Гора Хикуранги: Священная вершина Новой Зеландии

Mountain in New Zealand

Mount Hikurangi (or Te Ara ki Hikurangi in Māori) is a peak in the eastern corner of New Zealand's North Island, about north of Gisborne, and southwest of the East Cape Lighthouse. Mount Hikurangi is within the rohe of Ngāti Porou and Ngati Uēpohatu and is the iwi's most significant icon. In Māori mythology, it was the first part of the North Island to emerge when Māui pulled it as a giant fish from the ocean. Hikurangi and Aorangi were a pair of names transferred from Tahiti via Rarotonga to different parts of New Zealand Tahiti has a Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi) at the summit of Mehetia (Me’eti’a) island. Rarotonga has Ikurangi, and maybe the origin of all these names is Si'ulagi(Si'ulangi)in Ta'u, Samoa.

The peak is traditionally regarded as the first land in the world to catch the rays of the new day's sun, although this claim, like any such claim of its type, is open to interpretation. Certainly it is not true at any time of the year other than the Southern Hemisphere summer, as both Fiji and Tonga are to the east. In summer, however, because of the tilt of the Earth's axis, it does receive the sun's rays earlier than these places It does not receive them earlier than the Chatham Islands (or, of course, Antarctica), however, and in midsummer some parts of the South Island mainland (such as the peaks of Banks Peninsula and Dunedin's Mount Cargill) receive the dawn's light at almost exactly the same time. This did not stop the mountain gaining world prominence in the celebrations for the new Millennium, however. According to the Department of Conservation, the mountain is "recognised and accepted as the first point on the mainland to greet the morning sun". Celebrations by Ngāti Porou to commemorate the first dawn of the new millennium in 2000, including karakia led by Tamati and Amster Reedy, took place on the summit of the mountain. In addition, nine massive whakairo (carvings) depicting Māui's story and his family were erected on the mountain as part of the celebrations. They were carved under Derek Lardelli's guidance by students from Toihoukura, the Eastern Institute of Technology's School of Māori Visual Arts. In November 1990, ownership of Mount Hikurangi was returned to Ngāti Porou, who now manage the mountain, and facilitate the public's access to it.

Mount Hikurangi (Te Ara ki Hikurangi) is of great spiritual, cultural, and physical significance to Ngāti Porou. Paikea travelled to New Zealand on the back of a whale, but Ruatapu sent a great flood, called Te Tai a Ruatapu, to kill the survivors in New Zealand. He atua! He tangata! He atua! He tangata! Ho! (Behold, it is divine! It is human! It is divine! It is human! Ah!). Referring to Mt. Hikurangi, this is from the Ngāti Porou haka, Rūaumoko, named after the earthquake god. Ka rukuruku a Te Rangi tāwaea i ōna pūeru (Te Rangi tāwaea [a Ngāti Porou ancestor] dons his garments). Said when Mount Hikurangi is covered in snow. Mount Hikurangi was the location of the last known mainland sighting of the North Island saddleback in 1910, before its reintroduction to the North Island on the 16th of June 2002 at Zealandia in Wellington. In Māori times, kaka would fatten themselves on the berries of the tawari trees growing on the mountain. The nearby Raukumara Forest Park's forests include a wide range of podocarp broadleaved species such as rimu, rata, tawa, hinau, rewarewa, kamahi, kahikatea, miro, beech and tōtara. Native birds and animals found in the area include pīwakawaka, tūī, whio, kākā, falcons, kererū, brown kiwi, Hochstetter's frogs, snails, lizards, skinks, Motuweta riparia (Raukumara tusked wētā), and short and long tailed bats. Introduced animals include deer, goats, possums, pigs, cattle and mustelidae, all of which pose a threat to the native wildlife. Hunting of introduced species is permitted in the nearby Raukumara Forest Park.