Rangi-Tapuea was a woman of the Ngāti Raukawa subtribe Ngāti Whakatere. She married a Pakeha, Reweti Kuti (Coutts), with whom she lived in Otaki. "Later on Reweti went to Te Wai-pounamu (South Island) to Wairau, and stayed there permanently, abandoning Rangi-Tapuea. The woman was disconsolate, and she sang this lament at Rangiuru, which was a pa of the Ngāti Raukawa at the mouth of the Otaki river."
Biographical sources
- Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces From Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata and trans. Pei Te Hurinui. Pt. 2. Wellington, N.Z.: Published for the Polynesian Society by A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1961. 105
Traditional
- "He Waiata Tangi/A Song of Sorrow." Nga Moteatea: He Maramara Rere No Nga Waka Maha: The Songs: Scattered Pieces From Many Canoe Areas. Comp. Apirana Ngata and trans. Pei Te Hurinui. Pt. 2. Wellington, N.Z.: Published for the Polynesian Society by A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1961. 104-105.