Kahe’s swim
Kahe is remembered for swimming from Kāpiti to Te Uruhi to raise an alarm, carrying a child.
The historical record
Te Kahe Te Rau-o-te-rangi appears in the histories of Kāpiti as a woman whose life connected Māori communities and the changing maritime world of the nineteenth century. New Zealand History describes the Kāpiti Island settlement associated with her as a bicultural whaling village.
The history of Te Kahe also belongs to the story of Te Tiriti o Waitangi: she was among the women who signed in 1840, with her signing recorded on 29 April. Her life is therefore connected both to the daily world of coastal trade and to a major political event in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Sources: Existing WhaleLIBRARY Te Kahe entries; NZHistory biography and Treaty-signing record as recorded in the collection.