Feet may strike against the sharp young shoots of the mangrove
The tide flows on into the land.11
Katikati was the most northerly Ngaiterangi settlement, and became a disputed frontier area between Ngaiterangi and various Hauraki tribes from the Waihi area, such as Ngati Tamatera, Ngati Mara and Ngati Tara.
There are a number of versions as to how this area, now known as Bowentown Heads, got its original name of Katikati. One version relates to the murder of a Ngaiterangi chief:
A woman called Pareaute, who had been living at Matakana, married a young Ngati Mara chief called Rangitoro and went to live with him at Paeroa. Sometime later her brother Kahaute, came to visit them and was warmly received. When he left to return to Matakana, Rangitoro followed his brother-in-law, and kill him.12
Rangitoro butchered the body and returned with the body parts to Paeroa. His distraught wife returned to her people at Matakana. She left Paeroa with her dead brother’s severed arm wrapped in a flax mat. She hid the arm in the cleft of a rock at Papatu at Katikati. After hearing her story a group of warriors set out to seek utu:
At Papatu they found the arm which confirmed the story of Pareaute. But it had been nibbled by rats and they exclaimed, “Ha Katikati !”. The war party then went on to storm the heights of Te Kura a Maia which was then occupied by Ngati Mara people and took the pa by surprise.13
Other versions for the origins of the name Katikati include a Te Arawa account. The Arawa waka landed at Katikati and the people began to cook themselves a meal. They sighted a large area of mangroves which, from a distance, they believed to be a patch of kumara. The women are reported to have said that there was now no need to continue carrying the kumara they had brought from Hawaiki to plant:
The women had their way, but Tamatekapua, commander of Te Arawa, was not very happy with the decision and spent a long time eating his share of kumara. Hence the place was named Te Katikati a Tamatekapua, the nibbling of Tamatekapua.14
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