Te Ahikā - Hingangaroa me Iranui - Mark Kopua (Full interview)

Te Ahikā 2019 - Tohunga Whakairo, Mark Kopua discusses the Hingangaroa me Iranui whakairo that was gifted by Toi Māori to Te Aitanga a Hauiti. He describes the origins of the whakairo at a Toi Māori Festival in 2005. He also explains the reasoning behind the name Hingangaroa me Iranui. This whakairo is now installed in pride of place, on the main street on Uawa, Tolaga Bay NZ.
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Hingangaroa and Iranui are two prominent ancestors, who many people descend from. Including Te Whanau a Apanui (through the eldest son Taua), Ngati Porou (through Mahaki Ewe Karoro), and Te Aitanga a Hauiti who trace their whakapapa from the youngest son, Hauiti.
Iranui was the sister of Kahungunu. She and her brother had travelled from the north. Iranui remained in Uawa, and her brother carried on further south. Iranui demonstrated the concept of haumi waka with her husband Hingangaroa. This is the joining of two parts to make a single waka, as the joining of two people. It is this demonstration that is presented in this whakairo of Hingangaroa me Iranui.
Hingangaroa established Te Whare Wānanga o Te Rawheoro as a traditional Māori university of learning in the 15th Century. In verse six of Te Tangi a Rangiuia, Rangiuia acknowledges Hingangaroa as the architect of Te Rawheoro as a learning institution:
“Ko Tataiarorangi,
ko Te Huapae ra,
ko Te Rangihopukia, ko Hinehuhuritai,
me ko Manutangirua, ko Hingangaroa.
Ka tu tona whare Te Rawheoro e.
Ka tipu te whaihanga e hika ki Uawa”.
The translation for this verse is:
“Tataiarorangi
had Te Huapae
Te Rangihopukia
had Hinehuhuritai
Manutangirua
had Hingangaroa
He it was who established the house Te Rawheoro,
And the art’s flourished, my son, in Uawa”.
Sir. Apirana Ngata wrote about Te Rawheoro:
“Ko te whare wananga whai mana tenei o te pito whakararo o Te Tairawhiti, a, ki te titiro iho ki nga tohunga o Wairarapa, kua tuhia nei a ratau korero e Te Whatahoro, ko te whare whaimana tera o Te Tairawhiti katoa.”
In the time of Hingangaroa, Te Rawheoro was the prominent house of learning on the southern end of the Tairawhiti, and if you research the writings of the scholars of the Wairarapa, their thoughts written by Te Whatahoro, this was the most important house of learning in all of the Tairawhiti. Both the Taowaru and the Manaia patterns used in carving originated from Te Rawheoro.