Te Arawa's ancestors onboard the Arawa were of the Ngāti Ohomairangi of Ra'iātea Island. Partially owing to a battle that broke out between them and Uenuku, in which their own Whakatūria fell in battle, Tamatekapua promised to captain the voyage to the islands of New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Ngāhue of the Tāwhirirangi canoe.
Construction of the canoe
A large tree was felled and from this the waka which came to be known as Arawa was formed. The men who turned this log into a beautifully decorated canoe were Rata, Wahieroa, Ngāhue and Parata. "Hauhau-te-rangi" and "Tuutauru" were the adzes they used for this time-consuming and intensive work. Upon completion, the waka was given the name Ngā rākau kotahi puu a Atua Matua in memory of Tamatekapua's grandfather Atuamatua. The waka was completed and berthed in Whenuakura Bay while Tamatekapua, in his capacity as chief of the canoe, set about trying to find a priest for the journey. Ngātoroirangi and his wife Kearoa were tricked by Tamatekapua to board the canoe to perform the necessary appeasement incantations to the gods prior to the canoe's departure. However, while they were on board, Tamatekapua signalled his men to quickly set sail, and before Ngātoroirangi and his wife could respond they were far out to sea.
Voyage to Aotearoa
One of the more dramatic stories pertaining to the voyage to New Zealand occurred because Tamatekapua became desirous of Kearoa. Ngātoroirangi noticed the glint in Tamatekapua's eye and took precautions to protect his wife during the night while he was on deck navigating by the stars. This was done by tying one end of a cord to her hair and holding the other end in his hand. However, Tamatekapua untied the cord from Kearoa's hair and attached it to the bed instead. He then made love to her, following this pattern over a number of nights. One night however, he was nearly discovered in the act by Ngātoroirangi, but just managed to escape. In his haste he forgot the cord. Ngātoroirangi noticed this and therefore knew that Tamatekapua had been with Kearoa. He was furious and, in his desire to gain revenge, raised a huge whirlpool in the sea named Te korokoro-o-te-Parata. The waka was about to be lost with all on board but Ngātoroirangi eventually took pity and caused the seas to become calm. One incident that occurred during this drama was that all the kūmara carried onboard the canoe were lost overboard, save for a few that were in a small kete being clutched by Whakaotirangi. Immediately after the calming of the seas, a shark was seen in the water. Ngātoro-i-rangi immediately renamed the waka Te Arawa, after this shark, which then accompanied the waka to Aotearoa, acting in the capacity of a kai-tiaki. The Arawa canoe then continued on to New Zealand without incident, finally sighting land at Whangaparaoa where feather headdresses were foolishly cast away due to greed and due to the beauty of the pohutukawa bloom. Upon landfall, an argument took place with members of the Tainui canoe over a beached whale and the ownership thereof. Tamatekapua again resorted to trickery and took possession of it despite rightful claim of the Tainui. The canoe then travelled north up the coast to the Coromandel Peninsula, where Tamatekapua first sighted the mountain Moehau, a place he was later to make home. Heading south again, it finally came to rest at Maketu, where it was beached and stood until being burnt by Raumati of Taranaki some years later. Some items of note that were brought to New Zealand on the Arawa, other than the precious kūmara saved by Whakaotirangi, was a tapu kōhatu left by Ngātoroirangi on the island Te Poito o te Kupenga a Taramainuku just off the coast of Cape Colville. This stone held the mauri to protect the Arawa peoples and their descendants from evil times. In addition, the canoe brought over two gods, one called Itupaoa, which was represented by a roll of tapa, and another stone carving now possibly buried at Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua.
