1907 - Wilson, J. A. The Story of Te Waharoa...Sketches of Ancient Maori Life and History - Sketches of Ancient Maori Life and History - THE MAUI MAORI NATION.

       
E N Z B       
       Home   |  Browse  |  Search  |  Variant Spellings  |  Links  |  EPUB Downloads
Feedback  |  Conditions of Use      
  1907 - Wilson, J. A. The Story of Te Waharoa...Sketches of Ancient Maori Life and History - Sketches of Ancient Maori Life and History - THE MAUI MAORI NATION.
 
Previous section | Next section      

THE MAUI MAORI NATION.

[Image of page 123]

SKETCHES OF

ANCIENT MAORI LIFE and HISTORY.



[Page 124 is blank]

[Image of page 125]

SKETCHES OF ANCIENT MAORI LIFE AND HISTORY.

THE MAUI MAORI NATION.

I venture, with the permission of the reader, to offer a few remarks upon some portions of the early history of the Maori race. Statements in various forms are constantly being made public, many of them more or less erroneous, and more or less important according to the sources whence promulgated; and it is to remove the misapprehension that gives rise to such statements, that I would mention some points that have escaped general observation.

My informants are mostly deceased, and if asked for authorities I regret to say that in the majority of cases I can only point to 'Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap.' These remarks are, however, based upon enquiries made by myself and by my father, the Rev. J. A. Wilson, before me, and extend back sixty years from the present time (1894). 1

I will begin by introducing an ancient Maori tradition at which a descendant of Noah cannot

[Image of page 126]

afford to smile, unless he is prepared to claim for his own ancestor, and for the northern hemisphere, a monopoly of diluvian adventure. The tradition says there was a time when the waters covered the earth; that, at that time, Maui and his three sons floated upon the waters in a canoe, fishing; that presently Maui hooked the earth, and with great labour he drew it to the surface with the assistance of his sons. Then their canoe grounded upon what proved to be the top of a mountain. As the earth became bare, the sons of Maui took possession; but Maui himself vanished and returned to the place from whence he came. The canoe remained upon the top of the mountain, where it may be seen in a petrified state at the present time. Hikurangi Mountain, at the head of Waiapu Valley, is this southern Ararat whence the descendants of Maui peopled the North Island of New Zealand. They named their island Te Ika a Maui (Maui's fish), or Ehinomaui (fished up by Maui). The head of the fish is at Cook's Strait, and the tail at the North Cape, where there is a subterranean opening by the seashore through which departed spirits pass to the lower regions, when they leave this World of Light (Aomarama). From this it will be seen that the ancient descendants of Maui had a good geographical knowledge of the shape of their island. I should add that the hills and valleys on the surface of the island were made by the occupants of the canoe getting out and tramping on the soil while wet and in a muddy state, thus

[Image of page 127]

making hills and holes. Omitting much circumlocutory description, this is the story of how Maui fished up the North Island of New Zealand as it was told more than fifty years ago by the natives. Since that time, I observe that some of them have changed Maui's sons into his brothers.

In course of time the people of Maui increased and spread themselves in tribes and hapus over the greater portion of the island. Probably they occupied the whole of it, but this I cannot affirm. It seems, however, to be clear that at the time when the canoes of immigrants came from Hawaiki, about six hundred years ago, that the Maui or Maori nation inhabited the country from Wairarapa in the south, to Waitakere, north of Auckland, and from Tuparoa and Hick's Bay in the east to the neighbourhood of Mokau and Kawhia in the west.

The aborigines did not cultivate the soil for food--excepting the hue gourd, from which calabashes were made; they had no useful plants that they could cultivate. They ate berries and the shoots and roots of ferns and other plants, as they found them growing wild in the forests, and in the open country. For flesh they hunted the moa, 2 and caught the

[Image of page 128]

kakapo 3 at night, and they snared pigeons, kakas, and many other kinds of birds. They fished with the seine and line in salt water and fresh. They dived from the rocks for crayfish, and in the swamps they caught eels. Before the advent of the Hawaikians they had neither taro nor kumara, nor karaka berries, they were unable to make kao, 4 and they had no rats. 5 They stored their food in chambers called ruas, hollowed out of the ground where the soil was dry. They cooked their food in the Maori umu, just as they do now. Their clothing was made from flax, for the aute tree, whence tappa cloth is made, had not yet been introduced from Hawaiki. They spoke the Maori language. Their population was mostly distributed, not necessarily where the land was fertile, but where the forests were rich in birds, as at Motu; where streams and swamps yielded fish and eels plentifully, as at Matata, inland waters; where fern root of good quality was easily obtained, or where the sea teemed with fish, as at Tauranga.

Thus it happened that certain tribes became recognised as the producers of special kinds of food, and tribal nomenclature was not infrequently influenced thereby. In this way we find the Purukupenga (full net) living at Tauranga, the Waiohua (waters of abundance) at



[Inserted unpaginated illustration]

Storehouse for the Kumara

[Image of page 129]

Rangitaiki and Matata, and other similar names will appear when I enumerate them.

Here let me mention en passant that about two hundred years after the Hawaikians had landed at Maketu, a portion of them, viz., Tapuika and Waitaha a Hei, was attacked by the Waiohua, the Tipapa, and other hapus of Te Tini o Taunu or Ngaiwi tribe, the war being about land. I will not anticipate the particulars of the story, and will merely say now that the struggle was severe, and ended in the defeat of the aborigines, who fled through Waikato to Tamaki and Waitakere, and that is how Ngaiwi, of whom the Waiohua were a part, came to live in the district now called Auckland. In those days the name Waitakere seems to have been used at a distance to denote the district north of the Tamaki, and was used in a general manner like Taranaki, Hauraki, Tauranga, etc. The subsequent history of the Waiohua is well known.

In war the aboriginal Maori was courageous. He is described as tall, spare, active, and with a good reach in the delivery of his weapon; 6

[Image of page 130]

this, at any rate, is what is said of one of his warlike tribes, Te Rangihouhiri, now known as Ngaeterangi, who, at the battle of Poporohuamea, defeated the combined Hawaikian forces of Te Arawa, Takitumu, and Tainui, and taking Maketu from the former, advanced to Tauranga, which place they wrested from Ngatiranginui, who were also Hawaikian by Takitumu origin. The aboriginal Maori built pas in strong positions, having ramparts that were often extensive. Sometimes earthworks were thrown up to divide the pa into two or more sections, which would seem to show that while the hapus combined against the common enemy, they had to guard against each other.

There is nothing to show that the aboriginal practised cannibalism or that he offered human sacrifices in war, whereas the Hawaikian Maori when he came to these shores did both.

The aboriginal Maori believed in the tradition of a Divine Incarnation, and he, of course, had faith in the supernatural power of such a Being. The narrative of how the child Oho manifested his Divine origin, when they met to do for him after their law (some authorities call the rite baptism), 7 is simple and beautiful, and is pitched upon a high plane of thought, compared

[Image of page 131]

with which the mythological idea of the Hawaikians, who stole their atuas from one another and carried them about with them, are grovelling.

A feature in the life of this people was their partiality for bird pets. A bird that could talk well was prized by its owners, and coveted by the neighbours, and this to such an extent that chiefs sometimes quarrelled, and on two occasions on the East Coast resort was had to war. I shall, at the proper time, tell of one of these wars and its unexpected outcome, for unless I do I am afraid that the origin of a tribe of aboriginal extraction now flourishing will be lost; the survivors, if any, who know these things being few and reticent.

This ancient people has preserved its genealogies with care, tracing its ancestors back more than 1,000 years. Their tree contains double the number of generations found upon the tree of a Hawaikian subsequent to the immigration. It is an interesting field of enquiry to learn what (beyond the art of cultivation) the immigrants taught the aborigines, and what the latter acquired from the former in various forms of knowledge. There is no doubt that the manners, customs, religion, polity and the arts of the two peoples have been fused by time and habit into the civilisation belonging to one nation now; the process, however, has left its marks, some of which are easily seen. Thus the aboriginal tribes that remain intact have almost invariably adopted the Hawaikian prefix

[Image of page 132]

to their names. The Hawaikian gave up the use of tappa clothing, and ceased to plant the aute tree round his pa, because the flax garments of the country suited him better, they could be made at all times, whereas the tappa cloth was too frequently unobtainable for years after the invasion of a hostile army, as it was a maxim in war, if a pa could not be taken, to destroy the cultivations, and cut down the aute trees. The aborigines knew nothing about ocean-going canoes and how to build them, until they were taught by men from Hawaiki. Three natives of that country were cast upon the coast one night, their companions having been lost with their canoe. The people of Toi, at Whakatane, succoured them, and they in turn showed how to build 'Te Aratawhao' canoe, which sailed to Hawaiki to fetch kumara and taro. This was before the immigrants came from Hawaiki.

The tribal nomenclature of the aborigines, as far as is known, was for the most part borrowed from the names of natural objects, not excluding favourite kinds of food. It differed from that used by the people from Hawaiki in not recognising by a prefix the descent of a tribe from an ancestor. They had before their tribal name no Ngati, Ngae, Aetanga, Uri, or Whanau, and where the Nga appeared it would seem to have been susceptible of another meaning. Some of these names were very beautiful and quite unique, as the "Small Leaved Tawa Tree," the "Waving Fronds of the Tree Fern"; others were descriptive as the "Tribe of the Rocks,"



[Inserted unpaginated illustration]

Native Stores for Flax.

[Image of page 133]

the "Go As You Please" or "Travel Easily"; and other names were such as the "Red Crab," the "Creature Couchant," the "Curling Wave," the "Thickly Standing Fern," and so on.

It will be twenty years next August since I first drew the attention of the public to the existence of this interesting race. Speaking at a meeting of the Philosophical Society at Wellington, I said that the people who came to this country in the canoes found the land inhabited, that the men of the island were hospitable to the Hawaikians, and the latter intermarried with the former; but when, in the course of some two hundred years, the immigrants had become strong, wars ensued in many parts, and the aborigines were often destroyed; that these wars, however, were not universal, and where the natives had lived at peace the races had amalgamated. A report of the proceedings was published in the local papers at the time.

I will now give the names of the tribes and hapus of the Maui Maori nation that have been furnished to me by the natives themselves, also the districts where they are, or where they lived formerly, also a short account of each hapu or tribe in so far as I am able, and the same may have sufficient interest.

Te Tini o Taunu, also known as Ngaiwi, known too as Te Tini o Awa (Awa was the human brother of Oho before mentioned)--but not to be confounded with Te Tini o Awa, a

[Image of page 134]

chief of Ngatipukenga--lived in the Bay of Plenty, between Rangitaiki and Tauranga. There were many hapus in this tribe; namely, Waiohua, Tipapa, Haeremariri, Raupungaoheohe, Papakawhero Tururu Mauku, Tawarauririki, Rarauhi, Turuhunga, Ngaru Tauwharewharenga, and Purukupenga. This tribe, or group of tribes, fought against the Arawa, or some of them, but the two last-named hapus are not mentioned as having taken part in the strife, nor do I know what became of them eventually.

It was twelve generations ago (say 360 years) that that war took place. The Waiohua and Tipapa were incensed at the encroachments of Tapuika, then the rangatira hapu of the Arawa, whose chief was Marukukere; battles ensued, in which the Tapuika were defeated, although assisted by Waitaha a Hei, another hapu of the Arawa, who lived on the eastern shores of Tauranga. Many chiefs, including Marukukere, were slain, and the Arawa were in such straits that they sought aid from their compatriots at Taupo. Mokotangatatahi led the army that came to their assistance from Wharepuhunga at Titiraupenga. He was an energetic young chief, and nephew to Marukukere. The struggle, however, was protracted, and the issue doubtful, when Moko consulted Kaiongonga, a noted priest, who, to attain his ends, demanded a human sacrifice, who must be a man of rank. The demand was complied with, and Tangarengare, a senior relative of Moko, was given

[Image of page 135]

up for the public good. The courage of the victim acted as an incentive to the people, and stimulated them so that they vanquished their enemies at Punakauia; then Te Tini fled, and became scattered, and were destroyed in detail, but some remnants of Te Waiohua and other hapus of Ngaiwi escaped to Waikato, where they had friends, and from there they went to Tamaki and Waitakere, and occupied the district now called Auckland. This happened about 150 years before the chief Hua, of Te Waiohua, flourished at One Tree Hill pa, near Onehunga, and the supposition is erroneous that the Waiohua are named after him. The natives who furnished the evidence to the Native Land Court upon which that opinion was based were either ignorant of the history and origin of Te Waiohua, which is not improbable considering it is usually the victor, not the vanquished, who cherishes the tradition of war and destruction; to the one it is a glory, to the other a shame; or they suppressed the information as unnecessary to their case. This practice is not at all uncommon, and sometimes all the parties to a suit will agree to avoid fees and shorten labour by eliminating a few chapters of history considered by them to have little or no bearing on the points at issue.

It is said that some of the Ngaiwi travelled as far as the Bay of Islands, which is quite likely, as the tribe of Ngatirahiri lived in the North then, who were of Awa origin, and would naturally be disposed to be friendly towards

[Image of page 136]

them. Here let me explain who the Ngatirahiri were. Shortly after the arrival of Mataatua at Whakatane, Rahiri, a leading man amongst the immigrants, made a plantation on the hillside, overhanging the mouth of the river. When he had planted there awhile his two young brothers quarrelled with him, and forcibly ejecting him from the cultivation, took possession of it themselves. Rahiri, unable to brook the insult, determined to leave his relatives, and make a home elsewhere. He had formed a friendly connection with some aborigines of the Toi tribe (of Awa descent, though not of Te Tini o Awa), by whom he was advised to go to Hokianga, or the Bay of Islands. Accompanied by certain of these aborigines he went and founded a tribe in the North that bears his name to this day, and is really a cross of Awa blood aboriginal and imported. It is supposed that aboriginal Awa were living in the North prior to the movements of Rahiri and his party, and that it was the knowledge of this that influenced them in the choice of their new home.

The Tapuika-Ngaiwi war conferred an unwelcome legacy upon the victors in the form of an undying feud between Tapuika and Ngatimoko about the division of the land they had conquered. The former thought the latter grasped the fruits of victory too much, the latter considered the former unreasonable, and refused to give way. The ill-feeling has been handed down through three centuries of time to

[Image of page 137]

the present generation. We shall see by-and-by that another Hawaikian tribe managed to avoid this difficulty by the expedient of dividing the lands of the aborigines amongst themselves before conquest.

Ngatiawa is the tribal name of the immigrants who came to New Zealand in Mataatua canoe. The name Awa is, however, aboriginal as well as Hawaikian, and was acquired in time past by the former through Awanui a Rangi, a younger branch of Toi family. The Ngatiawa (immigrant race) had no wars with the aboriginal Awa (Toi) east of Whakatane as far as inland Motu; but to the southward and westward it was different. On those sides they displaced the aboriginal element, when they had become strong enough to do so. This is how the Ngaiwi in course of time were thrust up against Tapuika and compelled to fight that tribe; how the whole of the Uriwera district was over-run and occupied by Ngaetuhoe, a tribe of Ngatiawa.

Another tribe who appear to have been aboriginal was Ngamarama. They lived originally at Matamata 8 and other places in the Upper Thames Valley, whence they moved

[Image of page 138]

to Tauranga, and occupied the central and western portions of that district. They were a numerous people at the time the canoes came from Hawaiki; too numerous, and uninviting, probably, for the immigrants by Takitumu to remain when they visited Te Awanui, the name Tauranga Harbour was known by then, on their way to the South. One or two of the crew, however, did leave the canoe and settle amongst the Ngamarama, thus a link was formed between the descendants of those immigrants in the South and Ngamarama, that resulted in the conquest of Ngamarama and the taking of Tauranga by Ngatiranginui several generations afterwards. There is a remnant of Ngamarama still living at Te Irihanga at Tauranga; it is known by the name of Ngatirangi, and is not to be confused with Ngaeterangi, who destroyed Ngatiranginui, and are dominant now at Tauranga.

In respect to Tua Rotorua tribe, who lived at Rotorua, tradition is conflicting, but the balance of evidence is, I think, in favour of their aboriginal extraction; it is not so much a question of whether the chief of that people had Arawa (immigrant) blood in his veins, a thing by no means improbable, considering his reputed grandparent had travelled that way to Wanganui, as it is a question whether the Arawa or any of them would have waged without cause a war of extermination against a branch of their own tribe; judging from their history, we may say unhesitatingly that even

[Image of page 139]

with a casus belli such a thing would not have been thought of, and an utu account properly balanced would have been considered sufficient to serve all purposes of revenge, especially if supplemented with the acquisition of a little land. But in the war of the Arawa against Tua Rotorua if they did not succeed in annihilating the latter it was not for want of trying. The remnant of this aboriginal tribe is the Ngatitura now living where the Oxford Road emerges from the forest on the side towards Rotorua; the trackless, waterless forest has been their friend, and to it they owe their existence. Here let me instance the different degrees of animus that characterised ancient Maori warfare as between immigrant tribes and aboriginal, and as between the immigrants themselves. Take the aboriginal group of tribes known as Te Tini o Taunu or Ngaiwi, of whom the Waiohua were a part. Such of these tribes as escaped annihilation were driven completely out of their native district--first by Mataatua and then by Arawa immigrants. The refugees of Tuarotorua only saved themselves by sheltering in Patetere Forest, as did Ngamarama when driven out of Tauranga by Ngatiranginui, an immigrant tribe from Hangaroa River, south of Tauranga, whose forefathers had come to New Zealand in Takitumu canoe. And yet again we find tribes of these races fighting to the death when Te Rangihouhiri drove out Tapuika and took and settled Maketu, nor were the efforts of all Hawaikians

[Image of page 140]

far and near sufficient to dislodge them. Tematera from Hauraki, Whakaue from Rotorua, and Waitaha a Hei and Ranginui from Tauranga, were all driven off and defeated when they attempted to aid the Tapuika. Here we have an instance of tribes of Hawaikians, of Arawa, Tainui, and Takitumu origin combining against the aboriginal people, and combining unsuccessfully. Then in a little while, that is to say, within the same generation, Te Rangihouhiri advanced from Maketu to Tauranga, and well-nigh exterminated Waitaha a Hei and Ngatiranginui. The survivors of the former escaped to the Arawa at the lakes, and a small remnant of the latter found a refuge in the same forest they had driven the poor remains of the Ngamarama to; thus history repeated herself with a vengeance, and the two remnants live almost side by side at the present time. The name of the Ngamarama remnant has already been given as Ngatirangi. The name of Ngatiranginui remnant is Te Piriakau (Stick in the Bush), which shows pretty plainly how closely they hid themselves from the conquering Ngaeterangi, who had taken possession of Tauranga.

Now the intertribal struggles of the Hawaikians cannot be compared with these wars "a mort." Take the lake district. The wars between the east and west ends of Rotoiti, between the north and south ends of Rotorua, the feud between Moko and Tapuika, the differences between the legitimate and bastard



[Inserted unpaginated illustration]

The Downy Rata (Metrosideros tomentosa).

[Image of page 141]

branches of the people on the east side, and anything that may have occurred on the west, have none of them resulted in anything more than a little killing and eating from time to time, and then mending matters by a peacemaking. Only at the south end of Rotorua, in a struggle between the people occupying two lakes, do we find that some land has changed hands, of which the area is small compared with the rest of the landed estate of the losers, nor in this war was there any apparent intention on either side to proceed to extremities.

Leaving the Arawa, whose name in ancient times, I ought to say, was Nga oho Matakamokamo, and whose motto was "Oho tapu nui te Arawa," let us turn to the Ngatiawa, of Mataatua canoe. There is a civil war in the ancient history of this people. Te Kareke, a nourishing tribe descended from Uemua, of Mataatua, were driven away from Te Poroa, in the Upper Whakatane Valley, by Ngaetonu, now called Ngatipukeko. They fled eastward, where many became absorbed amongst the aboriginal Whakatohea. Estimated by its results, this may be considered an exceptionally severe case of civil war amongst the Hawaiians. The same Ngaetonu drove the aboriginal Irawharo away to the westward; this war lasted a long time, and there were many campaigns in it. Eventually the Irawharo found shelter with their compatriots, the Rangihouhiri, at Tauranga, where their little remnant still exists. Here I would note that while

[Image of page 142]

including the Irawharo amongst the aborigines, I do not mean to say they were not also of Hawaikian origin. It would be quite impossible now to draw a hard and fast line and say, here is where the blood of the old race ends, and there is where the new blood begins, especially eastward of Whakatane, where the two are very intermixed, and it should be known that Ngatirawharo came from Ohiwa, which was their birthplace as a tribe; but the difficulty attending a line of demarcation does not interfere with the general grouping of the tribes according to race, and according to position, surroundings, and sides taken where relationships were mingled.

I might continue to compare the bitter character of the war of race on the one hand with the milder form of domestic strife on the other, and explain exceptional cases by the circumstances preceding them; but it is hardly worth while to do so, seeing that each war will be presented at the proper time, when the reader can judge for himself whether the remarks offered and examples given should have a wider application; for myself, I think it can be shown by analysis of the cause and circumstances of each war, that the rule applies to the greater portion, if not the whole, of Te Ika a Maui Island.

I will now return from this disquisition to the description of the Maui Maori tribes. There was a great tribe known by the name of Toi, who, before the canoes came from Hawaiki, and

[Image of page 143]

at that time occupied a large part of Te Ika a Maui, extending from Whakatane eastwards. I might mention Toi in a general way as an ancestor over a very wide country; but it is not in that sense that I use the name now. I refer instead to the tribe of Toi proper, whose country extended from Whakatane to inland Motu. I would, however, observe first that though we have a Hawaikian Awa and an aboriginal Awa, also Hawaikian and aboriginal Oho tribes, we have no Hawaikian Toi tribe in New Zealand, only the aboriginal Toi is to be found in Te Ika a Maui; and yet in the genealogies of each nation the names of these three ancestors are found standing in the closest relationship at a time long before the passage of the canoes. The Maui Toi lived nearly 200 years, and the Hawaiki Toi 400 years before the migration. I cannot tell how it is that these important names are common to the two nations. It might be asked how was their language the same? and how did it happen that they were of similar appearance? If we could answer these questions we should have the key to much besides.

A principal pa of Toi was Kapu, situated on the highest point of the Whakatane hills, as seen from the mouth of the river. Hokianga at Ohiwa, was a fishing station. Tawhitirahi, overlooking Kukumoa stream, was a very strong pa; another of their places was Kohipaua, east of the Otara River, and they had a settlement at Te Rotonuiawai at inland Motu,

[Image of page 144]

and doubtless they had kaingas and pas at intermediate places. As already stated, this people were of the aboriginal Awa stock.

The head man at Motu at a certain time was Tauwharangi. He lived at Te Rotonui awai, near Whakapaupakihi River. It happened that a strange man came to his kainga one day, who said that his name was Tarawa, and that he was a god. When asked how he claimed to be a god, he said that he had swum across the ocean to this country, and that no one unpossessed of supernatural power could do that thing. Then he remained at the kainga, and married Manawakaitu, the daughter of Tauwharangi, by whom he had two children. But Tauwharangi failed to discern any Divine attributes in his son-in-law, and sceptically awaited an opportunity to prove his power by ocular demonstration. At length a chance occurred, and one night Tarawa was awakened from sleep by water coming into his bed. He arose to find a flood had suddenly covered the land, and that all had fled. His retreat was cut off, and he had to climb to the top of his house and call for help to the others who, knowing the local signs, had avoided the danger, and by their chief's order, had left him unwarned. He was told to save himself. He said he could not perform an impossibility. "Oh! but you can easily save yourself by your Divine power." It then came out that he was not a god at all, and that they must send a canoe and save him, which they did. Old Tauwharangi was so disgusted that

[Image of page 145]

he thrust Tarawa out of the kainga, and told his daughter that if she went with him she must leave the children. She departed with her husband, and they settled a few miles away at Te Wharekiri, on Motohora Mountain, overlooking the valley of Motu. Here they lived and died, and here they left a family that has now expanded into the important hapu of Ngaitama, of the Whakatohea tribe. This hapu is therefore of mixed aboriginal and immigrant blood, for there is no doubt but that Tarawa left one of the canoes during its passage along the coast, as Taritoringo left Tainui at Hawai and found his way to inland Motu, and like the woman Torere, who swam ashore from Tainui at night as the canoe was passing Taumata-Apanui point; also like some of the passengers by Takitumu, who left her en route, and whose blood now flows in the veins of some of the principal chiefs inland of Ohiwa, and from whom the Ngatira hapu of the Whakatohea are partially descended.

From Tauwharangi's two grandchildren, whom their parents had left with him when they went to Motohora, and from others no doubt of his hapu or family, sprang the Ngatingahere, another hapu of the Whakatohea, and in after times Ngatipatu, another hapu branched from the Ngatingahere.

Again, when Mataatua arrived at Whakatane with Ngatiawa immigrants from Hawaiki, Muriwai, the old woman who headed the party, had a son named Repanga. From the top of

[Image of page 146]

Whakatane range this man descried the smoke of the aborigines at Kohipawa. He returned to his mother, told her what he had seen, and obtained permission to visit the people. Arrived at Kohipawa, he was hospitably received by Ranginui te Kohu, the chief of that place, whose daughter, Ngapupereta, he married. From this source at Kohipawa sprang Ngatirua, another hapu of the Whakatohea, being the fifth and last hapu of the great tribe of the Whakatohea, all of which are of mixed extraction, three being tinged with Tainui strain, one with Ngatiawa, and one with a Takitumu connection.

We have seen that Torere left Tainui at Taumata Apanui--this she did to avoid the addresses of Rakataura, one of the crew. Arrived on shore, she concealed herself in the bush in a valley, the stream in which bears her name still. The next morning when her flight was discovered, Rakataura landed, and returning along the shore passed Torere and Taumata Apanui searching in vain for the woman. Then he gave it up, and turned and followed his companions by land, whom he at length rejoined at Kawhia. Torere joined affinity with the aborigines in that locality, and Ngaitai, a tribe that takes its name from her canoe, represents the union then formed; and this tribe is acknowledged by Tainui authority to be one that belongs to their own connection.

An interesting illustration of practical tradition is furnished in connection with this

[Image of page 147]

Ngaitai tribe. Although the tribe has a very ancient genealogical record extending some twelve generations back beyond the immigration from Hawaiki, and believed itself to be thoroughly rangatira, yet it was unable satisfactorily to define its origin. The question was raised to their humiliation during a boundary dispute by the Whakatohea in 1844, when Rangimatanuku, chief of Ngatirua, speaking of the land in question and its ownership, said to Eru, the chief of Ngaitai, at a great meeting at Opape (that was convened by my father in the hope to settle the dispute without bloodshed), "Who are you? I know the chiefs of Ngatiawa, and Te Uriwera, the canoe they came in, and how they obtained their possessions. I know Te Whanau Apanui, who they are, and how they occupy. Also I know whom we, the Whakatohea are; but I do not know who you are. Tell me the name of your canoe?"

Challenged thus, Eru was compelled to say something in self-defence, and replied, "We came in your canoe."

"Oh!" said Rangimatanuku, "you came in my canoe, did you? I did not see you there, I know all who came in my canoe; all who came in the bow, and all in the stern. If you were on board you must have been somewhere out of sight, down in the bilge, I suppose, bailing out water."

Rangimatanuku was a chief of note, and was no doubt very well informed in Maori lore, and if so, his speech betrays the pride the Maori of

[Image of page 148]

his time had in Hawaikian descent, which is suggestive of a superiority of the immigrant, not only in his possession of seed and the art of cultivation, but as having personal qualities such as tact and address, skill at sea, and a knowledge of war on shore. As a rule, Hawaikian blood has been more thought of, and this has led many natives and many tribes unconsciously astray in figuring to themselves their ancient history. A fact cannot be ignored for generations with impunity, sooner or later it will become diminished in men's minds, or lost sight of altogether. Not that I have ever found a native ashamed of an aboriginal connection; far from it, but his other side seems always to be more present to him, more engrained, so to speak, in his being and memory.

Only once have I heard a Maui Maori speak in public with great and real pride of his unique and ancient descent. That was when the chief of Uepohatu or Iwi Pohatu a Maui put the land of his tribe at Hikurangi Mountain, Waiapu, through the native Land Court of New Zealand, and obtained a legal title to it. On that occasion the chief (Wi Tahata) said that he was descended from Maui, from whom he claimed. He gave his genealogy 38 generations from Maui. He spoke of the Hawaikians as having come to their island in canoes from across the sea in an age long after the time that they, the Maori nation had peopled it. He showed the boundaries of the territory that belonged to his section of the Maori nation

[Image of page 149]

before the Hawaikians came, and the inroads that had since been made upon them, and he asked me as Judge of the Court, to accompany him to the top of the mountain, there to view his ancestors' canoe in its rocky form, a proceeding, however, which to the Court seemed unnecessary.

It was reserved for me to tell the Ngaitai the name of the canoe they are connected with, and I got my information from first-class Tainui authority in the Tainui country.

Beyond Taumata Apanui, at Hawai, lived the aboriginal tribe Te Manu Koau, who were conquered and scattered by Te Whanau Apanui, which is a tribe of mixed origin, being partly of Ngatiawa and partly Pororangi blood (i.e., of Mataatua and Takitumu), but all of Hawaikian extraction. This tribe now lives on the land thus taken. As for the remnant of Te Manu Koau it fled through the mountains, and came to Raukumara Mountain, in Hick's Bay district. Here the refugees were discovered by the tribe of Tuwhakairiora, who killed and ate a number of them, but when Tu te Rangiwhiu became aware of what was taking place he interposed, and rescued them and made slaves of them, setting them to work to catch the birds of that mountain. Tu te Rangiwhiu was the chief of the Tuwhakairiora tribe at that time, now some three hundred years ago. Those slaves have been working there ever since. I have seen them myself, and was much impressed with their timid, deprecating, cringing air, and

[Image of page 150]

exceedingly rough exterior. The man who placed them in bondage was a Hawaikian.

And now I come to the Iwi Pohatu a Maui, or Uepohatu, as they now call themselves, to whom I have just referred. They live at Tuparoa, also they reside at the foot of Hikurangi, their antipodean Ararat, whose summit is shrouded in snow in winter, and they have land at Raukumara. Formerly their landed possessions were continuous between these points, and their sea frontage extended from Tuparoa to Waiapu River. This was a domain perhaps 40 miles long and 15 wide. However, Ngatiporou (who are Hawaikians of Takitumu), one way or other, have now got the greater part of it; but the tribe has always been free, is now intact, and holds the residue of its lands in independence, and is, moreover, recognised by the surrounding tribes of Hawaikian extraction as being aboriginal and of Maui descent.

Adjoining Uepohatu country to the west, was a group of five aboriginal tribes. Their habitat extended from Waiapu to Potikirua, near Cape Runaway.

These were the Ngaoko at Horoera Hekawa, and Kawakawa.

The Ruawaipu at Pukeamaru and Wharekahika (Hick's Bay).

And the three hapus of Parariki, viz.,Parariki proper, Ngaituiti, and Ngaitumoana. The prefixes to the two latter names are probably of Hawaikian origin.

These three hapus occupied the country between Wharekahika and Potikirua, Ngaituiti

[Image of page 151]

being at the Wharekahika end of the district, and Ngaitumoana at the Potikirua, or western end.

Rather more than four hundred years ago, Ngaoko for some reason attacked Ruawaipu and destroyed them. But a young chieftainess named Tamateaupoko escaped to Whangara, where she married Uekaihau, of Pororangi tribe, a chief amongst the immigrants, and a descendant of Paikea, the captain who brought Takitumu from Hawaiki to Whangara, near Gisborne, about six hundred years ago.

In due time three sons, Uetaha, Tamakoro, and Tahania, the issue of this marriage, grew up, and determined to avenge the death of their grandfather and the overthrow of his tribe. They organised a strong force of the people of Takitumu canoe, thereafter known as Ngaituere, and set out by land along the coast. At Paengatoetoe the Aetangahauiti endeavoured to stop their way, but were defeated in pitched battle; again, at Tawhiti, Te Wahineiti attempted to bar their progress, and were also defeated. For the rest of their march they were unopposed until they encountered the offending Ngaoko, whom they vanquished in a series of engagements and sieges rather more than three hundred and fifty years ago. Ngaoko were scattered and killed, their remnant reduced to captivity, and their lands were appropriated by Ngaituere, who remained in undisputed possession until Tuwhakairiora and his followers appeared upon the scene some sixty years afterwards. At this time, therefore

[Image of page 152]

(about 1530 a.d.), the Hawaikian people held the country from the mouth of the Waiapu River to Wharekaihika, and the aborigines continued to hold the latter place to Potikirua.

When Tuwhakairiora, who was a young chief descended from Pororangi, of Hawaikian extraction, appeared, things became changed; not only did he subjugate Ngaituere who had attacked him wantonly, but the three hapus of Parariki that had maintained their independence hitherto, were disturbed by him. Parariki proper and Ngaetumoana were driven from their holdings westward to Whangaparaoa, and the third, Ngaituiti, from which he had married a wife, Ruataupare, was reduced to a condition dependent upon himself. Of this extraordinary chief, his origin and education, his mission, his wars and conquests, his revenge, and of the tribe bearing his name that now occupies the country between Te Kautuku and Potikirua-- that is to say, from between Waiapu and the East Cape to between Point Lottin and Cape Runaway, I may speak more particularly later on in this narrative.

I have said that Tuwhakairiora married Rautaupare; the manner in which he married this, his first wife, bespoke the dominant character of the man. Travelling alone, he arrived for the first time on the shore of Wharekahika Bay, and there he saw two young women in the water collecting shellfish. Their clothes were on the beach. He sat upon them. After waiting long in the water for the stranger to-

[Image of page 153]

continue his journey, the women, who were cold and ashamed, came in from the sea and asked for their garments. He gave them up, and told the young women to take him to their parents' kainga. The women were Ruataupare and Auahi Koata, her sister. On the way to the kainga, he told Auahi that he intended to take Ruataupare to wife, an event that speedily came to pass. He was aware of the identity of the women when he sat on their clothes.

That marriage did not turn out well. Ruataupare considered herself ill used, and left her husband. She went to her relatives at Tokomaru (she was half Kahukurunui), where she lived and died. She conquered that district from the Wahineiti. The tribe living at Tokomaru bear her name to this day.

We read in the journal of his voyage that it was here, at Tokomaru, that Cook first held friendly intercourse with the New Zealanders. The place was, to say the least, of an autochthonous atmosphere, and we may not unreasonably assume it was here that that great navigator received an answer to a question that must have been uppermost in his mind when he was told that the name of the country he had come to was Ehinomaui.

Had he asked the same question at a purely immigrant settlement such as Maketu, Mercury Bay, or the Thames, he would doubtless have been informed that the name was Aotearoa-- Long White World. And why? simply because it was the name they had given to it when they

[Image of page 154]

arrived off the coast about 1290 a.d.,--estimating a generation at 30 years-- and having sailed along the strange shore for hundreds of miles, were impressed with its extent, and its white appearance. From the eastern precipices of the Great Barrier and Mercury Islands, to the beaches and headlands of the Bay of Plenty, and from Te Mahia to past the Bast Cape, all the coast line was more or less white in colour as the eastern summer sun shone upon it. The few dark rocks only brought the white into relief, and increased the impression, and they were partially hidden, too, by the foliage of the pohutukawa tree, that was not to know the white man's axe for several hundred years to come. Thus history in her unceasing round repeated her recurrent ways, and the ancient Britain of the South became another Albion to another band of strangers who came to occupy her soil.

The Whatumamoa were another tribe of aboriginal Maoris. They lived at Hawke's Bay, near Napier; one of their principal pas was Te Heipipi, near Petane, and they had a pa near Taradale, and other pas. This tribe was attacked by a section of the descendants of the immigrants by Takitumu canoe, who came under Teraia from Nukutaurua. They fought against Te Heipipi pa, but they were unable to take it on account, as they believed, of the autochthon god of the pa being superior to their own god; therefore they made peace with Te Heipipi, but they took some other Whatumamoa

[Image of page 155]

pas, and eventually the residue of the aborigines became absorbed in the Takitumu people now known as Ngaitikahungungu.

A tribe of aborigines called Te Tauira lived at Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, who were numerous and had many pas. Their principal pa was at Rakautihia. They were attacked by a section of the Takitumu people, who, having got into trouble at home, had migrated from Turanga to Waihau, on the Hangaroa. This party was led by Rakaipaka and Hinemanuhiri. They lived awhile at Waihau, and there under some provocation made war on Te Tauira, and to prevent quarrels after conquest they apportioned the lands of Te Tauira amongst themselves before the war commenced. The war resulted in the complete conquest and expatriation of the Tauira tribe, whose refugees fled to Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa, where some hapus of their tribe lived. The only person saved by Rakaipaka was a woman named Hinekura. He saved her because he had an intrigue with her before the trouble began. In this war it was, at the battle of Taupara, that the Tauira tribe was crushed.

Lastly, a large tribe of Maui Maoris, named Te Marangaranga, inhabited Te Whaiti country. They were destroyed by the descendants of the immigrants of Mataatua canoe.

I have now covered the ground from the Upper Thames to Hawke's Bay, inclusive, by the East Coast, and far back into the interior to the middle of the island nearly; excepting

[Image of page 156]

two gaps on the coast, namely, from north of Te Mahia to south of Tuparoa (Te Tauira occupied Te Mahia), and from Potikirua, near Cape Runaway, to Maraenui. I have not the information in respect to the ancient inhabitants of these two areas necessary to enable me to state with precision who they were and what became of them. We all know, however, that (excepting lands alienated to Europeans) the former is held entirely by the descendants of Hawaikians, that is, of the men who landed at Whangara from Takitumu with Paikea, their captain, who very likely fixed on that locality because he saw no aborigines there. Into the latter, as we have seen, Ngaetumoana and Parariki proper were driven by Tuwhakairiora. We also know that Ngatiawa are living in that district now under the names of Ngaetawarere and Whanau Ihutu. There is, therefore, perhaps, to some extent, an admixture of the aboriginal element in those tribes. I am not, however, able to affirm anything, having never travelled in their country, nor had opportunity to inquire--and in covering the ground named I have covered the whole of three spheres of influence--namely of the three canoes, Takitumu, Mataatua, and Arawa, in so far as the relations of the immigrants with the aborigines are concerned. This qualification is necessary, because I am not now treating of wars that took place in remote parts of the island between the outpost colonies of the various canoes, such as the war between Tainui and Arawa people at

[Image of page 157]

Taupo four hundred years ago, when the latter ousted the former from the south and east sides of the lake, or the wars between the people of Takitumu and Tainui after that at Moawhango and the Upper Rangitikei Rivers, when the latter were again expelled. These wars amongst the descendants of the immigrants in remote parts were bitter struggles for territory; not mere tribal strife with an utu account, and they usually ended in one side being defeated and driven off.

The same thing took place between Ngatiawa of Mataatua, and Ngatiporou of Takitumu; their theatre of war was about Te Kaha, where there were many campaigns. Te Kaha pa obtained its name from the number of sieges it withstood in that war.

In determining dates, I have estimated a generation at 30 years' duration, which period, all circumstances considered, seems pretty reasonable as a chronological standard. Of course, any estimate of this sort is necessarily arbitrary. The reader, however, can reduce it if he thinks the unit too large; at the same time, it is well to remember that many Maori chiefs had many succeeding wives, and the genealogies preserved embrace not infrequently the youngest born of the youngest as well as the first born of the first wife, nor had the latter a monopoly of distinction. Tuwhakairiora, Tuhourangi, Tutanekai, Hinemoa, and others were all youngest or nearly youngest children, yet each is a prominent figure in Maori tradition.

[Image of page 158]

In concluding this sketch in the history of the autochthons of New Zealand, let me say that all the facts set forth have been imparted to me by the Maoris themselves, excepting, as already stated, such things as I learned from my father in the forties. He prosecuted his inquiries in the thirties and forties, and was one of the very few in those early times who took an interest in the history, laws, and customs of the Maoris. Before his death he wrote to me from England urging me to publish my information upon these subjects.

My next chapter will be upon the voyage of the Hawaikians from their own country to New Zealand.

1   Mr. Wilson landed at the Bay of Islands with his family on 13th April, 1833. One year is allowed in the above passage lor learning the language before making enquiry.
2   The ancient inhabitants hunted the moa until it became extinct. The last bird was killed with a taiaha by a man at Tarawera. The habits of the moa are described as solitary, living in pairs in secluded valleys in the depths of the forest near a running stream. It fed on shoots, roots, and berries, and was particularly fond of nikau and tree fern. It was supposed to feed at night, for it was never seen to eat in the daytime. Hence the proverb 'moa kai hau' as it always seemed to have its head in the air, eating wind. The moa had a plume of feathers on its head. In the depths of the Motu forest there is a mountain called Moanui, where, no doubt, the bird was killed by the people of Rotonui-a-wai and Wharikiri, for their descendants knew fifty years ago that their forefathers had slain the moa.
3   The kakapo betrayed itself at night time by its cry. With the assistance of a dog it was easily caught. Only within the present century did it become extinct, through constant hunting. Its loss as a source of food, was very much felt by the Maoris.
4   Kao was a favourite article of diet, made by drying the karaka berry and the kumara root.
5   The rat was, perhaps, the most valued kind of Maori game; when in season the flesh was greatly relished. They were kept in rat runs or preserves, which no stranger would venture to poach upon.
6   In draining a swamp some time ago at Knighton, the estate of S. Seddon, Esq., near Hamilton, Waikato, two wooden swords, believed to be of maire, were dug up in a good state of preservation, one 2ft. the other 5ft. below the surface. It would be interesting if we could be sure that these are ancient Maui-Maori weapons, although I suppose there can be little doubt about it, for they differ entirely from any weapon used by the New Zealanders when Europeans first came amongst them. A man armed with a taiaha or tewhatewha would have but little difficulty in coping with the bearer of one of these swords--notwithstanding they are good weapons of their kind. One is a heavy cutting sword; the pitch of the handle bespeaks a circular movement. It has no guard, the length of the handle and size of grasp is the same as an English infantry officer's sword is, or used to be; the length of the blade is 10in. shorter. This shows that the hand it was made for was as large as the hand of a man of the present time. The other sword, also without a guard, is two-edged, and is apparently a thrusting sword. The idea of the stone mere seems to be developed from this ancient form of weapon. The swords are in the possession of Mr. Seddon, junr., of Gorton, Cambridge.
7   When the child Oho was being tuatia-ed, and prayer that he might he brave and strong in war, and strong in peace to cultivate the ground and perform the many functions of social life was being made, he stretched forth his hand and took the sacred food offered to the Deity and ate it. His two brothers perceiving the fearful thing called their father, who, when he saw the demeanour and action of the child became aware that he was of Divine origin, and said to his sons, 'The child is not one of us, it is his own food that he is eating.'
8   The present European Matamata and Railway Station of that name are several miles away from the true Matamata, which is at the European settlement now called Waharoa. The Matamata pa, a large one, stood beside the river, and was some little distance westward and northward from the C.M.S. Mission Station, which my father helped to found in 1835. The Mission Station was a little to the southward of where the Waharoa Railway Station now stands. The line seems to run through the site of the old station. Waharoa is a new name for that land, probably borrowed from the chief of that name, whose story I published in 1866, and given by Europeans who appropriated the historical name of Matamata for their own settlement many miles off.

Previous section | Next section