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Patupaiarehe

by  Martin Wikaira

Kei ngā tihi o ngā maunga i Te Urewera me te wao o Waikato ētahi o ngā wāhi noho o te iwi patupaiarehe. Kāore i tino kitea tēnei iwi. Ka taea e rātou te whakawai i te tangata mā te whakatangi i ā rātou pūtōrino. He iwi mōhio, he iwi rerekē rātou. Ka whakapae ētahi he uri ngā tāngata urukehu o te iwi Māori nō ngā patupaiarehe.


Patupaiarehe and ponaturi

Patupaiarehe

E ai ki te Māori he iwi urukehu te iwi patupaiarehe; ko ētahi atu o ōna ingoa ko te tūrehu, ko te pakepakehā. Kei ngā ngahere me ngā pae maunga ō rātou kāinga. Ahakoa te mea i a rātou ētahi āhuatanga o te ira tangata, ka tirohia te iwi patupaiarehe pēnei i te iwi atua tonu atu.

Kāore i tino kitea tēnei iwi, ā, kāore i tino nui ngā kōrero mō rātou. E ai ki te hunga i tūtaki ki a rātou, i te mārama tonu rātou ki ngā kōrero a ngā patupaiarehe. Heoi, tērā tētahi kōrero e kī ana he reo tapepe tō rātou.

Te tinana o te patupaiarehe

He kiritea te patupaiarehe. E ai ki a Hēmi Kāwana (James Cowan), ‘he tea ake te kiri o te patupaiarehe i tō te Māori, ā, he urukehu. Kitea ai ēnei āhuatanga i ētahi o te iwi Māori o ēnei rā.’ 1

Kāore i haea ō rātou kiri ki te uhi matarau pērā i te Māori. Hei tā Mohi Tūrei o Ngāti Porou he tea, he whero rānei te kiri o te patupaiarehe. He tea rānei, he kikorangi rānei, he pango rānei ō rātou whatu.

Kāore tonu i te mōhiotia tūturutia te tāroaroa o te patupaiarehe. E ai ki a Ngāi Tūhoe, he iwi hakahaka te iwi patupaiarehe; hei ētahi atu iwi, he ōrite tō rātou hanga ki te tangata. E ai ki ngā iwi o Whanganui, he hanga nui te patupaiarehe, neke atu i te 2 mita te tāroaroa.

Ngā nohoanga o te patupaiarehe

Kitea ai te patupaiarehe i te wao nui me ngā maunga pōkia e te kohu. Whakatūria ai ō rātou pā ki ēnei wāhi. Arā anō ngā kōrero e mea ana i hangaa e te patupaiarehe ō rātou whare i te kohu me te kareao.

Ko ngā rohe o Te Ika-a-Māui e nōhia ana e te patupaiarehe ko te riu o Waikato-Waipā, ko te pae o Moehau me Te Aroha, ko ngā karahiwi i Rotorua, ko Te Urewera, ko ngā rohe o Te Wairoa, ko ngā pae maunga o Waitākere i te takiwā o Tāmaki-makau-rau.

E ai ki ngā kōrero i Te Wai Pounamu, noho ai ngā patupaiarehe ki ngā maunga o Te Whakaraupō (Lyttleton Harbour) i Akaroa, ki te ika whenua o Tākitimu, tae atu ki te ika whenua i waenganui i te awa o Arahura me Kōtuku-moana (Lake Brunner).

Te noho a tēnei iwi

He rite te iwi patupaiarehe ki te iwi Māori; arā, he iwi noho i runga i ngā tātai whakapapa. I te tau 1894, ka whakahuatia e Hoani Nahe o Ngāti Maru ngā hapū e toru a te Patupaiarehe: ko Ngāti Kura, ko Ngāti Kōrakorako, ko Ngāti Tūrehu. Ko Tahurangi rātou ko Whanawhana, ko Nukupori ō rātou rangatira nui. He iwi noho wehe ēnei iwi, kāore i rata ki te rāwaho.

Kei te ngahere ngā mahinga kai a te iwi Patupaiarehe, kainga ai e rātou ngā kai maota, hopukina ai ngā ika i te moana me ngā roto. Hangaia ai ō rātou waka i te kōrari. Anuanu ki te patupaiarehe ngā kai maoa. Nō rātou te mana mō ngā manu kōrako, ngā harakeke whero me ngā tuna whero; ki te raweketia ēnei kai e te tangata Māori, he mate kei te haere.

Ka huna te patupaiarehe i ngā hihi o te rā. Ko ngā wā pai mō rātou ko te ahiahi, ko ngā pō, tae atu ki ngā rā pōkia i te kohu. He pora, he pūreke ō rātou kākahu; he iwi whakatangi kōauau, pūtōrino te iwi patupaiarehe.

Te taunaha maunga

Tērā te kōrero mō Īhenga, i te maroketanga o tana korokoro i tōna kakenga i tētahi maunga i te takiwā o Rotorua, ka puta ake tētahi wahine patupaiarehe me tana tahā wai hei inumanga māna; whāia, ka tapaina e ia taua maunga, ko Ngongotahā. Tērā anō te kōrero mō te maunga rā a Mauao i te moana o Tauranga, kāore a ia i arongia e Pūwhenua te maunga purotu. Nā te kaha o tana aroha, ka tono a Mauao ki ngā patupaiarehe kia tōia a ia ki te moana takoto ai. I te whitinga o te rā ka marara te iwi patupaiarehe rā, ka tū te maunga rā ki te ākau; koinā te take tapaina ai ia, ko Mauao.

Ponaturi

Noho ai te iwi ponaturi i te moana. He whero ō rātou makawe, he tea ō rātou kiri, he tino roa ngā matikara o ō rātou ringaringa. Hei ngā rā noho ai rātou i te takere o te moana; hei ngā pō rā anō kake ai rātou ki te whenua. Ka tino wehi te ponaturi ki te ahi me te rā.

Tērā te kōrero mō Tāwhaki, nāna i patu te iwi ponaturi hei ranaki i te matenga o tōna matua. Nāna rātou i tinihanga kia noho ki tōna whare kia whiti rawa te rā, kātahi ka huakina e rāua ko tana teina ngā tatau me ngā matapihi o te whare kia uru mai te rā; mate katoa atu te iwi ponaturi rā.

Footnotes
  1. James Cowan, ‘The patu-paiarehe: notes on Maori folk-tales of the fairy people.’ Journal of the Polynesian Society 30 (1921): 96–102; 142–151. › Back

Encounters with patupaiarehe

Kāwhaki tangata

Ka whakatangi te patupaiarehe i tana kōauau ki te whakawai i ngā wahine pūrotu; kātahi ka whakahokia ki tōna puninga, ka aitia, ka tukua kia haere. Whāia, ka karanga te patupaiarehe ki a ia, me haere te wahine rā.

E ai ki te Māori, he uri ngā tāngata urukehu me ngā kōrako nō te patupaiarehe me ngā wahine nā rātou i ai. Ki te hopukina he tāngata e ngā patupaiarehe, ko ētahi ka mauheretia, ko ētahi ka tukuna, ko ētahi ka patua.

Te ārai i te patupaiarehe

He rautaki anō hei ārai i te patupaiarehe. Tērā te kōrero mō te tangata rā a Whanawhana; hei ngā wā kua tata te patupaiarehe, ka pania ō rātou whare ko ōna whanaunga ki te kōkōwai, ka tahuna ā rātou umu, he anuanu hoki ki te patupaiarehe ēnei mea.

Ko ētahi Patupaiarehe ka wehi i te mura o te ahi, nā reira kia mura tonu ngā ahi tangata i te pō. Tohungia ai ngā tamariki kia kaua e puta ki waho i te pā, kei mau rātou i te patupaiarehe.

Pākehā

He kupu anō te ‘pakepakehā’ mō te ‘patupaiarehe’. Ko te whakapae nō konei te kupu rā te ‘pākehā’. Ki tā te Māori titiro, he rite te āhua o te tangata Pākehā ki te patupaiarehe – he kiritea, he urukehu.

Te Māori mete kupenga ika

Tērā te rangatira a Kahukura i te haere i tētahi o ana haerenga i te tai tokerau. I tētahi pō ka moe ia ki tētahi one mokemoke. Nā te aha, ka oho ia, ka rongo i ētahi reo e kōrerorero ana, e katakata ana. Ka kite a Kahukura i te iwi patupaiarehe e kukume ana i tā rātou kupenga puhake i te ika. Ahakoa tana mataku, ka whakamomoka a Kahukura ki waenganui i te iwi rā ki te tāhae i te kupenga rā me te ako mō tōna hanganga. Nā tana hanga poto me tana urukehu, tae atu ki te pōuri, kāore a Kahukura i arongia e te iwi patupaiarehe rā. Ka taka te whakaaro i a Kahukura, ki te whakaroaroa i te iwi patupaiarehe rā. Whāia, ka āwhina a ia i te iwi patupaiarehe rā ki te tuitui ā rātou ika poka ki runga taura, hāunga ā Kahukura tuituinga, i waiho e ia kia tangatanga kia takaroa ai te mahi. Nō te pūaotanga o te ao, ka marara ngā patupaiarehe, ka whakarērea tā rātou kupenga me ngā ika. Whāia, ka ako a Kahukura i ngā mōhiotanga mō te hanga kupenga hei ako ki tōna iwi.

Miru te patupaiarehe

Nā te patupaiarehe rā nā Miru te Māori i ako ki ngā karakia me ngā mātauranga o tōna ao. Ka moe a Miru i tana wahine Māori; whāia, ka mauria e ia tōna hungarei ki tōna ao kia akona ki ngā karakia me ngā tikanga. Nā konei tau ai te mākutu, te ātahu, ērā pūkenga ki te ao Māori. I tua atu, ka akona te iwi Māori ki ngā tākaro whai me ngā tākaro tititorea.


Hononga, rauemi nō waho

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How to cite this page: Martin Wikaira, 'Patupaiarehe', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/patupaiarehe/print (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Martin Wikaira, i tāngia i te 24 o Hepetema 2007