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Tama-te-Kapua, a MythSource painting
Polynesian

Tama-te-Kapua

01Identity

Tama-te-Kapua in Polynesian tradition

An insult sets Tama-te-Kapua and his family against Uenuku and Toi. In George Grey’s account, Uenuku’s dog eats matter from an ulcer, and Toi kills it. Tama and his brother Whakaturia answer by stealing fruit from Uenuku’s tree. They are caught, and Whakaturia is left hanging in the rafters of a smoky house.

Tama returns at night with a plan. He tells his brother to criticise the hosts’ dancing, then ask for the fine clothes and open door that will let him escape. The trick works, and the brothers run clear. The quarrel grows into a war between their people and Uenuku’s. After the escape, the feud widens into war, and Tama later seeks peace so that some of his people may survive.

SourcePolynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race: The Legend of Toi-Te-Huatahi and Tama-Te-Kapua, printed pp. 76-81

  • A named protagonist in George Grey’s account of conflict and migration from Hawaiki. (Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race)
Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Tama-te-Kapua

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Tama-te-Kapua and the Hawaiki dissensions

When Uenuku’s dog ate matter from an ulcer, Uenuku and Toi killed it. Tama-te-Kapua and his brother Whakaturia heard what had happened and sought revenge. They made stilts and went by night to eat the fruit on Uenuku’s poporo tree. Uenuku’s people watched the tree and caught them. Tama broke away, but Whakaturia was captured. They hung him in the rafters of Uenuku’s house and lit a fire below, expecting the smoke to kill him.

Tama went to the house at night and whispered a plan to his brother. Whakaturia should complain that the singing and dancing were poor. If the people asked him to perform, he should request clean clothes, feathers and Uenuku’s sword. As he danced, he could ask them to open the door for air. The next night, Whakaturia followed this advice, and Tama waited beside the doorway. When his brother sprang outside, Tama bolted the door and window. They ran as the crowd shouted after them. A stranger passing by soon pulled the bolts from the door and window, and the people inside poured out. The conflict grew into a war between their families. Toi and Uenuku’s forces entered the fortified settlement, and people died on both sides. Tama-te-Kapua survived and sought peace so that some of his people could be spared. The account says that peace lasted for a long time.

Tama-te-Kapua and the Hawaiki dissensions, a MythSource painting of the scene

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Tama-te-Kapua, each on that figure’s page.