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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 70
Tikirau
Tikirau.
Sir W. Buller supplies me with the following:—
"Tikirau, the ancient name of a kapehu or tara (long pendant with curved extremity), presented by Heni to Rei, daughter of the late chief Matene te Whiwhi, to the Hon. Huia Onslow (the infant son of the Earl of Onslow, Governor of New Zealand), on the occasion of his presentation to the Ngatihuia Tribe, at Otaki, on the 12th September, 1891.
"This kapehu is of pale kawakawa, and is not of the very best quality; but the relic is valuable because it was an heirloom in the family of Te Rangihaeata, the fighting chief of the Ngatitoa, The Maoris associate it with the following karakia (or incantation):—
"Ka haere trine, ka haere hine,
Te ara nui no Tikirau,
hoki atu, hoki mai
Ka rarapa ki, to rangi,
He uira."