‘TE RAUPARAHA WILL NEVER DIE’
In the autumn of 1833, Te Rauparaha and a small group of Ngāti Toa were in a canoe that was being driven east by fierce winds towards Te Rae-o-Te-Karaka (Cape Campbell), after they had narrowly avoided death at the hands of a Ngāi Tahu war party at Kāpara Te Hau (Lake Grassmere). Perhaps in exhilaration at their escape, one of the party, a man named Kōiro, described as being a little crazy, called out: “E kore e mate a Te Rauparaha, ahakoa whai noa te mano o te iwi, e kore rawa a Te Rauparaha e mate, he pakoko tawhito!” (Te Rauparaha will never die, even if he is pursued by thousands of people, Te Rauparaha will never, ever die, he is a venerable warrior!). In Tamihana Te Rauparaha’s account, Kōiro likens Te Rauparaha to an ancient carved ancestral image, impervious to the passage of time and other hazards.
Although Kōiro was unceremoniously tossed off, but that’s another story.
