātou urupa tūturu.

The Māori monarchs are buried in the highest part of the urupā and traditionally their graves were left unmarked.

“Kāore i whakaaetia ngā kōhatu,” te kī a Morgan.

“Gravestones were not acceptable,” Morgan said.

“I whakapono a Tāwhiao kia ōrite te katoa ki te mate, ā, kāore e matea ngā kōhatu. He hanganga Pākehā nga kōhatu. Ehara ērā i te hanganga Māori.'

“King Tāwhiao believed everyone should be equal in death and that headstones are not necessary. Headstones are a Pākehā invention. They are not a Māori invention.”

Ka hunaia te wāhi tūturu o te rua o Kīngi Tuheitia. “Ehara i te pāka,” te kī a Morgan.

The exact site of Kīngi Tuheitia’s grave will be kept secret. “It’s not a park,” Morgan said.

'Ehara i te mea mō te tangata noa iho te hīkoi i taua maunga. Ehara i te wāhi e āhei ai te tangata ki te huri haere noa iho.'

“It’s not for any ordinary person to walk up that mountain. It is not a place where people can just wander around.

'Tērā ētahi mea e kiia nei ko te manaaki me te whakahī ahurea,' te tāpiri mai a Morgan. 'He ōrite te whakaaro me te manaaki kei a mātou mō Taupiri mō tētahi atu wāhi tanumanga nui o te ao.

“There are things called respect and cultural pride,” Morgan added. “The reverence and respect that we have for Taupiri is the same for any other major burial site around the world.

“E kauanuanutia ana e koe i runga i te whakaute nui, ka tino whakarangatiratia e koe, ā, ko tēnā tā mātou e tūmanako ana kia whai ngāi Aotearoa katoa.”

“You treat it with reverence, you treat it with the utmost respect, and that is what we expect all New Zealanders to adhere to.”

Ka tīmata ngā whakaritenga mō te nehunga o Kīngi Tūheitia i te 10am i te Tāite.

Proceedings for the funeral of Kīngi Tūheitia will begin at 10am on Thursday.

Ko tōna tikanga, ka tū hoki te whakawahinga o te ariki hou, me te piki tūranga i whakakitea i mua i te nehunga.

Following tradition, the coronation of the new monarch will also take place, with the successor unveiled ahead of the funeral service.

Ka mauria e ngā waka e whā a Kingi Tūheitia i te Awa o Waikato ki tōna wāhi okiokinga whakamutunga o Taupiri Maunga.

A fleet of four waka will take Kīngi Tūheitia down the Waikato River to Taupiri Maunga.

Ka tūtakitia a ia i Taupiri e ngā mema o ngā karapu whutupōro o Tūrangawaewae me Taniwharau, ā, ka mauria e ngā kaikawe taura mai i Raungaiti Rugby Club te kīngi ki te tihi o te maunga.

He will be met there by members of the Tūrangawaewae and Taniwharau rugby league clubs, and rope handlers from Raungaiti Rugby Club who will carry the King to the summit for burial.

This is a Public Interest Journalism-funded translation through NZ On Air