English: The meeting house Te Tokanganui-a-noho originally stood at Mōtakotako one of the principal settlements of Ngāti Wakamarurangi a hapu of Ngāti Haua. It was built and carved by Tapihana for Ngāti Whakamarurangi and Ngāti Hikairo of Kāwhia. From 1868 to 1878 Ngāti Whakamarurangi provided political sanctuary to Ngāti Hikairo after they had been expelled from Kāwhia by Tāwhiao for being "loyalists". The building of Te Tokanganui-a noho was a collaborative one between the two tribal groups, the name chosen was emblematic of their political position and was an old Hikairo whakatauki/proverbial saying. The house was opened in 1873, the mana whenua or hosts were Ngāti Whakamarurangi / Haua and Ngāti Hikairo, the manuwhiri/visitors present were led by a "tira wāhine" a group of high ranking women who had been sent by Tawhiao as peacemakers (Tāwhiao's wife Parehauraki and his sister Tiria led the delegation). Some years later Tāwhiao asked Ngāti Hikairo to return home to Kāwhia, they exhumed their dead from Mōtakotako, dismantled the house Te Tokanganui-a-noho and removed home to Torea, Kāwhia. The house was re-erected but was consumed by fire shortly after being rebuilt.

At the same time a large house at Te Kuiti called Tokangamutu was in the final stages of refurbishment by Te Kooti (an act of regard for his hosts Maniapoto for providing him with political sanctuary). Once the refurbishment was completed and the re-dedication protocols were being considered, Taonui Hīkaka (Ngāti Maniapoto) travelled to Kāwhia to "tono" or ask that the name Tokanganui-a-noho be placed on the newly refurbished house at Te Kuiti. Appearing in the photo from left to right: Te Aua Tauwhenua Ngāti Te Wehi, Te Pahi Motutara Ngāti Haua, John Ellis trader/storekeeper, Te Whareroa Ngāti Whakamarurangi, Kauki Tauira Ngāti Kākati (who was married to John Ellis at the time). Reports on the 1873 opening of Tokanganui-a-noho at Mōtakotako were well recorded at the time and are on public record. The tribal affiliation of Te Whareroa also known as Rakena te Whareroa and Te Whareroa Poria has been incorrectly identified by Pākeha writers and historians. He is not from Ngāti Te Wehi, he is a Ngāti Whakamarurangi man of high rank, in 1887 he led the Ngāti Whakamarurangi land claim to the Manuaitu block on which Mōtakotako is sited.

[1]

date 1873 Robert Bush Resident Magistrate Raglan, report to the Native Minister 22nd November 1873 on opening of Te Tokanganui-a-noho at  

Mōtakotako.