Puhi Huia Road: the runaway woman's slope

Puhi Huia Road climbs the slope of Maungawhau / Mt Eden to the place where a fortified settlement once stood. The road is named after Puhihuia, the high-born daughter of the local chief. Her escape is known from Māori tradition, not from a documented biography. The most detailed version was recorded in the nineteenth century; researchers believe that the collector may have added details of his own to the oral account.

Puhihuia grew up as a puhi—a chief's specially protected unmarried daughter. Relations between kin groups depended on her marriage, so the girl did not choose her husband alone. Ponga, a young chief from Awhitu on the shore of Manukau Harbour, came from a junior branch of the lineage. He understood what was at stake quite literally: other high-born suitors were also seeking Puhihuia, and Ponga said that a union with her could cost him his life.

Guests from Awhitu came to Maungawhau / Mt Eden after long clashes over fishing grounds. Peace had recently been established between the communities, and any offense threatened war again. During the welcoming dances, Puhihuia chose her moment and stepped into the front row. Then Ponga stepped forward. They saw each other, but could not speak openly.

According to the legend, Ponga's servant found a way out. At night, the young chief demanded water, and the servant deliberately did not answer. Puhihuia's mother sent her daughter to give the guest a drink. Under cover of this errand, Ponga and Puhihuia agreed to run away together.

Before leaving, Ponga ordered the fastenings on the hosts' boats to be secretly cut. When the guests set off from Maungawhau / Mt Eden for their canoe in Onehunga, Puhihuia first walked beside them, as if seeing them off, and then ran after them. Her relatives rushed in pursuit, but at the shore they discovered that their boats fell apart when they were launched. The fugitives managed to cross Manukau Harbour.

In Awhitu, Ponga's action was met without enthusiasm: sheltering a chief's daughter meant waiting for an attack. Puhihuia refused to return and declared that she had chosen her husband herself. A group led by her mother did indeed sail after her. According to the longer version of the legend, instead of a battle between the communities, Puhihuia defeated one by one the women who tried to take her away. Her mother accepted her daughter's choice, the opponents held a wedding feast, and the war did not resume. Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua still call themselves descendants of this union today.

The modern asphalt does not preserve the exact escape trail. The legend leads Puhihuia down the southern slope toward Onehunga; Puhi Huia Road was laid out differently. It goes uphill, toward the former settlement that Puhihuia left.