Paikea

Say it: PIE-keh-ah

Carried across the ocean on the back of a whale after his brother tried to drown him. Paikea is what survives betrayal and arrives anyway.

Te Kāwai (Line of descent)

Te Kore → Te ira tangata → Paikea

Te Kōrero (the story)

Kahutia-te-rangi's half-brother Ruatapu scuttled their canoe to drown him and the young chiefs with him. He alone called on the sea creatures, and a tohorā carried him from Hawaiki to Whangara on the East Coast. He came ashore as Paikea, took the name of the whale, and became the founding ancestor of Ngāti Porou.

Te Whakapapa (the genealogy)

Son of Uenuku; half-brother of Ruatapu; carried by Tangaroa's descendants; founding tupuna of Ngāti Porou and kin lines along Te Tairāwhiti.

Ngā Mana (domains and influence)

Tohorā and the great sea creaturesSafe arrival after disasterThe whakapapa of Whangara and Ngāti Porou

Kei Kōnei Rātou (they are present here)

A whale spout on the horizon, or news of one stranded.
Being the only one left standing after something falls apart.
Reaching shore — literally, or the end of a hard month.

Ngā Huarahi Hono (ways to connect)

You see or hear of a whale

Stop what you're doing and acknowledge it aloud. Tohorā are relatives, not sightings.

You've come through something you shouldn't have

Say thank you to the water in whatever form is nearest — a river, the sea, the tap.

A Common Misunderstanding

This profile holds one telling of Paikea. Pūrākau and whakapapa can differ between iwi and whānau, so it should not be read as the only account.

Ngā Uara (values)

Steady

A quality carried in the kōrero of Paikea.

Grateful

A quality carried in the kōrero of Paikea.

Unbitter

A quality carried in the kōrero of Paikea.

Long memory

A quality carried in the kōrero of Paikea.

Ngā Pūrākau (the traditional stories)

Told in full, the way they would be shared out loud. Versions differ between iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whānau (family).

Te rerenga i runga i te tohorā — the crossing on the whale

How a betrayal at sea became the beginning of a whole people at Whāngārā.

About 4 min read

Te ū ki Whāngārā — landfall and the whakapapa that followed

What Paikea built once he reached the shore, and why the whale still comes home.

About 4 min read