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Te Rerenga a Tikawe

As told by Potaua and Karanata Waaka to Don Stafford in Te Arawa Stories. 

A long time ago, Tikawe lived on the Te Taiki pā at Motutawa. She was a woman of rank whose husband had abandoned her. In his absence Tikawe became the subject of gossip, accused of taking lovers. In answer to these insults she composed a waiata whakautu [waiata of reply] denying slander and asserting her mana.

Dressedin her finest garments, she stood on the marae at Te Taiki

and sang her song. Then she walked to the edge of the cliff and leapt to the lake below. Ever since that time, the place has been known as Te Rerenga a Tikawe. In the

olden days, people in their waka, paddling past the place she fell, would place a kawakawa branch as an offering in her memory.

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