Te Heuheu 11 1843 1846 Waikato Nz

edmondsallan - Hello - On 7 May 1846 Mananui was killed by a landslide which swept down Kakaramea mountain after heavy rain and overwhelmed Te Rapa. Several members of his family - his second son, Te Waaka, and all his wives - and 54 others died. The only one to escape was Mananui's half-brother, Tokena Te Kerehi. His brother Iwikau was living at Waihi, at the southern end of Lake Taupo, at the time, and his son Horonuku (the son of Te Mare), also known as Patatai, was away in Waikato. The body of Nohopapa was found with Mananui's mere, Pahikaure, in her hands.

The bodies of Mananui and Nohopapa were placed in a vault at Pukawa. Mananui's body was later taken to a burial cave on Tongariro. In 1910 his remains were brought back to Waihi by his grandson, Wi Tamaiwhana, and are buried in the mausoleum on the hill at the southern end of Waihi village. Within a few days Wi Tamaiwhana was killed by another landslide at the very place where Mananui had died. It is said that he had violated a tapu by touching the body of Mananui and then passing by a hangi (on the site of the earlier landslide) which still had scraps of food about it.

Mananui was the most influential leader in the central North Island, and one of the most distinguished Maori of his time. He led his tribe wisely; he forbade the practice of cannibalism; he was respected by his enemies. He was a man of great physical stature, as well as great mana. The artist George French Angas described him in the early 1840s as 'a fine old man with an imposing appearance and dignified carriage; he stands nearly seven feet high and is very corpulent. His hair is silvery white and his people compare it to the snowy head of the sacred Tongariro, there being no object, except this tapu mountain, of equal sanctity to permit of its being mentioned in connection with the head of this chief.'

Mananui is remembered for many sayings and songs. When he was asked why he was so successful in war he replied: 'If you seize a tree by its trunk you cannot move it, but if you seize it by the branches you can shake it, right down to the roots.' The lament he composed on the death of his father, Herea, is one of the sacred songs of Ngati Tuwharetoa. The first verse of this lament is sung only for direct descendants in the Te Heuheu line.
Till we meet again - Regards - edmondsallan