Murirangaranga: A Treasured Taonga

Ngāti Tūtānekai, Ngāti Whakaue

During the birth of Tūtānekai, the tohunga (sacred expert), Te Murirangaranga, dedicated the young boy to Tūmatauenga, the god of war. However, Te Murirangaranga broke his tapu (sacred state) too soon after the ritual, angering the great chief Whakaue, who then had him killed.

A kōauau, or flute, was made from Te Murirangaranga’s forearm bone and was named after him. It became a prized taonga (possession) of Tūtānekai, who is famous today for guiding the beautiful and strong Hinemoa to him across the lake with his music.

At the battle of Kaokaoroa, in April 1864, the Te Arawa chief, Te Tohi Te Ururangi, a descendant of Tūtānekai, was killed while wearing Murirangaranga suspended from his neck.

Due to fear of the taonga being taken, the kōauau was lodged in the throat of Te Tohi. He was taken to Maketū the next day, and Murirangaranga was given to Ngāhuruhuru Pango.

On 7 February 1870, Captain Gilbert Mair successfully led a constabulary of soldiers against Te Kooti. Mair was given the kōauau in gratitude, and, in 1890, Murirangaranga was given to the Auckland Museum.

Murirangaranga was returned to Rotorua by the Auckland Museum in a special ceremony in the 1990s, where it is now cared for by the Rotorua Museum – Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa.

This story comes from the original Great Te Arawa Stories website created by Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru (NPeW) Education Trust in 2018. To ensure consistency, minimal updates were made to the text before it was transferred to this new site.