# Kahupeka

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Māori healer in the 1400s

Rangiora, also known as the bushman's friend, as depicted by [Sarah Featon](/source/Sarah_Featon)

**Kahupeka** (sometimes referred to as **Kahu**, **Kahupekapeka** or **Kahukeke**) was a [Māori](/source/M%C4%81ori_people) [healer](/source/Folk_healer) in the 1400s who helped pioneer herbal medicine in [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand).[1] She is remembered in oral history as a [Tainui](/source/Tainui) explorer who travelled the [North Island](/source/North_Island_New_Zealand), naming several locations and experimenting with herbal medicines.[2][3]

## Life

30km
19miles

**9**

**8**

**7**

**6**

**5**

**4**

**3**

**2**

**1**

Kahupeka's journey, according to [Pei Te Hurinui Jones](/source/Pei_Te_Hurinui_Jones).[4]

1
 [Karioi](/source/Karioi)

2
 [Kāwhia](/source/K%C4%81whia)

3
 [Mount Pirongia](/source/Mount_Pirongia)

4
 [Te Aroha](/source/Te_Aroha)

5
 [Whakamaru](/source/Whakamaru)

6
 Hurakia

7
 [Rangitoto](/source/Rangitoto_Range)

8
 [Pureora](/source/Pureora_Forest_Park)

9
 Puke-o-kahu

According to [Pei Te Hurinui Jones](/source/Pei_Te_Hurinui_Jones), Kahupeka was a daughter of Rangaiho, son of Hape, son of Ngare, son of Rakatāura, a [tohunga](/source/Tohunga) of the *[Tainui](/source/Tainui_(canoe))* waka and his wife Kahukeke, daughter of [Hoturoa](/source/Hoturoa), leader of the *Tainui* waka.[5] She grew up on [Karioi](/source/Karioi) and travelled to [Kāwhia](/source/K%C4%81whia) to marry Ue, the senior male-line descendant of Hoturoa (Jones gives the line of descent as Hoturoa, Hotuope, Hotuāwhio, Hotumatapū, Mōtai, Ue).[5] Kahupeka had one son by Ue, Rakamaomao.[5]

After Ue's death, she was grief-stricken and journeyed inland from Kāwhia. While travelling around the Waikato region, she is credited with naming many [Waikato](/source/Waikato) landscape features including [Mount Pirongia](/source/Mount_Pirongia) and [Te Aroha](/source/Te_Aroha) mountains.[3][6][5] According to Jones, she first stopped at Mount Pirongia, which she called Pirongia-te-aroaro-o-Kahu ("Smelly-in-front-of-Kahu"). According to Tom Roa, she gave it this name because of symptoms of an illness that she was suffering from, which may have been the after-effects of a [miscarriage](/source/Miscarriage).[2] After this, she passed a stream which she named Manga-waero-o-te-aroaro-o-Kahu ("Creek-of-the-dog's-hair-apron-in-front-of-Kahu"), carried on to Te Aroha, which she named Te-Aroha-o-Kahu ("The Love of Kahu").[5] She decided to settle a little further south at a place that she named [Te-Whakamaru-o-Kahu](/source/Whakamaru) ("The Shelter of Kahu") and gathered the reeds for a house at Te-Whakakākaho-o-Kahu ("The reed-collecting-of-Kahu"), but the reeds were not good enough for building, so she carried on to the mountains west of [Lake Taupō](/source/Lake_Taup%C5%8D), which she named Hurakia-o-Kahu ("Exposing-of-Kahu").[5] She ran out of food at Maunga-pau-o-Kahu ("Mountain-of-the-starving-of-Kahu"), passed over [Rangitoto-o-Kahu](/source/Rangitoto_Range) ("Bloody-sky-of-Kahu"), fell sick and recovered at [Pureora-o-Kahu](/source/Pureora_Forest_Park) ("Recovery-of-Kahu") and finally settled and died at Puke-o-Kahu ("Hill-of-Kahu"). After this, her son Rakamaomao returned to Kāwhia.[4] Some of these claims are disputed, with many believing that it was her son who named Mount Pirongia.[1]

Stories suggest she experimented with native plants while attempting to treat her illness, specifically [harakeke](/source/Harakeke), [koromiko](/source/Koromiko_(disambiguation)), [kawakawa](/source/Kawakawa_(tree)), and [rangiora](/source/Brachyglottis_repanda).[2]

According to [Ranginui Walker](/source/Ranginui_Walker), Kahupeka was the wife of the tohunga Rakatāura, a [tohunga](/source/Tohunga), who settled at [Rarotonga / Mount Smart](/source/Mount_Smart) (i.e. the woman that Jones calls Kahukeke).[7] In this version, Rakatāura gives Te Aroha its name after Kahupeka's death in Waikato, in honour of the love he felt for her.[7]

## Recognition

In 2018, the [Royal Society Te Apārangi](/source/Royal_Society_Te_Ap%C4%81rangi) named Kahupeka as one of the [150 women](/source/150_women_in_150_words) who made 'valuable contributions to expanding knowledge in Aotearoa/New Zealand'.[1]

In August 2020, the Pūrākau children's series on [Māori Television](/source/M%C4%81ori_Television) included an episode featuring Kahupeka.[8]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-trailblazers1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-trailblazers1_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-trailblazers1_1-2) ["Trailblazers: Kahupeka"](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/trailblazers/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504553&objectid=12124486). *[The New Zealand Herald](/source/The_New_Zealand_Herald)*. 16 September 2018. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1170-0777](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1170-0777). Retrieved 11 October 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto1_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto1_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-auto1_2-2) ["Kahupeka"](https://royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/kahupeka/). *Royal Society Te Apārangi*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-whiting1_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-whiting1_3-1) Whiting, Cliff; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. ["Kahupeka"](https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/27068/kahupeka). *teara.govt.nz*. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–61_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–61_4-1) [Jones & Biggs 2004](#CITEREFJonesBiggs2004), pp. 58–61.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–59_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–59_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–59_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–59_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–59_5-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJonesBiggs200458–59_5-5) [Jones & Biggs 2004](#CITEREFJonesBiggs2004), pp. 58–59.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. ["14. – Waikato places – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand"](https://teara.govt.nz/en/waikato-places/page-14). *teara.govt.nz*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalker200446_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalker200446_7-1) [Walker 2004](#CITEREFWalker2004), p. 46.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Pūrākau, Episode 5](https://www.maoritelevision.com/shows/purakau/S01E005/purakau-episode-5), maoritelevision.com

## Bibliography

- Jones, Pei Te Hurinui; Biggs, Bruce (2004). *Ngā iwi o Tainui : nga koorero tuku iho a nga tuupuna = The traditional history of the Tainui people*. Auckland [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1869403312](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1869403312).

- [Walker, Ranginui](/source/Ranginui_Walker) (2004). "Nga Korero o Nehera". *Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou - Struggle Without End* (Second ed.). Auckland, New Zealand: [Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books_(NZ)). p. 46. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780143019459](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780143019459).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kahupeka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahupeka) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahupeka?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.