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Kamira, (Takou) Himiona Tupakihi 1880 – 1953 (73 yrs) Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri, Rangatira, tohunga, writer, orator, historian and genealogist

Almost all of the information in this article is from unpublished manuscripts held in the Auckland City Library's Special Collections Heritage Vault. The manuscripts are written completely in traditional Te Reo (the Maori language) and are not translated. They are currently under restricted access and it is planned that they will soon be released for wider access, study, interpretation and possible partial translation into English. As a result of these conditions, few published sources will be found but it is expected that in the future, a number of articles and papers will be generated from the original texts following their release.

Himiona Tupakihi Kamira (also known as Takou) was a rangatira, tohunga, writer, orator, historian and genealogist. He was born in 1880 at Reena in the north-western Hokianga. Takou lived there and at Matihetihe. It was in Reena in an small nikau hut that much of his writing was penned.

Takou's father was Tupakihi Kamira, also known as Raukohe. Tupakihi was the son of Kamira Haka. Takou's mother was Maata Himione, also known as Ngareta or Reta. She was Tupakihi’s third wife. Takou was their only son although he had five elder half-brothers and sisters. On 24 April 1899, Takou married Mereana Harekuku (also affectionately known as "Te Ruru") of Orira. She was the half sister of Ngakuru Pene Haare. Father John Baptist Becker, known to Hokianga Maori as Pa Hoane, performed the ceremony at Matihetihe. The couple had two children; a daughter, Akata (Kata) Monika, and a son, Pita Himiona. Akata had no children, and Pita had four sons whose children today are direct descendants of Takou.

Takou's principal hapu (sub-tribal groups) were Te Taomaui and Te Hokokeha, both within the larger tribal groups of Te Rarawa. He also had links with Te Aupouri, Ngati Kahu, Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua.

As a young man, Takou was given specialist tribal knowledge by his father, Tupakihi, and his paternal grandfather Kamira Haka.

Takou was a prolific writer. In 1905, he began recording the lives and work of his community in meticulous detail. He also attended the Whare Wananga O Hokianga (house of learning). His manuscripts included details and knowledge of whakapapa (genealogy), pakanga (battles), the days and hours of his children’s and grandchildren's births, lists of waka (ocean-going canoes) and their crew, and instructions for planting, weeding and fishing according to the Maori maramataka (calendar).

These manuscripts also listed the names of ancestral houses, houses of mourning, and pa (village) and burial sites. They recorded accounts of people, land and battles over many generations and included minutes and notes from meetings and wananga (gatherings of specialists to discuss traditional tribal knowledge).

In addition, his writings contained extensive waiata (chants and songs), karakia (incantations) and accounts of historical importance, for example the arrival of Kupe from Hawaiki - an ancient location from which the great migration of canoes navigated the South Pacific Ocean to Aotearoa. He provided details of the rituals of tohunga (specialists in traditional knowledge), and the calling and training of their tauira (students); he also described the construction and opening of whare wananga (schools of learning), and the teaching that was given there.

Takou collected the main genealogy of the major northern tribal groups, and traced the descents and intermarriages between those groups. He was an important contributor at a number of hui wananga (meetings to discuss traditional knowledge) where genealogies were debated and recorded. These were generally held over three days and attended by about 18 elders.

Takou preserved this knowledge via a range of manuscripts for his descendants, the people of the Hokianga, and for many tribal groups of Northland. The manuscripts, while held privately to date, are Takou’s greatest contribution to future generations. They comprise of 15 volumes housed in an environmentally controlled vault in Auckland for safe-keeping.

Following Takou’s death in 1953, Auckland University's Professor Bruce Biggs published one of Takou's accounts on Kupe in the Journal of the Polynesian Society. Aside from this one published piece, there are no other known published works.

Takou Himiona Kamira died at Mitimiti on 28 August 1953. He was buried at Matihetihe. The Northland Times described him as a Rangatira and mourned the passing of one of the 'living storehouses of ancient lore’.

References

Biggs, B., & Mead, S. M. (Eds), (1964). Kupe. He Kohikohinga Aronui: Selected Readings In Maori. Auckland, Aotearoa: The University of Auckland.