Manaia (legendary chief)

He developed a fierce rivalry with his brother-in-law Ngātoro-i-rangi, the ancestor of Ngati Tuwharetoa, but was defeated by him in Hawaiki at the battles of Ihumotomotokia and Tarai-whenua-kura.

Manaia was born on Hawaiki and was married to Kuiwai, the sister of Ngātoro-i-rangi, a powerful tohunga, who travelled to New Zealand and became the ancestor of Ngati Tuwharetoa.

[1] After Ngātoro-i-rangi had departed for New Zealand on the Arawa canoe, Manaia held a feast, at which the food cooked by Kuiwai was found to be under-cooked.

Kuiwai invoked the gods Kahukura, Itupawa, and Rongomai and received approval to send warning to Ngātoro-i-rangi in New Zealand.

[5] In their over-confidence, Manaia's men assumed that the priests' incantations had successfully killed their enemies and delivered them to the ovens.

[6] Ngātoro-i-rangi returned to New Zealand and settled at Matarehua on Mōtītī Island, where he built a house for himself and his wife called Taimaihi-o-Tongo.