Te Ōhākī o Wiremu Tāmehana

In February 2011, we were fortunate to  be escorted by Waikato’s ‘Kingmaker’ Ānaru Tāmehana into what is believed to be Māoridom’s first parliament building, Te Kauwhanganui.  This building stands a few metres away from our home marae of Rukumoana, and access is granted to but a few.   

Upon entering its doors, one of the most noticeable features was the line of photographs of the Kingmaker’s predecessors, which graced the wall of Te Kauwhanganui’s main house.  That was where the idea was born to compose a song that commemorates this illustrious line of leaders.  Moreover, we recognised that in spite of the plethora of waiata written about the line of Māori monarchs, it seemed that there were very few, if any, about the line of Kingmakers from Rukumoana whose responsibility it is to crown the next monarch.

The information in this waiata was provided by kaumātua, Rubel Rāpana.  It traces the line of Kingmakers, all the way back to Wiremu Tāmehana, who crowned the first Māori king Pōtatau Te Wherowhero.