Mihi-ki-te-kapua was born in Ruatahuna. She became "the greatest composer of the Tuhoe and Mataarua peoples." "Most of her songs expressed the yearning arising from the deep loneliness she felt, unable to turn to family for relief from the oppression of her solitary environment. One of her best-known compositions of this kind is ‘He tangi mokemoke.’" As she "grew older, the fine qualities of her poetry developed until finally her expertise in these skills was widely acknowledged. She was an expert in all the techniques of composition, arranging the wording so it was correct, and the clarity of thought would emerge. She was also skilful at placing the lines of songs, to build up the exposition of ideas." "Mihikitekapua was of Ngāti Ruapani tribe of Waikaremoana, and is the authoress of many songs... Mihi lived at Te Matuahu, a settlement on the north shore of Waikaremoana, from which there was a good view of Te Onepoto on the southern shore".
Biographical sources
- Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces from Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata. Part 1. Auckland, N.Z.: Polynesian Soc., 1959. 60-65. Rpt. 1974, 1988.
- Temara, Pou. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ed. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1. 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin
- Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990: 288-289.
Music
- "He Waiata Aroha/A Song of Yearning." Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces from Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata. Part 1. Auckland, N.Z.: Polynesian Soc., 1959. 60-65. Rpt. 1974, 1988. 60-63. Rpt. in "He Waiata Aorha mo Te Uruti." Notes by Margaret Orbett. Tu Tangata 14 (1983): 56-57. The first two verses are rpt. in English translation only in The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ed. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1. 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990. 289.
- Mihi-ki-te-kapua writes evocatively of her longing to know that her daughter, Te Uruti, is safe and settled at her home in Whakatane. Pou Temara writes that this last song by Mihi-ki-te-kapua was ‘one of yearning for her daughter, Te Uruti, who lived not far from Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi, at a village called Whakatane.’ (The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 1. 289.
- "He Tangi Mokemoke/ A Soliloquy." Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces from Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata. Part 1. Auckland, N.Z.: Polynesian Soc., 1959. 64-67. Rpt. 1974, 1988.
- "He Waiata Tangi./A Lament." Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces From Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata. Trans. Pei Te Hurinui. Part II. Wellington, N.Z.: Published for the Polynesian Society by A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1961. 86-87.
Other
- Temara, Pou. "Mihi-ki-te-kapua." The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ed. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1. 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990: 288-289. Rpt. in A People’s History: Illustrated Biographies from The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Comp. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1. 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams, Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1992. 149-150.
- A biography of ‘the greatest composer of the Tuhoe and Mataatua peoples’, Mihi-ki-te-kapua, in which Temara discusses the background to her song-writing and he includes the English text of her last song dedicated to her daughter, ‘Too loftily rears Te Waiwhero’.