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Kōrero: Mau rākau – Māori use of weaponry

He karakia ki te whakaoho i te rākau

Ko te puru o Ngāti Whātua a Tamakihi e mau taiaha ana (i te tau 1847), rāua ko tōna matua a Apihai Te Kawau. E whai ake nei ko te karakia reo tao hei whakawana  i te rākau i mua i te haere ki te pakanga:

Tītoko māpuna, huaki rere, Te mangō taha rua, I rere ai te tapuae, I nguha ai te tapuae, I taka toto ai to tapuae, Tēnei hoki te tapuae ka rūmaki Ko tapuae o Tū. Hīkoia te whetū! Hīkoia te marama! Ka rere! ka rere! Ko te atawhaia.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0014-56

by George French Angas

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Rangi Matamua, Mau rākau – Māori use of weaponry – Weapons training, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/zoomify/39755/karakia-to-empower-a-weapon (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Rangi Matamua, i tāngia i te 28 November 2012.