The Ngati Tuwharetoa people are descendants of the powerful Tohunga and great navigator, Ngatoroirangi who piloted the great waka ‘Te Arawa’ to Aotearoa (New Zealand). After a long journey from Hawaikii they made landfall at Maketu on the east cape of the North Island, New Zealand, then made their way to the inland regions of the Taupo district.

In order to claim the lands of Tongariro, Ngatoroirangi had to be the first to stand on its summit. While atop the mountain the southerly wind whipped his face, icy gales chiselled the warmth from his body while the frozen volcano cut painfully into his feet. As he lay dying he called to his sisters Kuiwai and Haungaroa in Hawaikii, to send fire to warm him –

Kuiwai e! Haungaroa e! Ka riro au i te tonga! Tukuna mai he ahi!
Oh Kuiwai! Oh Haungaroa! I am seized by the cold south wind! Send fire to me!

Heeding his call, they sent the fire demons, Te Pupu and Te Hoata. As they travelled underground the flames first erupted at White Island, then Rotorua and Taupo, finally bursting at the feet of Ngatoroirangi, welling up from the large vent in the volcano’s summit, warming the Tohunga and his companions, freeing them from the clutches of Hine Nui te Po (Goddess of Hades).

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