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I doze, I sleep, I dream, my reality. I have been tasked to accompany Hine-i-Kauīa, the daughter of Muriwai. Our destination, Ōpōtiki-mai-tawhiti. A position of control is destined, bone through matrimony. The whakapapa now explains the relatedness uniting the descendants of ngā waka Nukutere and Mātaatua. Ōmarūmutu marae, elevated above Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwi with Whakaari cradled on the horizon; with panoramic views to the south of the Rāhui Valley and up to Kapuārango in the interior of the Waiaua Valley to the south-west, and within the landscape icons of Mākeo, the impressive coned shaped fortress and the meandering river of the Waiaua; sees established the seat of power of Tūtātmure and Hineikauīa and signifying the tribal aphorism:

Ko Mākeo to maunga, ko Waiaua to awa, ko Tūtāmure raua ko Hine-i-Kauīa nga tangata.

I am awake. I take my place on the surf club control tower. My eyes peel to the east where I imagine Tārawa and his companions rollicking, reposed at the mouth of the Waioeka and Otara rivers and further along the coastline to Hukawai and Tirohanga where Omarumutu holds its position. To the fore Whakaari, White Island stands proud on the horizon, gentle puffs of volcanic vapour egress the island’s vertex. To the west, I pick up the silhouette of Moutohora, Whale Island that watches over the whānau of Muriwai. Tangaroa connects Nukutere and Mātaatua.

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Picture source: The Journal of the Polynesian Society

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