Skip to main content

Story: Traditional Māori religion – ngā karakia a te Māori

'Te Komiti o Tupai' manuscript

This is the writing of Pūrākau Maika at Kehemane (Tākitimu meeting house) on 12 May 1904. 'Te Komiti o Tupai' is named after the Wairarapa ancestor, Tupai, a tohunga on the Takitimucanoe who disembarked at Wairarapa and established a whare wānanga. The role of the 'Komiti o Tupai' was to try to record traditional teachings of the whare wānanga as transmitted by Te Mātorohanga and Nēpia Pōhūhū, two renowned Wairarapa tohunga.

Using this item

Private collection

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Basil Keane, Traditional Māori religion – ngā karakia a te Māori – Ngā atua – the gods, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/30775/te-komiti-o-tupai-manuscript (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 28 April 2011.

Comments

Colin Andrews
25 December 2024
In regards my last comment, the date of the Takatimu Waka coming to New Zealand was actually about 500 years not 600.
Colin John Andrews
25 December 2024
In regards the comments made by me on 04 August 2023, the answer to this query as stated above incorrect. An oversight on my part, related to the research on this subject. The mistake I made between Tupai and Rupai is about 600 years apart. The first reference of Tupai is indeed that of the Maori religious mythology brought to Aotearoa Circa 1350 in the most sacred tapu waka Takatimu. Rupai, about 600 years later is the young Maori boy, in my comment above, full name George Rupai believed christened by Bishop Selwyn Circa 1841 with an English first name. Rupai, a student at Eton College for 2 years, taught Bishop Selwyn to speak Maori and learn the Maori culture to build Christianity on. Bishop Selwyn invited Rupai to accompany him on his voyage to New Zealand, and it was during this 6-month voyage that Bishop Selwyn became fluent in the speaking the Maori language, and his first sermon in New Zealand was in Maori.
Colin Andrews
04 August 2023
Is this Tohunga 'Tupai' associated with the Takitimu waka and the brother in law of Tamatea-arikinui (captain of the Takitimu waka) related to 'Tupai' who, as a young Maori boy, having had two years schooling in England in the late 1830s, early 1840s, returned to Aotearoa 1841 with Bishop Selwyn?