Kahukuranui was a Māori ariki (chieftain) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi and ancestor of the Ngāti Kahukuranui hapū of Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti. He led an expedition to Te Pōrangahau in order to avenge Tūpouriao and marry his widow Tū-teihonga. He may have lived in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries.
Kahukuranui was the son of Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine. He was born at Nukutaura on Mahia Peninsula and was the only one of their children to receive a whare-kōhanga ("nest house"), a building specially erected for the mother to give birth in.[1] Through his father, he was a direct descendant of Tamatea Arikinui, captain of the Tākitimu canoe.[2] Through his mother, he was probably descended from Ruawharo, the tohunga (priest) of the Tākitimu, and Popoto, one of the captains of the Kurahaupō canoe. Mitchell characterises him as a man of peace, like his father, who secured his position through marriages, notably with Ruatapu-wahine, an adoptive daughter of his maternal grandfather.
Kahukuranui's brother Tuaiti had married Moetai daughter of Moeahu and settled at Rurutawhao at Aranui (near Frasertown). Tuaiti murdered his brother-in-law Te Rironga, so Moeahu and his son-in-law Rongo-whakaata killed Tuaiti. The elderly Kahungunu went to Wairoa and got the rangatira Wekanui to lead a war party to get revenge on Rongo-whakaata. Kahukuranui also joined the campaign. At the Battle of Kai-whakareireia, Wekanui was victorious and captured a noblewoman named Pou-wharekura (a great-grand-niece of Kahungunu). Wekanui and Kahukuranui both claimed Pou-wharekura. To avoid a conflict, Kahungunu married her himself.
Kahukuranui heard that Tūpouriao of Ōtātara (near Taradale) had been killed in battle with Te Pōrangahau and resolved to marry Tūpouriao's beautiful widow Tū-teihonga. He arrived at Ōtātara at night and Tū-teihonga would not see him, so he stood outside where she was sleeping and said Maori: ure whakapā-ko-ko ("penis touches it") and she said Maori: Ko wai tēnei e whakapā-ko-ko mai nei? ("Who's that there saying 'touches it'?"). Kahukuranui announced himself and his wish to marry her, but she said that she would not remarry until Tūpouriao had been avenged.
Therefore, Kahukuranui set out for Te Pōrangahau's settlement, also called Te Pōrangahau (south of Waipukurau) with a war party of 250 men. Tū-te-ihonga said that Te Pōrangahau would be identifiable as a man in a cloak of kākā feathers, wielding a taiaha-kura. Te Pōrangahau appeared and single-handedly drove back the attackers, until he reached Kahukuranui, who took him captive and brought him back to Ōtātara, where Tū-te-ihonga killed him. She then married Kahukuranui.
Kahukuranui married Ruatapuwahine,[3] Their children were:
He also married Tū-te-ihonga. Their children were the ancestors of the main line of Ngāti Kahungunu:
Finally, he married Hinekumu and had one child:
The Ngāti Kahukuranui hapū of Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti is named after Kahukuranui.
At Omāhu marae, which is linked to Ngāti Kahungunu, the wharenui is named Kahukuranui and the whare kai (dining hall) is named after his first wife Ruatapuwahine.[4] At Kahungunu Marae at Nūhaka, which is linked to Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Kahukuranui was depicted on one of the original poupou (carved wall panels) of the wharenui, when it was opened in 1947. Later, his name was also given to the tiki carved on the koruru (gable) of the wharenui.[5] This location that is traditionally reserved for the chief ancestor honoured by the marae.