E rere kau mai te Awa nui nei
Mai te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa
Ko au te Awa
Ko te Awa ko au.
Kupe
He maha ngā wāhi i Aotearoa i taunahatia e Kupe. He kaumoana rongonui ia puta noa i Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Ka ū a Kupe ki Whanganui, ka whakaingoatia e ia taua wāhi, ko Te Kaihau-a-Kupe, nā te puhipuhi tonu o ngā hau. Kātahi ka toro whakarunga a Kupe i te awa, ki Kauarapāoa rā ano ki te kimi tāngata; tē kitea. I tapaina taua wāhi ko Kauarapāoa i te toremitanga o Arapāoa, tētahi o ana tāngata, i a ia ka whakawhiti i te awa i te wā e waipuke ana.
E kīia ana te kōrero, ahakoa ka rongo ia i te tangi o te weka, te kōkako, te pīwakawaka, kīhai rawa a Kupe i kite i te tangata. Ka heke a Kupe ki te pūaha o te awa, ka rere ki Pātea i te taha tonga o Taranaki, ki reira whakatōngia ai e ia he purapura karaka ki aua whenua parahua.
Turi me Ngā Paerangi
Nō tana hokinga ki Hawaiki, ka whakamārama a Kupe i ana haerenga ki tōna iwi. Nāwai, ā, ka wehe te waka o Aotea ki Aotearoa i raro i a Turi. Ka tae rātou ki Aotearoa, ka whakatauria ko Pātea hei kāinga mō rātou. E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho, ka hōrapa ngā uri o Turi ki te whenua, ka tūtaki atu rātou ki a Ngā Paerangi, ngā tāngata whenua o tēnei rohe. E kī ana te kōrero e ora ana te tupuna a Paerangi e rima whakapaparanga i mua i a Turi.
Kei ētahi kōrero tuku iho e kī ana i puta mai te ingoa o te iwi a Ngāti Hau, i a Haupipi. I te tukinga o tōna waka a Kurahaupō, ka hūpeke atu a ia ki runga i a Aotea. Kei ētahi atu e kī ana, he whakarāpopotonga a Hau mō Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi. I haere mai te tupuna a Haunui-a-Pāpārangi i te taha o Turi, ā, ka noho tahi ōna uri me Ngā Paerangi.
Tamatea
Ko Tamatea-pōkai-whenua te rangatira o te waka Tākitimu. Ka piki rā anō a ia i te awa o Whanganui hōpara ai. I mua i te tomokanga o tōna waka ki te awa, ka tonoa e Tamatea tana tūmau ki uta ki te rapu harakeke hei whiri pūtiki mōna. Ka tapaina te wāhi i kitea te harakeke, ko ‘Te Pūtiki-wharanui-a Tamatea-pōkai-whenua’. Ka haere ake a Turi kia kite i a Tamatea, ka mate kanehe, ka moe tana tamāhine a Tāneroa i a Uenga-ariki, te tuakana, teina rānei a Tamatea.
Te hangatanga o te awa o Whanganui
I ngā wā onamata ka noho tahi a Ruapehu rātou ko Tongariro, ko Taranaki ki te puku o Te Ika-a-Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga. I tētahi rā ka whakamātau a Taranaki ki te kāhaki i a Pīhanga, te wahine a Tongariro. Tutū ana te puehu i tēnei mahi, ka hinga a Taranaki ka rere mā te rohe o Whanganui. I a ia ka rere ka keria e ia te riu o te awa. Ka tau a Taranaki ki tana tūranga e tū nei ia i tēnei wā.
Kātahi ka hahauhia e Tamatea tētahi waka hei piki i te awa. Ka whakarērea e ia tana tūmau ki te pūaha o te awa tatari ai. Ki ētahi, nō konei te tikanga o te ingoa, a Whanganui.
Ngā tamariki a Tamakehu rāua ko Ruaka
Tokotoru ngā tamariki a Tamakehu, te rangatira o Te Āti-Haunui-a-Pāpārangi rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi a Ruaka: arā, ko Hine-ngākau ki te taha whakarunga o te awa, ko Tama Ūpoko ki te pokapū o te awa, ko Tūpoho ki te taha whakararo. He rite ngā wā whakapuakina ai rātou hei whakaatu i te kotahitanga o ngā iwi. Arā atu anō ngā pepeha hei whakanui i tēnei āhuatanga, pērā i “Te taura whiri a Hine-ngākau”, he kōrero mō ngā herenga tāngata i waenganui i nga iwi, tētahi i tētahi.
Ētahi atu waka
Ka rere a Whanganui, mai i te puku o Te Ika-a-Māui ki tōna pūaha, e 230 km te roa o te awa ka taea e te waka. Neke atu i te 80 ngā pā me ngā kāinga e tū ana i ōna tahatika. Koinei tētahi o ngā huarahi nui mō te Māori i ōna wā. Nā tēnei āhuatanga ka whai pānga ki te awa a Ngāti Maniapoto me Ngāti Raukawa o Tainui, a Ngāti Kahungunu o Tākitimu, a Ngāti Tūwharetoa o Te Arawa.
