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Te whakatuwheratanga o Te Tumu Herenga Waka : 6 Tihema 1986, Poneke, Te Whare Wananga o Wikitoria
MIHIKITEKAPUA
MIHIKITEKAPUA
The bottom figure on this poupou portrays Mihikitekapua, the prolific composer, not to be confused with Mihikitekapua, wife of Parahaki, who lived generations before the former, although both were of Tuhoe descent.
Mihikitekapua lived mostly at Te Matuaahu, a pa situated at the northern end of Lake Waikaremoana but during Te Kooti's campaign in the 1860's, she lived for a while at Te Whaiti.
Mihikitekapua is noted for composing waiata aroha; songs of yearning. They were mostly about the way she felt: her yearning for her children, now all grown-up and living elsewhere, and also her desire to be with her relatives in the hinterland of Te Urewera. It seems that Mihi spent the latter part of her life living alone at Te Matuaahu. This is supported by two lines in one of her songs;
- 'Ko au anake ra i mahue iho nei, e Hei heteri kiritai ki Te Matuaahu
- alone am left here,
- As a sentinel of the approaches to Te Matuaahu
- Her classic Taku Rakau' is now known and sung throughout Maoridom.