In Māori tradition

Maori mythology

Māori mythology and Māori traditions are the two major categories into which the legends of the Māori of New Zealand may usefully be divided...

 Tama-te-kapua was the captain of the Te Arawa

Te Arawa

Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas of New Zealand, with a population of around 40,000.The history of the Te Arawa people is inextricably linked to the Arawa canoe...

 canoe which came to New Zealand from Polynesia in about 1350. The reason for his leaving his homeland was the theft by his brother Whakaturia and himself of breadfruit (kuru or poroporo) from a tree belonging to a chief named Uenuku. The Te Arawa canoe landed at Maketu, New Zealand, where Tama-te-kapua settled. His descendants peopled this part and the Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...

 region. Today their descendants say of Te Arawa canoe that the bow piece is Maketu

Maketu

Maketu is a small town on the Bay of Plenty Coast in New Zealand. It is located on Okurei point and has an estuary from which the Kaituna River used to flow out of, it is also adjacent to Newdicks Beach located on the south eastern side of Okurei point. The name is sometimes informally abbreviated...

 and the stern-piece is Mount Tongariro

Mount Tongariro

Mount Tongariro is a volcanic complex in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres to the southwest of Lake Taupo, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island....

. The meeting house at Te Papaiouru Marae is named after Tamatekapua.