In this artwork by John Bevan Ford, an amokura (red-tailed tropic bird) soars over Maungatautari, the traditional mountain of the Ngāti Raukawa tribe. Waitohi, a sister of Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha, urged Ngāti Raukawa leaders to return to the mountain, near the present-day town of Cambridge, and convince their people to migrate south. The tribe moved south to the Kapiti Coast, showing the mana (status) of this important woman. When the chief Te Whatanui was asked to return to Maungatautari for good, he described it as Te Kura-a-Tauninihi (the sacred treasure of Tauninihi). This refers to the amokura’s sacred feathers, brought to New Zealand on the Tainui migratory canoe.
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Manatū Taonga – Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Hand-coloured lithograph by John Bevan Ford
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