Te Huki
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Te Huki was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi and Ngāti Rakaipaaka hapū from around the Mohaka in northern Hawke Bay, New Zealand. Through a set of marriages, he created a network of connections along the east coast of the North Island, known as Te Kupenga a Te Huki ("the net of Te Huki"). He probably lived in the early eighteenth century.[1]
Te Huki was the son of Tureia and Hinekimihanga. Through his father, he was a direct male-line descendant of Rakaipaaka, and through both parents of Kahungunu and Tamatea Arikinui, who captained the Takitimu waka from Hawaiki to New Zealand.[2] He had two younger sisters, Te Rauhina, who married her cousin Tapuwae, and Te Rangimokai, who married Te Hikawera.[3]
Te Huki was originally based in the area along the coast of Hawke Bay between Waihua and Mohaka, which is known after him as Ngā Ngaru a Te Huki ("the waves of Te Huki").[4] Through a succession of marriages, Te Huki established a network of connections that extended along the east coast of the North Island from Tūranganui-a-Kiwa to Wairarapa, which was known as Te Kupenga a Te Huki ("the net of Te Huki").[5] The southern "post" of the net was his grandson Ngarangi-whakaupoko, whom he installed at Te Poroporo, near Pōrangahau; the eastern "post" was his grandson Ngā-whaka-tātare, at Whāngārā; and the centre "float" was his son Puruaute.[4] J.H. Mitchell reports that Te Huki's three wives all remained in their areas of origin, while he travelled between them. This made him popular with his in-laws' peoples and ensured that they supported his children as leaders.[6] Other reports say that his first wife, Te Rangitohumare, settled with him at Wairoa.[7]
Te Huki was attacked, killed, and eaten by Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, while crossing the Te Arai River on his way to visit his third wife at Tītīrangi in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. This murder was avenged by his cousin Te-O-Tane and his grandson Te Kahu-o-te-Rangi at the Battle of Whāwhāpō.[6]