Tongātea

Tongātea (or possibly Tongatea) was a Māori rangatira (chieftain) of Ngāti Ruanui, based at Pātea in southern Taranaki, New Zealand.

[1] Tongātea was the son of Huetaepo and a direct descendant of Turi, the captain of the Aotea canoe.

[2] He had a sister, Rua-pū-tahanga, who married Whatihua, the rangatira of the northern part of Tainui, who was based at Kāwhia.

[3] When Rua-pū-tahanga gave birth to her first son, Uenuku-tuhatu, Tongātea set out from Pātea in order to carry out the tohi baptismal ritual, but at Marokopa he met and married a lady of Ngāti Awa, named Manu.

[4] After a while, Tongātea decided that it would be good to settle at Marokopa permanently, so he planned to return to Taranaki in order to gather a raiding party to seize the place.