Story: Te Arawa
Mt Tongariro (the flat-topped mountain in the left foreground of this photograph) marks the southern boundary of the Te Arawa peoples. In Te Arawa tradition the explorer Ngātororoirangi climbed Tongariro as a storm was raging. When he finally reached the summit, Ngātororoirangi cried out for his sisters Kuiwai and Haungaroa in Hawaiki to send him some fire. With this fire he created a volcano and named it after his sacrificed slave, Ngāuruhoe. In this view Mt Ngāuruhoe can be seen in the middle ground, and Mt Ruapehu on the right.
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GNS Science
Reference: 5322/11
Photograph by Lloyd Homer
Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image