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Transcript of The Makers of Australasia - Forgotten Books
THEMAKERS OFAUSTRALASIA.
EA RLY VOLUM ES
(READY)‘
H E EX PLORERS O F AU STRALIA , by ERNEST Pay nnc . 320
pages .Th ese sto r ies which Mr . Pay ene r e late s de se r v e to b e read , because th e i r lesson
is o n e of the t r ue st a nd m ost unse lfi sh pat r iotis m .
- Ly tte lton Times .
M 1 . Fave nc‘s olu m e 13 1n 8 into concise and si m p le fo r m a m ass o f in fO1 m ation
co nce r ning m any o f the he 1 oes o f Aust ral ian inland d iscove 1 y and d e v e lop m ent . andis an im pm tant cont r ibution to th e h ist0 1 ical i eco 1ds of th is count1 y .
— The A i gus ,
Me lbou rne .
Ad m i rably w r itten as it is . th is accu rate h isto r ical account o f the g reat wo rk o fAust r al ian e x plo ration shou ld h a v e a lasting v alue .
”—Daxi ly Te leg rap h , Sy dne y .
SIR GEORGE GREY — Go v e r n or, Hig h Co m m ission e r , and P re m ie r .An Histo r ica l Biog raphy , by J. COLLI ER . 245 pages .A ca r e fully const ructed na r rati v e . and an absolute i m pa r tial ity . We ha v e ne v e r
seen a biog raph y in wh ich th e subj ect has been so f rank ly and faith fully dealt w ith .
The Sp ecta to r , London , 18th Se pt . , 1909 .
The sto r y o f Sir Geo r ge G r ey ’
s long offi cia l l ife , co v e r ing as it does so m e o f them ost t r y ing pe r iods in the h isto r y of South Aust ral ia , New Z ea land and South Af r ica ,
is one wh ich 110 student o f I m pe r ia l p r oblem s can r e ad too often , and we can recomm end Mr . Collie r ’s wo rk to such w ith as m uch confi dence as to th ose to who m as y e tthe g r eat E m p i r e states m an is but a na m e .
—The S tan da rd , London .
Mr . Collie r has caused the dry bones of the h isto r y to l i v e w ith the b r eathwh ich co m es f r o m pe rsonal inte r cou r se w ith the man whose life and cha racte r arebe i ng desc r ibed . The result is a v e r y de l ightful and inte resting wo rk .
— The P ress ,
Ch r istchu r ch .
HE M AOR IS OF NEW Z EALA ND, by JAMES COWAN . 380
pages .
(INPREPARATION)
E EARLY GOV ERNORS OF AU STRALIA , by FRANKBLADEN .
WARD G I B BON WA KEF IELD, by THE EDI TOR .
13mm 41 11111 1111 19014 .
PATARA T E TU H l , a ce le b rated Wa lka to ch e f , and o n e -Mm e Ed ito r o f the Kin gite H o lu o i.
THE
Maoris of New Zea and.
JAMES COWAN.
WI TH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
AND DRAWI NGS
CHR l STCH U RCH ,WELLI NGTON AND DU N ED IN
,N .Z . ;
MELBOU RNE AND LONDON :
WH ITCOMBE AND TOMBS LIM ITED.
1910 .
EDITOR ’S NOTE .
The inclus io n o f a Life o i? Gre y and a, H isto ry o f t in
X plo rcrs of Australia in a M akers o f Aust ra‘
nlas ia Ser ies”
d n o exp lan at ion ; the p ert in ency of this , the thir d volum e,
he M aor is of New Z ealam may n ot be so rea d ilyd
,but is n evertheless real
,foun d e d , as it is , on the
establishe d p rin cip le of the sequen ce and con t inuity of
The British colon isat ion of New Zealan d involve d a violen tan g e in the con d itions of life in these I slan d s ; but it did not
eak all conn ect ion and in terp lay between the M aori era and
lseha age that was then beg inn in g : the d isp ossesse d p eop le
d istin ct ive n ative culture , the p ro duct of cen turies of
and they were not d ecimate d by the p rocess of
ettlemen t and conquest . The life we live to-day is coloure d , itmay be fain tly in some of its forms
,but still un d en iably tin ge d ,
1y the light stream in g fi tfully out up on us from the p ast whenhe M aori possesse d the lan d . And it is worthy of remark thathis in fluen ce is stron gest , n ot on the lower p lan es of existen ce ,
ni t. in the higher stag es of our thought and feelin g . The M aori
lad d on e little to shap e the coun try so as to satisfy the Palceha ’s
c on om ic n ee d s : still a barbarian,he had not learn t how to re -act
1pon Nature and to modify his environmen t w ith the skill of
he En g lishman,heir of all the ages
”; and,
therefore,for the
'
oadin g , bri d g in g ,d eforestin g , p rospectin g , and even the
ultivatin g that were the Pakeha ’
s first tasks,he had lai d but
slight foun d ation ; though his cen turies-old exp erien ce was
reely d rawn upon by the colon ist in learn in g the n aturale sources— the econ omic value of the p lan ts , fishes , etc.
,and the
i'
eather cycles .
But in other d omains the in fl uen ce of the M aori,always
ensible,has of late in crease d rap i d ly in volume
,and
'
w ill
x tend un til much of the art and p oetry and scien ce and
v iii ED I TOR ’
S NOTE
philosophy of the Domin ion will find in sp iration in the faithful
p ictures of the old M aori commun ity d rawn by d iligen t , truthful ,and sym p athetic stu d en ts and historians of the race
,such as
Mr . James Cowan,the author of this book . And when the
con d ition s of life in New Zealan d have been rais ed to that
d eg ree which w ill en sure that more leisure shall be available forthe satisfaction of our higher needs ; when the p eop le, throughtheir rich men
,their Governmen t , and their Un iversity
,w ill
p rovi d e a d equate means for the growth of culture and of that
kn owle d ge which has n o obvious immediate or d irect p racticalutility
,but which may n evertheless be of immen se ultimate
sign ifican ce for the well-bein g of the n ation,then atten tion w ill
be much more firm ly fixe d up on the achievemen ts,customs
,an d
habits of the M aori as p resen tin g a store of facts illum in at in gvivi d ly certain imp ortan t stages in the history of relig ion ,
of
lan guage , of human in st itut ion s,
and in d ee d the gen erald evelopmen t of the human m in d .
I t is a just rep roach again st most New Zealand stu d en ts of the
p olitical , econ om ic , and g en eral social d evelopmen t of mankin dthat they are con ten t to take their illustration s of the p rin cip lesof the social scien ces- sociology, econ om ics , ethn ology, etc .
,
from the exp erience of other races in other lan ds,w ith n o
thought of the valuable d ata awaitin g research in the recor d sof the n ative civiliz ation . The reason
,therefore
,for in clu d in g
this volum e in the Series is n ot on ly because New Zealan d and
the New Zealan d ers of to-dav woul d have been d ifferen t fromwhat thev are
,if there had been n o M aori occup at ion of the
coun try, but also because it is hope d that a book, such as this is,
a d d in g g reat ly to the authen t icate d facts relat in g to M aori
culture may help to turn the thoughts of those who w ish to
kn ow the Story of Man in all his I i iai'
i ifestations towar d s the
treasures that m ay be u n locke d at the touch of the investig atorof human evolut ion in the tra d itions and ann als of the
-lf’ i,1ly nesian .
Mr . (Jowan’
s ho ok e n i lmdios the results of observat ion s and
e nqu irie s m a d e d ur in g a IiiL'
e - Io n g in t im acy w ith the M aor i
p e op le . From his e arlies t y ears . he has k nown the M aor i,and
the w o rk o f e o llect in g ,tr z-i n slat in g , and interp ret in g the histo ry ,
t ra d it io ns . fo lk-lo re . and p o etry o f the race has occup ie d
icin'
ro n’
s NOTE
iate ve r t im e he has be e n ab le to spa re from j ournalistic w o rk
11g a pe rio d o f man y y ea rs .
lilven it w e acce pt o ne o f the n arrow est d e fi n it io ns o f
s to ry . w e must ack n ow le d g e that the p re s e nce o f the Mao r i
s low s o n New Z e a la nd,as e o n t rasted w ith Aust ral ia
, g reat
to rie al in te rest . The ea rly t ra d in g a d ve n tures,
and the
rs— pa rt icu larly those o l“
— l1ave g iven us muchturesque mate rial and a, m ilitary reco r d
,at t im es cre d itab le
bo th I'd /fella, and Maori— which Aust ral ia en t irely lacks .
sast rous thou gh the se w ars se em from m o st p o in ts o f v iew,
ey a re n o t altog ether to b e re g rette d , for they brought out
o f the best qualit ies of both race s ; and som e o f the m ost
11g exam p les of the exercise of these,Mr . Cowan n ow
or d s for the fi rst tim e .
JAMES H IGHT.
Canterbury Colleg e,Christchurch
,NZ .
November 23rd,1909 .
AUTHOR ’S PREFACE .
l n this stu d y of the M aor i race an en d eavour has been ma d e
to show something o f the history,
relig ion and mythology ,customs , and social life and inst itut ion s of the p eop le .
M any an in terest in g survival of an c ien t fa iths and
anc ien t ways is to be notice d amon gst the M aoris of
to-day ,and the stories illustrati n g these beliefs are n ow
publishe d for the fi rst t ime,as also are those d ealin g with
the in tertribal wars of old. Amon gst the other matter n ew to
prin t are numerous folk-stories and examp les of n ature-lore and
forest-craft,sp ecime ns of karakta or r itual and incan tations
for the various nee d s of life,and examp les of the beautiful
M aori p oetry . Stu d en ts of New Zealan d history w ill fin d an
en tirely n ew version of the VVairau“
massacre of 1843,as
narrate d by a M aori warrior . The story of the battle of Orakau .
by Tup otahi and others,con tains much that has not been g iven
in p revious n arratives,and throws a n ew light on
.
certain
ep iso d es in that heroic last stand of the Kin g ites . The life of
the M aori of to-day is d ealt w ith in several chap ters .
The n otes use d in this book have been gathere d at first han d
from the Ifaim iatuas,the old and learn e d men
,of man y tribes .
but chiefly those of the VVaikato,Ng at i-Man iap oto ,
Arawa .
Ngat i-Tuwharetoa,U rewera
,and Taran aki. \Whatever n ew
matter is here p resen te d is offere d as a small con tributionto the great work of M aori research d one in the past and still
being d one by Mr . S . Percy Sm ith,Colonel W. E . Gu d geon ,
Mr . Haré Hon g i, Mr . Els d on Best,Mr . E d war d Treg ear , the
Rev . T. G. Hammon d,and other M aori-Polyn esian scholars .
The tra d ition s,folk-stories, and son gs g iven were gathered in
all sorts of p laces and un d er varie d circumstan ces from the
el d ers of the race— aroun d the camp fi re on summer n ights on
the shores of on e or other of the beaut iful lakes in the Rotorua
xn PREFACE
coun try,in the Taranaki bush
,in the settlemen ts of the Ki
Coun try and Taup o, in the homes of the Waikato canoe-men,
the bark-roofed wharepunis of the Urewera forest-dw
M any of the fin e old men who were my tutors inhave p asse d to the Rein ga ; amon gst them Tam ati I—I ap iman
M okoia I slan d ; Te Araki, of Owhatiura, Rotorua ; Waharo
Rotorua ; Paora Tuhaere, of Orakei Aucklan d ; Hon an a Ma
of M anukau . To these and to many men who are st ill in
Land of Light , such as the venerable Patara te Tuhi, of the
Ngati- M ahuta tribe ; Taua Tutan ekai Haerehuka,Te Matehaere
,
and Ran g iriri , of the Arawa ; and Tup otahi , of Ng ati-Man iapoto ,
I have a d eep sen se of g ratitu d e for my in itiat ion in to some of
the mysteries of the M aori m in d,and for stories and son gs
without end.
Those who really kn ow the M aori,kn ow his goo d p oin ts as well
as his failin gs, cann ot but have a likin g for the race ,
p articular ly the men of the old gen erat ion ,such as the chief
describe d in the op en in g chap ter . Those who,like the writer ,
have seen the M aori at his best and at his worst,have share d w ith
him in his p leasures and sorrows,and have seen him when the
okl savag e bhual surg ed up agahi zun l lna rushed fer lus g un hi
d efence of what he consi d ere d to be his rights ,have a lively
symp athy with his asp irat ions and a hop e that he w ill
regain his an cien t vigour and vitality,if n ot the an cien t fi re
,
and live to d evelop the best that is in him on level terms . socialHJ l t l [Hal it itai l . \vit li li is \Vil ite‘ f tdl11\v
M os t of the illustration s use d in this book,over sixty in
11undun; fre ni photog raphs a inl drawi n gs , znx3 1nn~ rep ro d uce dfor the fi rst time . Amon gst them are some of histor ical value .
On e of these is a sketch of the famous l l on g i I—l ika ,
d rawnreee 11tly by M aj o r-Gen era l Robley from the o il-p ain tin g of
l hn ig i a iul \V lnkatO hi lfl n g lanCI in 1820 ; tI ns is tfluz on ly'
authen th3
INe ture o f l longn in (haste n ee . l \ve snuiHcr sketches are zdso
from General Rob le y’
s p en cil . The fron tisp iece to the book is a
n ew p o rtra it o f the ce leb rate d Kin g ite chief Patara te Tuhi,the
(nuy h nuz iahhuI 1d the“
l lokknfl’
and Ehr John (hn st s chi
an tagon ist and frien d . An other full-p ag e illustration is a p en
and- ink d rawing of a remarkable M aori shrin e,the stone carve d
Nnag e o f the g oddm%; I IONNran gh at the TWhLoJFonga, wd dch,
ra nm e n x iii
w ithin a few m iles o f Ro to rua town,has been kep t
d from al l p ct/fella, eyes t ill q uite recen tly . Fo r the
o f Ahuma i,the hero ine o f Orakau . and seve ra l photos
ld fighting -men o f the Ng at i-’
l‘
uwharetoa tr ibe,l have to
k Cap ta in T. Ryan,o f Taup e ; and fo r seve ra l p ictures of
cin g on the Wa ikato River,Mr. L. l l ing e , o f Christchurch .
two sketches d ep ict ing tights in the Wa ikato‘
War o f 1863-4
r-colour d raw in gs b y the ce lebrate d M aj or V o n
was kille d at To Ngutu-o -te-h’lanu,Taranak i
,in
68 ; these p ictures are in the p ossession of V 0 11 Tempsky’
s
ughter , Mrs . Kettle , of Nap ier , who k in d ly p erm itte d photosbe taken of them .
JA M ES COWAN .
Welling ton , New Z ealand
November l 0th, 1 909 .
NOTE ON M AORI PRONUNCI ATJON .
'
l he s y stem o i 11 1 it i11g to wh ic h the 11: i 1 ly 111 iss i1111: 1ri11s I nduced l\ l : 1111 i h : is
a phone t ic bas is , and 11 111 11 the 1 111v11 l sounds 111 11 lea i n ed“
p 1 11111111.c ia t i11n 1is
not dill icult .
'I l1c l11a 1 1111 r sh1111l1l 1 1 t ha t them a re n o s ile n t 1 11 11 11115
in Mao r i. E 1 sy l lab l e ends w ith a v ow e l , a nd e v ery v owe l m u st besounded . The v owe l sounds a re m u c h the sa m e as in I ta l ian .
The re a re fif teen let te r -sounds in the Ma o r i a lphabe t , v iz . :
11 , 11 1 It , 111 , 11 , o , 7 1 , r,t , 11. 1111,
”
I‘laeh v owe l has a l o ng°
and a sh o rt v a lu e . wh ich 11111 b e exactly ind ica ted
on ly by accent m a r ks .A has on e soun d
,I ta l ian (1
,bu t w it h l ong and sho r t v a lues . he long
sound is m uc h the same. as in the Eng l ish w ords “ fat her, ” “
p a r t , ”“
pa th .
”The sho r t 11 is p r on ou nced as in the Eng l ish words “
pat ,m at ter , ” “
cat .
”Examp les z
— Long soun d : pd (fo r t ) ; lidng i (o v en )hz
'
i -ng ee ; (17 1111 (husband ) z t z'
ih-na y ; t adhu (altar ) = too -hoo ; Idp ere
(m irth) z tfih—p e r r ay ; [ca rd (a ston e ) . Sho r t sou n d : pdtu (c lub ) ; mm(m m ) ; l ii ng
'i (to cry ) .
E is p ronun ced as (1,as in Eng lish pate no t l ike “
cc in eel .
Examp les z—p ohea (how ) s pa y
-hay-ah ; koe (thou )=ko -ay ; tend (that )
— ta y -nah. Sho r t 11
as in “
pe t .” “ send , ” “ fe r ry .
”Exa m p les : me re
ke r ikeri p eke
I is p r on ounced as (111 in “ keep . o r “ sheep ” : A r iki (ch ie f ) : a w e - 1 ;ke1
m icro (hon ey )=mee -eh-ray . Sho r t as p i r i (to c l ing ) ; ki r t (sk in ) .
0 is p r onounced as o in the Eng l ish wo r d n ote ” : -t6 rort (tobacco )toh- r oh -ree (t h is sh ow s bo th the long and the sh o r t soun ds ) ; I fOtO‘HH I
‘ "
Ro -to -rua,not Rot -er—rua
,as often 111 isp ron oun ced.
U is p r onounced l ike 0 0 in“ coo l
,
”an d 11 in p ul l ” ; p itta (open ing ) .
poo-tah ; pu r e (a re l ig ious ceremony ) p O-ray ; puke (h il l ) — poo -kay ; li ne
( v eg etab le g ou r d ) z hoo -ay .
The r e is 110 a r b it r a ry r ule in reg a r d to the accen t ing of v owel s . and the
l ong and sho r t v ow el sounds m ust b e asce r ta ined by p i act ice . (ren e1 ally ,h owe v e r , w o r ds o f two sy l lab les a i e accen ted 0 11 the fi 1 st sy l lable , as i n
Ma c ; 21121 11 ; 111a 1 11 ; 1110 k(11 ; pdt 11 ; etc . The i e a i e excep t ions , as 7mm ; 11mm ;p a rd. WOI dS of t ln ee sy l lab les al e accen ted so m et i m es on the fi 1 st
,so1n e
t i m es o u the last sy l lab le as in tap e1 e, and matata .
The d iph thong a l sounds r equ i r e ca r efu l p r o nunc iat ion . The d ip h thong sare :
rl‘
I t
ae ; a t, (10 ; e-i ; 01
11 ,
bes ides t hose wh ic h are s im p ly doub l ing s o f the lette r s as on ; cc ; oo ,
° it ;1111 ; which are g i v en a fu l le r and s t r ong e r soun d in con sequence .
A c,as in such w ords as -ew(1e (feet ) , is p r on ounced b i oad and fu ll
,
as in the Eng l ish w o r d “aye ,
”and sh ou ld no t be g i v en the m om slende i
sound of t in “ shine .
. I t is p r on ounced m uc h as 1°
in strike .
”Exa m p les : to t (sea ) , ho t (food ) ,
mat (h ithe r ) .
NOTE ON MAOR I PRONUNC I AT I ON
A O is d ist in ct fro m an, w hich has a sh o r ter, sha rper sou n d . The 0 sh ou l db e sounded , bu t n ot ab r up t ly sepa rated f r o m the (1 . A O is often nn sp ro
nounced as ay-oh
,
”as in the na m e of New Zealan d , A o tea -roa . The
prop e r pronun ciat ion is,del iberately , Ah-oh—ta.y
-a.h-ro-ah
, o r , m ore qu i ck ly ,Ow—tay
-ah—roa .
A 11, as in hau (w in d ) , and macaw-11 (waste ) , is sounded m u ch as“ how
and“ count ” in Engl ish .
The exact soun d of ci and on can b e p e r fect ed on ly by p rac tice ; the'
b est
rule f or the lea r ne r ’s g u idan ce is t o r e m e m ber that the secon d le tter of thed ip hth ong m u st n ot be supp r essed, but m u st b e d ist in c tly in d icated in
p r on ounc ing the sy l lab le , as 0 11 in koutou (you ) .
The consonan t 119 m ust be p r o noun ced as one l etter and g i v en so m ewha tthe soun d o f the n asal in the F r en ch w o r d “
enco r e .
” The Eng l ish w o r d s“ sing ing ” o r “ bring ing ” d i v ided thu s s i-ng ing ,
” “ b r i-ng ing ” w il lb e so m e g u ide to the pronunciat ion of the Mao r i “
7 19 . There is no 9al on e sou nded in Mao r i . Fo r in stan ce the w ord tdng a ta (m an ) is d i v idedin to sy l lab les thu s : Tas ng a -ta
,n ot tan -
g ata . Tring i (weep ) is pron oun cedTah-ng ee ; m ag i (sky ) , rah—ng ee . Taxm ang a is p r on oun ced Tau-ra -ng a , notTau-rang —g a , as is often done . Tong ariro , To—n g a
-ree -ro . R112nang a ,
Roo -n ah-ng a .
xviii L I ST OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER V I .THE NEW LAN D , AND HOW I T WA S SETTLED .
PAGE
A New and Wonde r f u l Coun t ry— Exp l or ing an d Place -n am in gfl The
Aborig ina l T r ibes— Wa r s and I n te r m a r r iag e—The Na m eA otea—roa ” “ The Lan d of Long -Day l ig h t ” —The Mag i calDeeds Of Ng atoro -i -Rang i— A Mao r i Moses— Ta m a -o -ho i, the D e m o nof Ta r awera Moun ta in
CHAPTER V I I .MAORI COSMOGONY AND RELIGION .
The Mao r i a Natu r e -w o r sh ipp er and A ncesto r -xvorshipper— The Rel ig ionof A n i m is m — Mao r i Concep t ion of the C r eat ion— E v olut ion fro mChaos— A Ng at i-Man iapoto Geneal og y The Powe r s o f Dark ne s sand Lig h t— The First Man— D i v ine Descen t of Man—
“ A Ch il d o fThun de r"— Pe r son ificat ion of the E le m en ts— Man
’
s Mount and
H an— The Wan na , and Drea m s
CHAPTER V I I I .TAPU AND THE TOHU NGA .
Tap u as a Soc ial and Rel ig iou s Law— The Maor i Quaran t in cL —TheP r iestly Gu il d The Lo r e of the Whe r e -nia ii
'e— An Old-t i m eTonnag e— Te Kahé and Tare Nel s on— A Tapw
’d Palaeha— So m e
inn-Latter-day Tohwng us— The
“ Bush -Doc to r and Fa ith-h ealerCha r m s an d Spe ll s— A n A taim o r Lo v e -ch a r m — ll/[ uJiz ii t iu the
“Black
Art”— \Viza r ds an d Wiza r d r y— So m e Cu r ious Bel iefs— Ce r e m on ies
to a v e r t Makutu— Tn taneka i and the Sacr ed Stone
CHAPTER IX .
PAPATAUNAK I . TI IE EN CHANTED TREE.
The Sto r y of a Ret r ibu t ion— Ha re B r uern. an d his Tree -A n ce sto r— TheSac r ed To /u ru— (l
‘
ran ip l ing on the Ta p it~ A Mao r i B oy co t t A
Pag an (Jerem on v —Old I ‘I fl p fl Re m o v es the Ban— The, Fata l Town . 1 20
C_i X .
'
I‘
i S i-i iriNE or. AN
The. P im iaele -o f- the -South— A n A n c ien t l l il l-fo r t— Ran g i r i r i. theTohm if/ n
— f
l‘
he S iA‘ lbS— '
l‘
llC Ca r v ing on the“
fl ittThe ( Iodde ss I lo ro iran g i
— A “ Mossy S ton e o fC<-i'e i i im i i(-)s a t the Tudh-ir— Ma r u the “ f ar—Cod
( 1I I . X I .MAORI Soe iA I , LIFE.
T r iba l O rg an isa t ion S a v ag e. Soc ial is m — The Pos it ion of the Ch ie fsNo S e r v il ity to the A r is toc r a c y — V il lag e L ife— A r t s and
I ndus t r ie s— The Fo r t ifie d I’u o f O lden T i m es— Food
Cp lt iv: i t io ns~— ( 1hildre n— Ma r r iag e Custo in s ~ — “ na ta pn the Prop h e t
a nd hi s S e v e n — Ma r r iag e l'V Im /m - Ma o ri— V illag e.A m u s
e
i i i i i iiLS-f
l’
hi i 7’o i -
'
l‘
he l’as t iine o f the Ke lsi— D i v in g -Pa r t ie s
“ Th e r e is no Law in Rn ap eka.—\V e lcom ing
'
\7 is itors— The(‘
e re i n o nv o f the Tuhw-kui— Tho Tuna I’
ll nru—J l‘
u-a ta the S pea r s m anSunsh ine “
8” A d v en tu r e
L I ST I? CONTENTS
C I IA P'
I‘
I‘IR X I I .
TH E WHAR ICWn A Ix’
A I It t ) .
V il lag e Ca r v ed Hal l s— N ig h t Sc e ne in a h'l'
ee t ing- I lo use—J ‘ The Ba sk e t
o f Plen ty ,
” Te Koo t i’s Pra y e rd l o use— l n I l in e n io a
'
s Ho m e - «Whythe. Mao r i ( farved Th r ee I i‘ ing e rs o n his I m ag e s '
l‘
a ng aroa a nd the
( Ia rveu Statue s The Tap e 0 1? Ca r v ed House s— A l'
Io use—wa rn i ing
Ce r e m o ny Tutan eka i the Tehnng a— Au A nc ie n t Ritua l I ’rese rved
The I n v oca t ions o i'
t he I I’ lm i-lcu'
iea.—'
I‘
re nt I ing the'
I‘
hi'e sho ld l6u
PACE
C I I’
A X I H .
T u I", MAORI CANOE.
The Wuka -taaa— Canoe ing a t the Pr esen t Day— The, Sacred Canoe -T r eeThe Wounds o f Tane— Can oe -CaW ing s
— The
\Va ika re - m oana Canoes So m e. Paddl ing S ong s R iwaru”
CHAPTER X I V .
TATTOO] NG.
Polyn es ian Tatto o ing— The Mao r i Mo tto— Wo m en on ly Tattooed n ow
Tattoo ing -a r t ists— I -I ik i’S Tohu— The Operat ion of Tattoo ing
Pata r a te Tuhi’
s Moko— A South I sland Su r v i v a l of An c ien tI —I awa i ikian Tattoo ing— Lindauer
’
s and Go ld ie ’s Maori Po r tra itu r e 188
CHAPT ER X V .
NATURE-LORE AN D FOREST CRAFT.
The Wisdo m of the Wil de r ness— The Mao r i and the Bush— S ta r -l o r eThe “ f eather-w ise T r ee s o f Roto it i— “
TII O Slaves of -Tarawhata”
The Grey I V arb lcr and the Cuckoo —B i r d -Hunt ing Custo m s F i r em ak ing— The F la m es of Mahuika
CHAPTER X V I .SOME FOLK -STORIES AND FA IRY -TALES .
Tol d in the Whai ‘epunt— The Ho m e of the Fairies— A Fa iry H alca~ —A
Wa itara S to ry— Te R ii ’s A d v en tu r e in the Haunted Forest n —The
Tale of the En chan ted St ick —The Lo v es o f the Moun tain s,
Kakepuku and Karewa A T itan ic Batt le— Ka r ewa “ Treks ” tothe Sea— Kawa ' s M isty Lo v e -Messag e— The Sto ry of TokatokaPeak
CHAPTER X V I I .OMEN S . TI PUA S
,AND TAN IWHAS .
L ig h tn ing -Mountain s"— Te Kauae,the Roto r ua H il l o f O m en— The
Po r tents o f the L igh tn ing— The Pass ing of Petera— En chan tedT r ees and D e m o n Log s— The Tan iwha -trees o f Lake Roto it i— TheBanshee of the Wairoa— Ka ipara Tan iwha. Ta les— Pokopoko andhis Pa r ade of Sea- m on ste r s— The Fal l o f Okaka Pa— The Taniwhaof the U tuhina Strea m — Ve ry L ike a C r o cod ile
CHAPTER X V I I I .THE POETRY OF THE MAORI .
E leg iac Chan ts— Poet ic Fun e r al A dd r esses— A Wife ’s La m en tH inemoa ’
s Lo v e -song s— A Nose -F lu te D it ty— Spec i m en s of Lo v esong s— The D irg e for Mo r ere
XX L I ST OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER X IX .
TH E MAORI IN WAR .
“ GE
E v ery Man a So l d ie r— The Old Mao r i Wa r rio r— War Ce r e m o n ie s— War
dan ce S ong s— War -
path Char m s— The Retu r n of the VVarr iors— A
Moko ia I slan d Custo m — The R itual o f the P r iest s— The“ Pilg ri m s
of Tu ’ — Sent ine l Song s— A South I slan d “ far I n c id en t— HOW the
Taranakis Burned the Titah i T r ibe in the ir Wharep zm i— MaoriWo m en on the War -
path— The Last I n te r t r iba l F ig h t— The WiroaB r eastworks— The Last Qua r r e l w ith the Wh ite Man— Hon e To iaand his Mahurehure VV arriors— The F i r e -b ran ds of the No r th
CHAPTER XX .
KA I -TANGATA .
>iLCann ibal ism— Arak i ’s Co m p la in t— The U npalatab l e PaJc m—J ‘Maori
F lesh is Sweet ” -The Last o f t he Ca.n n ibal s —~Titokow aru’s Man
eaterS —Cann ibal Feasts in the Last Ta r anak i “ far— Tam a ikowha,
the Eater o f Hea r t s— Patara’s Taste of Hu m an FIei — Araki
’s
A ccoun t of the Feast at Te Tumu— “ The F ish -of —Whiro ”— The
Old A dam— The Eat ing of Pa r en ts , a F il ia l R ite— Story of theCann iba l o f the Swa m p— H ih i-O-Tote and h is Vict i m s . and how he
was S la in
CHAPTER XX I .A CALABASH or MEAT.
A Tale of the T ib i-o -Tong a— I haka’s Gr and -daug h ter Stolen b y
Cann ibal s— The Meal in the Fo r est Po tted Mokop i i n-a , a P r esen tf or To Purewa— The S la v es ’ I nte r v iew w it h the U rew era Ch ie fA n U n exp ected S eque l— “
I’ll Eat Y ou I nstead ! ”
CHAPTER XXI I .T I I E STORv OF AN l l 'I ‘U A c couNT.
The Pass ion fo r Reven g ik—The Vende ttas o f Old— Nat i v e Lan d Cou r t
I ? eeo rds A n c ien t \Va r s o f Ro to it i—J l‘ uhouraug i and Ng at iI ’ ik iao— A Fa ta l S ha m -fi g h t— K o t iora and his Sla v e -w ife T r iba lPr ofi t an d Loss Acc ou n t Pu -sto r m in g s and Rep r isal s Can oeEx ped it ion s ad ian n iI uLFe asts— Q
‘
he, Sauarm g o f the A ccou n tLas t TITFIOTTT ’ to Ng at i- If’ ik iaoM W
(3I IA'
I”I‘
I‘] II XXI I I .
TOREKA I I E’S REVENGE.
A Ta le o f Lak e Ro to it i— Mao r i M il ita ry S t rat eg y and Re sou r ce—TheCann iba l Ca te ran s of I ’ae -h in ah ina— A Meat-hun t ing Exp ed it ionThe. A n i ln ish \Vo nde r t
'
ul Esca pe l—I is S is te r s K il ledThe It
‘
arew e ll .\u A r m y o f V en g e ance— The Sk ir m ishw ith the — l": ie—li inahin a Pu I n v e sted Torekahe and thePohutukawa T re e The Po le o i
' Spea r s—J l‘ orekahe ’s Dar in g
( fliinb “
I“ irst F ish —S en t in e l Song s— '
I‘
he Ch an t t o theh
im-
pin t]
: S ta r s S ig nal t o r the A ssault— S to r m in g and Cap tu r eo f t ie f
l
o rt
L I ST O F CONTENTS
CI IA R XXI V .
Tar. MAORI AND THE MUSKET“ The. Fi re o t
'
the C ods" S to ry— l lo ug i [f il m and his
l\luske ts — '
I‘
he A ttack on Moko ia I sland The. Ma n in the,
“ I r onZI I
'
a t” Ca p tu r e o f Moko ia a nd S laug h te r o f the A r awa s—J l‘he
O v ens of Ng apuh i— Moko -uu i- a-R-aug i’s Da r ing Ex p lo it— J I
‘
O
Rz—u ipa raha , and how he. S lew the M i la n poko— The Lake -
p us Otf
l Iorou'
he nua w
'
l‘
he ir Const r uc t ion a nd the i r Ca ptu r e ~ Pr isonisle o f N a m u - it i— I l ou Ng a t i-toa K illg ln
the ir“ M I-n i t ”
I sland and the Sh ip s o .t:'
fitt ’ fi rrz 'mf
CHA. I"I‘
ER XX V .
TH E MAORI AN D THE \V‘
i-i iTE
Eu r op ean '
.I‘
raders in Reque s t The Tra ttic in A r m s— The F i r s t Wh iteMen in Kawh ia H ow the Mao r is Boug h t t he i r Gun s— Load ingKau r i Spa r s in the Ea r ly Day s— The
“ St . Patrick ” in the
Hau r ak i— Pete r D il l on and Po m a r e A VV ar -can oe .Fleet —The
C rew at Qua r te r s— “ Stan d By ! — A Na r r ow Es cap e
CHAPTER XX V I .A MAORI VERS ION OF THE WA IRAU A FFAIR .
Te O r o ’s Na r r at i v e of the F ig h t at the Wai rau in 1843 —Te Rauparaha
’s St r ategy— Consu l t ing the N iu— The Spearsman
’s Chal leng e
A n U nlucky O m en— Repu lse of the I Vhites— Te Oro and Cap ta inVVakefi eld— To m ahawk versus Swo r d —V V
akefi eld’s Su r r en der and
D eat h
CHAPTER XX V I I .TH E K I NGI TES AND TH E WAR .
A Pat r iot ic War -song— The Lost Lands of Wa ikato— “The Lan d is
Our Moth e r ’S M ilk ”— VVilliam Tho m p son and his Son Ta ing akaw a— How the Mao r i K ing Mo v e m ent B eg an— The Wa ikato VV ar
Pata r a at Me r e m e re— The F i r st S tea m boa t on the Wa ikato R i v e rThe Mao r is ’ Cannon— End of the War The K ing ites
“ Co m e Outin ] 881 — “ The King of the Cann iba l I slands ”
CHAPTER XX V I I I .THE DEFENDERS OF ORAKA U .
A He r o ic F ig h t— The Eew i F ic t ion— The Pa in the Peach -g r o v es— Th r eeHund r ed Maoris Ag ain st Se v en teen Hun d r ed Sol die r s— The Th r eeDay s ’ D efence — Tupotahi ’s Sto ry— Sh o t and She l l— Suf fe r ing s ofthe Ga r r ison— “
IV e w ill F ig h t On ! ”— The Last Day— “ Let us
Cha r g e Out ! —The D e m an d for Su r r en de r— The Mao r i Rep lyTe H euheu
’s Batt le -song The Dash fo r L ife— Maj o r Ma i r ’s
Na r rat i v e— The Rea l Hero of Orakau— The B r a v e A hu m ai
CHAPTER XXIX .
A WAR -CANOE EXPED ITION .
Queen ites versus HauII aus— How the A r awas Wen t to Batt le— ARoto r ua IV ar—canoe ParadH A P ictu r esque Sp ec tac le— The Kil tedCap ta in s— A Gr eat Canoe Song— The F ig h t at Te Komuhumuhu
,Lake Roto it i
xxii L I ST OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXX .
THE HAU H AU S .
PAGE
U a,the Founder of Hauhau ism— The Po i- t
iiu’
i r'ire Fanat ic is m
So m e Curious Chants— The Ce r e m on ie s Roun d the N ice
Titokowaru’
s Iva r in Ta r anak i— VV ild Scenes in the F o r est— Te
Koot i,the Hauhau War -ch ief— The Sk i r m ish at Te Kap eng a ,
Roto r ua Te Koot i and his“ P r ay ing -House at Te Ku it i
Te Whit i,the P r op he t of Peace
CHAPTER XXX I .A DAY AT A “ HU I . ”
Canoeing on the Waikato— A V is it to Waahi,the Ho m e o f the Mao r i
King— The “ Hui ” —Mao r i Music— Gay V il lag e Scen es— Mao r iHosp ital ity— The
“ F l ute Ban d ”— The Dance on the Gr eenH aere ra ! ”
CHAPTER XXX I I .THE TANGI .
The Canoe of Deat h ”— K ing Tawhiao’s \Vakw —A Gr eat To ng ihanoa
The Sacred Mount of Taup iri— Recep t ion of the K ing ’s BodyA Th r il l ing Scene— A Mag n ificen t D irg e— “
Te Tan iwha 0 te RuaR ifle and
'
Dyn a m ite Sal u tes— “ Hau l up the Canoe ! ” -TheK ing ’s Last Bed
PERXXXLiT “
HUL'
l lOW3 I heHtt heof“
theInorl l ‘
]‘
lgi
31
IihiaosWake—AGreat Tannin IIIiii—Rett-eptionofttheKing5BothentDirge T6Totttthtt oteBitI’S—
“ Hatll up the Canoe—The
LIST OF
l ’a ta ra. te. Tuh iThe t ltt I I - I tg tt
'rtthIt , o r I v a r -danceRutene te U ama irang i
A NVa ikato Canoe C r ewS cene in the U rewe ra Coun t ryTe A rak i to PohuA I I U rewera Mao r i TypeA Sa m oa Gi r l : Polynes ian TypeA Tong a Sai l ing CanoeA Ta r anak i Poi—g ir lA Descendan t o f TuriMaketu , Kawh ia Harbou rThe Sacred Gl o v e of the Tainu i Canoe Kawh iaThe KOI otang i
The A r r i v al o f the CanoesThe Puke -ki—H ikurang iThe Moerak i Bou l dersHera te Ata
Te Heuheu Tukin o
A Greenstone TikiA Maori Tuahtt
,o r A l tar
The Tohtmg a Werewere te Rang i-pu- m a m aoRang iririCar v ed I m ag e of Horoirang iRuatapu , the U rewera ProphetThe mom-
I}
An Arawa Wo m an,Rotorua
Maori Wo m en ’s Canoe RaceTu -ata, of Waahi
,Waikato
Car v ed House at Mataatua, U rewera Coun tryI nte r ior of Ca r v ed House
,Rotorua
Car v ed Doorway of Maori HouseMaori Wal l -pat terns in a Rotorua ChurchRacing Canoes at Ngaruawahia
Parade of Canoes , NgaruawahiaCanoes o n the Waipa Ri v er, Ng aruawahiaNgakuru Pana
,a Barawa Chief
A Tattooed Maori Wo m an
L I ST OF ILLU STRAT I ONS
We tanui, Of the Ngat i-I—I aua TribeOl den South I slan d Mao r i Tatto o ingA Mao r i Ch ief"s M oko S ig natur eTe Aho -O-te—r ang iA Ta r anak i Wo m anCa r v ed Gateway of a Mode r n PaA Wa ikato Ch iefta in essHamut i Hauk in o . a Hanhan Wa r riorTaonui , Ch ief of Ng at i-Man iap oto
I-I ong i H ikaRan g ihaeata
’s To m ahawk
Head -
p iece fro m the R ing ite NewspaperThe Sk i r m ish at NV a iari
,Wa ikato
Rush ing the Maori T r en chesTupotahi
Ahu m ai te PaerataRaWiri Kah iaTutang e Waionui in War-costu m eTe Rang itahau
Maj or Ropata Wahawah aWharea itu ,
of Ng ahan , TaranakiRuatap u and So m e of his Fa m ilyA Waikato K ing ite F lagMaori Newspaper “ Te Pak i-o -Matarik iA Waikato War-dance
MAP .
Map of Maori T r iba l D ist r icts Fac ing p . 24
2 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
of rank green fern and tutt i scrub . Here the stray
p akeha traveller , riding p ast , would receive a hosp itablecall to join the lawn at their meal , a. welcom e with shawlwaving and long-drawn out cries of
“
H aere-ma i, e te
H (te—e-re mat—i ! Hacre -mat le i te ha t—t i !”
And when the steam ing p ork and p otatoes, fresh fromthe earth- oven were p laced before the p akeha
— whoselong breezy ride had put a han dsome edge on his ap p etit e
-and were followed by a. bu sh dessert of tenderboile d cobs of
'
kacmg a— 1n aize or a. basket of p eaches ,
he would say to him self that there were worse things inthe way of food than a ht
'
ttz-y é- cooked M aori m eal . For
drink there was a. calabash of cold water,fo r the hue
gour d from which calabashes or“
tain t were made werestill grown here , and this was the last ham/{7 a at which Iever saw a take u se d ; later there was p erhap s a
“ b illyof ho t tea . And o ld Hau-auru , after his tw o wives hadfed his y outhful p alt clta guest , would squat there on his
flax m at smoking his toro ri— the m ighty o d our whe reofhas been compared to Old boots burn ing— with a beam inggrin of huge kin dlin ess wrinkling his corrug ate d Old face ,and enquire the n ews of the fron tier town ship .
There was som ething grim ly grand abou t that an cien tman
, as he sat there in the sun in fron t of his t aup e hut .
He wa s of broa d strong fram e, square - shouldered with
a I'
Iug ilistic dep th of chest . H is hea d,high in forehea d
,f as un comm on ly mas sive and p t
‘
Iw erful ; his great browsowerhung d eep keen old e y es , and his face w as closelvtattooe d in t
‘
leep —chiselle d lin es and sp ira ls. so comp lete ly tattooe d that he seem e d b lue -b lack of visage . H iswhite ha ir, cut short , had a com batan t w irin ess ; his facehad been d ives ted of eve r y ha ir . On e ear—lobe wase I
'
Io r Inous ly dis tendt-I tjl. w ith a ho le in it several in ches
IoII g ,
III which he wo re on sp ec ial occasion s a. large bunch
o I: whi te d own y alba tro s s fea the rs ; from the other earhung b y a r ibbon a heav y g rt
-I en s tone p endan t . A shirtInd a long b lanke t we re a ll the clothe s he w e re whenI t ho I I Ie . A llome ri c I
'
I e rsona lity w a s tha t, o f this oldcann ibal war ri o r
, a savag e. but a gen t lem an, fu ll o f
T I'
I'
JC MAORI : AN I)
cou rteou s frien d ly fee ling fo r the, whites whom he had
o nce. foug ht and bitte rly hate d , a nd fu ll o f the ho s p ita b legen e ro s ity of the. true who wou l d sha re
his last basket o f p o tato es w ith the stra ng e r w ithout
expecting an ything in retu rn .
l lau -au ru was bo rn ea r ly in the secon d d eca d e o f the
last. cen tu ry , a pe riod when the in te rio r o f New Zea la n d
kn ew a lmo st. n o thing of p ulse /II I I'
I Ia I I ufacture s . l ie
was a big strong y ou th befo re, he eve r saw a whitesk in . The so n o f a. lighting- chief O I
"A r t/ti rank , he was
soon a fter b irth de t ‘licate tl to the se rv ice of the war -
g od
Tu w ith p riestly sp rink lings and in can tation s , and a ti
p z-I lI I
'
I— w hich the white man calls “ cabbage - tree"—wa s
p lan te d to m ark the tap e sp ot where he was born , within
the stockade of the hill-fort Te Paiti . When he grew to
manhoo d and fo llowed his elders on his first war -
p ath,
the white man had n ot much voice in New Zealan daffairs , save as a coast- trader and purveyor of muskets
and ammun ition . The M aori would give a ll he p ossesse din those d ays of almost con stan t warfare to Obtain the
n ew weap on s in which his heart delighted most,the
ln ' ight-barrelle d fi in tlock musket , with a keg of p owder
and a bag of bullets . The musket was a n ecessary of
life,and the M aori ’s desire for it rose to fren zy . Young
Hau-auru and his comrades ,w ith their Slaves and women ,
toiled like madm en in the manufacture of hemp or
t i t ttka from the flax-p lan t for barter to the traders at
Kawhia ,the n earest p ort frequen ted by the two or three
trading brigs and schoon ers from Sy d n ey that ven turedin over the West Coast bars ; they even bore their loadsof flax— or made their slaves bear them —as far away as
Tauranga,on the opp osite coast , in search of arm s and
p owder .
'
Every tribe lived in strongly stockadedvillages on terraced hill-top s ; y ou may coun t thesean cien t ruin ed p arap eted forts , n ow covered with fern
,
by the score in Hau-auru ’s old tribal territory . Long
war-can oes swep t with flashing p add les up and d ownthe rivers . The p eop le were beginn ing to add the b lanketto their woven flax mats, but refused the restrain t of
4 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
o ther p arkeha garm en ts . The law of tap e was the
suprem e Crim inal Code A ct, en forced n ot by musket andtomahawk but by d readful malevolen t Sp irl ts ; the
tohtmg as or sorcerers p lied their occult trade,
and
p erform e d the thousan d religious rites n ecessary for the
p reservation of life and of tribal m ane . Slam en em i eswere n ot wasted
,for they wen t in to the oven
,and the
young warrior Hau-auru m any a tim e ate human flesh.
H is first raid with gun andwar—ax e was about the year1830
, when Waikato and
Ngati-Man iapoto m ade alm ost yearly w ar-expedition sto Taran aki
,and m arched
hom e again with lon gstring s of wretched slavesben din g un der back- loadsof m an -m eat -~ the bod iesof their own tribesm en andrelatives .
“ We fought forslaves and for wom en
,he.
would say , w e did n ot
wan t the lan d . Abou t1835 he m arched with his
black-tattooed soldiers of
Ngati-Matakoré and NgatiMauiapo to in the army ledb y To \V aharoa again st the
Arawa tribe of the H ot
“ W M / M M Alw w m W ML akes , and fought a battle
m mmm. “Wi t t -un . t u n es. at Mataipuku , n ear the
presen t town of Ro torua ,
here the Lakes-men wereheav ily defe z-I ted
, and afte r a g reat cann ibal feast thesavage a rm y re tu rned to the ir Wa ika to homes w ithm an y
gut/m us o r back - loa d s o f cooked A rawa flesh in flaxbaskets and in ea laba sht-z s . A
.ca labash of p r
eserved man
m ea t wa s in tho s e d a y s o ften sen t as a thoughtful p resen tto a f rien d , a da in ty d ish tha t was a s w e lcome as a tinof sa lmon is to -dav to a South Sea I slande r .
M AO RI : AND PRES EN T 5
The l‘
l'
au -au ru could te ll o f many a wild ce remon y of
the war-
pa th,o l"the strange top ic la i d u po n the wa rrio rs
when the y marched awav to battle,and o f the r ites
obse rved upon the ir v ictor ious retu rn— the highchan t o f the l
'
ion'
i e -dwelling I o lrzmgm,the hig h-
p riest , a s
he wen t fo rth to g reet the re turn ing me n o l.’
b lood,n ake d
save for the the war—gir d le :
ll hae r e n la i'
.l‘
n i whoa ? ”
(“ Whence co m es the -lr-g od Tu ?
and the a ir- shak ing re spon se of the wa r-
p arty a s theywave d the ir bright ly -
p o lished gun s and qu ive red the ir
tomahawks and ston e p a i ns on high,and roared the ir
choru s of rep lyI hae r e m a i i te
'
_
k im ihang a .
I te hahaun g a
I a Tu !Te—ere
,te r e , tere -nui n a Tu !
(“ We ha v e co m e fro m the seek ing -out .
F r o m the sea r c h ingOf Tu !
T r a v e l le r s . g reat tra v e l le r s of Tu !
Raid and foray ,massacre and p illage . The wild
in land tribes carried fi re and tomahawk as far away as
M aketu , on the Bay of P len ty coast , and n ot un til thegen eral adop tion of Christian ity by Waikato and NgatiMan iap oto about 1840
,did these terrible wars of exter
m in ation cease . Later , Hau-auru,n ow leader of his
hapu,threw him self with savage en erg y in to the n ational
movem en t for the establishm en t of the M aoriKingdom , together with Te H euheu
,Eewi Man iap oto ,
Patara te Tuhi , Taonui, Te Rangi-ka -haruru (“ The
Thun dering-Heaven s” ) and many an other p atriot chie f .
He fought the p akeha in the Waikato War whichfollowed
,and survived to see the garden - lands of his
p eop le covered with the redoubts and farm -houses of the
conquering race,and for many a year he camp ed sullen ly
with his fellow King ites behind the border-lin e of the
Pun iu, p lann ing the re—conquest of the Waikato
, a schem ethat was n ever carried in to effect
,for the Kin g ite cause
was lost for good and all .
6 TH E M AORI S OF NEW Z EALAND
The Hau- auru,divin g back in to the days of p ure
savagedom ,could tell of strange m en and
.
strangerhapp en ings ; of his an cestral can oe
,the Tain u i
,and the
wizard chief who sat in her bows ; of wondrous star
m y ths,and of the rainbow-
g od U enuku,who guided
Tainui over the stormy Ocean -of—Kiwa,to this coun try ;
of the an cien t tribal wars of the Waikato,when every
bend of that great river,in M aori p roverb , had its
tam-who, its p owerful chief—“
he p ike 7c temmba,he
p il'
o 716 taut/10 7m”
—of the priestly
powers of the
W7 71aw oke n -H em
t ake,that tribe
,
g ifted by the gods,whose m em berswere able to
charm a school
of whales ashore
for a chieftain ’
s
fun eral feast ; of
the m urderousw iles of the To
7um ga Ill a fmzf'u,
the dreadful sor
cerer,who could
kill m en by them ere projection of
W M M NM { M m W W Wthe w ill
, or strike
Rute no te a lu n g itc o f ' I‘aup o .
bll 9 1“ l l l b‘
tl i ll l by
or the living deatho f wym
‘
cng crc, the M aori lep r'
osy . But m ore wonderfulthan auv of the m iracu lous works of the m edic in e -m eno f his n ation was the tran s formation which had takenp lace in 1
—\oteii- roa before his liv ing ey es— the p assing
awa y of o ld Mao ridom like a tale that is told, and the
en thron ing of the white man with his cities and railroads,his steam e rs and te legraphs .
And n ow in his peaceful o ld ag e , recon ciled to his whitesupp lan ters but abating n on e of his p ride of race and
'l ‘ l l l'1 M ACH] : PAST AN D PRESENT
tribe and a rm s,he sat the re on his mat
, qu ie tly watchingthe wo rk o f his we ll-o rde re <
‘
l little v illage . cou l d haveso liloqu ise d with Ossian
’s grim he ro , the g rey - bem 'ded
anc ien t Colla“ F riends of my youth the da rkn e ss o f ag e
com es like the m ist of the dese rt . My shie ld is wo rn
w ith y ears ! My swo rd is fixed in its p lace . I sa i d to
my sou l,Thy even ing sha ll be ca lm ,
thy departu re likea fad ing light .
”
So hae'rc-v'
a ! Va le, “l est-“ f in d ! It is well that your
bon es repo se in the triba l grave on y on d er terraced hill.
The white man’s flocks graze over y our o ld hom e ; the
white man’s locomotive screeches through your old
battlefields and hun ting-grounds ; the sacred memor ials
of the p ast are ob literated ; your tribe is a remn an t .
How e-re! for the (mitati border- lin e which y ou d rewagain st the white man has van ished before his breath.
The roman ce of the Rob e -
p o tac has gon e with y ou ,and
few there be who can tell where on ce stood the reedthatched hom es of your fighting ’Matakore .
Decidedly a more in teresting ty p e , that blanketedtattoo - sp irallec
’
l old warrior , than the p resen t gen erationof M aori ram/ aura ,
who as often as n ot wears tailormade clothes of the latest p attern ,
has a p ian o and a
graphophon e in his Europ ean -built house,is p roud of
his break at billiards , and whirls to the races in a
motor-car .
Hau-auru ’s ear ly train ing and environm en t and his
outlook up on life bore about the same relation to thoseof the m odern M aori
,though so short a p eriod of years
separates them,as the ear ly Briton ’
s life and sur
rounding bears to ours . H is education,adm irably fitted
as it w as for the p reservation of life and the attaimn en t
of the good things that con stituted hap p in ess in his tim e ,was that of the man of forest and fern
,of raup o hut
and dug-out can oe , the man of the Age of S ton e .
8 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
This was the M aori whose p ast and p resen t we shall
con sider,the race whose history is the most fascinating
of any p rim itive p eop le’s,whose record of wan derings
on and on over the vast many- islanded seas from theirremote birthlands is the most wonderful in the trad ition sof hum an adven ture and endeavour . A p eop le whoserestless en ergy and darin g
,whose p assion for exp lora
tion,for m igration to and colon isation of n ew lan ds
whose love of the sea 11d p ride in deeds of battle showstran gely close affin ity to som e of the dom inan t traits of
the Anglo—Saxon -Celtic race . For they are a p eop lewhom ethn ologists n ow have com e to recogn ise as a lon gsevered offshoot of our own Caucasic stock .
10 TH E MAOR-I S OF NEW ZEALAND
in the land , and that the p resen t native race is a m ixtureof the Tahitian and Rarotongan imm igran ts and the
earlier race— called by some tribes Te I w i- a- M aui, or
“ M aui ’s Nation ” —who were foun d already in p ossessiono f most p arts of the North Island coast-lan ds .
From the eviden ce of tribal history and tradition and
the gen ealogical lists which the M aoris m em orise so
rem arkably,the traces of an cien t human inhabitan ts
sometim es revealed in the course of excavation s, and
the se won d erful monumen ts of commun al in dustry,the
imm en se scarp ed and terraced hill- forts that abound inthe n orthern p arts of New Zealan d
,it is certain that the
M aori immigran ts of the Tainu i and Arawa p eriod landedin a coun try that was already fairly well-p eop led . I am
convin ced that m ore than a thousan d years beforeCap tain Cook first exp lored these shores in the
E ndeavour the brown - skinn ed re stless Poly n esian,
p robably with a strain of the M elan esian black,had
a lready settled in New Zealand,find ing here the sp acious
n ess and freedom and p eace den ied him in the
comparatively tin y islan ds of the m id-Pacifi c . Thus,
before even the fearless Northm en in their longd ragon -headed boats had saile d down up on the coastthey n am ed Vin lan d
,and an ticip ated by five cen
turies Co lumbu s ’s discovery of Am erica
,the forefathers
o f our M aori tr ibes had stee red their frai l outrigger anddoub le can oes far down in to the m y sterious Sou th Pac ific
,
leav ing the sof t trop ics for on e of the storm iest seas on
the g lobe , and had undaun te d ly m ade the ir hom es in a
n ew and won d e rfu l and ver y w ild coun try,where all the
c o n d ition s of life w e re much. mo re strenuou s and ruggedtha n in the ir lan g uo r<m s p a lm
- clad equatorial isles anda to lls .
Such in b rie f was the imm ediate o rigin of the M aor ii ac e whom the ea rly white exp lorers found in theseis lan d s , the m o s t v igo rous and en terp rising , p roud , w ar
lov ing and"fe ro c iou s o f p rim itive p eo ples . The p robable
when ce o f the race w ill be dea lt w ith in succeeding p ages ;Jl l S lL now it w ill be su ffic ien t: to ind icate that their last
T u n M'
Ao ul'
: m s'
r AND PuEs ENT
o r home - lau d s,befo re reaching New Zea land
we re the Ocean ic group s of which Tahiti, Ra iate a, and
li l'
uahe im-i
,in the Soc ie ty Island s, and iRz
‘
rro tong a ,
and A itutaki, in the Cook Group ,a re the
p rinc ipal is lan d s , and a lso,in the case o f the ea r lier
in'
im ig ran ts , p robab ly Samoa and F ij i, be fo re the latte r
group was overrun b y the Me lan es ian o r n <1~g ro id typ e o f
p eop le from the “ test .
s The M ao r is of New Zealan d a re the m ost iim'
iortan t
and numerous b ran ch of the great Po ly n es ian fam ily ,
the races kn own to ethn o logists as the“Sawa io ri
”-i
combin ation of the names of the tlne e chief Polyn esiann ation s
,those of Samoa
,Hawa ii
,and M ao ri. Out of
ap p roximately Po ly n esia-i n I slanders,sp read over
the vast Pacific from the M a rsha ll and Gilbe rt I slandsin the west to lon ely E aster I slan d o r Rap anu i in the
east , and from the high volcan ic islands of Hawaii inthe n orth away d own to New Zealan d and the ChathamI slands
,the M aori p eop le of this coun try number between
forty - seven and. forty-eight thousan d,or more than on e
fourth of the p op ulation of Polyn esia . The Samoan s
n umber about and are in p oin t of n ative p urityof blood stronger than the Hawaiian s
,who though
n om in ally in p opulation ,have in termarr ied with
whites,Chin ese
,and Jap an ese to such an exten t that they
are m ore than half - alien in bree d . I n Fren ch Ocean ia
(in clu d ing Tahiti and the other islands of the SocietyGroup ,
the M arquesas, the Paum otu or Low Archip elago ,and M angareva or the Gambier Group ) there is a n ative
p opulation of the languag e of these Islan ders,
p articularly the M angareva p eop le , closelyr resemblesM aori . I n Tonga
,the Friendly I slands
,there are about
n atives,having their own King and Parliam en t
,
un d er a British P rotectorate . The p opulation of the
Cook and other islan ds ann exed to the British Crown,
and govern ed from New Zealand,is between and
the most p op ulous of these islands is Nine,the
Savage I slan d of Cap tain Cook,with inhabitan ts ;
the others in order of imp ortan ce are Raroton ga,
12 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
M angaia , Aitutaki, Atiu , and M auke , of the Cook Group ,
and the isolate d atolls of Pen rhyn (Man g arong aro )Man ihiki
,Rakahanga
,and Pukap uka (Dan ger Islan d ) .
The n atives of most of these little trop ic dep en den cies of
New Zealan d closely resemble our M aoris in colour,
physique , lang uage and custom s ; the excep tion is Niue,
whose p eop le app roximate m ore to the Tongan typ e ,which ap p ears in ages p ast to have received a con siderable adm ixture of the Western or M elan esian elem en t .
The origin of the n am e Maor i has been much debatedby our Poly n esian philologists . The word M aor i as a
race -n am e is used chiefly by the New Zealan ders and the
Cook I slan d ers,and to a lesser exten t by the Hawaiian s
,
who have referre d to them selve s as M aoli . Literally it
m ean s “indigen ous ,
”as app lied to trees, birds , e tc.
,and
“fresh” as ap p lied to water
,te
,in
con tra d istin ction to“wa i- ta i
,
”salt-water . M y old
frien d Mr . Charles E . Nelson,a remarkable lin guist
,and
on e of the best of M aori scholars,a man who delighted
in tracking a M aori n am e or word back through its
variou s Hawaiikis to its origin al birth-place , hel d that“ M aori ” as a gen eric ap p ellative was of Cu shite origin .
He con si d ere d it. was derived from the Hebrew wordmoor
,or ao r
,m ean ing light
,
”and that the remote
A siatic forefathers of the Poly n esian s so called themse lves , j ust as the g ip sies of Arabia bore the n am e Ne are r
from af
ar,also light ; as the Jap an ese n am ed the ir chief
is land Nip p on , the Land of the R isin g Sun , and the I n casof Am e rica. ca lle d them se lves the Chil d ren of the Sun .
The an c ien t Greek s , too , w e re the Hellen es,the chil d ren
of I —le lio s , the Sun . New Zea land n ative, sp
eaking ofthe abo rig ina l p eop le of an other coun try ,
w ill refer tothem a s
“arr/ c Mao r i 0 te rm when-1m
,
” “the inhab itan ts of
that lan d .
”The d eit ie s and an cestra l sp irits of his race
he w ill sp eak o f a s“A tom. Mao r i. ” Mao r i
,therefore
,is
u sed bo th as a. sub s tan tive, a s in ag e Maori o tcra
“
1a a s an zuljcctive . Usua lly in sp ecificallyre ferring to his race a New Z ea lam ler w ill. make use ofthe exp ress ion
“l l-(fl ! lance /a, Mao ri
,
”m ean ing the M aori
MAORI : m s'
r AN ! ) runs i-zN'
r 13
b e o b le ,o r
”
1c ‘i'wi Mao r i ,”the Mao ri n a tio n . ltldwa rd
'
l‘
reg ea r, in his l\’lao ri- l’o lvne s ian Dic tio na ry
,give s
i ll o o ri as s ign ify ing“ in d ig enou s , n o t: fo re ig n , n a tive ,
”
in Tahiti, the M a rquesas , the l’aun io tu A rchipe lag o ,
and
the (lam b ie r I s lan d s ( M ang a reva ) ; in the last-n am e dEaste rn Pa c ific (l roup ,
whe re the pu re M ao ri lang uag eis sp oken ,
it a lso d enote s “on e, who be lo ng s to the
Po ly nes ian race ” and“ro y a l.
” Then awa y to the No rth
of the. Equa to r , in I lawa ii, we have the. wo r d ag a in , in
its var ian t fo rm of fmo o li, w ith p rec ise ly the sam e
m ean ing as in the is land s o f F rench Ocean ia and NewZea lan d . in very few p laces outside New Zea lan dd oes it ap p ear to be u se d as a racia l d e s ignation . I f the
wor d M ao ri as a race -nam e rea lly cam e from the SouthA siatic fatherland of the Poly n esian s , it has been
d rop p e d as an ethn ic title b y m ost of the b rz‘
mches o f
the Polyn esian stock .
By p urchase and by conquest the lan d s own ed by theM aori have been reduced sin ce 1840 to something a littleun d er seven and a-ha lf m illion acres . The total area of
the islan d s of New Zealan d is about sixty - six m illion
acres . When B riton and M aori j oin ed hands in the
T reaty of “ Taitang i sixty—n in e y ears ag o , the B ritishCrown g ua n n teed to the aborigin al inhab itan ts the irtitle to the whole of their lands . I Vhatever un fortun ate
quarrels , official blun ders,wars
,there have been sin ce
the chieftain s of the North met Govern or Hobson on the
beach of V Vaitang i and sign ed allegian ce to the WhiteQueen ,
the broad p rin cip les invo lved in that Treaty haven evertheless been gen erally recogn ise d by Europ ean sas binding and inviolable ; and taking it altogether theM aoris have n ot been badly treated with resp ect to the irlan d ed p ossession s . Sharp war there has been
,followed
by confiscation of lands, and man y hundreds of
thousan d s of acres of the best M aori lan d were taken byright of conquest . The law of the stron g arm
,the
r ing a-kalm as the M aori has it, he could well understan d ,
if he could n ot quite app reciate its j ustice . But the greatbulk of the M aori lands were alien ated by p eacefu l
14 TH E MAORI S on NEW ZEALAND
p urchase— often for absurdly in a d equate con sideration s,j u d ged in the light of to -day ; vast areas were p aid for
chiefly in muskets,kegs of gunp owder , cases of hatchets .
bales of p rin ts , boxes of fi sh-hooks, j ew’s-harp s , and so
on . Y et to the savage those were treasures of vastvalue ; and he did n ot make such bad bargain s after all
— for him self ; it is his d escen dan ts who suffer .
The M aori , like his average p a-kch-a, cousin , did n ot givemuch thought to p osterity .
But if the M aori has been on the whole treated withhon ourable con si d eration by the white colon ist , thewhite has much to thank the M aori for . I t
was the grandfathers of the p resen t M aori who
welcom ed and kin dly treate d the p alt cha when the latterwere very sm all fry in d ee d
,a weak han dful of coast
settlers and traders as comp ared with the warlikenum erous p eop le of the soil . Had Tamati I V aka Nen eand Patuon e and Te VVherowhero and o ther great chiefsof the early day s been endowe d with the p riestly gift of
Ma takite,the second sight , and had
“ dip p ed in to the
future ” a few y ear s,and behel d their p eop le a. m ere
remnan t besi d e the swarm ing p akche ,their recep tion
of the first British Govern or and his Treatym ight have been very d ifferen t in d ee d . Cur securityand our developm en t as a white commun ity in
the Southern S eas were due to the M aoris of
1840 in a. far greater m easure than the p a lccha
colon ist acknow ledges— «if in d ee d the average p alt cha of
to -day cares or kn ows zmy thin g about it . The p resen tgen eration of white New Zea lande r is too often ign oran tof his n a tion al histo ry
,too often kn ows little of the
c ircums tan ces that led to his ow n p resen ce here , and inhis ig nom n ce presmn es to look up on the Maor i
,who
clings w ith affection to the remn an t of his lan d,as a
cum l‘
iere r of the ear th.
The Maor i. wou ld p robab ly have been treated with as
litt le con s i d e ra tion a s the Austra lian b lack,had he n ot
been w e ll ab le to ma in ta in his own r ights and dign ity .
_lr_l. is qu ick in te lligence en ab le d him to recogn ise the
Ht"
' l ‘ l l l'l MAO R I : I ’AST A N ! ) PH I l uN l 10
imme nse ma te ria l zulva n tag e o f a cce j'
iting the white m an
as a co -se ttle r and a frien d ; but. he wa s co n stitutio na llv
sho rt. in the tem pe r, as qu ick to take o ffence a nd
p ick a q ua rre l as an y S co ttish Hi ghla n d chief o r a nv
S pan ish hi d a lgo , and a lwa y s ready to en fo rc e w ith g un
and toma l'
iawk his own p ecu lia r wa y o f look ing a t a
rac ia l p roblem . And he had n o c ring ing hum ilit y ; hed esp ised the diffiden t m an ; he fea re d n o o ne ; b e con
s ide red him se lf qu ite as go o d a s,a nd g em
-wa lly fa r be tte r
than , the p z'
i rtimilar ly in a ll the arts o f wa r. The
Maor i wi ll n o m o re descend to the s o c ia l leve l o f a H in d ucoo lie o r a .I a j
'
)an e se rick sha man o r a Zu lu hou sese rvan t than the Sam oan w ill becom e a p lz
'
in tation
labou rer ; that is for the iwi the slave races .
I -l'
is who le p lan e. o f cultu re , in his savag e state , was
re latively high ; and his sen ses of d ign ity and of humour— two qua lities that do n ot always g o together— were
qu ick and keen . “ Te can hardly im agin e a M aori
raritg o tira allowing a, white Govern or to d ecorate him
p atron isingly with a t in nam e -
p late , and christen him
King B illy .
W’
hatever advan tages c ivilisation may have con ferredon the M aori, there is no doubt that his physique hasdeteriorated . Sp eaking gen erally , the race has grownfl abbier
,more su scep tible to disease , sin ce the white m an
cam e . M an y M aoris are too obese to be healthy ; butthen we can say exactly the sam e of the p at ella . EveryM aor i in the savage old day s was an athlete
,alway s in
train ing . He n eeded n o calisthen ics,no dum b-bells
,n o
pun ching-balls to keep him in trim ; for he had his can oeing and his labour with axe and adze to develop his
mu scles of the shoulders and back and chest ; his foresthun ting exp edition s , his daily climb ing to and from his
hill-p a ,his often -
p ractised war—dan ce and his halite,to
make him agile and hard-limbed, soun d in w in d and
tireless of leg . The ten y ears ’war of 1860- 7 0, while a
vast m isfortun e in other ways,at least revived the half
forgotten m ilitary exercises of savagedom that help edto keep the M aor i in p erfect physical trim ,
and that were
“
16 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
the life and soul of the old gen eration . The p eacefulfarm er and trader
,the village la y —reader , tore off all
vestiges of civilisation with their trou sers,and leap ed
in to the wild action of the p c-rap era with a joy and fi re
that were all the greater because so long rep ressed .
Every M aori was a soldier by in stin ct and by train ing,
like the Highlander of old. I t is hardly reasonable tosup p ose that the modern M aori has lost this in stin ct ;the sp irit of soldiering is in his blood
,and given p rop er
train ing the thousan d s of y oun g n atives in the landwould be a sp lendid auxiliary to the white forces in
tim e of war .
Phi l !”by l l'
. A u ckla nd , 1006 .
A Wa ikato Canoe C r ew .
Certain of the M aori tr ibes seem,because of the ir
environm en t , to have escap ed that gen era l phy sicals lackn ess which in m ost cases follows the loss of a
d efin ite obj ect in life,such as war . The p eop le who live
a long the banks o f the Lower I Vaikato River are oftenof sp len d i d phy s ica l deve lopm en t , the resu lt of the ircon tinua l exe rc ise w ith the (i
'
a'
noe -
p ad d le . The wom enwe a s go o d can oe is ts a s the m en
,and man y of them are
o f Jun oe sque figu re,w ithou t the disfigurem en t of
su pe rfluou s fle sh. The m oun ta in eers of the U rewera
coun try , a lthough a sm a ll-bu ilt race a s a. rule,have n o
sup e rio rs a s ha r d -w o rking, fast—trave lling buslnn en ,
w ith a tire les s capac ity fo r ar d uou s hill-work .They
have had fo r g eme ra tion s to wrest the ir liv ing from a
18 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
moun tain s isolated them un til quite recen t years , and
their food gave m ore trouble to secure . They had littletim e to waste in idlen ess . Now that they are tasting thesweet things of the outer world— m any U rew eras g o
roun d shearing for the white settlers and earn largecheques annually
,and are even taking to dairying
,
and making mon ey at itw they will p erhap s begin to lookdown with scorn up on their old ways . Certain ly thereare som e things they could with advan tage aban don ;but their gen eral mode of life
,hard as it was
,suited
them,kep t their bodies strong
,and their in tellects
keen . Of those tribes which have made m ore
p rogress in civilisation, p robably the most en ergetic
and p rofitably occup ied are the Ngati-Porouand their kindre d hop e s , between Gisborn e and
the E ast Cap e . The Ngati—Porou own and man ageseveral large sheep - run s
,with all the latest Europ ean
p lan t and imp rovem en ts ; the se sheep - farm s are conductedon the co - op erative p rin cip le— a wise con cession to the
old commun istic habits of the race— and all the brain sand muscle emp loye d are M aori . A ll the V i llages and
station s of the tribe are conn ected by telephon e ; the costof con struction was born e en tirely by the M aoris .
Theseen terp rising p eop le , led by Ap i1 ana N3rat
-11. and other
educate d chiefs of the y oung gen eration ,are p rosp ering
m uate ria lly ,are in creasing num erically
,and are g iv ing
their more con servative or less fortun ately cap tain e dcoun trymen a usefu l lesson in life ; they 11 1 e show ingthem that it is p ossible , while p 1 ese 1 vn1 11 the i1 p ri d e ofrace 11nd of 11 111 1 estra l ti adition
, to develop on ce 1 tainlin es 0 11 equal te1ms with the irwhite n e ighbou i s .
', l be life on the lan d
,the healthy life of the ag ricul
tu i ist 11nd the p ast0 1 a list, is the life fo 1 the Ma0 1 i .Gifted ind iv i d ua ls , the l’oma re s
, the Ng atas, theRan g ihi i oas of the 1 ace
, w ill alwa \ s 1 ise,as they have
risen , to high o ffic ia l and p rofe ss1o11a l hon ou1 and evenoutstiip New Z ealande rs of Eu i op ean bi1 th an d g 1 eaterop pm tun itie s . l ut the Maor i p eop le , if they are to live
,
must dwe ll on the i1 an cestra l lands and w in their b 1 ead
11
1111 111 11 11111 : 11 .1s'
11 AN ! ) rans e n r i t)
from tho se land s w ith the en e rgy and in d ustry that the irfo re fa the rs brought to hea r o n eve ry pha se o f life , fromhew ing out a can o e to p lann ing and exe cuting a
cam pa 1g 11.
The Mao ri cha racte r s trang e lv blen d s som e a p pa ren t lyin congruous qua lities . I n som e. respects i1
'
1te 11se ly
p ractical and m atte r-of—fact,and keen ly a live to his own
mat e rial in terests ,he is a lso in tense ly p oetica l. He is
p ermeat ed w ith the p oetic sen se, and w ith the supe r
n atu ra l. A M ao ri ’s sou l finds natu ra l relief in song,
p a rticular ly in time o f sorrow and bereavemen t . ilu this
he resembles the Scottish H ighlan d e r and the I r ish
p easan t . No M aori sp eech is con si d ered comp le tewithout a chan ted "NM /Mi tt to emphasise it
,a p oe tic
p e roration . H is p oetry ,so full of sim ile 11nd m etapho r
and exp ressive image ,gathere d from the wild nature
with which he live d so in timately,or from the moving
ep isodes of his life and the deeds of his an cestors,is
very beautiful 11nd very touching even when j udge d bythe standard of the cultured Europ ean . H is love of his
land and hom e imp resse d itself deep on his languageand his poetry ; and his very p lace—n am es often reflectthe soul of the hard. Here , as Robert Louis S teven sonhas written of that other hom e of the M aori, Tahiti
“ Cap e and v il lag e and r i v er and v al e and m ounta in abo v e,
Eac h had a na m e in the land fo r m en to re m e m ber and love ;A n d ne v e r the na m e of a p lace but l o ! a song in its p r a ise :Anc ient and un fo rg o tten , song s o f the ea r l ie r day s .
Kind in dom estic life,the M aori lavished a ffection on
his children ; many beautiful chan ts heard to -dav wereoriginally comp osed as 0 1
110 11 1,
or lullaby- songs,
and
lamen ts for children . But this race of bards was also a
race fierce and p itiless in war . The M aori seldom spareda foe ; he slaughtered indiscrim inately
, un less he
required wom en or slaves or both,then he sp ared such
as he required . He was a horrible cann ibal,and boasted
of it ; and even as late as the Taranaki War of 1869
20 TH E M AORI S OF NEW Z EALAND
human flesh was eaten in sacrifi cial war- rite . A fewthe old kai- ta-ng ata ,
the man - eate rs are sti l l alive t
last of the an throp ophagi .The M aori ’s mora l make-up ,
indeed like that of everace
,held much that was admirable and much that W
the reverse ; of which let the stories that fo l low te ll .
CHA PTER TIT.
AND OF
The last. New Zea land cen su s , taken in 1906,showe d
to tota l Mao ri po pu lation to be pe rson s,in crea se o f p e rson s a s com pare d w ith the
ion s census, that of The fi rst nat ive cen sus
taken in the y ea r 187 4 , but in 186 7 , and aga in in
the va riou s o l'
h'
e i-a '
s re s i d ing in n ative d istr icts hadin structe d to fu rn ish estim ates of the numbe r of
ris in their resp ective d istricts . These estimatese , however , m erely app roximate , and are known to
e been im perfect . S in ce 187 4 a cen sus of the n ativeulation has been taken coin ciden tly w ith the'
0 pean cen su s .
The following table shows the p op u lation at the
en sus y ears '
Person s .
867 (app roximate 1881
estimate ) 1886
87 1 (app roximate 1891
estimate ) 1896
87 4 (first cen sus ) 1901
87 8 1906
Of the fluctuations exhib ited in the above table thelnder - Secretary for Native Affairs , Ju d ge H . F . Edger
,
emarked in his memorandum to the Native M in ister,in
ay ing the cen sus before him,that
“they cann ot be
eg arded as normal,and con clusion s deduced from the
.gures must be regarded to a large exten t as con j ectural .t was doubted whether the large decrease shown by theen sus of 1896 was a real decrease
,or merely due to the
.on -in clusion of a n imi ber of natives either by acciden t
TH E M AORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
or through refusals to give p rop er in formation to the
sub-enum erators . Similarly,the large in crease shown
by the p resent cen sus may in p art be attributed to morefavourable circumstan ces p erm itting a. closer enumeration to be made on this occasion .
’
Taking all the circum stan ces in to con sideration ,it is
eviden t that the decay of the race has at last been st ayed .
The 1906 cen sus is p robably the m ost reliable on e that
has y et been taken by the Governm en t . A sign ifican t and
p leasing feature is the in crease in the number of childrensin ce the 1901 cen sus . The 1906 cen sus showed the
number of p erson s un d er the ag e of fifteen y ears to bewhereas in 1901 it was there was thus an
in crease of 9 395 during the five y ears .
That there is a ten den cy to gradual absorp tion in the
Europ ean p opu lation is undoubted . The p rep ortion of
half- castes is in creasing . The last cen sus showed thatin the five y ears sin ce 1901 the number of half—castesliving with the M aor i tribes had in creased by 815 . The
total number of half- castes living as m embers of M aoritribes was B esides these there were halfcastes return ed as
“ living as Europ ean s ,”thus giving
a total of p erson s of m ixed Europ ean and M aoriblood . There were 21 ] M aori wives living with Europ eanhusban d s .
By far the greater p ortion of the M aori p opu la tion isin the North Islan d
,which has as aga in st "56—J
’a—J
in the South Island , and 100 in S tewar t filsland,besi d es
17 2 Maor i and 30 M or iori p eop le living in the ChathamIslands . This t inv remnan t of the an c ien t and on cenum e rous M o r io r i abo rigin e s is be ing reduced y ear b yvea r ; the re a re a t the pre sen t time n o t. m o re than ha lf—adozen liv ing p e rson s o f pu re Moriori b lood .
The p roportion s o f the sexes a s revea led bv the 1906cen sus we re m a les and fema les of pureMao ri b loo d
,be s i d es m a le and fem a le ha lf
eas tes living as m embe rs o f Mao ri tribes .This excess
o f m a les ove r fema les is n o t a good feature, and un til
the re lative are reve rsed , or at any rate
A ND ms truum '
rlo u o n r unsns 23
equa lise d , the pe rman en t p re se rva tio n o f the race can no tbe reg a r d e d a s a s su re d .
The g eog ra phica l distributimr o f the hlao ri pe o p le ha s
n a tura llv been in fluen ce d ve rv la rg e ly by c limate a n d
o the r n a tu ra l facto rs . The wa rm a nd p lea san t No rth
Auck lan d coun try,the \Va il< ato ,
the v ic in ltv o f the
Ro to ru a S p rings , the sho res o f the Ba y o f
I’len tv,
and the f ruitfu l coas tlan d s about the Ea s t ( la peand d own to I lawke ’
s Bav ho ld the m o st num e rous o f t lu
Mao ri tribes . The n o rthe rn pa rt o f the Auck la n d
p rov in ce has p robably a lwa y s been the m o st thicklv
p opu la ted o f all d istricts . Here the M aori found con
dition s of c limate , so il,and gen e ra l. surroun d ings m o re
n ea rlv ap p roaching those of his an cien t Ocean ic hom esthan those of the more southe rn parts of New Zea lan d .
Here the in tro d uced trop ic escu len ts , the kin /Lara and
fare,grew luxurian tly
,seldom in j ured by frosts
,and
othe r foods of land and sea were in the greatestalmndance
,while the m ildn ess and gen iality of the
c limate p erm itted of a life in the op en a ll. the vear roundwith little clothing . There were n o win ters of severe Ifrost and sn ow such as were fam i liar to the moun tain eersof the U rewera coun trv or the tribes of the South Island .
The almost in cred ible numbers and dimen sion s of the
old terraced and tren cli ed hill- forts or p as which studthe Auckland d istrict from the Tam aki isthmus to the
far North are m emorials of the great n umbers as wellas the wonderful p atien ce , in d ustry
,and m ilitary J
engin eering skill of the an cien t p eop le . Even to -day wefi nd that the Ng apulii , Barawa and a llied tribes of NorthAuckland are stronger num erically than their moresouthern cousin s . I n the M angonui coun ty
, the most
n orthern in the Dom in ion,there were at last cen sus
M aoris, in Hokianga coun ty and in the Bayof Islan ds Adding to these figures those of the
IVhang aroa , Hobson , Otamatea,Whangarei
,Rodn ey
,
and V Vaitemata and Eden counties and the adjacen tislands of the Hauraki Gulf , we fi nd that the total M aorip opulation of the Auckland p rovin ce n orth of the
24. THE MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
Tamaki— the an cien t border - lin e between the n orthern
and the I Vaikato and other southern tribes— is
p erson s , or n early on e - fourth of the en tire M aori p eop le .
To the south,the IV aikato and allied tribes of
Ta in ui stock,who lost the greater p art of their lan ds by
confiscation after the Waikato War of 1863-64,occupy
the western side of the IV aikato River , that broad and
beautiful stream flowing for two hun dred m iles throughthe heart of the Islan d , fed by the sn ows of Ruap ehu
and the huge reservoir of Lake Taup o . I n the M anukau,
Waikato,IVaipa ,
Raglan,and Kawhia coun ties there are
natives,and in the large district known as the
“ King Coun try ,” extending from Kawhia Harbour and
the basin of the Waip a down south to the up p er watersof the Whan g anui and to the n orthern p art of Taran aki
p rovin ce , there are most of whom are m embers of
that famous old warrior clan the Ngati-Man iap oto and
the n eighbouring clan s of the Ngati-Raukawa and NgatiTuwharetoa . On the eastern coast of the Auckland
p rovin ce , the fertile coun try slop ing down to the
shores of the well-named Bav of P len ty holds a
num erous and gen erally p rosp erous p opulation , the
tribes of the Ng aiteran g i, the Ngati-Pikiao and NgatiRangitihi section s of the great Arawa tribe
,Ngati-Awa
,
VVhakatohea , etc .,numbering in a ll in the Tauranga
,
Whakatan e and O potik i cen sus d istricts p erson s .
In lan d from IVhakatan e and Opotiki are the U rewera .
n ioun ta in -
peop le . I n the Rotorua coun tv there are 1 2 60
M ao ris , be ing the m aj ority of the A rawa tribe ; most of
these live in the variou s v illages around the shores of
Lake Rotorua . I n East Taup e the re are 889 M aoris,
most of them liv ing in the Ngati-Tuwharetoa coun try on
the shore s o f the grea t cen tra l lake ; the y are c lose lyconn ecte d with the A rawa nation . Then
,go ing south
wa r d s from the Eas t Cap e , through the fi n e sheepfa rm ing a nd m a im -growin g coa sta l coun trv of the NgatifPo rou and o the r tribes o f Takitimu des cen t
,we find a
n ume rous and we ll- to -do po lm la tion ; the cen sus for theWa iapu and Cook coun ties gives the number of M aori
26 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
inhabitan ts as I n Hawke ’s Bay and the great
stretch of coun try exten d ing from the p opulous vallevof the I Vairoa to the Lower IVairarap a ,
the territory of
the Ngati-Kahun gunu tribe , there is a num erous p opu
lation,and man y of the tribes-
p eop le are wealthy landown ers and sheep
~ farm ers ; the total n ative p opulation
of this 1 gati-Kahun gunu coun try is On the
western side of the I slan d south of Cap e Egmon t the
p opulation is n ot quite so num erous . I n Taran aki, the
p rovin ce of the fiercest of the n ative wars again st thewhites— the Taran aki camp aign s lasted with littlein term ission from 1860 to 1869 — there are n atives ,
belonging chiefly to the A tiawa ,Taranaki
,Ngati-Ruanui ,
and Ng a-Ran ru tribes , m ost of whom were un til lately
the d iscip les of the celebrated p rophet Te VVhiti, and
the most in im ical of all M aoris to the p rogressive and
aggressive Euro p ean . Of the other “ Test Ooast tribesthe most is the “
I
lian g anui, inhabiting man y
v illa ges on the banks of the great river from which theytake their n am e
,from Putiki-whara -nui at the mouth up
to P ip iriki and the vicin ity , a race of famou s warriorsand can oe -men ; they number n ow in the I Vhan g anui
coun tv 7 82 p eop le . About the banks of the \\7 aito tara
R iver , j ust to the n orth of the IVhang anui , there are 318
n atives allied partly to IVhang anui and p artly to
Taranak i. I n the I—I orewhenua coun ty,further south
,
the low - ly ing fertile be lt of coun try n ear the sea throughwhich the M anawatu section o f the Ma in T runk Railwayrun s , the re we re p eop le at last cen su s ; thesebe lo ng to the Ngati—A pa ,
Muatuioko , and Ngati—Toatribe s . ( ) tak i is the headquartm
'
s of the Ngati-Toa,
the de scendan ts of the great Rauparalnt’s tribe of
compi e ro rs who m igrat e d here from Kawhiam o re than e ighty yea rs ag o and wres ted these coastlandsand Kap iti I s land from the h
’
luaup oko and Ran g itan e
tribes .
(Jro ss ing (look S tra it— the Maori “S ea, of Raukawa
— t.o the w on d e rfu lly (hive ta iled coastlin e of the SouthI s land,
w e have a much spa rse r Maori p opu lation . The
A N ! ) n‘
ls'
rul nu'
rio N o lv nan n ies 2.
tribe s a re much mo re scatte red and a re but m o re /m , m e re
rem nan ts o f the ir o l d e n stre ng th. A few v illag e s o f the
l\lg :'
i ti Rang ita ne ,Nga ti—Awa , Ng ati-Ra rua , e tc .
,
a re to be found he re and the re in the she lte re d in le ts o f
the l\'la rlbo roug h Soun d s and the lno rtlu—srn sho res o f
Ne lson p rev ii‘
ie e ; the M a rlbo roug h and Ne lso n. [um/ I s o r
section s of tribe s numbe r o n ly 13 7 . Down the w il d WestCoast. the Mao ri l ’e n tin i, the land o f g reen sto ne , the re
a re a very few ham lets ,con ta in ing a t; the l 906 census
on ly 44 peo p le ; on e o f these v illage s is on the banks of
the fam ous green ston e - bent ring rive r A rahu ra ,and
anothe r is fa r d own the to rren t- sp lit litto ra l o f \Ve s tland,
at Makawhio ,o r .lacob
’s Rive r
,where a. few peop le of
the Ng atLh/lahztk i Imp “ live a very lon e ly and remote
bush life . Jross ing the great Alp in e range and
trave lling d own the Can terbury P lain s to the eastern
seaboard,w e fi nd here and the re the p eop le of the Ngai
Tahu tribe,whom the first white settlers foun d in
p ossession of the whole coun try ,and from whom they
p urchase d vast tracts of p rairie lan d for trifling con
si d eration s in trade—goo d s and m on ey . The p rin cipaln orthern village of the Ngai-Tahu is Tuahiwi
,close
to the site of the celebrate d o ld fortifie d town Kaiap ohia ,
a few m i les from Christchurch. The other p rin cip al[m ike s or villages of the tribe are those at
Temuka (p rop erly Te Umu-kaha ) , Taumutu , LittleR iver , Akaroa , and W’
a ihao in the Can terbury p rov in ce ;Puketiraki
, Otago Heads, and the Ta ieri River 111 O tago
p rovin ce ; and Riverton and Oraka (Colac Bay ) in
Southland . I n O tago and Southlan d the Ngai-Tahublood has an adm ixture of the an cien t Ngati- M amoe
,
van ished as a clan and absorbed (very literally in on e
sen se ) by the Ngai-Tahu conquerors . The Ngai-Tahutribe , with its blend ing of the olden Ngati—M amoe and
IV aitaha strain s,n umbers in all about two thousand
souls , scattered over hundreds of m iles of coun try, their
little settlem en ts m ere lon ely dots amongst the farm s
and villages of the white man .
28 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
The p rop ortion of half- castes to p ure -bred M aorisvaries con siderably in the various large tribes . I n the
VVaiapu coun ty , the district around the East Cap e , theNgati-Porou and con tiguous tribes have 246 half- castesin a total p opulation of or about ten p er cen t . I n
the Waitomo coun ty,in the cen tre of the King Coun try ,
there are 130 half- castes of the Ngati-Man iap oto tribewhich numbers in this district p erson s : the p ro
p ortion of part-whites here is about on e in every eight
natives . I n the VVhang anui district the strain of p akeha
blood is greater ; out of 7 82 n atives 115 are half-castes,
or som ething over on e in every seven . I n the SouthIsland
,where in the early days the white whalers
,sealers
and traders in termarried freely with the M aoris,the
strain of white blood is much more p ron oun ced . Whitegreatly p redom inates in Can terbury at any rate
,and it
will soon be difficult to fi nd a pure -blooded M aori there .
Out of the p eop le of the native race return ed in1906 as living in the South Island and Stewart Island
,
865 were half- castes (451 males and 414 females ) .
C [A P’
l.‘
En I V .
THE OR I G IN OF THE“
M AORI .
I lz d crc maxi. alum we Tu z eh’itfi- uui,fno 1
'
1110 71/1'
ti—rmr,n o
Tmeh'iti- p d- fm(mum
,77 te I
-I ono - i l“ I cam e. f rom (l reat- l l istance , f rom .l
'
i e i'
ig- I hstan ce ,
from the \V’e ry - l) istan t-P laces ,
from the GatheringP lace - of-Sou ls ,
from
This was the rather c ryp tic rep ly ,d e live red in a sing
song chan t, that one of my M aori tehmvg a friends gaveme when I fi rst made enquiry of him as to the trad itional
origin of his race . I t was a formula that summarisedthe M aori ’s i d ea of the migration of his an cestors , from
on e Taw li iti or I—I awa iiki to another across the my sterious
Pacific . The tradition s of the last migration ,that from
Tahiti and Raiatea and Rarotonga,are widely d iffused
and are well authen ticated ; and M aori tribal historian shave p rese rved in m in ute detail
,han ded down from
tohf
zmg a father to son through man y gen eration s, thestories of the dissen sion s amongst the p eop le in theselast Hawaiikis
,the building of the can oes , with the
attendan t ceremon ies and p riestly invocation s , and the
great voyage across the Ocean of Kiwa to these shores .
But beyond that all is vague,and it is to the white
tohung a that we must g o for the p iecin g together of the
earlier m igration s of this far-travelled p eop le .
I n M aori tradition numerous p lace—names besidesthose m en tion ed above are p reserved as those of an cien t
Co m pare t h is w ith the fol lowing ex t ract f r om a p oet ica l addressp r esented r ecent ly to the Hon . Ja m es Ca r r o l l
,Nat i v e M in ister
, by the
Mao r is of the Ng ati-Kahungunu and othe r tribes of Ta‘
k it imu ” descent :“ Turn once ag a in you r face to the shadowy lan d f r o m wh ich we ca m e .
to the ho m es of”
our ancesto r s far away , to Gr eat -Hawa iiki,t o Long :
Hawa i ik i, to Hawa i iki-of -Great -D istance
,to the Hon o -i -Wa i r ua (the P lace
of Sp i r its ) , the land where man was for m ed from the ea r t h by Great -Tan ée f -the -Sky , and had l ife fi r st breath ed into him .
So beg in ou rg enealog ies . ’
30 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
hom es ; of these are I fVaeroti, VVaerota— to be heard to
this dav in Momm a-
p lan tin g chan ts— Mataora ,Wawau ,
Nukuroa,Rang iatea ,
and other p laces , and evenm oun tain s
, such as Hikurangi,and rivers
,such as Pike
p iko- i-whiti . But as to where these p laces were , the
M aori is unable to tell us ; and it is left to the
scien ces of etl'
m elog y and philology to trace them . O fV Vaeroti andWV aerota we are told by the M aoris that theywere the islands when ce they obtain ed the kmnara
,the
sweet p otato . A s to such localities as Wawan and
Hikurangi,there are several. p la ces bearing those n am es
in the Pacific Islands,but they must be n ames of verv
great an tiquity , going back to the remote Asiatic lan ds .
The p lace-n am e IV awau we can trace back westwardsthrough the Pacific ; it is a sign -
p ost on the ocean -rovers ’
an cien t track . I n the Society I slands we fi nd it first ;the an cien t n am e of the beautiful fan tastically -
p inn acledisle Porap ora , or Borobora , is V ay au ; Mr . Percy Sm ithsay s he has little doubt that it was from this island thatthe an cestors of the Ngati- IVhatua tr ibe of Kaip ara cam eto New Zealan d in their can oe the
“ Mahuliu .
” Sailingwestwards
,there is V ay au ( M aori , “
T
awau ) , on e of the
p rin cip al islan d s of the Tonga group . Then,Fe rn an der
,
the great Poly n esian studen t,con siders that Babao
, the
an cien t n am e of Coup ang , I sle of Time r , in the Eas tIndies , and probab ly the nam e of the whole islan d beforethe lVIa Iay s conque re d and settled it , is iden tical withVavau o r I Vawau . Fu rther back still it goes
,and it is
most p robab ly a. ve ry an c ien t on e referring to on e of the
o ld Co n tin en ta l hom e - lands, p erhap s Ind ia ,
or the shoresof the Pe rsian Gulf .
That the l\lao ri-Po ly n es ian is a b ran ch,though a
distan t one , of the (filaucasian race is n ow gen erallyaccepte d b y sc ien tifi c investiga tors . The ev iden cein su pport o f this , ethn ic
, philo logica l, and an thro
is so s tro ng tha t the E i i i'
Opea i i n eed n o longerhe s itate to c la im the M ao ri as his long- severed k in sman .
The o p in ion s o f etlnm lo g ists difi’
e r a s to when and
whe re the hiving - o ff began : a s to when the an cestors of
.3 2 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
while the tall stature,averaging 5ft . 11in . or 6ft .
,slightly
exceeds that of several Europ ean group s in Sweden ,
Norway,North B ritain ,
and I reland .
”
“But the language
,it is obj ected ,
” Professor
Kean e goes on to say,
“is n ot Ary an or Europ ean . No
doubt this is so,but Caucasic p eop le of the New S ton e
Age sp rea d over North Africa ,Europ e , and Asia and
most of them sp oke n on -Ary an idiom s,as we see very
well from the Ham itico - Sem itic , and the allied Basqueblen d s those of the Caucasus and Yagnobi
,which in its
remarkab le survival m ay be called the‘Basque of
Cen tral Asia .
’
Without going deep ly in to the vast mass of eviden ceavailable on this subj ect
,there are man y sup erficial links
b etween the Polyn esian and the Old-VVorld p eop les whodevelop ed civilisation s on the p lain s of Southern Asia
,
the p eep les who sp rang from common Caucasic stock . I n
physical app earan ce man y p oin ts of resemblan ce can bedetected between the M aori and the Arabs and theirn eighbours ; and in that singular survival the U rnkchu
,
the fair-haired ty p e to be seen in som e M aorivillages in the in terior
,we have the pure Caucasian .
There is a remarkable Hebraic liken ess in man y a M aorif ace
, p articularly amongst the men of the Arawa tribe .
One o ld Arawa chief in particu lar , Araki te Pohu , (see
p age 33 ) imp ressed me as of strangely Jewiship pearan ce ; he had a. Sem itic cast of featu res
,with the
s trong hooked n ose which the M aori cal ls film - lac tic,or
“
p a rrot-beak ,
”and with his fi ne mystic eye and his
white beard he m ight have sat for a p icture of som ei ncien t Jew ish p atriarch,
had it n ot been for the tattooma rks on his
“
nose and cheeks . The law of tap e with itsm y riad ram ification s suggests the o ld Hebrew quarant in es and p rohib ition s as detailed in Leviticus and
fie tween the an cien t Egyp tian s and
the Maor i the re are som e singularly strong liken esses . The head s on the large mharc-whakairo or
ia rved houses in Maor i village s have often qu ite an
T I IE ORI GIN 0 1"TH E M’AOR I
Egyp tian and Sphinx- like gaze out in to sp ace . I haveseen a ve ry o ld can oe -
p row from the West Coast of the
South Islan d carved in the semb lan ce of a human facewhich was m ost remarkab ly like the Egyp tian typ e of
face as dep icted in statues in the Lower Valley of the
Nile . I n an cien t Egyp t, too , as has often been n oted , wehave the nam e of the sun -
g od,Ra
,which is that of the
sun throughout Polyn esia and New Zea land , and
probably the m ost
Widely spread of
all n am es of de ifiedforces of n ature .
O ther M aori n am esof divin ities, su chas M au i, are appar
en tly of Egyptianor Sem itic orig in .
Such a widelytravelled observeras C . E . Nelsonwas able to cite
som e stron g an al
ogies between the
Maoris an d the
people of the southcoast of Arab ia ,particularly in cer
tain custom s suchPho to by J . McDona ld , N .Z . cm . Tourist Dep t. the Cookin g of
The late A rak i te Pohu , of Roto rua .
IOOd by steam in gin earth-oven s— the M aori hdng i the drying of
sharks for food by sp litting them and hanging them
up on stages in the sun ; the blue lip and chin tattooingof the wom en . Nelson
,in his sailoring youth,
on ce servedin an Arab dhow engaged in trading from Quiloa up
the African coast to the Red Sea ; and amongst the wildsea - loving Arabs on the coast n ear M uscat he observedcustoms which he was long years afterwards surp risedto find obtain ing un iversally amongst the M aoris .
34 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
The Sem itic p eep les, the Egyp tian and Arab,
all
n o doubt influen ced the remote an cestral p aren t- race , the
p roto- M aori
,and gave it som e of its distinguishing
physical , features , some of its custom s and social laws,som e of its deities .
A s to the p eriod at which the an cestors of the Polynesian s began their great hekc, their m igrationeastwards from the shores of south-western Asia to
India and Indon esia , and finally to the Pacific,we have
no data that will enable us to fix even an app roximatedate . Mr . S . Percy Sm ith
,whose excellen t little book
Hawaiiki” is recogn ised as the stan dard work on the
subj ect,does n ot carry his investigation s further back
than In dia . He agrees with Mr . J . H . Logan that the
Polyn esian s formed p art of the very an cien t “ GangeticRace
,
” which had been in I ndia from remote an tiquity ,but which had been at various p eriods modified by the
in tru sion of S em itic,T ibetan and other races . Mr .
Sm ith con cludes,from a mass of most in teresting Raro
tongan traditional as well as scien tific eviden ce which hecites, that the Poly n esian an cestors were living in a lan dknown as A tia -te - y arin g a
-nui,which he holds is India
,
about 450 B .C .
,when they were ruled over by a great king
or sup rem e chief n am ed Tu - te -Rangi—marama ; that n ot
long before the beginn ing of the Christian era theybegan to m igrat e to the islands of the E ast I nd ies , and
settled in Java,then ce gra d ua lly moving eastward s in to
the Pac ificP rofesso r J . M acm illan Brown ’
s theory,as se t out in
his book “hilao ri and Po ly n e s ian
,
” is that there was intim es a great eastward m igrat ion of a section
of the Caucas ian race , f rom the shores of the
l\ledite rr zn i ean Sea ; it d ivide d in to tw o stream s, on e
p as sing through S ibe ria to the East ("e ast of Asia and
Japan (when ce som e found the ir wa y to A laska. ) then ce tothe Philip p ines , fil i adrone s , (
‘
f-a ro lin e s
, and o ther “ fe sternI ’acific Grou ps and eve n tua lly to Samoa ; the o the r fromIn d ia to Indon e s ia (whe re the fi rs t stream w as founda lready in occu patio n ) , and then ce f rom is land to island
T H E O ll ltl I N O I“'
l‘
l l E MAORI
eas twa r d s in to the Pac ific . The se con d stream ,the
Pro fesso r be lieves,en te re d the Pac ific lon g after the
fi rst. but befo re. the m eta ls came in to comm o n use,hen ce
the n eolithic stage in which the white ma n foun d theM ao ri-Po lyn es ian . Such b roa d ly is P ro fesso r
h'l'
acrn illan B rown ’s theo ry
,expanded fasc ina ting ly in
his book .
To the p resen t wr iter it seem s reason ab le to sup po se
that r ight f rom the start the eastwa r d m ovement o f the
1n ig ran ts 1 as .fo r the most p art by sea ; from the sho res
of Arab ia and the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf ac ross
the I n d ian Ocean to In d ia ,then ce b y the is land stag es
up on which rrrost stu d en ts are agreed . The ocean , w ithwhich the Arabs and the ir kin were fam iliar , off ered an
unob structed highway to the East, whereas by lan d
there were the en ormous d ifficu lties and dangers of
rugged moun tain coun try , deserts , hunger and thirst,
and hostile tribes . The coastal p eop le of South- IV estern
A sia were from an cien t tim es n avig<r '
ators with a kn owledge of the stars ; they ,
and p robably the early
Egy p tian s, were amongst the earliest sailors . Theycoasted down the eastern shores of the African Con tin en tat an y rate as far as the Zambesi
,an d they also visite d
and p robably p artly colon ised M adagascar ; this wouldaccoun t for the resemblan ces between the M aoriPoly n esian language and the M alagasy .
That these p roto- M aoris were fearless and en ter
p rising seafarers is evi d en t ; they would have littlehesitation in pushing out across the ocean I ndiawards .
But they could hug the coast if they wished , and p robablydid so
,landing he i e and there along the shores of Persia
and Baluchistan,and making their way along the long
coastlin e of India . No doubt gen eration s woul d beoccup ied in such a m igration
,and the soj ourn in India
m ight extend over cen turies . The p revailing winds , anall- imp ortan t condition to a sea ~ travellin g p eop le , wouldbe favourable to the m igration eastwards . The southwest mon soon would take them across the Arabian Sea
36 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
to In dia and again across the Bay of B engal to Indon esia .
I n Sumatra they p robably remain ed for som e cen turies ;several em in en t Polyn esian scholars look up on Sumatra
as on e of the great Tawhitis or Hawaiikis of the race .
Java and Born eo were later Hawaiikis . Then the n orth
west mon soon,rangin g ten degrees each side of the
Equator , would carry them on to Cerain,Gilolo , and
other islands of the M olucca Archip elago , then ce to thegreat island of New Guin ea
,and so fairly on in to the
Western Pacific .
These stages in the migration of the race would n ot
be covered quickly ; they would p robably occupyhun dreds of years ; and in each stopp ing p lace the p eop lewould p robably en coun ter aborigin al trib es
,who would
in on e way or an other leave their imp ress on the n ew
com ers,in a. p artial blen ding of blood and in tradition s
and folk-story ; there would too be p reserved , as we shall
see,m emories of the an imals of those lan ds .
The old theory of Polyn esian writers that the M aoriwere
,in p art at any rate
,descended from the M alay s
,is
now con sidered un ten able . That the an cestors of the
M aori occup ied those p arts of the East Indies n ow
p eop led by M alay s is un doubted,but they foun d n o
M alay elem en t there then ; otherwise the M alay wouldexhibit itself to -day in the racial typ e . The M aori is not
M alay in feature or in tongue . That the Poly n esian sfoun d som e earlier inhabitan ts already in p ossession inSumatra
, Java , Born eo and other stages on this greatIre/cc towards the risin g sun is n o doubt a fact ; it washere p ro bably that they first met the n egroid typ e thatis to some exten t still to be recogn ised in certain M aoritribes . The M a lay s , who were a Mongoloid race
,cam e
later , after our M ao 1 i an cestors had p assed 0 11 towardsthe Pacific— p robab ly , howeve r, leav ing sonre of their
p eop le settled in the land,afterwards to amalg anrate
with the M ongo l imm igran ts from the 110 1 -west .
That the fair-haired lig lrter—comp lexion ed strain inthe M ao ri cam e w ith them from A s iatic shores there is
T 11 11 1111111111“
o r T H E 111Aonr 3 7
little d oubt. I t is n ot alway s ea sy n ow to d istingu ish a
pu re fair-haired tarniirc'
lm,so wi d e ly sp rea d is European
b lood. But in the U rewe ra country , on the hea d -wate rs
o f the VVang anui R iver , and ce rtain other pa rts of the
in ter io r that have been cor111j1a r ative ly iso late d un til
recen t years , the u '
l‘
t tkchu (lite ra lly“red can still
be seen as in the o l d en days,un d en iab ly pure M aori , and
with a dull go lden tinge in the hair that a ca refu l
obse rver can clearly separate from that of the half
bloods .
A s far back as 1 7 7 2 Crozet , the Fren ch n avigator , whocanre to the Bay of Islands with M arion du Fresn e ’sexp e d ition ,
note d this and other Caucasic characteristicsof the race . Describing the Ngapuhi p eop le whosestockaded villages d otted the coast-lin e , he says : “ Theircolour is
,gen erally sp eaking, like the p eop le of Southern
Europ e .
” Som e of the m en were as white as the Fren chsailors
,and there was a young girl of fifteen or sixteen
“as white as our Fren ch wom en .
” Crozet saw several
p eop le“ with red hair .
” But while n oting the n umbersof the tall fair- skinn ed straight-haired p eop le with littlebeard (n o doubt the hair had been eradicated in the
usual way with shell tweezers ) , and n oting also the
som ewhat yellowish comp lexion of som e,he recorded
the p resen ce of the more M elan esian typ e , shorter in
stature,
“slightly frizzled” as to hair
,more swarthy and
more bearded than the others,in fact more n egroid
looking . Crozet did n ot know of the Western Pacific racewe n ow call M elan esian s
,nor did he kn ow anythin g of
the history and m igration s of the M aori ; his testimonyis
,therefore , all the more valuable as a faithful
observer ’s record of the very eviden t differen ces of typ e
in the M aoris seen in even the on e district he visited— a
district where all the an cient differen ces of physiogn omyand other phy sical p oin ts have been obliterated by the
p akeha blen d .
I t is now easy to p icture the eastward p rogress of our
daring sailors through the Pacific . From on e islan d to
38 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
an other they sp read , exp loring each and carefullyweighing its suitability as a hom e . They graduallyworked southwards from the torrid equatorial latitudes,which eastwards of New Guin ea did not he ld manyislan ds of great size or fitn ess for settlem en t . Touchingat the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides , theyreached Fij i
,and made it their hom e for many gen era
tion s ; then they spread on to the Tonga Group and the
beautiful high,well-watered and fruitful islands of
Samoa . Fij i (Whiti, or Viti ) and Sam oa app ear , fromthe eviden ce of history
, tradition ,and song to have been
their homes for many a gen erati on . From Samoa as a
cen tre they made many great can oe voyages,exp loring
all p arts of the Pacific,n orth
,south
,east
,and west
,in
search of ;n ew hom es,n ew kinds of food
,n ew adven tures .
What Mr . Frank Bullen remarks in“Our Heritage the
Sea ” of the early I talian and Sp an ish and Portuguesenavigators is equally true of these still earlier and even
more daring seam en, the Poly n esian p ion eers
“ They had becom e so far fam iliar with thoseapparen tly illim itable breadths that they put forth in all
confiden ce that they would fetch som ewhere or an other,
and that wherever rt m ight be it wou ld be well worth thevisiting and ann exing .
”
That great m igration eastwards through I ndon esiaand the thousand isles of the sea. left indelible traces n ot
on ly on the phy sical ty p e , phy siognomy,and race -habits
of the p ro to- M aori
,but also 0 11 his legends , trad ition s ,
and fo lk - songs . The m emories of the terrib le creaturesof the river and the fo rest in Ind ia and the East In diessu rv ive to -da y in coun tless M aori stor ies , which have incourse of t im e becom e loca lised in New Zealand . The
legen d s o f i 11a11-destroying rep tiles . known as tan iw/ra
and som e liv ing in the w ate r, som e 0 11 the lan d,
ev i d en tly re fe r to the crocod ile and the huge serp en ts of
tro p ica l coun trie s through which the an cestors of our
Po lyn esian s passed in the ir wan d er ings . How very
nume rous these tun i zcha and s torie s are a ll who
40 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
have collected M aori traditional lore can tell ; every lake ,every stream
,every deep un canny p ool held its rep tilian
mon ster— kn own by its sp ecial n am e,and with some
strange story attaching to it . Som etimes these ng arara ,
according to tribal legend , were p ets or mokai of some
chief or other— as in the case of the on e which haun tedthe well-kn own Hamuran a Sp ring (Te Pun a-i—Hang arua ) ,n ear the shores of Lake Rotorua . Som e werefrightful devouring mon sters, such as Pekehaua
,the
fabled ng arara of the Awahou stream , Rotorua, of
whose snaring and slaying by a p arty of M aori braves a
most circumstan tial story is p reserved . Pekehaua ,
Korowhakatupua (of the Utuhin a ) , and Kataore (ofLake Tikitapu ) , could hardly have been m ere fantasiesof the M aori brain ; they are n o doubt tradition s of the
great saurian s that swarm in India,In don esia
,the
Solomon Islan ds and other western Hawaiikis of the
race . There are dim m emories too of the huge creaturesof the ap e fam ily , p articularly the orang-utan of
Sumatra and Born eo . The wild hairy mohoco and mac ro,
the man of the woods,with his terrible voice and his
huge teeth, was p robably originally that form idableman -like inhabitan t of the equatorial forests . The
Rotorua legen d of Hatup atu and the female ogreKurang aituku I have often thought may have borrowedsom e of its features from the far—away lands of the
orang-utan . There are recollection s of the m onkey trib ein the stories of the Nickie—1116114 0 16
,the tree-dwelling
p eop le , of small stature and always chatterin g
(korc rom re ) , as an old Ngai-Tahu M aori described themto me ; a tribe who lived
,like the fairies
,in the great
bun ches of wharawhara and hickic,the lon g- leafed
astelias and grasses growing in the forks of the trees .
The tan iwha , the water -m on ster of which we con
tinua lly hear amongst the M aoris,besides bein g
p robably a surviva l of crocod ile stories,may also
p reserve recollection s of the man -eating sharks of
trop ica l wat ers . The large shark of the Bay of P len ty
T 1111 111111’
11N o n TH E 1111111111 41
wa te rs ,who se te e th are p rized as ea r-o rnam en ts b y the
l\l'
ao ris , is ca lled by them m e lee - tan ire/1a . This is n o t a
man—eating m em be r o f the sha rk fam ily , at any rate n ot
in these waters , though ve ry p owe rfu l ; but in Sam oa a
d angerous and mon ster shark i s ca lled a awn/11.
Photo by G. . tndrcrr , Ap ia , Samoa .
A Sa m oa Gi r l : Poly nesian Ty pe .
As to the periodwhen these o ldensailorrnen 11 r s t
sailed in to the
Pacifi c , we havelittle to guide us
w i t h exactitudebut the Polyn esian
gen ealogies a n d
tradition s . Som e
of these gen ea
log ies , however,are of ex traordin
ary leng th,and the
sy stem of preservin g and han dingdown the an cestral
lists was such a
careful on e— it was
a s a c r e d a n d
priestly d u t ythat there is re
m arkable ag reem en t between the
gen ealogical tablesof various Widelysevered groupscomm on an cestors
are m en tion ed in
iden tical sequen ce .
Mr . S . Percy Smith stands p re- em in en t amongst
studen ts of Polyn esian gen ealogies,and the con clusion s
he draws from them are on the whole un assailable . His
estimate of the length of tim e the M aori has been in thePacific goes back to n ear the beginn ing of the Christian
42 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
era . I n “ Hawaiiki : The Original Hom e of the M aori ,taking an cien t Rarotongan gen ealogies and tradition s as
his main working clue,he arrives at the deduction that
shortly before the Christian era began ,the an cestors of
the Poly n esian s had worked from In dia and Burma downthe Straits of M alacca and sp read in to the islan ds of
the East Indies. I t is several cen turies later , about 450A .D.
,according to his app roximate chron ology , that Fij i
and Sam oa are first m en tion ed as having been settled .
Probably,however
, the Pacific was reached much earlierthan that date ; the various hom es of the rac e m en tion edun der the an cien t legendary n am es are d iffi cult to
iden tify now . But the date of the later great voyagesmen tion ed in Polyn esian tradition can be fairlyaccurately estimat ed from gen ealogical and traditionaleviden ce . The first colon isation of the islands of Hawaiiby Poly n esian s took p lace about 650 A .D. ; Samoa was
then app aren tly the great headquarters of the race . I t
was p robably about that tim e that the Pac ific exp lorersfirst visited New Zealan d . Tlrev had alrea d y n o
doubt settled Tahiti and the M arquesas and Parrmotu
Archip elago ,before ven turin g down in to the more
turbulen t waters of the South, leaving their p alm - cladisles ,
“The b laze of the b lue n oon . and th at hug e v o ice .
I ncessan t o f the b r eake r s 0 11 the sh o r e .
and sa iling adven tu rou sly away in to less warm latitudes ,
close -hauled to the South- east T rade , sailing they kn ewn ot whither , but brace d to a ll the p er ils of the ocean and
be liev ing , as they wou ld b y this tim e, that the whole
va s t Pac ifi c was strewn w ith islands,great and small .
I n the legen d s of the Pac ific there are man y p ic
turesque ly a llego rica l descr ip tion s of the fi rst discoverieso f the ato lls and island s o f Po ly n esia . The sto ry of
Maui“ fishing up
”the No rth I s land of New Zealan d
from the d ep ths o f the Ocean is foun d localised in
o the r p a rts of this great O cean , and the marvellou s deedsasc ribed to this he re o r d e ity seem to p lace him far away
T H E ORIG IN ( ) I"T H E MAOR I 43
back in the remo te histo ry o f the race . The Mau i leg en dis gen e ra lly rega r d ed n ow as an an c ient s1i r‘ 1-111y tl1. A t thesame tim e the re was p robab ly ruo re than on e Mau i. M an yMaor i gen ea log ies g o back to the ance sto r of this nam ewho is cred ite d w ith the hau ling-up o f the No rth I s land
(Te I ka—a-h‘
lan i) from the dee ps ; and Mao ri t ra d itio nsseem to show that a. M au i was am ongst the ea r lie st,
v isito rs to this coun try .
On e of the an c ien t legends o f Nine,or Savage Is lan d ,
attributes to M au i, the g od,the c reation o f that iso lated
co ral islan d , the largest of New Zea lan d ’s tre p ic p os
session s . The fo llow ing is the op en ing p ortion of a
narrative of Nine tradition s written for me in 1901 byLup e , an old Samoan chie f who had settled 0 11 Nine in
his y outh. I n Lup e’s narrative (the tran slation is by
my w ife ) we can recogn ise , str ipp ing it of its outer huskof fable
,an ep itom ised life -history of a South Sea
I slan d , following the coral isle up through all the ages,
from the tim e it was a bare bank of rock and sand,freshly
em erged from the great blue deep ,un til it in tim e
becam e clothed with vegetation,and becam e p eop led by
the daring brown -skinn ed sailors of the Pacific :“ I n the beginn ing this island , 110W called Niu-e
,was
n othing but coral rock [‘hc lying in the great
sea . There cam e a g od, an c it/11,from the southwards— a
sp irit-
g od who sailed to and fro,wander ing on the face
of the ocean . He looked down here and saw,far below
,
down in the clear sea -dep ths , the white pung a rock . Helet d own his hook and hauled the p img a up to the surface
,
and lo ! there stood an islan d . A t this tim e the heaven shung low
,so that they touched the land . Then that
sp irit-
g od, whose n ame w as M au i,stood on the solid
earth,and exerting his d ivin e strength forced away and
p ropp ed up the lean ing sky [Langi] , chan ting as he did
so his lifting- son g :
‘ Tokotoko e Lang i, to-o -e !
Tekona c Lang i, to-e -é l
Tokotoke e Lang i, to-o -é l
Tekona e Lang i, to-o -e !
44 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
‘ L ift up , 0 Sky , hea v e away !
Be th ou p ropp ed up , 0 Lang i !Lif t up , 0 Sky !
B e t hou propp ed up !’
And at the word Langi the Sky was heaved forth and
up from the face of the islan d,and
'
has sin ce remain edabove there in hisThe Nine legen d goes on to describe how the island first
g ot its coco—n uts— which are n ot indigenous on everySouth-Sea Islan d :
“The first n am e given to this islan d was M otu -tofua .
The first mortals who dwelt on it were two p eop le n am edFae and Huanaki . I t is said that they cam e from below
(fie ,from the
“ westward or leeward ) from the directionof Tonga . And in those days the islan d was a hungrylan d . There was little food ; n o coco -n uts or yam s or
bread-fruit were there to furn ish food for man . Naughtcould be seen but the wild trees , the n orm
,the p atu
—luku,
the make - lei , and the la-fa . No p leasan t foods grewthere ; on ly the un desired and tasteless fruits of the
woods . And man grew and grew up on the islan d . And
the lan d was hun gry .
“And Fae and Huan aki put out to sea in their can oe
and sought for food for their starvin g hom e . Theywandered to and fro and sailed over the great ocean . A t
last they reached the islan d of Tutuila,in Samoa . There
the p eop le gave them coco -n uts (Mu ) to p lan t, and theyreturn ed with them
,and set them for food
,and that was
how this islan d g ot its forests of coco -
p alm s and cam eto be called ‘
Niu-e.
’
Such was the gen esis of a South Sea isle,in Polyn esian
folk- lore .
I t n ow remain s for i1s to see how the Polyn esian s,
these Ocean ic sa ilors,warriors
,and exp lorers , reached
the shores of New Zealan d in their can oes .
I‘
li is s to ry , as th o se acqua in ted w ith Mao r i t r adit ion s w il l see,rese m b les
the old Mau i fish ing s to ry , bu t w ith the ad d itio n of the i m m easurab ly m orean c ient leg end of the sepa rat ion o f Ran g i and Papa
— Hea v en andEa r th wh ich Mao r i m y thol og y a tt r ibutes t o Tan e -Mahuta an d o th erch il d r en of the Sky
-Fathe r and Ea r th-Moth e r . The N ine story e v iden tlyr efe r s to the “
1.111s l11ng-up
” of the sky f r o m new h o r izon s as the v oyag ersa il ed 0 11 in to n ew and unknown seas .
CHAPTER V .
THE CANOE -V OYAGERS .
F loat l ig h tly , floa t l ig h tly , my sa il ing -canoe ,L ike a b ird of the a ir
,w ith t hy so ft -flapp in g w ing s
We’l l an ch o r ore l o ng on fa r-d istan t HllO l' l ‘S '
Thy sp ouse is A r ik i-tapu , the S ea .
Soon shal l we d r ink of Whaka tau ’s wa te r s .
A v au nt a ll y e dang e r s , death r o cks in the ocean ;Y e c l ou ds of d r ead g l oo m . may ou r p r ay e r -cha r m s d ispe l y e !O Tane
,T ree -Lo r d
,let us peaceful ly g l ide !
A n cient Cha nt for the Cano e Tahiti /mu when
leaving H awaii/ct for N ew Z ea land.
The M aori has forgotten the art of building the
p articular form of sea-going craft in which his an cestorsreached the shores of New Zealand from the islands of
the Cen tral and Eastern Pacific . We sometim es hear
the question :“ How could M aori can oes make a long
ocean voyage ? ” But the ordinary river - can oe of
to-day is a very differen t vessel from the oceansailing- can oe of Polyn esia . The craft in which the
p rogen itors of our M aori made such extraordinaryvoyages were large double or outrigger can oes
,bu ilt
with great care , and n avigated with a skill that,con
sidering the p rimitive state of the Polyn esian civilisation ,
is nothing short of wonderful .
M aori tradition s tell us very little about the build and
rig of these can oes. I n on ly on e in stan ce is any suchdescrip tion recorded ; this is the story of the can oeArawa
,which tradition says was a large double can oe
som e say the largest that came"to these islands— and
had three masts . M ost of the ocean canoes were
p robably double canoes , that is two fasten edtogether strongly by cross-beam s and a deck ; but somewere n o doubt outrigger can oes . Tainui was p robablyan outrigger vessel . A large strong sailing- can oe fitted
45
46 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
with an outrigger would n o doubt be safer and more
seaworthy on a long voyage than a double can oe , whichwould be liable to disaster in bad weather ; the two can oeswould be ap t to work ap art in a rough seaway .
I t is from the observation s of Europ ean navigators inthe South Seas that we are able to form an exact idea of
the kin d of craft the old Poly n esian sailors u sed in theirdaring voyages of discovery and colon isation . Cap tainCook and the m ission ary E llis give us som e in terestingn otes . Cook
,when at Tahiti in 17 69
,on his first voyage
round the world , took n ote,as any sailor would
,of the
excellen t sea going can oes or p a’
i (p ahi) which the
natives used . On e p a’
i or double can oe he m easured was
51 feet 1n length,carry ing a lofty m at sail shap ed som e
thing like what p akeha sailors call a“ leg
—of—mutton ”
sail,runn ing to a p oin t at the head . These canoes were
m ost cleverly con structed . The keel-part con sisted of a
hollowed - out log— l ike our ordinary M aori dubbed -out
canoes . Above this the vessel was built up with hewn
p lanks sewn together with sinn et,the p lanks bein g very
carefully smoothed and fitted together,and supp orted
by wooden stan chion s : the sinn et or coco -nut fibre
p laited cor d s were p asse d several tim es through holesbored in the p lanks w ith a bon e gouge or auger ; aboveagain were topsides curve d inwar d s , hewn out of a solidlog . The fi tting together of the p lanks w as so carefullydon e , Cook says
,that caulk ing was unn ecessary ; but such
t craft was su i e to leak in a seaway, and the seam s and
ho les must have been cau lked w ith some Po ly nes iansu bs titute fo r oakurn aml tar . An illustration of som eo f the Tahitian can oes in Cook ’
s“ Voy ages ” shows on e
w ith a s ing le m a s t s tep p ed 1 i0 ht am id ship ss , and stavedo n Gi l t -ll s ide to the end ol: a. p lank ou tl ig ger in oj ectin gfrom the hu ll ; an o ther can o e ha s two m asts and her r ig isa t fi rst g la nce n o t un like tha t o f a m ode rn fore—and—aftscho o ne r , excep t that he r sa ils have n e ither boom n or
gaff, and the re a re n o head - sa ils .
An o the r ty p e o f la rge se a -
g o ing canoe , such as
p robab ly vo y aged fo r great dis tanc es “
in an c ien t times,
48 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
the house at n ight , p robably for astron om ical observation ,
while the sly Tama’took advan tage of his absen ce
to make love to Kearoa , Ng atoro’s wife ; and how again
the tohung a climbed the deck-house to chan t his in cantation s when the can oe was endangered by the terriblemaelstrom "Waha-o-Parata"— p erhap s an ocean icdisturban ce caused by an earthquake or a submarin eerup tion ,
or p ossibly a water-sp out . These Tonga
(Frien dly Islan ds ) can oes were beautiful sailingm achin es . Cook says that he wen t on board on e
of them when it was under sail, and by several
trials with his ship’s log foun d that the canoe
travelled at the rate of seven kn ots in an hour,
close -hauled in a gen tle gale .
” “ From this I j udge,
”
he wrote in his“ Journal ” “
that they will sail on
a m edium with such breezes as gen erally blow in their
sea,about seven or eight m iles an hour .
“I n their
longer voyages,” Cook say s , in describ in g the brown
n avigators of Tahiti ,“they steer by the sun in the day ,
and in the n ight by “
the stars,all of which they distinguish
sep arately bv n am e , and kn ow in what p art of the
heaven s they will app ear in an y of the mon ths in whichthey are visible in their horizon ; thev also know the tim eo f their annual ap p earing and disap p earin g with m ore
p recision than w ill easily be believed bv a Europ eana stron om er .
”
P icture , then ,a fleet of these an cien t Polyn esian
sa iling- craft taking their departure from a trOp ic islandfor the far-awav Long B right World
,or the Land of
Long-lin gering Daylight— the M aor i n am e of Newwill bear both these in terp retation s .
*
The great canoes , som e double, som e outrigger
,are
laun ched down the white coral beaches, and ride on the
1al1n waters of the lagoon . The shore is crowded withthe Islan d p eop le , farewe lling their dep arting relativesand fr iends w ith many cries and many tears .
The em igran ts c limb aboa rd, men
,wom en
, andchild ren ,
and comp lete the lad ing of the ir sea-homes*See pag es 80 and 03 .
CA n o ic-ve e nas 49
w ith the ir lu'
iuseho ld treasu res . The can oes a re
alrea d y sto red with the ir sea -
p rovis ion s , securely
stowed f rom damage by sa lt wa te r co co -n uts fo r
bo th me at and d rink , ca lab z'
i she s o f wa te r, b read
f ru it, the sta ple vegetab les h'uc,lurmum
,and ta ro
,
p rese rved b irds , and othe r foo d s o l’
the p lz'
inta tio n and
the fo re st . The p rie sts o r lulu /mm, a re the re ,reciting
the ir final invocation s , p lacato ry and p rop itiato ry ,fo r
the safety o f the ships and crews . Eve rv im po rtan t pa rt
of the can o es ’ equ ipm en t has been ap p ro p riate ]vkum h’
ia’d ove r— “ blesse d"—fo r the great voyage .
Pa d dles,
sa ils,ba ilers
,a ll are con secrate d for their
d uties ; and a re given the n am es of an cestral he roes ,nam es the very rec ita l whereof is in itself a p rayer . The
can oes have already been con secrated , in the ritual of theWha i-hawa
,for their p assage across the whe re
hnkahq —a -Tn aroe,the
“Sea -god ’
s foamy dwelling .
”
The awa-moana,the sea - smoothing chan ts , in strange
rhy thm ic time,with their frequen t rep etition s , have been
of each can oe have been en trustedimages
,in wood and ston e
,of the
de ities,and those thrice - tap e treasures, the
re,Which are to be born e to the n ew hom es of
as talisman ic relics . There is a carven fi gureeach canoe— not
,however
,worked in the
M aori p attern s . we now see ; the figure is theof a deified an cestor ; he looks out with fierce
ng eyes at the ocean he 1s to ride over and conquer .
can oe is Tane,the God of Forests, the Father of
Tane the Sea—rider .
the stern is the trhakarei,the sacred seat for the
p riest of the canoe . The stern -
p iece is dressed withm es of feathers ; the upp er p lum es , or p uhi-kai-ar iki ,dedicated to the divin ities of the sky ; the lowermes
,the puhi
-mowra -ariki,dipp ing in the sea
,are for
sp irits of the ocean .
The last food - loads and the last p assenger are on
card ; the lofty mat-sails are hoisted,the sinn et halliards
nd sheets belayed , and with the brisk trade wind
50 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
catching the sails,the fleet begin s to move . There is a
great wail of voices ; the voices of the shore-p eop le and
the loud cries of the em igran ts .
“ H aere atu m,haere
m ! Farewell,d ep art , dep ar t !
”the Islan ders cry .
The swishing heads of the tall p alm- trees that lean
around the shores of the lagoon ben d , too ,as in farewell .
Out across the sheltered lagoon they sail,on e after
the other,straight for the reef-
p assage , where the greatn atural breakwater of coral Op en s in a chann el to the
sea . Gliding in to this, the ocean swell heaves themgiddily aloft and down again
,and the great sails take a
ten ser curve . The thun dering surf breaks white and
fearful on either side,but n ow thev are safe in the deep
water outside the reef,and sails are trimm ed for the
far sou’-west . Away thev slide over the long easy swell
,
fairly started on their voyage of two thousan d m iles and
more . The watchers on the shore stan d,still waving
their garm en ts and green bran ches,and crying their
p om p oroaki of farewell ; but soon the brave trade -win dWhisks the lofty—w inged children of Tan e the Tree -
g od
down in to the sun set,and the last brown mat sail fades
away in to the dan cing blue . They are alon e 0 11 the vastarcan e —ulhdi
,the dark-blue trop ic sea .
I t will be their hom e for manv dav s, p erhap s man y
weeks , that sea of mystery,and many a tim e will the
sea -worn , brin e - sore,hungry and thirsty em igran ts long
for the shady groves and delicious fruits and cool watersof their o ld Is lan d hom es .
M aking a“so ld ier ’
s w in d ” of the South—east Trade,
the sa iling can oes wou ld carry steadily on un tilthey had covered the greater p art of the ocean - jou rn ey .
For day after day the y wou ld n eed to shift n e ither tackn or sheet— or their Po ly n esian equ ivalen ts— with the
sp lend id and regular trade sing ing aloft . B efore theirbows wou ld d art schoo ls of fi r ing -fi sh
,the ir little w et
w ings shin in g in the sun as thev whirred from wave towave , in te rro r of their ocean - en em ies . Around them
p layed sw ift and a rrow y Triton s of the deep ;and som etimes huge Tohe ra
,the Sp erm -Whale
,would
T I 1u ( 1A n o 19
rise maj es tica lly , and spout bes i d e them ,and the people
wou ld sa y ,low and w ith wide ey es , Keho ld our g od, the
fl'
mu'
u‘hu
N ight afte r n ig ht the sta rs cam e out to chee r and g u id ethem ; h
'
l'
aahu-tonga, the Southe rn C ro ss , high on the ir
weather bow ; red- eye d Rehua and all the tw inkling go d sof the sky ; and in the m y stic dim d awn the men on watchchan ted the ir songs to Tawera and Tar iao
,the bright
morn ing stars .
Som etim es,d own would shriek a trep ic ra in - squa ll,
and it woul d be down ~ sail and hol d her hea d to windun til the p uff p assed ; then out shon e the ra inbow in the
path of the sun,and looking on it the sailors would say
on e to the other“ See
,U enuku
,the g od who dwells in the Rainbow
shows him self to us— our guardian on the sea .
So they sail on and on,sou
’-west
,un til som e day
dawn a long high coast-lin e breaks on their eyes,
and they see with delight, as they sail n earer,
groves of red-fl owered p ohutukawa crown ingwhite cliffs
,and the clear and sparkling water
s quivering in the sun as they leap to the sea,or the
er streams that,flowing in p owerful volum e in to the
a vast lan d beyond,a lan d where there is
spare for all the Islanders of the Greata .
was much danger on the deep for those an cien tn, putting to sea in what were p ractically long
ats,such as most white marin ers would now
to make a coasting voyage in . They had no
sextan t,chronometer
,or other nautical
their guides were the sun by day , the stars
he steady trade wind and the regular run of
acifi c swell ; p erhap s also the flight of certainThe ocean was for them full of won ders and
en chan tm en ts,for it was the domain of Tangaroa
myriad satellites, the tan iwha and the marchi
o som etimes rose and destroyed whole fleets .
52 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
I n deed all sp ace , whether lan d , sea,or sky ,
held itsun seen malefi cen t beings and influen ces , which must be
p lacated and allayed .
M aori legen d and song tell us of three dreaded oceanWaves or rollers
,which are called Tai-pupun i (the
towering crested wave about to break ) , Tai-wawana (theswirling foam ing billow ) , and the Te i- a-ropuke (the waverising like a moun tain ) . Such great waves
,gen erally
three in succession,are fam iliar to South Sea Islan ders
,
who must carefully watch their tim e and p addle with all
their m ight to p reven t these rollers dashing them on the
reefs . I n the an cien t story of the can oe Takitimu,
and her departure from the isles of Hawaiiki for NewZealan d
,we fi nd these three terrify ing waves m en tion ed
by their descrip tive n am es , and the chief’s sacred p addles
are nam ed ,"Rap an g a- te - ati-n uku"and
“ Rap ang a-te
ati-rangi,”
as the p addles with which the vast waves of
ocean will be conquered . Then earthquake -waves,water
sp outs , and other dangers of the sea may have beenen coun tered , as the Arawa tradition of the
“ Waha -o
Parata ” seem s to show . Islands have been frequen tlv
thrown up by volcan ic action in the South Seas— as for
in stan ce that strange sp ot Falcon I slan d,n ear Tonga
and again islands have disapp eared my steriously , and
Pacific n avigators have been un able to fi nd them . The
hurrican es to which the trop ics are liable from Decemberto M arch som etim es swep t the low atoll islands almost
clean of life and vegetation . With these terrifying
phenom ena of the seas our Polyn esian sailors wereacquain te d , by long exp erien ce and by tradition handeddown through man y gen eration s ; they were resourcefuland courageou s seam en ,
and put boldly out in to the deep ,
fortified by the ir m y stic religion,which lay largely in
spells and storm -assuaging charms .
The Sou th- east Trade wou ld carry the can oes on un tilthey we re about in the p osition of the Kermadec Islands ;then they wou ld perhap s p ick up the no rth—east wind
,the
111, c rc1.-11,g a i, one of the p revai ling winds on the northern
T1 111: -\N'
o n—vom e 11as 53
coa s ts o f New Zealand,and this wou ld carrv them d own
to the long - stretching sho res Of Aotea-roa . M ost o f the
can o es made the coast between Doubt less l iav and the
East. Cap eM any a canoe must have been lost
,and m any must
have d r ifted away to othe r islands than those fo r whichthey set out . Such acc iden ts happ en n ow in the Pa c ific .
Native can oes and boats voyaging from is lan d to is landare frequen tly b lown away to strange lan d s
,som etim es
many hun d re d s of m iles away f rom their hom es . I t was
n o d oubt in this way that many Sou th Sea islan d s and
atolls were first p eop led , and New Zealand itself may
well have been so colon ised originally . Som e extraordinary can oe voyages are occasional ly rep orted in the
Pacific . On ly this year a Chin ese fi shing -junk p icked up
off the island of Chusan and handed over to the steam er“ Tam sui” for conveyan ce to Shanghai
,a p arty of three
dark- skinn ed South Sea Islanders who were adrift in a
can oe . They had mother-Of-p earl shell fi sh-hooks and
other South Sea fi shin g - tackle with them . I t was foun dthat they had drifted fully two thousan d miles from a
German p ossession in the Western Pacific ; they had gon eout to fi sh, and were blown help lessly away to the
westward . There were originally five of them,but two
had died at sea from starvation and exp osure .
TH E SONG OF TH E AOTEA CANOE .
I give the following chan t as a sp ecim en of the sacredawa-moan a or sea- assuaging songs
. (literal mean ing“ocean -
path,” “
sea-
p assage which the chiefs and
p riests of the Polyn esian canoes comp osed and recited totheir crews, to an imate them and to smooth the ship
’s
p rogress over the Great—Ocean -Of—Kiwa . I have it fromNg arauru and Ngati-Ruanui (Taranaki ) sources as the
karakia which Turi, the commander of the Aoteacan oe
,chan ted to his men . I ts fi n e rhythmic measure
made it an excellen t tim e-keep ing chan t . So chan ted Turithe Ep ic of the Paddle
54 TH E MAORI S OF
KO A otea te waka,
KO Tu r i tang ata ki rung a,KO te Rok11 -0 -\Vhit i te hoe .
Pi r i p apa te hoe !
Awh i papa te hoe !
Toi tu te hoe !Toi r e r e te hoe !
Toi m ahuta te hoe !Toi kapakapa te hoe
K ai r un g a t e rang i.KO te hoe n a wai ‘?
KO te hoe n a te Kah u -nunui ;KO te hoe n a wai ?
Te hoe n a to Kahu -roroa.
KO te hoe n a wai ?
KO te hoe no Rang i-nui -e -tu -nui.
Tena te waka ,Ka tau ki T ipua -o -te-Rang i,K i TawhitO-O-te -Rang i,Ng a turang a whatu 0 Rehna .
Hapai ake an
I te kakau o taku hoe,
I te RO‘
ku-o -Whit i .Whit i patato , rere patato ,Ma m a patato .
Te riakan g a, te hapaing a ,Te komotang a, te kumeng a,Te rip ong a, te aweng a
A te puehutang a
O te wai O taku hoe n e i.
Ke i te rang i, hikit ia !K ei te r ang i, hapaing a !Ke i te aweawe nui no Tu .
Tena te ara ka to toh e n u i
KO te ara o tene i Arik i,KO te ara o tene i m atua iwi ,KO te ara O Rang i-nui-e—tu -n e i.Nguaha t e kakau o ta'ku hoe n e i,
KO Kautu -ki-te Ran g i.
K i te rang i, hik it ia ;K i te r aug i, hapa ing a ;K i te r ang i tutorona atu
,
K i te rang ] tutorona ma i.
K i te r ang i t u te ihi,K i to r an g i tu te koko ,Tu te man a
,tu to tapu ,
E tapu tcn a tc ara .
K a totohc te ara
Taue -matohe -nuku,
Te ara. O'
l‘
ane -1n atohe -raug i,K O tc ara. o to Kah u -nunui
,
K o tc ar a. O to Kahu -roroa ,
K o te a ra. O tene i A r ik i,Ko te e ra 0 tene i tau i r a .
Tawhi k ia I tehua .
K i uta. m a i, te ao m a ra m a ;
l 'l Roug e -ma
\Vhaka irihia !
56 TH E MAOR-I S OF NEW ZEALAND
Island . (I t is p ossible , however , that this Avaiki-tautaumay have been on e of the numerous active volcan oes in
the trop ical zon e of the Pacific . ) Two cen turies later a
Polyn esian n avigator n am ed M aku , who sailed from the
islan d known in tradition as Mataora , visited NewZealand
,but there is on ly the bare men tion of that fact
and no more . U i- te -Rangiora is n ot kn own as an earlv
visitor in the New Zealan d tradition s , but in on e legendI have collected it is given as the n ame of a sacredHawaiikian ax e
,no doubt n am ed after the exp lorer .
The legen ds Of the Ngati-Awa tribe,of the Bay Of
Plenty,state that the first inhabitan ts of this coun try
arrived from a far lan d called Mataora in the can oeA ra - tau-whaiti
,commanded by Tiwakawaka . The
number of gen eration s given on a. Ngati-Awa gen ealogyfrom the p resen t day back to Tiwakawaka is 38
,which
allowing 125 years to a gen eration,is 950 years . Mr .
Smith in his “ Hawaiiki” gives 850 A .D. as the p robabledate Of Tiwakawaka in New Zealand . From Tiwakawaka
sp rang the famous Toi (Toi-kai- rakau , or“Toi-who
lived- on -Forest-Foods” of M aori tradition ) and Rauru,
who is cred ited with having inven ted the p resen t style oftattooing and carving
,and other chiefs Of the aborigin al
p eop le whom the M aori imm igran ts of the Arawa and
Mataatua and other canoes foun d living here when thev
arrived in the fourteen th cen tury .
An early can oe called U ruao was commanded by thechief Rakaihaitu
,and came to New Zealan d forty - two
gen e ration s from the p resen t time— over a thou sandyears ag o . The on ly trad ition s obtainable about thiscanoe are those of the Ngai-Tahu tribe Of the SouthIsland . Som e Ngai-Tahu M aoris say Rakaihaitu was
the first man who landed in the I Vai-p oun amu , the Lan dof Green ston e R ivers
,but it is p retty certain that there
we re inhab itan ts there before his day . The tradition s Ihave been able to gather
,f rom Old m en of Ng ai-Tahu and
Ngati—h‘
lam oe descen t, g o to show that Rakaihaitu was a
great exp lo rer . lfil e and his comp an ion s took p ossessionof the eastern sho res of the South Island
,and nam ed
l I I'] ( )AN U li
man y p ro 111ine 11t featu re s o f the lan d sca pe a fte r them
se lve s , and so lop rc’d the coun try fo r the ir fam i lies and
d e scen d ants . l tak' a iha itu ,in commo n w ith man y o the r
chie fs , was in time c red ite d w ith the d eeds
o f a d em i-g od. The c lass ica l n am e fo r the South l slaud
lakes is “ Ng a l_
’una -wai-ka ril1' a.ri-a (“The
\Vate r-
| mo ls-l
'
h ig-by The ene rg etic chief
is sa i d to have begun his labou rs by scoo p ing out w ith
his great (the woo d en d ig g ing i111plen 1e 1'
1t u sed in the
11 111114 111 1, p lan tation s ) the bed of the lake kn own as lto to iti,
south of Nelson . Then he strode southwa r d s , haltingf 1 equen tly to a lake whe 1 e he thought it was
n eeded . His crown ing triumph was the g1 eat A lp in e lake
VVakatipu (p r'
op e 1 ly hal1 at1pu,0 1
,fully ,
“ Te Roto
VVhakatipu whose deep and win d ing chann e l
he hollowed out between the moun tain s, assisted by hisgods to whom he rep eated p owerful karokia . Travellingn orth again
,he comp leted his herculean p ilgrimage by
digging out Lakes “ Iaihora (E llesm ere ) and Wairewa
(Lake Fo i sy th) , n ea1 Banks Pen in sula— and restedfrom his labours .
"Ng a-V Vai-karikari—a-Rakaihaitu"isa p roverbial exp ression still used by the M aoris in
allusion to the lakes,as the figurative phrase
“ Ng a
Whata - tu a Rakaihaitu Rakaihaitu ’s - Lofty Food
stores ” ) is u sed to describe the high cliffs of the SouthIsland coast .
NU KU -TA I -MEMEH A ( M AU I’
S CANOE ) .
I n East Coast legen d the Nuku—tai-memeha was the
canoe of M aui, the craft from which that Polyn esianhero “ fi shed-up (or discovered ) this North Islan d of
New Zealand . The old men of the Ngati-Porou say that
lit is to be seen n ow in a p etrified form on the summit oftheir sacred moun tain Hikurangi
,in land from Waiap u ,
n ear the East Cap e . Som e Of Ngati-Porou trace theiran cestry back n ot on ly to the Hawaiikian imm igran ts bythe Takitimu but also to the
“ Iwi—a—M aui,
” “ M aui ’sTribe
,
”the aboriginal p eop le who settled here hun dreds
58 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
of y ears before the Takitimu cam e across the sea .
The number of gen eration s to M aui from the p resen t day ,
as given in several gen ealogies,varies from forty -fi ve to
fi ftv . I n the South Islan d Mahunui is given as a
name of M aui ’s canoe . The Ngai-Tahu and Ngati- M amoelearn ed men say that M abunn i is in p oin t of fact theSouth Island
,and that it was from the South Island that
M au i fished up the North The exp ression T e VVaka -a
M aui ” “ M aui ’s- Can oe,
is therefore app lied to the
South Island,and occurs in old songs . The idea that it
was from the South Islan d that M aui hauled up the
North is,however
,chiefly confin ed to the Southern p art
Of New Zealan d ; few North Islan d M aoris are likely tocon cede the greater an tiquity to the Land of Green ston e .
Te Taumanu-o-te - I V aka-a- M aui — m ean in g The
Thwart-of—M aui ’s—Can oe ”— again st which that herculeanfisherman braced his fe e t while hauling up his colossalI ka
,is said by the Ngai-Tahu to be the n am e of a p lace
in the n eighbourhood Of Kaikoura . And far in the Southis Stewart Island
,the very an cien t and mythological
n am e Of which is Te -Puka (p unga ) - o -te-VVal1a -a - M aui,
’
which m ean s The-An chor-of—h/I aui ’s- Can oe .
”The usual
native n am e of S tewart Island is Raki-ura (“ Glowing
or in the Northern tongue Rangi-ura— which isitself a Pacific I slan ds p lace -n am e m en tion ed in the
Hawaiikian legends .
NGAH U E .
A later Polyn esian ex 111lorer-sa ilor to v isit New Zealan dand return to Hawaiiki with rep orts of the n ew coun trywas Ng ahue , who was a chief of e ither Tahiti or Raretonga . The exact date of his v isit is unknown
,but it was
p ro‘
bab lv towards the end of the thirteen th cen tury,
becau se it was eviden t ly the reports brought back by him— 1nd a lso b y Ku pe— that induced the p eop le of the '
Soc iety Islands to fi t out the ir great fleet for NewZea land. The g ian t 1111111. b ird was n ot extin ct in NewZea lan d at that t im e , for Ng ahue, killed on e
,and took
som e of its flesh ba ck w ith him to Rarotonga, p r
eserved
11: ( 1A no n- vo YAG1111s 59
in a 1111111 o r ca labash. He, ap pea rs to have landed first
a t n ea r the East Cap e , and afte r v is itingTe A roha
,and o the r p laces , he ma d e his way
sou th to Cook S tra it, and sa iled d own the \Vest Coast .
He lan d ed at A rahu ra,which he evi d ently and
the re discove re d green stone l le took backto Hawa iiki a b lock of the green s to ne , and dis l
'
i lay ing
his treasures , told his k in smen o f the g ran d n ew countrymany days ’
sail to the sou’-w est . The g reen sto ne wa s
wrought in to axes and ornaments ; on e of the j ewe ls ma d ewith p atien t labou r was an ea r- 1:1endan t n am ed“ Kaukaumatua ,
” which was b rought to New Zealan din the A rawa can oe som e time afterwards
,and was p re
served un til qu ite recen t tim es , when it was lost by itswearer , a woman of the Heuheu fam ily
,in the waters of
Lake Taup e— an acciden t which caused loud lam en tation sin the hom e of the Heuheus .
KU PE’s VOYAGE .
Kup e , who visited New Zealan d in the canoe M atahourua
,is p robab ly the most celebrated of all the an cien t
island -seekers . He sailed down the West Coast of the
North Island , nam ing many p laces, from Hokianga to
Cook Strait, and he exp lored the fi ord now known as
* I t is p oss ible that “ Arahu r a was the na m e of Ng ahué ’s canoe
,and
that th is was why the na m e,co m m e m oratin g not on ly his v esse l but also
one of his h o m e - islan ds,was g i v en by him to the West Coast ri v e r wh ere
he foun d the g reenstone . Ara’ura (New Zealan d Mao r i Arahu r a ) is the
fo r m e r na m e of A itutak i I slan d , one of the Cook Group .
I n m odern t i m es the r e is an instance of the an c ien t na m e Of A itu takibe ing g i v en to a v essel
,and a paJceha c r aft at that . Many y ea r s ag o the
write r had occas ion in the cou r se of j ou r nal ist ic wo r k t o boa r d a s m a l lt op sail sch ooner beat ing up into A uckl an d Ha rbour
,l oaded w ith o r ang es
f r o m A itutak i,and w ith but on e wh ite m an 0 11 boa r d
,the r est n at i v es .
She was for m e r ly the“ Jul ia Pry ce ” of A ucklan d , and had b een
'
wrecked
on A itutak i . The nat i v es had boug h t her,
refl oated her, pat ched her
up , and sen t her up to Aucklan d fo r c oppering , and had rena m ed her the“ A ra
’ura ,
”afte r t hei r islan d . There are othe r instan ces of anc ien t and
honou r ed Po ly n es ian na m es being bestow ed up on m o dern v essel s . A
Ra r otong a-bu il t sch ooner of the roug h -and-ready h o m e - m ade type , wh icht r aded to A uckland so m e yea r s ag o fro m the Cook I slands , m anned by a
wh ite cap tain and Maori crew,bore the h istoric na m e “ Takit imu
,and
v oyag ed o v er the sa m e ocean route th at her fraile r na m esake sailed so
ad v enturously six hundred years before .
60 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
Queen Charlotte Sound , en terin g through Tory Chann el .An an cien t song Often on the lip s of M aoris to-day is that
which connn emorates Kup e’s exp loration s . I t was Kup e ,
say the M aoris, who severed the North and South Islandsand so form ed Cook Strait— that is the figurativeaboriginal fashion of saying that he discovered the Strait— and also cut Off Kap iti and M an a Islands from the
western m ain lan d of the North Islan d .
This is the olden son g (beginn ing“ Ka tito au
,Ka tito
au,Ka tito au ia Kup e
”)
I s ing , I s ing ,I s ing o f Kup e ,The m an who cut the lan d in twa in
,
Who cu t th ese islan ds ed
The isles o f Kap it i , of Mari a
A n d A rap aoa .
Those are the sig nsOf my ancest o r
,Kup e ,
Who sailed the sea
A nd scou r ed the lan d .
Kup e en tered Porirua Harbour and the harbour on
which the city of Wellin gton n ow stands ; n um erous p lacenam es hereabouts rem ind us of the early navigator
,
Cap tain Cook ’s brown - skinn ed p rototyp e . T e U re -O
Kup e , the Pinn acle Rock off Seatoun,in Wellin gton
Harbour , Ng a-Tang ihang a-a -Kup e , and other localities
p erp etuate his nam e . Te Hokianga -a-Kup e , the fulln am e of Hokian ga Harbour in the North
,is a rem inder
of the fact that it was from that p ort that Kup e return ed
(hok-i ) to Hawaiiki .
Un til recen tly the ven erated ston e Te p unga -o M atahourua said to have been the an chor
,or moorm g ston e
,
of Ixupe ’s can oe , the Matahourua
,lay on the sandhills
n ear Plimm erton ,in Porirua Harbour ; it has n ow been
rem oved for safe -keep ing to the Dom in ion M useum inWe llington .
TAI BEA
The can oe Ta irea is 1 e1n embe1 ed chiefly by the NgaiTahu and Nga ti M amoe p eop le Of the South Island . Shea i rived som e tim e be fore the main fl eet . Her comman der
T 1111 eA No n-vo vmacns (51.
was Tama - ki- te - lt zrug i. ( ) no of the p lace s whe re she
ca lle d was on the ea s t coa st o f the Sou thIs land ; the full nam e o f that lo cality is
,a s I wa s
in fo rm ed bv the late I ra Herr-m in i, o f hl'
oe raki ,“ Te Ahi
ka i-kou ra -a - l1' i- te m ean ing “ 'l‘
l1e - l_’ lace
- k in d le d - a - fi re - to - co ok - a - 111eal - o f hour / 1,
The Ta irea ap pea rs to have a fte rwa r d sgon e on roun d to the west coast o f the S outh I s lan d ,
and som e cur ious allego rica l legend s a re p re se rve d o f
Tama -l1' i—te -Rangi ’s a d ven tures the re am i his sea rch. fo r
green ston e . I f the tra d ition I have hear d from the Nga iTahu and Ngati- M am oe p eop le is re liab le histo ry ,
he
even wen t as far down as Milford Soun d . The sto ry,as
given by the South Islan d hon ina ttuts , is that he was insearch of his m issing w ives , and 0 11 the shores of Milfor dfound on e Of them tran sform e d in to green ston e . A s
Tama’ wep t over her , his tears flowed so cop iously that
they p en etrated the rock,and that is why the clear kind
of bowen ite foun d on the slop es and beaches of M itrePeak in that great Sound is called tang iwai ,
“tear
water ,”or the water of weep ing . ( M arks like tear-drop s
are som etimes seen in this green ston e,hen ce the nam e ) .
The fl ax -like kickie (Frey cin etia banksii ) which fringesthe fi ord shores for m iles , sp rang, says the legend , fromthe shreds of Tama
’s fibre shoulder-cap e or p okcha , torn
off in his forest travels .
*
ARAI -TE—U RU .
The Arai-te-uru,one of the large p om or sailing
can oes which reached New Zealan d,came most p robably
from Tahiti . She first made the land on the east coastof the South Island , and the M aoris say her hull, tran sform ed to ston e
,is to be seen in the sea close to Matakaea
,
n ow kn own as Shag Poin t,n ear the southern end Of the
Katiki beach,som e m iles south of the M oeraki Pen in sula .
She was cap sized there ; her crew landed safely but her
*Mr. Joh n Wh ite , in the“ A nc ien t H isto ry o f the Mao r i
,
” Vol. I I
pag es 1 7 8 and 183, g i v es Rang i-na - m utu as anothe r na m e of the Ta irea .
62 TH E MAORI S OF NEW z Z EALAND
lading of seed -kumara (sweet p otatoes ) and hué gourdswas scattered along the beach
,and
,according to the
M aori legend,became p etrified , form ing the celebrated
M oeraki borrldersh remarkably spherical in shap e , witha crystallin e cen tre— Whose origin has p uzzled geologists .
Should y ou doubt this tale, y ou have but to chip the
outside off on e of the roun d boulders, and y ou will see
that the in side is of a reddish or yellowi sh colour ,exactly like a kumara
,
”says the M aori !
The m emory of many of the Arai- te -uru ’s crew is
p reserved in the n ames of m oun tain s in the South Island ,n ot on ly n ear the lan ding -
p lace at Matakaea but as far
in lan d as the Alp s . The great Aorangi itself,the
feet—high monarch of the long icy range,is
,according to
the Ngai-Tahu M aoris,n am ed after a chief called
Aorangi,who was on e of the can oe ’s p assengers from
Hawaiiki . (I t is also worth n oting that AO-ra’i,or
A O-rangi,is the nam e Of a m oun tain in Tahiti ) . Kirikiri
katata and Aroaro -kaehe,two of the other immigran ts
by Arai- te -uru,had their n ames bestowed up on p arts of
the M oun t Cook or Aorangi Ran ge,and the n am e of
M aunga - atua ,an other of the can oe crew
,was given to the
moun tain s n ow known as the Ben Chau Ran ge,over
looking Lake Pukaki .Then , close to the coast at Matakaea are the high hills
kn own as Pakihiw i- tahi and Puke - tapu , also com
m emorating Ara i- te -uru p eop le . I n the figurative fashionof the M aori, the fo rm er m oun tain is sp oken of as the
actua l Pakihiw i- tahi , who was so nam ed because he hadon e shou lder higher than the other . He wen t out b irdhun ting on e n ight, luring the easily - caught woke byim itating its cry . He had om itted to p erform the
ceremon ie s n ecessary to p rop itiate the go d s of the n ew
land and the sp irits of the forest,for when day light cam e
the re he was , imm ovab ly fixed,changed in to a moun tain .
The re is his shaggy hea d, set between his un equal
shou lde rs , the lowe r on e— on which the cairn in m emoryo f S ir John McKen z ie stands— dep ressed as if (say the
M aoris ) he were still hau ling away at his cap sized canoe ,
64 TH E MAOR I S OF NEW ZEALAND
A1 ll these can oes brought with them seed -kmne ra ,
also
the hue gourd ; som e also brought the n ative dog and
various birds for liberation in the n ew land , and sl ip s or
seeds of the (ra te or cloth-bark tree .
TH E AOTEA .
The can oe Aotea— or to give the full n am e , Aotea—nui
no-Toto,
m ean ing “ Great—Aotea-from -Toto (Totobeing the Hawaiikian chief who gave her to her cap tain ,
Turi , his son - in - law ) —is said to have sailed direct fromRaiatea for New Zealan d , n o doubt gu ided by defin itesailing—direction s from p revious visitors to the n ew
coun try . She called on her voy age at an islan d , calledRan g itahua ,
which is believed to be iden tical with SundayI slan d
,in the Kermadec Group ; and there she took 0 11
boar d the crew of the can oe Kurahaup o , which had also
sailed from the Pacific Islands for New Zealand but hadbeen so badly damaged at sea
,or in attemp ting the
dangerous surf - landing at Sunday Island,that she was
abandon ed as useless . The Aotea coasted down the
western side of the North Islan d un til she sighted thegreat sn ow - clad p eak of M oun t Egmon t
,which the M aoris
called Puke-haup apa (“ Sn owy M oun tain ” ) and later
Taranaki ; in the beautiful and fertile coun trv at its baseshe landed her imm igran ts . Turi left the canoe on the
n orthern coast of Taran aki, and travelled overlan d un tilhe arrived at the mouth of the Patea R iver ; there hesettled , and made his first 71 111 1111 11m - cultivat ion s . Turi ’ssettlem ent w as at Rang itawhi , O11 the south bank of the
Patea ,n ear the Heads ; there he bu ilt his stockaded p a ,
h’latang i- re i ; his hrunrcrra-garden
,called Hekeheke ~ i-Papa ,
w as made whe re the harbou r signal- s tation now stan ds .
Ju st be low ,0 11 the bank of the Patea
,is his water—sp ring ,
'J_
‘
e -\Va i-O-Tur i, still runn ing after the lap se of six
cen tur ie s . I t is re lated of Turi that when he reachedthis district he took up a handful of the r ich dark-red
so il and sm e lt it, and p ron oun ced it a good land ; hen cethe 710 71157111, o r p roverb ial sa y ing which is on the lip s Of
eve ry I’atea and “ f licnuakura M ao ri in allusion to this
CAN t ) E 65
S ou th coun try :“To whenua i hong ihong ia e
Tu ri” (“ The land which Turi Late r the
111111137111, too ,sm e lled out the fatness of this so il
,and
found that it was ve ry goo d .
The m emo ry of Tu ri is he ld in great ven e ration by theTaranak i p eop le , and songs commemo rating him are
often heard at the p resen t day , p a rticu larly at Pa rihaka ,
the town of the
departed prophets
Te Whiti and
Tohu . The n ame
of Ran g iatea ,the
an cestral hom e of
the race , is,too ,
held in high hon
our.
“
From Rang iatea is the seed of
our com ing ,”is a
say ing that To
Whiti was fon d ofquoting in his
oracular addresses
to his people ; but
the old mysticwen t back m uchfurther . H e was
stron gly imbuedwith the idea
,the
result of an extraordin arily c l o s e
A Desee ndan t o f Tur i . TutungoWaionui , of Pariroa , study of the white11 1111 11 .
m an’
s B ible,that
the M aoris were descendan ts of the Lost Ten Tribes,and
that they were in fact I haraira ,or Israel . “
Y es,
” he
said to me one n ight in his big m eeting-house at
Parihaka,as we sat watching his white -
p lumed p oi-girlsrehearsing their dan ces
,
“ I cam e from the IslandRang iatea , in Hawaiiki-kai . But I really came from a
m ore an cien t and greater Hawaiiki ; I came from the
land of Kenana [Canaan ]
66 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
TH E TOKOMARU .
This canoe,originally from Tahiti, called at the Islan d
of Rarotonga . She ended her voyage at the mouth of
the Tongaporutu River , on the West Coast of the NorthIsland
,between Waitara and M okau ; her mooring
ston e,or an chor— a large ston e about three feet long ,
shap ed somewhat like a p ear , with a hole bored through
the small end for the an chor rop e— is hidden at the
Mohakatino . The Tokomaru immigran ts , it is said ,en coun tered a tribe of aborigin es on lan ding , and
conquered them ,killing som e and en slaving the others .
Her p eop le were the an cestors of som e of the NgatiBaaun i
,Ngati-Awa ,
Ngati-Tam a,and Ngati- M utunga
tribes of Taranaki . Som e of the remnan t Of the NgatiTama
,on ce a very p owerful tribe of warriors
,still live
in the vicin ity of their an cestors ’ lan ding-p lace .
TH E TAI NU I ; AND TH E M YSTERY OF TH E KOROTANGI .
The Tainui and Arawa seem to have kep t in fairlyclose comp any on the voyage from the Eastern Pacific .
Both made the land n ear the East Cap e , n o doubt runn in gdown on it before the favouring hau—matang i, the n orth
east breeze of summ er-tim e . Tainui and Arawa bothvisited Whanga-
p araoa ,or
“ Sp erm -whale Bay ,” j ust to
the westward of the East Cap e . Then ce Tain ui sa iledacross the Bay of Plen ty and en tered the Hauraki Gulf .After calling at various p laces in the Gulf her crew
p addled her up the Tamaki River to the isthmus Wherethe town of Ctahuhu now stand s
,and hauled her ashore
there in order to drag her across the n eck in to the
harbour of M anukau , or M anuka as it is Often and
p erhap s more p roperly ca lled by the old M aoris . Some
accoun ts say that she was successfu lly hauled across,
but the m ajority of the tradition s aver that the can oestuck when p art of the way across
, and that n o e ffortson the p art of her crew could move her . This
,it is said
,
was a pun ishmen t by the gods for an Offen ce comm ittedby the chieftain ess M arama
,wife of Hoturoa
,the com
TI 111 (;ANO laits 6 7
man d e r o f Ta inu i. had m iseondueted he rself
w ith her ma le slave,whe refo re the curse fe ll
, qu ite afterthe l\f
'
lao ri fashion,on her c rew . They p la ce d skids and
ro llers ben eath the kee l o f the can oe and to iled away at
the drag- rop es , but in va in . This is the hau ling- songchan ted by the chiefs— on e accoun t I have says by
Rakataura,the p riest of the can oe , Othe rs by M arama
herse lf— to en courage the c rew as they hau led . I t is an
flo ra- 111 1.71to,or
“ can oe - re leasing ” song,and is Often to be
heard sung to this day by the descendan ts of l—I oturoa
and M arama and Rakataura :
son g s .
To ia Ta inu i,
Tap o ta k i te m oana .
Ma wa i e to ?Maku e to , ma VVhakatau.
Te ron g ona atu n e i,
He ta r e -wa inuku,
He ta r e -wa i r ang iPu-nu i e !
Nan - m a i lNau -m ai
, e Tane !Ka kau taua i te awa
I Pikop iko-i -Whit i
,
K ia m atak itak i a tauaTe t in i e te m ano .
Naku koe i t ik i atu
I te Wao-nui-a -Tane .
Ki m iki m i e Tane ,Koakoa e Tane .
E turuturu hae r e ana ma i
Te wai o te hika O Ma ra m a .
E patu ana mai
E te komurimuri hau
Na rung a mai O Waih i,Te i r ing a mai te ra o Tainu i.U -ura te ra
,
Wewero te ra,
Ng a tangata i whakiririka
Ma m au ki te tau r a .
K ia tu m atatorot ia atu
Taku tu -matatoro .
I hu o waka !Turuki, turuki !
Paneke, p ancake !
(TRAN SLATI ON . )Haul away Ta inu i,To floa t up on the o cean !‘Who shal l hau l her ?I and Whakatau sha l l hau l !Hea r y e the t r oub l ing o f Ea r th ’
s
wate r s,
The t r oub l ing of the wate r s o f thesky ?
Co m e , co m e , 0 Tane ! *Soon shal l w e float up on the watersOf Pikop iko
-i-Whit i, t
A n d th e r e beho l dThe m y r iad tribe s of man .
’Twas I tha t b r oug h t thee fo r t hF r o m the Vast -Woo ds -of—Tane .
N ow r ej o ice,O Tane !
The dew of Marama’s sin ful l o v e
D r ip s f r o m her l ike the ra in .
A g en t le b r eeze blows h ithe rwa r dsFro m Waih i
,Whe re Ta inu i ’s sail
“ fas sp r ead out in the sun .
How red the sun !Like spea r -p r ic‘ks its hot ray s .Now ,
all hands on the r op eA n d hau l away !Be strong , and m o v e her .
Canoe -bow s t he r e !Mo v e , l ift , and g l ide al ong !Hau l away !Haul away !
*The canoe is here p oetica l ly addressed as Tane, the God of the forest,
hence of all h ewn t i m bers and of canoes .tPikOp iko
-i-Whit i is a ri v er in Hawaiiki,often m en t ioned in leg en ds and
been fl oated down th is strea m .
Wh en the hul l o f the Tainu i was first launch ed it is said to ha v e
68 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
The final words “Turuki
,turuki
, p dn eke, pdn eke !”
were rep eated as a chorus by all the p eop le on the dragrop e .
The nan -wake was chan ted in vain,however,
according to most accoun ts,and Tainui was re - laun ched
on the Tamaki,and sailed out Of the Hauraki and all the
way up roun d the North Cap e , then ce down the westcoast to Kawhia and M okau . Rakataura , the tohzmg a ,it is said , left the can oe at Tamaki
,with a n umber of
followers, and travelled down the western side of the
island . He afterwards met the Tainui p eop le on
their landing on the West Coast . Tainui visitedthe M imi , n ear Pukearuhe (White Cliffs ) , and
Make tu , Kawh ia, H a r bou r . The land in g-p lace o f the Tainui Canoe .
making North again en tered the mouth Of the M okauRiver , where Hoturoa p lan ted three p oles in tokenof his taking p ossession of the n ew land .
Here,
at M okau Hea d s , are to b e seen the celebrated grovesof Pomo dcrris 11 11 17111111
,a small tree with a leaf somewhat
like that of a loquat tree , which is found here and n owhereelse in New Zea lan d ; legen d says that it sp rang from the
skids la id down on the beach for the purp ose of haulingthe Tainu i up above high-water mark . Here
, too,
on the beach close to the M okau settlem en t,is the
an chor or mooring—ston e of the Tainu i, a p eculiarly
shap ed grooved and p olished rock som ethin g like an
hour-glass in outlin e , and ab ou t four feet in le ngth.This
ston e purg e, or an chor is to this dav regarded with great
T1 1n CAN t ) n-vo vAe 1111s
vene ration bv the Tainu i p eop le at M okau Heads,and is
looked u pon as the local o r sacred emblem
which ensu res an abundan ce of fi sh.
But the M okau was n ot the final resting-
p lace o f
Ta inui. I l e r crew sailed he r back up the coast to KawhiaHarbou r , which she had been unab le to en te r com ingdown . Hoturoa and Rakataura had met by this time ;they had quarrelled but n ow becam e recon c iled , and set
up a join t {110 7111 o r sacred alta r at M oeatoa ,and Hoturoa
gave the p riest his daughte r, Kahu - rere (F ly ingHawk) , to w ife .
The canoe was hauled up on the shore at Heahea ,0 11
the n orthern side of the harbou r, and close by the imm igran ts bu ilt their first village , and nam e d it after Maketu ,a v illage in their far-away homeland . On this same spot
stands to-day the little M aori settlem en t of M aketu (see
page it was an imp ortan t King ite gathering
p lace in the two decades which succeeded the Wa ikato
war of 1868-64,and was for a time the hom e of King
Tawhiao . Near by Hoturoa set up a tuahu or altar,
and called it Ahurei, after a sacred p lace in Tahiti. The
traditional resting-p lace of Tainui is to be seen to this
day ,in a clump of tall m anuka just to the south of
M aketu village . I t is a very tapu sp ot in M aori eyes .
Two white ston es,each about four feet high,
and sunkin the ground , mark the bow and stern of the canoe
,
which was buried here,say the M aoris . The distan ce
between the two rocks is a little over sixty feet,which
would p robably be about the len gth of the canoe -hull ;and it is remarkable that the clear sp ace Of ground inthe heart of this tap e thicket
,with the white ston es at
each end,is somewhat the shap e of a M aori can oe .
Whether the Tainui was actually buried here or n ot,
there is n o doubt it is the sp ot where she was finallydrawn ashore . The M aoris aver that she lies thereben eath the soil
,turn ed to ston e ; but some inquisitive
p akehas who wished to satisfy them selves of this withthe help of a spade , were threaten ed with shooting . The
sacred shrin e of Tainui is j ealou slyWatched by Hoturoa’s
7 0 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
descen dan ts . The two white ston es were , according toTainui history
,set up there by Hoturoa and Rakataura .
That n earest the beach is known as“ Puna
,
”and the
other as“ Han i .
” Hoturoa p lan ted“ Puna as an
emblem of fertility and of the in crease of p op ulation
(whakatupu- tang ata )“ Han i
,
”set up bv the p riest, was
emblematical of the destruction of m en in battle,the
war—sp irit (whakarere- tang e ta, 1
'
rung o 12 te 1517 011119 11 0
The Sac r ed G r o v e of th e Tainui , Kawh ia .
Tu ) . The photo on this p age shows these two ston esand the sup p osed resting-
p lace of Tainui .Som e years ag o the Old K ing ite chief Patara te Tuhi(Whose photo ap p ears as a fron tisp iece to this book)carved a very artistic model of his famous an cestralcan oe Tainu i. Patara is something Of a tohung a ,
andwas in his younger days n oted as a very skilful woodcarve r. This canoe m odel he carved in the best M aoristyle , a sing le canoe , equ ipp ed w ith little triangular sailsof raup o , padd les and bailers
,and all comp lete .
I saidto the old man
7 2 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
The“ Korotang i is in p ossession of a half
jcaste
family , of high rank‘
on the mother ’s side
,and i s at
p resen t in safe—keep ing in a bank in
0
the ci ty of Wel
lingtou ; there are casts of the orrg rnal in several
museums.I give a photo which the own ers p ermrtted
me to have taken som e years ag o .
The M aoris say that the“ Korotang i was brought to
these shores in the Tainui can oe from the olden home Of
the race .T e Heuheu,
of Taup o , in givin g me an an cren t
song about the carved bird— he sang it over“ Korotang r
”
when we in sp ected the famous relic on e m ght— sp oke
of it as“ he taong a , n o rnng a i a Tainui , he on ce
hart mat n o Te H on o-i-W'
airua”(“a treasure , from
on board Tain u i,a thing broughthere from the
M eetin g place
oi
yond that i ts
history is un
kn own . I t is
n ot Of M aorim an u fa cture
that is certain .
The Ixoro tang r.
The Old son gsays : “
E ham. tend he me an ZlI aori,”— “ That is n ot a
M aori bird .
” I t has been comp ared with an an cien tJapan ese bron ze b ird in a New Zealand museum ; the two
carv ings are in som e resp ects very sim ilar .
The ston e bird is n ot un like a p igeon ; a Poly n esianin terp retation of its nam e would be “
The C ry ing Dove .
”
I t is carved as 0 11 a p erch,m easures ten and a-
quarterin ches from p o in t of beak to tip Of ta il
,and is carved
w ith high artistic fin ish out of a very hard and heavydark ~
g reen m e tallic ston e . I ts we ight is four p ounds tenoun ces . The carv ing is in a, wonderful state of p reservation (except that a p ortion of the tail has been broken Off )"The l lon o - i-Wa i r ua
,o r Mee t in g (or Jo in in g ) Place of Depa r ted Sp ir its ,
is a, sy m bol ical te r m fo r so m e of the an c ien t homes o f the race,m o st:
p robably in the Cen tral Pac ific .
TJI I') ( lAN U E—V U YAG I‘JRS
ons ide ring the v ic iss itudes through which it must haveiassed s ince first the unknown artist fashion ed it so
unn ing ly .
What a roman tic myste ry envelop es this little“ C ry ing
) ove !” What question s does it n ot suggest !
'
Was it
hOI°
l lO like the Roman eagle in some an c ien t A siatic ship“
I
s it the on e lon e relic of som e cap tured fore ign ship , cut
.ft'
by the p iratical Vikings of the m id-Pac ific ? Fo r how
nauy long cen tur ies has it n ot trave rsed the Great-Oceansf-Kiwa
,from island un to island whe re the Son of Day
ias his flam ing upr ising— fi rst, p e rhap s , in some far,ruising p roa or junk
,then in the long sailing- can oes of
he Polyn esian sailormen ! If the “ C rying Dove ” couldrut sp eak what an Odyssey- like ep ic cou ld it n ot tell us
“
?
The M aoris say that the Kawhia and Wa ikato p eop le— the descendan ts of the Tainui stock— carried “ Ke roangi with them on their exp ed ition s of war
,and
o n sulted it as an oracle . The b ird was set up on a hill
op (tau/mate ) by the taua , the war-
party , and harah-ia ’d
o and invoked for assistan ce and good fortun e . I t was
tribal mam'
i or talisman,
. the bare-legged army ’s
nascotte .
“ Korotan g i was lost at Kawhia som e gen eration s.g o (p robably its last tohung a custodian died withoutevealing its keep ing-
p lace ) , and remain ed hidden for
fiany years, n o on e kn owing its whereabouts . Waikato
nd Tainui grieved greatly for their treasured bird,and
.irg es and lam en ts were comp osed bearing on its dis
,pp earan ce . I n course of time these p oetical waiata(mg i were adop ted as fun eral songs ; a lost loved on e
ras comp ared to“ Korotangi ,
” beautiful and rare,
an ished for ever . But in modern tim es (about 1880) itras recovered
,found at Kawhia under the roots of an
ld kahikatoa tree which had been blown down (wherehad no doubt been hidden ) , and cam e in to the p ossesion of the M aori wife of the late M ajor Wilson ,
oflambridg e , IVaikato . From far and n ear the M aoriswho in stan tly recogn ised the bird from the descrip tionreserved in tribal tradition s ) came to weep over it as if
7 4 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
it were a frien d back from the dead . Old King Tawhiao ,the celebrated warrior- chief Eewi
,the King ite leader
T e Ng akau,visited it
,and tang i
’d loudly over their bird ,sacred to them as the Ark of the Covenan t which the
Israelites bore in their Weary journ eyings .
This is the an cien t song which the M aoris chant overKorotang i
”— a lamen t comp osed by a Kawhia woman
long gen eration s ag o ,when the bird was lost
,and sung
to this day by the Waikato and allied tribes at fun eralgatherings as a waiata- tang i , a p oetic
“keen ” for the
illustrious dead . The M aori version begin s : “ Kaore
te aroha,Mo tahu h ei menu
”
(TRAN SLATION .
D eep is my g r ief ,My l ittle b ird , fo r thee !N ig h t ly my so r r ow bubbles up ,A s low I lie w ith in my h ou se ,A nd e v e r l ong fo r th ee ,My da r l ing v an ished one !
See y e , O m a iden s m in e ,The water-b i r ds at p lay(But Koro ’ is not l ik e th ose ) ,’Tis not a Mao r i b i r d .
Oh, g i v e it t o m e tha t I may
Gaze up on its cu r l ing feathers car v e dI n d istan t lands
,
B r oug h t h ithe r f r o m Tawh it i. *Da ily I p in e fo r th ee, my b i r d ,I ta r ry day by day and ask
,‘Oh. whe r e has Korotan g i g on e ?
Hap ly he has flow n afa rTo feast o n g r een pohata l ea v es . ’N ig h tly I sleep less l ie ,A n d ca l l f or t hee ;Thou wert the g ua r d ian of ou r t r easu re s ,The warrior ’s o r acl eSe t up on bat tle -h il l .A n d now fo r h elp I tu r n my faceTo Kawa -tapu—a ran g i !
A ccord ing to the M aoris of I 'Vaikato this ston e b irdhas a mama tap u,
,a sacred influen ce or sp ell attaching
to it . The p ossession of it invo lves the p rop rietor in as
* I n the o r ig inall loma i me t it iro
K i te hurulmru whaka ingoing oMa i n o Tawh it i. ”
7 6 TH E MAORI S on NEW ZEALAND
kapua, being without a p riest or Wizard of sufficien t
mama,had to resort to kidnapp ing on e . Out at sea , Tama
’
seduced Kearoa— app arently she was very ready to
accep t his love -making . Then in revenge the p riest drove
the can oe in to the very jaws of the terrible maelstrom
kn own in Arawa tradition as“ T e Waha-o-Parata ,
”
(“ Parata ’
s or“ Te Korokoro—o -Te -Parata
The Throat of the an emblematical termapp aren tlv for some unusual disturban ce of the ocean ,
p robably by a submarin e earthquake or volcan ic erup tion .
The can oe swiftly app roached the sp ot where the oceanmon ster sucked down the waters with an awful roaringn oise . The story is told in much detail in Sir GeorgeGrey ’
s“ Polyn esian M ythology .
” I give the followingbrief narrative as told me by a direct descen dan t of
Ngatoro-i-rangi . I t con tain s the invocation of the chiefI ka,
'
which does n ot app ear in Grey’s version
“ When Ng atoro- i-ran gi foun d that his wife Kearoa
had comm itted adulterv with Tama-te -kapua , he was
stricken with great anger . He turn ed the bows of the
canoe,by his p owerful karakia, so that the Arawa
headed straight for Parata ’s-Throat . The canoe
began to descend in to the Throat ; then the p eop le criedout to him
,
‘0 Ng atoro
’! the p illow has fallen from
under Kearoa’s hea d ; release the can oe
But Ng atoro’ would n ot p ay anv heed to them
,and the
canoe was in great danger . Then up rose I ka, on e of the
chiefs on board , and he lifted up his voice in a p rayer tothe gods for help . He recited an in can tation b eginn ing‘Tcn ei toha, i t
’
lth'
lt,tc Iriri o Tanc
’
in which he
app ealed to his (t i/Wt to save the Skin - of—Tan e the TreeGod floating on the waters
, to ho ld it fi rm ly back fromthe destruction that threaten ed it ; he called to Rangithe Sky -
g od to descend and save the drown ing Ribs—ofTan e , and cr ied , too , to Tangaroa [the M aori Nep tun e ]to beat down the destroy ing wave s of ocean
f“
A s th is anc ien t ha rakia has n ot p r e v iou sly been r ec o r d ed . I g iv e the
o r ig ina l h e r e , as a specnn en o f the Polyn es ian in v oca t ion s to the g ods int i m e o i dang er a t sea ; it is a rural. n o r “ fi rmly-b in d ing ” spe l l
'
.l‘
I l l". CAN U I'l—VOYA “ ICliS
Rut the.
“
sauc e did not respond to this p owe rfu l spe ll,i nd con tinued to d rift to destructiim . (Jreat con fusion.iud te rro r fe ll u pon the p eop le on boar d
,the m en women
,
and child ren . Then they c rie d aga in to Ng atoro to savethem . And the p riest n ow took p ity on his p eo p le , and
he recited his most p owerful hcu'
a /ria,his spe ll to re lease
the canoe from the Threat . J y this time som e of the
cargo of the Arawa had fallen o r been washed ove rboa rd .
The invocation which g ato ro’
recited that
beginn ing :‘U nuhia
,nanh ia
Te pou tapu ,Ko to p en mua , Re to pe n r ot o , ’
Tcne i toka nuku , te k ir i o Tane ;Ko ta i-p ito , ko ta i-ng ahoa .
Hoa ita,hoa ita .
Te kup u tenei h ok i te ru r ukuKa mau, ko te ru r uku nui na I ka .
Rukut ia ma i hae kia u .
Tap u te raka k ia uRukutia n g a atua kia u .
Tapu te r aka k ia u .
Rukut ia Ta inu i, te A rawa,K ia 11 !
Tap u te raka kia u .
Raha t ia n g a tang ata ‘
kia u .
Tapu te r aka kia u !E— i !
E Rang i e lK0 Rang i taua iho ,K 0 Ran g i taua ake
,
Ko Rang i tau ap it i te tuah iw i,Te tuah iw i o te Rang i.Ka ni ouin oua te Kackae o Tane
,
Tena toka whenua .
Whakamau atu te ru r ukuK i te ihu o te waka ;Whakamau atu te rurukuK i te ihu iho ) o n g a tangata .
Turon pa r ea .
Pera lioki ra Tang aroaI te horomea
I tu‘
kitukia ai,i taita ia ai .
O— o i !
Kan i Tang aroa !Whan o, whano !Haramai te tok i !Han m i e !U i— c l
Taiki— e !
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
I n this the tohimg a besought the gods to draw out the
can oe from the terrible Throat , the sacred canoe that
on ce grew as a tree (p ea - tapu ) in the Great-Eorest-of
Tan e ; he called up on the sp irits of Ruarang i , of M aui
tikitiki-o-Taranga,to descen d by the p ath of Tawhaki
the g od, from the high heaven s , and clear from p erils.
Ng atoro’s ocean track, the way by which Ng ahue had
aforetim e sailed to the far lan d .
“ The chan t wen t on
‘ R ise , O Tan g a r oa, r ise !Rise, O canoe and g l ide al ong !We g ath e r way ,’Tis a p r op it iou s t ide ;The dang e r ’s o
’er !
’
And immediately the p riest had ended the recitationof that sacred awe -moch a
,the tumult of the ocean ceased ,
the Throat- of—Parata closed , the heaven s grew light , andthe can oe was saved .
”
The other in ciden ts of the Arawa ’s voyage n eed n ot
be recoun ted here,
as they have already been fullyrecorded . Her p eop le lan ded at M aketu
,and took p os
session of the coun try extending then ce to Rotorua,and
even tually settled it here and there down as far as Lake
Taup o . We know it must have been about midsumm erwhen the can oe made the coast at the East Cap e b ecausethe tradition s tell us that the rate and p ohutuhawa treesthat fringed the cliffs were in full bloom .
PA I KEA .
One of the most celebrated Hawaiikian imm igran tswas Paikea
,about whom some marvellous legends are
told . He arrived app aren tlv shortly before the Takitimu,
from Rarotonga ; some accoun ts say he swam across theocean ,
others that he cam e rid ing on his tan iwha,a sea
mon ster . Eviden tly his descendan ts have forgotten thenam e of his can oe . Paiken
,it is said
,escap ed from the
destructive Ta i-o-Ruatapu— the“ T ide of Ruatap u
p robab ly a. great earthquake wave , which devastated hisIsland home ; som e East Coast legends say that Ruatap u
80 TH E MAORI .
The following genealogy gi v esthe descen t of a m e m ber of theNgai-Tah u t r ibe (South I sland)f r o m Paikea :
U enuku
PAI KEA
Tah u -potiki
I ra-tuhoe
Raka-te-h uru- m an u
Tahumuri
Nukuroa
Raka-waha-ku ra
Rakai-whaka-ata
Tuhaitara
Ta m a-raeroa
Te ao -hikuraki
Tu -ah u r i r i
Tane-tiki
Moe -ka-h e reh e re
Te Rua -t u -wh en ua
Puaka
Te Raki
Te U a -whakataka
Te Hau- ra raka
Te Whe
Ka He ibe i (f)
Kum ea (f) m a r r ied Th o m as G reenk 7
T . E . G r een(ap e 0 m )
(Half-caste Ch ief of the NgatiI—[ in em atua h apu , Tuah iwi ,n ow about 65 yea r s old ) .The gen eal ogy of w h ich the
abo v e is a po r tion g oes m uchfu r th e r back , and t races the descent of G reen ’s m oth e r Kum ea
f r o m the t rad ition al Polyn esianh e r o Mau i . The n u m be r ofg ene ration s fro m Mau i to T . E .
G reen is g i v en as fifty ; t h isw ou ld ind icate th at Mau i then a v igato r l i v ed y ea r s ago ,
about the beg inn ing of the
se v en th cen tu ry .
CANO IC- VU YAU ICI IS 81
s Manga ia and the n a s A ’na
’u,which in later times
ecan ic i d en tified w ith the New Zea lan d is lan d so n amed .
T1 r. Ta k i 'ri M U .
The Takitimu (o r Tak itumu ) can oe broug htI
ll
a i natc z'
i
nd o ther chiefs ; Ruawha ro wa s he r p rie st . ll'
c r
rew we re the an cesto rs of the Nga ti-Pe ron,Ng ati
Cahung unu ,and othe r East Coas t tribes
,a nd also ih<
nce stors o f the Nga i-Tahn tribe o f the Sou th Island .
[e r voyage from Hawa iiki must have been a very p ro ~
racted on e,see ing that to legend som e o f he r
leOp le (p robab lv s laves or children ) we re k illed and
aten at sea,because the food supp lies had given out .
the sa iled down the East Coast,calling at va riou s
) ea.lities and leaving som e of her crew here and there,
nd ended her voyage in Murihiku (Southland ) , Wherehe Takitimu range of moun tain s is called after this
I awaiikian p ilgrim -ship .
Takitimu was a very sacred canoe, _
n ot only by reasonf the many and varied ceremon ies p erformed over hery the tohung as to render her seaworthy and p roofgain st the waves and temp ests of the Great-Ocean -ofJ
(iwa,but because her chiefs and p riests were the
ep ositories of the an cien t lore (ham ) of their race,and
t was they who brought much of the old Hawaiikian
n ow ledg e taught in the whai‘
e-wah ah g a or lodges of
nstruction to this n ew land of Aotea-roa .
There is a celebrated East Coast haha chan t an d
horus, frequen tly p erform ed by the young men of the
lg ati-Porou tribe , which embodies a p ortion of the
.noien t p addling—song of the Takitimu . This canoehan t (hea th -wake ) is a fi ne examp le of the rhythmicongs, with their regular beats and frequen t rep etition s ,n which the M aori delights . The original is said to haveleen chan ted by the chiefs of the Takitimu on their'
oyag e from Polyn esia to New Zealand ; it is an excellen time - song for canoe-p addlers .
The hat-hea th or ha-i- tahi wake,the fugleman or
ap tain ,standing up amidship s, begin s
82 TH E MAORI S on NEW ZEALAND
Papa te what it iri, hikohiko te u ira,I kan apu ki t e rang i ; ru an a te
whenua .
(TRAN SLATION .
The th un der c r ashe s , the l ig h tn ingflashes ,
F lash es in the hea v en s , and the ea r t hquake shakes the lan d .
Then,waving his whalebon e p atu or his p addle , n ow
on on e side , n ow on the other,he chan ts :
H e t ia,he t ia, he t ia ,
H e rang a , he r ang a ,he rang a ,
Whakarere iho te kakau o te hoeKo a Man in i-tua
,i Man in i-aro
I tang i te kura , i Tang i-w iwin iI tang i t e kura , i Tan g i-waw ama .
T e ra te bacata tak i r i ana mai
I rung a o Matatera
Ana Wha iuru, Wha iuru , Wha iuruAn a Whaiato , Wha iato , WhaiatoI ara r a tin i , i a ra r a t in iI
'
a r ara ri-i !
E ko tena ,tena ;
E ko tena , tena ;E ha ra ko te wa i o taku hoeKo te wai o taku hoe .
H e i kot i,he i ko t i, he i kot i-i -i !
E ka re r e te rere i te waka ,E kutan g itan g i, e kutang itang i ;E ku r a t iwaka taua,E ku r a t iwaka taua !E ku r a wawawa wai
,
E ku r a wawawa wai i -i !
Dip l ig h tly ,dip l ig h t ly !
Now a l ong stroke , a l ong stroke !Plung e deep ly y ou r paddles ,The paddles Man in i-tua and Man in i
aro
Tang i-w iw in i and Tang i-wawan a .
S ee,daw n is b r eak ing y onde r
On the p eak of Matatera.
N ow,Whaiuru
,Whaiuru ,
Now,Whaiato , Whaiato H
Now a l ong strong st r oke !(Here the paddlers pau se , wh ile thecanoe sweep s th r oug h the wate ru n der the i m pu lse of the lastst r oke . )
Now,ag a in , ag ain !
A g ain , and ag a in !That was no t the water fro m my
p addle ,The water from my paddle .
Now dig in,c lea v e it ,
A l ong st r ong s t r oke !Now we
’re g o ing al ong ,
How the canoe fl ies !How fi n e the paddl es soun dA ll tog ether !My g r an d canoe ,My treasu r ed canoe ,A t r easure of the wate r s !(A l ong strong stroke ) .
OTHER CANOES .
The can oe Mahuhu,the an cestral p ilgrim ship of the
Ngati-VVhatua and certain other Northern tr ibes,is
be lieved to have com e to New Zea lan d man y gen eration sbefore the A rawa and other his to ric can oes of the greatfleet . Her p eop le settled at the mouth of the Kaipara
l -
I a rbon r .
The can oe M amari, from whose crew most of the
numerou s Ngapuhi tribe,
of No rth Auckland , are
descended , landed at Hokianga Heads , where the majority
*Na m e s o f sac r ed paddles bel ong ing t o the Tak it imu.
tNames of Hawa iikian ch iefs .
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
y from four to five thousan d miles . Ng ahue
ere , as has b een seen ,cap tain s of two of t
and M aku was an even earlier sailor -vis
ome six or seven hundred years ag o , there
arkable voyage of the A ra-tawhao , ma
the aboriginal p eop le of New Zealand ,to the islan ds of the E astern Pacific ,The story of this
estin g detail from the Ngati-Awa tribe,
an e Valley , by Mr . Elsdon B est,and is told
tes on An cien t Polyn esian M igran ts” (Tran sacthe New Zealand I n stitute
,vol . xxxvii .
,
Fil e Moe rak i Boulde rs . Se e pag e (52 .
THE NE\V LAND,AND HOW I T “ 7AS SETTl iEl) .
These islands of New Zealand , w ith the ir great exten tof coast—line , their imm ense
,ap paren tly illim itable
expan se of forest, the ir many large r ivers,and the ir
towering m oun tain ranges,mu st have seem ed a vast
and wonderful land to the immigran ts from Polyn es iaafter the confin ed spaces of the m id-Pacifi c islands and
atolls . They had left their trop ic homes in search of a
place where they m ight have more freedom and morespaciousn ess , where on e trib e n eed not jostle an other
and fight for the p ossession of a breadfruit-treeor a taro-
p atch. Here surely in this big n ew coun trythere would be room en ough and to spare . Therewas ; but it was n ot always easy to select n ew hom es
,for
som e of the most inviting p arts of the coast were alreadyoccup ied by the tang ata-whenua, the aborigin es
,who no
doubt opposed the landing of the n ew - comers in severalcases
,though on ly one M aori tradition m en tion s the
fact. This was most p robably the reason why most of
the canoes made long voyages from p lace to p lace alongthe coast before their crews even tually landed . I n the
end,as they in creased in numbers
,they g ot the better of
the tang ata-whenua
,sometimes by p eaceful allian ce but
more often by conquest, or,
as the M aori phrasesit
,by the ring e
-kaha,the
“strong han d
,
” by force of
ran -
p atu,
“the blade of the weap on .
”
With j oyful feelings these brown -skinn ed colon istsbeached their long can oes on the sands of M aketu
,
of Kawhia,
of IVhang ara , of Taranaki,
and foundthem selves free to exp lore the strange n ew land of
Aotea-roa . They wandered up the valleys,crossed the
wooded ranges, built m okihi or rafts of fl ax -stalks to
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
cross the deep er stream s,and looked with won dering
eyes on the_wide p lain s of the in terior , covered with
forests or with league'
s up on leagues of fl ax and fern and
raup o and white -fl ag g ed toetoe , through which woun d thesilver thread of many a river . They ap p raised with thetrue eye of the p ion eer the
“ eyes ” of the land , the most
suitable p laces for settlem en t,where they might build
their thatched huts and p lan t their crep s . The chiefstahohi
’d (literally“trod ” ) the land
,claim ing it for
themselves and those who were to com e after them ,and
gave n am es to all the p rin cip al features of the landscap e—moun tain s
,hills
,lakes, rivers , often even to p articular
or remarkable trees and rocks . A chief frequen tly nam ed
places after“
him self or his relatives ; this con stituted a
full and comp lete title to the land,that is p rovided
he was the first of the exp lorers so to name or
tap e. it . Poin tin g to a moun tain range,he would say ,
“ That is my backbon e”(tuara ) ; or to a hill
,
“ That ismy head
”(ap oko ) or he would n am e a tree under which
he rested,his m kau—whahamarumaru
,his “
shelteringtree .
” These names were p reserved , and in moderndays they have been successfully adduced in the LandCourts as p roofs of an cestral discovery and occup ation .
Though in many parts there were aboriginal tribes,
yet the in terior the imm igran ts p rosp ected must havebeen almost a virgin land . Den se fore sts
,dark and
mysterious , covered the greater p art of the coun try ;wild birds swarm ed in in calculable numbers . The voiceof man could scarce be heard on the forest outskirts ihthe early morn ing for the chim ing and chan ting of the
birds , the teem ing tui, the sweetly-tinkling bell-bird, the
scream in g n oisy Icahn, p arrot, the ha -ha—ing p igeon s , andthe coun tless other feathered children of Tan e
, the
Forest-Father . The p ion eers set up their cun n inglydevised snares for the forest-b irds
, and sp eared themwith long limber barbed sp ears ; they made rat-p its andset sp rin g-trap s (tawhiti) for the More maori
,the native
rat ; built eel—we irs of stakes,and set hinahi- tuna or
woven eel-p ots for the myriads of eels in the creeks ; and
TH E MAORI S OF NEXV ZEALAND
(Gambier Islands ) , far to the east, where a remarkably
pure form of the M aori tongue is Sp oken . I t has been
surmised«that the M aoris gave the New Zealan d p alm
A reca sap ida its n am e h ihaa because to their disapp oin t
men t it was un like the useful coco-nut of their old hom es
and bore no m ilk-nuts (uz milk ) , and therefore was
a i-hau—“n othing b ut leaves .
” But the fact that far
away in M angareva,the coco-nut is still called W hen and
that in som e islands the tree is called h i’
au or‘
n i’
ao goesto show thatWhen was the original n am e of the tree , andthat in the in tervening islan ds the “
k” has in course of
tim e been elided,as in so many other The
beautiful ham ha,on e of the most ornam en tal of New
Zealand ’s in digen ou s trees, the berry of which was
un iversally used as food by the M aoris,is said in
tradition to have been brought from Hawaiiki ; but
botan ists say that this p articular sp ecies does not growin the South Sea Islands . I t is the Op in ion of som eM aori investigators that some kamha-berries may havebeen brought from Sunday Islan d
,in the Kermadecs
,at
which the“ Aotea” can oe is believed to have touched
,
and p lan ted by the M aoris in their n ew hom e . Certain lythe Taranaki natives believe that Turi
, the cap tain of
the Aotea , in troduced the karahar.
“ Look around y ou at
these p lain s of Waimate,
”said the . old tohaag a-warrior
Tauke to me one day at his little village Hokorima ;“and
see those Ira-rake trees . They are not of this land, they
are from Hawaiiki ; it was my an cestor Turi who p lan tedthem here and covered the coun try with them .
” Thereis a tree ve ry sim ilar in app earan ce to the haraha.
growing on Nine (Savage Island ) it has the sam e shin ing
te r m wi ll , app l ied by the Maoris to the th r ow ing -st ick s or r ods u sedby the p r ies ts in a fo r m o f d i v in a t ion— an an c ien t A s ia t ic and Heb r ewp r ac t ice— is al so , I h a v e n o doub t , to b e t raced back to the n ia or coco -nutof Polyn es i a. I n ce r ta in o f the Poly nes ian I slands it was cu sto m a ry forthe w iza r ds to sp in the c oco -nut in divina t ion ; and th o se who ha v e takenpart in a Sa m oan ho ra -d r ink ing c ere m o ny w il l r e m e m be r the p e
cu l ia r ly(le ft fash io n in wh ich the ch iefs sen d the p ol ished co co -nut sh e l l sp inn ingback ac r oss the floo r af te r th ey h a v e drunk . I n the day s of the Hauhauwar
, the Mao r is app l ied the te r m n ui to the fl ag -
pole , r ig g ed l ik e a sh ip ’s
m as t , r oun d wh ich they m arched in the ir I ’a i-mu'
rirc ce r emon ies .
TH E N EW LAND,AN I )
‘
n o w rr WAs sn'
r'
rman
rich gree n fo liage a nd the sam e abun d ance of yel lowdrupes , and it is ca lled the ha le /re ; but it is said to beJf a di ffe ren t spec ies from that o f our fam iliar New
Zealand tree . On Nine,too ,
is a shrub calle d p ore ,
ve ry s im ila r to the p o rop o ro of New Zea land .
Both p lan ts hear an abundan ce o f be rries , which a re
eaten by the natives . I t is rathe r curious that
the N ine p eop le , who an c ien tly had n o d irect
connnun ication with New Zealand,
as far a s is
kn own ,should p ossess M aori nam es for p lan ts which
are iden tical in gen eral app earan ce with those of
Maori Land . Some other Nine tree-nam es , such as the
hefihe ,closely resemble those of common forest trees in
New Zealan d ; but the resemblan ce in the case of the
hefihe is on lv in nam e ; our New Zealan d kahiha- tee and
kehihe—toe are n ot found in Nine.
Had the northern p art of New Zealand extended on lya few hundred miles n earer the trop ics, there is n o doubtthe coco -
p alm would have been successfully in troducedhere by the Polyn esian s . M ost likely they p lan ted coconuts on their arrival
,and p robably they also p lan ted the
breadfruit,but New Zealand is too far south for these
trop ic children of Tan e . The awhi (ufi ) , or y am ,it is
said,was grown in the North for a tim e , but died out .
The taro,kame re
,and hue were the on ly food-p lan ts that
survived . The eute,or pap er-mulberry
,was grown for
a tim e in certain p arts of the East Coast, but has longoeen extin ct . I ts light bark—cloth, beaten out like SouthSea Island tep e , was often used for kites
,which were
Balled menu-eute,or"birds-made-of—aute-bark.
”
M aori songs and chan ts often con tain words and
l ain es imp orted from Hawaiiki,of which the orig inal
sign ifican ce has been lost to the New Zealand natives .
Fhe nam es of p laces, trees, etc.
, of old Polyn esia are
recited in these p oem s,but the M aoris who so carefully
'
ehearse the cen turies-old chan ts can seldomxp lain much about them . I t remain s for p ehehes who
ire studen ts of Polyn esian history , _
the tradition s and
90 THE MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
legends of Tahiti and Raiatea and Raroton ga , to elucidatethese allusion s .
Recen tly I obtained from an old member of the Arawatribe a song which I found crystallised a referen ce tothe breadfruit tree of the Pacific Islands , a tree quiteunkn own to our M aoris . This song is a tea or lam en tcomp osed and chan ted by one Hin ewai
,a woman of the
Ngati-U enukukOp ako hep a ,for Te Arakan
,her gran dson ,
who was killed at Ohin emutu about a hun dred years ag o
by Ngati-Whakaue . She was living at T e Ariki,on the
shore of Lake Tarawera,when the n ews of her favourite
gran dson ’s d eath reached her
,and she sang her son g of
lam en tation,a chan t well-known in all Rotorua villages
to-day . This is a p ortion of the tang i chan t for the
young warrior who had,as the mourn er phrased it,
gon e to the Night” :
Wawa tan g i o te m oanaK i Roto r ua
,
Wawa tang i ki t o tupuna,E wheoro iho ne i i te rang i .Te k ite an i to ina teng a ,
Ka whakahehe ma i an i Ta r awe ra .
96 ‘K‘ 96
Rakau tapu o H awa iik i,
O tera taha o Tawh iti -nui,
KO te kuru whakamarum aru
O te whare o U enuku ,
KO ahO-tea,ko n g a pu
- r akau o te A rawa .
K O ton r ite ia i tua inaK i t e tok i n e i ki a l-Iahan -te - r ang iKa h ing a i te awatea n a
,
Ka k in o te k i r i o Ka hnkura - i—to -llan g i e !
Sadly the m u r m u r ing wate r s r o l lOn Rotorua
’
s sh o r es,
C r y ing thy death -son g to th ine an cesto r s\'V llOSO fa m e sounds th r oug h the sky .
I did no t see. thy deat h,
A nd when I h ea r d o f it be l ie v ed it n o t .96
( )h,the n wort as the sac r ed t r eefar I lawa iik i
,b evond the .islc
Of ( lrcat -f
l‘
awhit i,
The bread f r u it -t r ee tha t sh aded U enuku’
s hou se .
'l‘
hon wert as the t rees cu t dow nTo bu ild the A r awa can oe
,
The t r ees fel led w ith the axe I I ahan -te -rang i.The g l o ry o f the h ea v en s has g one !
92 TH E MAOR-I S OF NEW ZEALAND
The lin e in this son g which will p articularly in terest
studen ts of Polyn esian folk-lore is that referring to the“tap u tree of Hawaiiki
,
” “te ku fru whakamm
'
uma i'
u o
156 whe re 0 U emuku .
”
U enuku is remembered as a great p riest and chiefwho lived in Hawaiiki (either Tahiti or Rarotonga ) ;his dwelling was shaded by a tree of whose fruitTama- te -kap ua , the commander of the Arawa can oe ,was said to have surrep titiously eaten ,
h aving en teredthe garden on stilts (p outoti ) in order to p reven t discovery . Now
,in most M aori tradition s
,in cluding the
history of the Arawa written for Sir George Grey byWi M aihi te Ran g ikaheke and other Rotorua M aoris
,
this historic tree is sp oken of as a p orop oro , which is thesolcmum
,a common New Zealan d berry-bearing shrub
the early settlers ’ “ bull—a -bull . ” The p resen t song tellsus what the tree really was that shaded U enuku ’
s house ;it was the law n
,which is the gen eral Polyn esian n ame
of the breadfruit,that beautiful and useful tree which
is so highly p rized in all South-Sea villages, and whichis often p lan ted around the n atives ’ houses
, to give bothfruit and shade . The M aoris have long forgotten whatthe learn tree was ; but the word has been carefullyhanded down through man y gen eration s .
On e other in stan ce in which the kura tree is m en tion edin song occurs in a p ihap ihu
-ko-kmnara, or kumara
p lan ting chan t , recited to me by old Tamarang i, of
M okoia Island , Lake Rotorua . This chan t was rep eatedby the to lm ng as on M okoia when the p lan ting of thelemma /a began each season . There is referen ce toVVaeroti and “ I aerota
,the legen dary South-Sea Islan d
hom es of the sweet p otato , and the karakia p roceed s :
Tc tun ma t ml to ham kur u,ho rn ] : in«h a lite /mike II NG o Lzauv
' i.(Thoug h
.
WC.
h ave n ot h e re the f r ui t o f the law n,sp r ead ou t , fal len , is
the .t ru lt ( it the
Seve ral New Zealand bird s have widely-knownPolyn esi an n
am es, such as the he lm
,or hawk . Rup c, the
an c ien t M ao ri p oeti cal n am e for the wood -
p igeon ,we
T l l l~1 N EW LAND,AND
“
n ow l'
L‘ was s n
'
r'
ruco 93
lin d a s [ap e in S amoa . is an o the r b ir d nam e , the
wz ulro nm /ro (o r Irw in / (17. o ) , our New Zea lan d be ll-b ird
who se swee t n o tes a re se l d om hea rd in the No rth I s landn ow ,
but a re fam iliar in the South,and o n some of the
ou tly ing is lands— which is sim ila r to that o f a fo rest-b irdin Sam oa ,
a resemblance that has n ot been p reviou s lyn ote d , as far as I can asmn ' ta in . This Sam oan bir d ,
which has a ve ry sweet n ote , and is like our l'
ie II-b ir d , a
harb inger of dawn,is called the — l ll(j New
Zea lan d n am e w ith the “ k” e li d e d .
A s for p lace -n am es,the Po lyn es ian was as fond as an y
Eng lish o r Gae lic em igran t of taking his loved hom e
title s w ith him across the sea . Our New Zealand map s
are covere d with n am es which have been tran sp lan tedfrom Tahiti
,Ra iatea
,Rarotonga ,
Samoa,and even more
d istan t Hawaiikis of the race . Such New Zealand nam es
as Rang iatea ,Aorangi
,A roran g i ,V
Vhang ara ,Tawhitinui,
Tokomaru,Ahurei
,M ak etu
,Motutapu,
Hawai , Rakiura ,
Arahura,Ahuahu , Aotea
,Tokeran
,Rapanui, Waihi
,
M orea,are of Hawaiikian origin
,and it is through them
that we are often enabled to trace w ith exactn ess formerabiding-
p laces of the M aori in the trOp ic seas .
TH E NAME AOTEA-ROA .
I n the legend of Paikea,given in the p revious chap ter ,
there is a M aori exp lanation of the reason why the nameAotea-roa was bestowed up on the n ew land . The n am eis indeed capable of man y in terp retation s , of which“ LongWhite Cloud ” is the least accep table .
“ AO” in the
sen se in which it is used in this name connotes,indeed ,
anything but a cloud .
“A o-tea
”sign ifies the zether ; the
bright light of morn ing,the brillian tly clear light of
day ; it is really a varian t of “awatea
,
” clear daylight ;the full dawn .
“ Aotea-roa”
thus may be literallyin terp reted as
“ Long Daylight” ; or“The Long
Lingering Day .
Then there is another p erm issible tran slation ,sup
p orted by a trad ition of the Takitimu p eop le . Tamatea,
the cap tain of the Takitimu can oe,sailing in towards the
94 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
land at Whanga-
p araoa (n ear Cap e Run away ) bestowedthe n am e “ Aotea -roa
”on the n ew coun try , as his p ep eha
or terse descrip tive phrase for the lan d that lay stretchedout before him . He called it “ Aotea-roa
”— “The Long
B right World ”— because of the long white cliffs shin ingin the sun (p art ted, p art kanapu) , that b elted the lan das far as the eye could see . Here the adj ective “
ted
carries the idea of brightn ess and light , j ust as it doesin “ Titi—tea ,
”the M aori nam e for M oun t Asp iring, in
the South Islan d— “the sharp p eak of glisten ing white .
”
To understan d the full descrip tiven ess of such a n ame
one should cruise alon g the East Coast anywhere n orth
wards of Hawke ’s Bay . Lit up by the morn ing sun,some
of these great cliffs glitter like chalk or p umice , landmarks a long distan ce away at sea . A typ ical p recip itousstretch of coast blu ff
,such as I can well imagin e would
have j ustified the M aoris in n aming this coun try “The
Long Bright Land ,” is the singular “
tattooed cliff” at
Kaokaoroa,n ear M atata, in the Bay of Plen ty ; a flashing
white wall of rock,its brightn ess in ten sified by the
beautiful groves of p ohut/
ukawa that droop their greatboughs over the edge of the blufffi“
The late Judge J . A . “T
ilson,in his
“ Sketches of
An cien t M aori Life and History,gives “ Long White
World ” as his in terp retation of the p lace ~ nam e
Aotea-roa . The M aoris bestowed this nam e up on the
n ew coun try , he writes , because when they arrived off
the coast and sailed along it for hundred s of m iles theywere imp ressed w ith its extent and its white app ear
an ce . From the western p rec ip ice s of the Great Barrierand M ercury I slands , to the beaches and head lan ds of theBay o f P len ty , and from Te M ahia to p ast the East Cap e ,all the coast- lin e was more or less white in colour a s the
eas te rn summ er sun shon e up on it. The few dark rocksbrought the white in to relief
,and in creased the
| Mr. Wil l ia m Baucke ] . o f Te Ku it i. in one of his fi ne art ic lesu nder the t i t le o f “ Wh e r e the Wh ite Man T r eads , ” con s id e r s that theg en e ral idea m ean t to b e con v eyed in n a m ing New Zealan d A o tea -roa was“ The Land Made B r ig h t by the R is in g Sun .
”
96 TH E MAORI
Toi-kai- rakau ( Toi—the-Eate roi—Fo rest-Foods
Rauru
H aton ga
Maahu-n uku
Maahu- rangi
Maahu-tit i
Maahu-tapoa-nui (Th is ch ief ’sson is said to ha v ebeco m e a tan iwha ,
o r water m on ster ,and is c r edited in
Mao r i fable w ith thefo r m at ion of LakeWaika re -Moana .
Te Rang i-taup iri
Tam aka
VVairere
Te Rang i-hin epi (a wo m an ofthe t r ibe Tin i-o-To i
she m a r r ied Tanepotakataka ofNgatiRuapan i)
Te Kapiti
H oputaua
H ine-te -m oa ( m a r r ied Pakato i)
H in ekahu
To Ani o taua
Pakitua
Ka ra tau
l—l ino m a r e
I ’ ao ra I ’uke tapu (d ied 1899 )
l lurae l’uke tapu (bo r n abou t1855 )
To ll crehuia (l [u rao ’ s daug h te r ,ag ed about 30)
Ta r e Pa r oa (a ch il d )
T H E N EW LAND,AN D n o w l
'
l.‘ WAs s ic
'
ririaci) 97
we re conque red bv the d escen d an ts o f the Hawa iikian
imm ig ran ts .
The. l'
o llmving nam es o f the anc ien t t ribe s o f ta ng a ta
whe nua o r abo rigina l peo p le who occup ie d the Ro to ruad istr ict and the sho res o f the Bay of P len ty p rio r to theA rawa imm igrat ion a re g iven m e by a m embe r o f tlu
Ngati-“ drakaue tr ibe o f Ohinemu tu . M os t o f the se tribe swe re n am e d afte r trees and p lan ts and othe r natu ra lobj ects
Wa iohua ;
Kaim -Pnng apung z (ga rmen ts dyed yellow w ith them ap o bu lrush p o llen ) ;
Pakakohi (a k ind of ed ib le fern -root ) ;Kokomuka-Ta ta ra -“ Ihare (the creep er that Sp reads
over the sides of a house )Tururu - M auku (the d roop ing fern —tree ) ;Raup o -Ng aoheohe (the qu ivering raup o bulrush)Haere - M arire (travel p eacefully )Te Ngaru -Tauwharewharen g a (the curling wave ) ;E
Te Hun e -Raup o (the soft fluffy down of the raup o
rush) ;Te P irita (The supp lejack ) ;Te Aruhe-Toro-rararo (the long creep ing fern -root )
M ost of these tribes were conquered by the descendan tso f the Arawa and Mataatua imm igran ts .
The Waiohua were also the p eop le who thicklyinhabited the Aucklan d isthmus in an cien t days
, and
t erraced the many great p as on the volcan ic hills of
Tamaki-makau -rau .
The or fair-haired strain in the M aori raceis said to have com e from som e of these tang ata -whenua
tribes .
TH E TRAV ELS or NGATORO- I -RANGI .
The descendan ts of the various p ion eer canoe crewshave p reserved in great detail the accoun ts of the
exp loration ,nam ing
,and settling of the new land by their
Polyn esian an cestors . I will give som ething of the
A rawa story as illustrating the way in which these
chiefs and p riests of an cien t days takehi ’d the n ew land .
98 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
The Arawa ’s crew
,lan ding on the Bay of Plen ty
coast,gra dually made their way southwards un til they
had exp lored the lan d as far as the great cen tral lake of
Taup o , and the volcan ic moun tain s of Tongariro ,Ng auruhoe , and Ruap ehu .
Just as in the case of the Tainui , the p riest or tohung aof the Arawa was the m ost en terp rising exp lorer of all
his crew . Tama-te-kapua wen t n orth as far as the
Hauraki Gulf , and died , and was laid to rest on the loftysummit of the m oun tain - cap e which p akehas call Cap eColville
,but which to the M aori is T e Moehau—o -Tama - te
kapua ,
“ Tama’s Sacre d Sleep ing-p lace .
” But it
is Ng atoro -i—rangi,the high-
p riest of the Arawa,
whose exp loring deeds are han ded down in tradition,
hazed by the lap se of tim e with a m ist of the sup ern atural and the m iraculous .
Ng atoro-i-rangi,with a number of comp an ion s, set out
from M aketu southwards to view the land . Pen etratin gthe forests
,he em erged on the shores of Lake Rotorua
,
and p assed on south to Lake Tarawera . Then ce hestruck out across the desolate Kain garoa Plain s
,the
great p um iceou s p lateau which extends eastwards to
Galatea , in the valley of the Rangitaiki, and southward
to the eastern shores of Lake Taup o , a huge p ra irie
expan se clothed chiefly with tussock grass and the
man oao shrub,and dotted with ti-p alm s
,or cabbage
trees . The m iddle of the p lateau is p ractically waterless ;on ly at the eastern and western sides are there sp rings .
About three m iles from XV aiotapu , in the direction of
Ga latea,eastwards
,just where the Kaingaroa is
en te red,there is a water - sp ring fam ou s am ongst the
Maoris ; it is known as“ Te V Va i- j iun a-i—takahia—a,
Ng atoro -i- rangi"“The Foun ta in cau sed bv Ng atoro
’s
S tam p ing .
The legend accoun ting for the origin of the Sp ring saysthat Ng a toro
- i- ran gi, when c rossing this p art of the
coun try from becam e ve ry thirsty,and sought
in va in for wa te r. So , like M oses,he struck the
ground with his sta ti’
,and b e stamp ed up on it and
100 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
Ngatoro- i- rangi
,say the M aoris, was p assing this sp ot
when he p lucked a hair (makaw c) from his sacred headand uttering a charm cast it down here .
Immediately this ti—p alm sp rang up to mark the p lace .
I n after years it becam e a tar—
aha ,or shrin e , where p ious
M aori travellers laid o fferings as they p assed , and
rep eated short invocation s to p rop itiate the g en ie} of the
p lain s . A t the foot of the tree lies a heap of f
ina td- tulma,
sp lin ters of obsidian ,used by the natives to lacerate their
flesh at fun eral gatherings , and also to cut the hair of
tapu p erson s— an op eration always p erform ed at a
sacred place . This is but on e of
in n um erable in stances of tree
ven eration am on gst the M aoris .
Ngatoro- i-ran g i travelled south
to Ton gariro and clim bed that
m oun tain . The story of how the
sacred fi re— the fabled gen esis of
the therm al district hot sprin g s
was sen t to him from Hawaiiki to
save him from perishing of cold has
often been told,therefore I n eed
n ot repeat it here .
A story of Ngatoro- i-rang i that
has n ot been told,however
,i s that
of hi s en coun ter Wi th Tam a -o -ho i,
Tarawera moun tain . Tama - o -hoi— who was eviden tly a
chief of the tam/ ata -whcima,the aboriginal p eop le— was
the m an who own ed Tarawera , and he dwelt there at the
foo t of the moun tain . He was a cann ibal,and frequ en tly
way la i d and murdered and ate stray travellers p assingthrough his lakeland d oma in s . The A rawa high-
p riestdete rm in ed to put a. stop to this . He w en t to Tama - o -hoi
’s
ha ir/(1a ,and m eeting the cann iba l o f the m oun tain
,he
sa id to him“So y ou are the man who s lavs and devours travellers
,
a re y ou ? (lo d own in to the earth and rema in there foreve r ! ”
TY or CTORIA
IBRAR
T i n-1 N ew LA ND,A ND ji lo w rr WAs S IC
’
IT
T I JCD
So sa y ing he s tamped w ith his fo o t o n the ground and
fo rme d a magica l P IN ! o r chasm,in to which he fo rce d
'
l‘
ama-o -hoi, and ta /rul'
ri’d (lite ra lly
“Sttl l
’
l l lK-é tl ” ) him in to
the ea rth,which c losed ove r the lam/ a ta-w lw rmc chief .
And -o -ho i d we lt the re in the hea rt o f the moun ta inin a s lumbe r o f fu ll five cen tu ries , the qu iescen t demon
o f the lan d . Un til Tabo to a rouse d him . Tuho to wa s the
much- feared repute d sorce re r,a cen ten a rian in ye a rs ,
who in M ao ri be lief cau sed the e ru ptio n o f —n.
'
a in
1886,b y invoking his long—s lum be ring an cestor Tama -o
hoi and Rua imoko,the God of V olcanoes
,to rise and
destroy Te W’
a iroa and the Tuhouran g i tr ibe . I n tha t
outbu rst ha lf the Tuhourang i tr ibe p e rishe d ; and le t us
hop e that Tama - o -hoi,too ,
was final ly d isp osed o f whenhis an cien t mou '
nta in -hom e was shattered in his te rriblevengean ce on Ng atoro - i- rangi ’s d escendan ts
,and tha t
the vo lcano-
g od of Tarawera Will n o more arise to troub leM aori or p akcha .
The M aori was n ow cut off from Hawaiiki. Canoevoyaging to the distan t tr0 p ic isles ceased alto
gether , and for p robably three and a half cen turies,
un til Cap tain Cook brought Tupaea to these shores in the“ Endeavour” in 1 7 69 , the M aori n either saw n or heardof his Tahitian cousin s . He was isolated in Aotea—roa
,a
South Sea navigator n o more .
CHAPTER VII .
M AORI COS M OGONY AND RELIGION .
The an cient relig ion of the M aori-Polyn esian may be
broadly said to have con sisted in ,first , a belief in and
reveren ce for the p erson ified p owers of Nature , and
secon dly , a worship or p rop itiation of the sp irits of deadan cestors . A belief in the an imation of all Nature
p ervaded and influen ced the whole life of the M aori , andequally strong was his faith in the divin ity of his greatA riki forefathers, an cestors who had long p assed to theRein g a - lan d
, y et whose sp irits still held domin ion overtheir descendan ts, and were p owerful to bless or ban .
To the M aori
A ll Natu r e was a hu m an face,
A sybil wit h a t hou san d tong ues .
He invested the elem en ts and forces of Nature withnames and human attributes ; these and his reveren ceddead Stoo d to him for deities . That un iversal p rim itivereligion which takes the form of An imism is n owhere tobe foun d more cop iously embodied in p riestly ritual or
karakia and in sacred legen d than amongst the native
p eop le of New Zealan d and the Islan ds of Polyn esia ; andn owhere are an cestral sp irits so revered
,their n am es
held so sacred that their rep etition is in itself a p rayer .
Nowhere are gen ea logies more carefully p reserved , so
ca refully that their recitation form s a large p ortion of
many a karaltia o r p ray er and any m istake m ade inrep eating them destroys the ir efficacy , and is even fatalto the supp lian t .
I t is imp ossible to obta in from the average M aori ofto - day a conn ected idea of the an cien t and very grandcosmogony of his race . White m ission ary teaching hastran sformed his m ind , to this exten t at any rate that the
104 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
But the idea that seems most strongly to p ervade theM aori mind
,the con cep tion that colours all his theories
as to the origin of everything in n ature , is the dual
p rin cip le , the great gen erative p ower of male and female ,of the active and p assive forces . Everything he endowedwith sex ,
even the successive p eriods of Darkn ess and of
Light,before man was . Light was to him the p rimal
active gen erating force , op erating up on Po , the Darkn ess,the passive , the recep tacle for the mysterious V ivifi er .
The following cosmological recital is the first p ortionof a very long gen ealogy which I obtain ed som e y ears ag ofrom on e of the chief families of
. the Ngati-Man iap oto
tribe in the King Coun try . The whakap ap a or gen ealogybegin s with the seldom -uttered nam e
,I o
,the my stic First
Power,and then com e the successive cycles of Darkn ess
and Light Opp osed to each other as Female and M ale :
WHETU (the S ta r s )(Fe m ale L ine ) (Male L ine )
TE MARAiuA (the Moon ) TE RA (the Sun )Te Po«nui (the Gr eat Da r kness ) Te A o-nui (the Great L ig h t )Te Po -roa (the Long Darkness ) Te Ao -roa (the Long L ig h t )Te Po -
papakin a (the Da r kne ss that Te A o -
papa'
k ina (the L ig h t that cancan b e fe l t ) be fe l t )
Te Po -
pakarea Te A o -
pakarea
Te Po -k i-tua (the Da r kn ess Beyond ) Te A o -ki-tua (the L ig h t Bey on d )Te Po -k i-roto (the Darkness W ith in ) Te A o -k i- r o to (the L ig h t With in )Te Po -tawhito (the An c ien t Darkness ) Te Ao -tawhito (the A nc ien t L ig h t )Te Po -ruru (the Sh el te r ed Da r kn ess ) Tc A o - r u r u (the Sh el tered L ig h t )Tc Po -a io (the Cal m Da r kness ) Te A o -a io (the Cal m L ig h t )Te Po-whero (the Red Da r kness ) Te A o -wh ere (the, Red L ig h t )Te. Po -ma. (the Wh ite Da r k ness ) Te A o -ni a (the Wh ite L ig h t )T c Pa pang o (the B lack Da r kn ess ) Te Ao -
pang o (the B la ck L ig h t )Te Po -whakaruru (the Darkness Te A o -whakaruru ( the L ig h t Ag iAg ita ted )Tc Po -knmea. (the Da r kn ess D r awn Te Ao—kn inea (the L ig h t D rawn Out )
Out )To Po -whakar ito Te A o -whakar ito
Te Po -i-rnn g a (the Da r kness A bo v e ) Te A o - i-rnng a (the L ig h t. Abo v e )To I
’o -i- r aro (the Da r kn ess Be l ow ) e A o -i- r aro (the L ig h t Bel ow )
To Po ~ i—in a tau (the Da r kness to the Te. A o -i- m atau (the L ig h t to theR ig h t ) R ig h t )
Te Po - i- m a.n i (the Da rk n ess to the, Te Ao -i-mau i (the L ig h t to the Lef t )11 0 th)
PAPA -TU -A -N UKU (The Earth ) .ltANGl -X U I -E-TU -N EI (The Hea v en s )
iq iu co s Mo co N v A ND RELIG ION JOD
ltang i and Papa , the S l< y and Ea rth-Mo the r
w e re the pa re n ts o f the fo llow ing d e ities , who a re the
chief go d s o f the.
'
l_ ’o lvnes ians and the Maoris :
Ito ng o (God o f Cu l t i v a t ions ) .
Tane. (( lod o f Ma n , a ls o Fo re s ts a nd l i irds ) .
'
l‘
a ng a roa (God o f the ( )c ean a nd Fish ) .
Tawh i r i- m a te a (God o f the, Wind a nd S to r m s ) .
I laum ia (( iod o f Fe r n—roo t a nd l ln cu it iva ted Foods ) .
Rua i- m oko ((l od o f Vo lcanoes a ndl
l‘
i l - i i ia ta -neng a (God o f Ma n a nd of Wa r )
To resum e the g en e z'
i log ica l re c ita l : from lll
i‘
l -mata
n enga the d iv in e d escen t to T ik i, the fi rst man , is as
fo llows , each nam e rep resen ting a d istin ct stage in the
evolution of man :
A itua ; A itne re ; A itu—k ik in i ; A itu -ta m ak i ; A it.u Te Ko r e ;To Ko r e -nui ; Te Ko r e -roa ; Te Ko r e -
pa ra ; Te l\' o r e -te -whiwhia ; Te
Korc -te -rawea ; Kore -te -ot i-atu-k i-te -
po ; Ng ana ; Ng ana -n n i ; Ng ana -roa ;
Ng ana - r u r u ; Ng ana- m aoe ; l lo tu-wa i-a r ik i ; Tapata i ; T ik i ; T ik i-tepou
—mua ; T ik i-te -
pou- r ot o ; T ik i-i-ahua - m a i ~ i-l lawa iki (T i‘k i-who—was
m ade - in -Hawa ik i ; the fi r st hu m an be ing ) .
Following up on the begetting of their seven children
(there are many others men tion ed in legends and
gen ealogies,but the foregoing are the p rin cip al and
deified on es ) , cam e the separation of Heaven and Earth.
For ages Rangi,the Skv -Father
,and Pap a-tu—a—nuku ,
the Earth- M other,c lung closely to each other and n o
glimmer of light p en etrated to their numerous children .
A t length these rebelled , and forcibly p arted the p rimal
p air . One of the carvings on the very tapu old Hauhau
p rayer-house at Te Murumurung a ,Te V Vhaiti
,in the
U rewera Coun try,rep resen ts the God of the Forests ,
Tan e-mahuta,who is carved head downwards
,in allusion
to the mythological con cep t of the separation of Rangiand Pap a . I t was Tan e—mahuta who forced his p aren tsapart bv standing on his head and thrusting Rangiupwards with his feet . Tan e ’s limbs were the trees ; itwas with these forest-p illars that he p ropp ed up the
lean ing sky ,so that the Sky-Paren t hen ceforth dwelt on
high, dropp ing down his tears on Pap a’s face in the form
of rain and dew .
“ Tears” are a p oetic euphemism for
106 TH E MAORI S or NEW z EALAND
the p rocreating and fecundative p owers of the Sky ,the
C louds, the Rain ,and the Sun . These p oten t in fluen ces
Rangi showers up on his sp ouse the Earth, who in returnbrings forth abundan tly of all p lan ts and trees and
foods,and who ever exhales her token s of love or aroha
in the form of m ists and soft clouds . These vap ours of
afroha are n ight after n ight wafted on high to her Sky
Husban d,
her Tan e,
Whose face and breastare so grandly adorn edwith myriads of stars .
Papa (a term in terchan ge
able,
as word- studen tskn ow
,w ith the equally
un iversal is the
all-n ourishin g , all-begettin g on e
,the great ill a ter
Gen etr z’
x .
Tan e,the God of Man
and of the Forests and
all that dwell therein,is
in M aori mythology thecreator of m an . Thereare n um erous legen dsdescribin g in great detailhis format ion of a wom an
from the earth,n am ed
H in e -ahu -on e the Earth
form ed M aid . In to herhe breathed life
,and
when she becam e a living be ing , he took her
to w ife , and their son was T iki,the p aren t of
mank in d . On e of Tan e ’s daughters was nam ed Tikikap aka pa ,
which seem s to b e an allego rical n am e for theb ir d s of the fo rest , som etime s Sp oken o f by the M aor isa s
“ Ng a (diam/ c Zapat'
ap a a Tun c ” (“ Tan e ’
s w ingfi a p p ing children ” ) I t was Tan e ’s daughterI -
l in e -a f l‘
an ira. who des cended to the Po , the Underworld ,and took the n ame of fil5l_ine -m i i- te - l ’o
, the Great-V Voman
(i f-Night . She is the person ification of Death. Human
(‘
xre t-m s to n e Tik i .
108 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
their Again forests and cultivation—grounds have
their mauri,the in tangible quality that makes them
fruitful as sources of food supp ly . When the historic
can oes landed in New Zealand,the n ew arrivals
dep osited their sacred ston es (kura ,or ma
'
ur'i in
the forests to p reserve the hau of the birdin g-groun ds ,that is their p ower of p roductiven ess. The exp ressionhau
,as app lied to man
,is u sed in the sen se of soul or life
essen ce, but it is not alway s easy to distinguish between
hau and maurt. A man’s hau
,the in tangible embodim en t ,
if the exp ression is in telligible,of his vital p rin cip le ,
could be taken by an en emy,by mean s of witchcraft
,and
un less the sp ell was coun teracted , his nm zu'
i- ora woulddep art from him
,and he would die . M an ’
s finaxzu'i —ora.
has been in terp reted as“ vital Sp ark .
W'
airua is the common M aori term for m an’s sp irit or
soul , which is cap able of leaving him at tim es and com
m un ing with other souls . “ Then a p erson is asleep ,the :
wairua wan ders abroad,
and visits the Reing a , the
un derworld,or sp irit
—world ; vision s in dream s are those
which on e ’s wairua sees when temp orarily absen t in the
Sp irit- land . An often -sung Maori'
love-ditty begin s :
Hokihoki tonu ma i te wa irua o te tau,
K i te awh i-Reing a k i tenei k ir i e .
(Of t may the sp i r it o f my l o v e re tu r n to m e,
To e m brace in Re ing a—lan d th is fo r m of m in e . )
The Reing a is here the Land of Dream s .
B esides the great deities,the seven of Rangi and Pap a ,
there were the in num erab le lesser deities of the M aori
pan theon ,a vast compan y of (i tem
,to whom invocation s
and p rop itiatory in can tation s were addressed ; a tua of
earth and sky , of cultivation and food,of fishin g and sea
faring, of the forests and waters , and p articularly of
war . These were in gen eral de ified beings of morta l
origin . Amongst a peop le whose great glory was: in
batt le de ities of war he ld high p lace . Each tribe had
its war-
g od, and each g od had .its haulp ap a or m edium,
MAo n i eos'
M oe o N v AND RELI GI ON 109
the pe rson in to whom the g od wa s su p po se d to ente r,
when it was d es ired to invoke o r con su lt him . Uenukuwa s the spec ial wa r—g od o f seve ra l tribe s
,in c lu d ing
tho s e of “ Mikato and ll‘
a ran aki ; his a r ia o r v is ib le fo rmis the ra inbow . The g od Ma ru is the Ma rs o f the
tribes . lx'
ahukura (sy non ymou s w ithU enuku ) is the p r in c ipal g od o f the Ng a if l
‘ahu tribe . The
Arawa tr ibe recogn ise Ucm iku, Ma ru
, l'
tong oma i,
I tupawa ,and Makawe a s the ir wa r- gods . The Uri-swe ra
p eop le have seve ra l who w e re invoke d in tim e o f wa r,
belief in them ha s n ot y e t d isap pea red . Eru Tama ikowha,
the fierce old fi g l‘
i ting chief o f the Ngai-Tama andU rewera a t “ 7 an nana
,in the Whakatan e distr ict
,
p rofessed n ot long ag o to be the m e d ium of the wa r-
gmlsTe Hukita and Te Rehn - o -Ta inn i.
Besides the n ation al and tribal de ities,each fam ily
a lso had its sp ecial a tna,its an cestral sp irits , the
man es of chiefs of sacred rank and p riestly p owers .
A
p erson often had— and still has,in M aori belief -a kin d
of astral guar d ian . Say s Te Heuheu Tukin o,the p r
esen thea d —chief of Ngati-Tuwharetoa
, of Taup o“ Our tribal gods are Rong omai
, U enuku, Kahukura,
Tawhaki,Puhaorang i, and others . Som e of these were
an cestors . Rong omai is my p erson al g od.I am a
Christian ,and believe in the p e lt cha God, n evertheless
my own g od has n ot van ishe d . The saying of myfam ily
is‘Ko Rong omai te Atua
,ko Te B enb en te Tangata
,
’
[‘Rong omai is the God
,Te Heuheu is the He is
our guardian a tu/a,and our g od of war . His aria [
form ]
is a star ; in the o lden days it was a shooting star[whctu- rcrc] . Rong omai still app ears on certainoccasion s . He has accompan ied m e on my travels atn ight . I was on ce riding along the shore of Lake Taup o ,when the tohu [Sign ] of Rong omai app eared to followme in the sky as I wen t on my way . He is my ka i- tiaki,my p rotector .
”
I n this case Rong omai app ears , from the NgatiTuwharetoa gen ealogies, to have been an an cestor
, who
110 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
lived five cen turies ag o , and who was deified , p robablyon accoun t of his warlike deeds .
There is a remarkable modern in stan ce of this
tenden cy to exalt tribal and national heroes to the rank
of gods . Te Kooti,the famous— or notorious— warrior
(the adj ective dep en d s on the p oin t of View ,that of the
M aori or the p e loche ) who led his wild Hauhaus from1868 to 187 1 , con tin ually chased by the Governm en t
From a pho to . 100 7 .
A Mao r i Tun hu, a t Hau raki , nea r Puhirua . Roto r ua . The stone s se t in th e g r oundre p resent the p r incipal gods o f the A rawa t r ibe : Ma r u-te -wb are -a itu , Ro n gom a i .
I hungaru . a nd I tup awa . The i im hu was the sac r ed alta r o f the p r iests . and h e r e th egods w e r e placated b y ka rak'ia and o tTe ring s .
forces but n ever cap tured , is regarded as little short of
a g od by the U rewera p eop le .
“ For three years hefought your Gove rnmen t tr0 0 p s ,
”thev will. tell y ou ,
“and y et y ou n ever g ot him . He was a wonderful man
,
and he had mama - tap u and in fluen ce with the gods .
Indeed he was a g od him se lf (he a taa M anys ingular sto ries are related o f T e ZKoo ti ’s supp osedsup e rnatu ra l p owers— he w a s un doubted ly a very clever
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
Rotorua Lakes District . The M aoris say that
Hin ehopu” is the material form or ab iding-
p lace of an
an cien t chieftain ess of that n am e,who w as wife of the
chief Pikiao . She is a tipua , a sp irit , of the p lace . I n
the foot of the tree there is a hollow,facing the road ;
and to this day natives from other districts,when p assing
the fam ou s sacred matai,n ever fail to p luck som e leaves
of m a rchai t or other shrub,growing close by
,and p lace
them reveren tly in the hollow op en ing . Should a
“
traveller om it this observan ce of tip-
ufa -
p lacation ,it is
believe d a storm of rain will surely com e on and delayhim in his journ ey . The last tim e I saw the sacred tree“ H in ehOpu ,
”there was a heap of freshly p lucke d
leaves lyin g at her feet,the offerings of a p arty of
Ngati-Awa p eop le who had p assed through that morn ingon their way to Whakatan e .
This is a fragm en t of tree an d an cestor worship ,which
p revails in man y coun tries . I n Erman’s
“ Travels inSiberia ” m en tion i s ma d e of a sacred larch tree
,in a
hollow Op en in g of which the sup erstitious p eop le wereaccustom ed to p lace their offerings . Travellers haveo bserved sim ilar examp les of reveren ce for the forestsp irits in Sumatra
,the Philipp in e Islan ds , M exico ,
and
e lsewhere— and indeed our own British and Celtican cestors were tree—worshipp ers .
A t the foot of the lofty fern—clothed Ng atuku H ill ,round which the coach- road winds before sweep ing downto the Waikato bridge at Atiamuri
,the traveller will see
o n the roa d side a great rock,kn own as Hatup a
’tu s S ton e .
A g es ag 0 this rock tumbled from the p rec ip itous hill side ,and fo i gen eration s p ast it has been ven erated by theM aor is , who to this day p erform there the an cien t rite
T
f
l
“111 111 111
1
11,-l1c 1111(1, the p rop itiat ion of the (7 131111113 loci.
ie i e is a d eep ca\ ity in this fetish ston e— a hollow so
sm ooth 11nd 1 eg ular that it a lmost seem s as if it were1rtifi cia lly carve d . The cav ity is g ene i ally fomld tocon ta in 11 hea p o f sma ll l) l an ches of the off erin g so f pa ss ing 1\lao 1 i t1 11y e lle i s I t is the custom to breaka g i een sp i ig o f and p lace it in the ho llow ston e ;
1\ 1Ao iu co smoco N v A ND"RELI G ION 1 13
shoul d a. passe r- by who is f rom an othe r d istrict n e g lectthis an c ien t rite it w ill be un com fo rtab le fo r him
,fo r 11
g reat s to rm of w ind and ra in o r hai l will su re ly befa llhim . B y the imaginative loca l M ao ri it is sai d that this
was the ve ry rock in which the ir ancesto r l latupa tu tookrefuge when pursue d by the e g ress Kurang a ituku f rom
her cave on the moun ta in above , and,in p roo f o f this
,
ce rtain g rooves or scratches on the ston e are the ma rksof Kura ’
s sharp claws .
CHAPTER VI I I .
TAPU,AND THE TOHUNGA .
The system of tapu,so widely sp read throughout the
islands of the Pacific,was carried to its highest p itch
of developm en t as a social law in the lan d of the M aori .I ts op eration was arb itrary
,and often ridiculous to
Europ ean ideas,but it had its u ses . I t was really the
on ly law save that of the sp ear and the p atu that the
M aori p ossessed , and the fear of tapu and the un seentemp ered the too free exercise of brute force in a com
mun ity where war was the chief end of man .
Tapu was the“1i 0 li m e tang ere
”of M aori Lan d .
Literally the word may be briefly tran slated as“sacred ”
or“holy ” or
“ forbidden,
” but its variation s and
p eculiar app lication s are inn um erable . There was a
p erson al tap e and a local tap /
11 ; and tap e of som e kin d or
an other faced the an cien t M aori everywhere . I t was the
M aori ’s quaran tin e law ,and it serve d the sam e p urp oses
as som e of the old Jewish laws of p rohibition . With theA riki
,or sacred high- chief of p riestly rank
,and the
tohang a or ordinary p riest and sorcerer,lay the
exercise of many of the mystic p owers of tapu,and they
were resp ected and dreaded accordingly . Dom ett wroteof the tohi mg a class in his ep ic t an olf and Am ohia
,
”
Dep a r ted sp i r its w ere the ir du m b p ol iceA nd g h osts en fo r ced th e ir l ig h test law .
”
The inhe ren t p ersonal tap/
11 of the p riests was p artlyhered itary and partly acquired as the result of theireducation .in the sacred house of in struction (wheremai i
‘
c,wharc-wa i iang a ,
or A. great A riki
such as Te Heuheu M ana -nu i,of Taup o , was exceed ingly
tapu in p erson ; his head esp ecially so . No man woulddare to touch any remain s of food of which the Heuheu
116 TH E MAORI S or N EW ZEALAND
another to bring him som e tobacco will often say“Tikiii a
m ai he kai p aip a moki i ” (“ Bring me som e food for my
The app lication s, ramification s and tramm els of tap e
were innum erable . A s a gen eral religious in stitutionand social law it has long been sup erseded by the religionand custom s of the p akcli a , and p erson al tapu is n o
longer what it was,but local tapu is still strong in many
districts . On M okoia I sland,in Lake Rotorua
,for
examp le , on e cann ot g o man y yards without learn ingthat such and such a p lace is tapu because someon e diedthere
,or that yon der tree is tapu because som e an cestor
’s
bon es were hung up there , or that this little reed-grownSp ot on the verge of the ripp ling lake is tin e tapu— highlysacred— because of the fact that in olden days it was the
p lace where warriors , return ing from a fighting exp e
dition to the main lan d,used to lan d from their can oes
and be ex ercised by the heathen p riests . I n many casesthe younger gen eration deride
,in public, the efficacy of
the tapu,but the older gen eration in such p laces as
Rotorua ,the U rewera Coun try
,Taup o , Taran aki, still
re sp ect certain form s of the tapu . The karakia or
formulae for removing the ban of tap-11 from afflicted
p erson s are still kn own and are often used by the learn edmen and women .
A sp ecial tapu attached to the cultivation of thehamm er
,the sweet p otato . The old chief Tamati
Hap imana,of M okoia Island
,Lake Rotorua a p atriarch
long sin ce gathered to his fathers— describing to m e the
ceremon ies of his youthful days,said :
‘When the tim e to p lan t the 151111111 11 1. cam e , the p riestswen t forth to the woods for bran ches of the sacredm ap au tree . On that day and the dav following
,every
thing was tapu, . The p eop le fasted an d did n o cookin g .
The waters of the lake were tapu ; n o canoes werea llowed to put out and n o fishing was don e . The p rieststook the 1
1111ap a ti twigs to the ston e image of the kumara
g od,‘
Te M atua—a—Tonga ’
[which is still kep t on M okoiaIsland ] , and lay ing them on the image rep eated
A ND TH E To n uNc A
invoca tio n s to l ’an i, the de ity o f the 71111111111 1,to Mau i and
Rouge and o the r god s o f the Mao ri, p ra y ing fo r an
abun d an t ha rves t In the even ing they wen t to the
g a rde u-
g round s 11nd stuck the I 11p 11’d b ran ches in the
ea rth,repea ting the ap p rop ria ti
-1 in can ta tion s . Then in
the mo rn ing the peo p le en te red the sa c red boun d s o f the
cu ltivat ion and p lan ted the see d while the
toka/111111. again rec ite d the ir and chan te d sa c re d
songs . And the sku ll o f a triba l chief o f A r i/111 ra nk wa sd is inte rre d from its p l ace o f c 1
‘
1n cea l111eut and was p la cedbes i d e the 1
111113111111 sticks , so tha t the 11111 111111, o f the dead
chie fta in m ight watch ove r the p lan tation 11nd ass ist in
b ringing a boun tiful ha rvest .
”
The ban of tapu is f requen t ly ap p lie d to rive rs,lakes
,
or other wate rs in which p eop le have been d rown ed . A fte rthe wreck of the steam er “
lV airarap a at the GreatBarrier I sland , in 1894
,with the loss of a hun d red and
twen ty -fi ve lives,the M aoris of that I s land
,who live in a
bay a few m iles from the scen e of the wreck,tap i i
’d all
fi sh within a certain area for a lon g p eriod . During thistime of in terd iction n o n ative would eat or touch anyfood of the salt sea .
The great tohioig a ,the men of rank and learn ing in
the sacred icharc-an aire , the p riests from whom JohnWhite and Richard Taylor received so many of the
trad ition s and in can tation s which they have recorded,
have long sin ce p assed away . There are tohimg a of a
sort to-day , but those who so_sty le them selves are chiefly
really faith-healing “ bush-doctors,
”who travel from
p lace to p lace p ractising their p articular brand of the
Christian —Scien ce doctrin e amongst the natives . Theyuse in can tation s or p rayers of m ean ingless and un intellig ible character, often comp osed by them selves
,over
their p atien ts , and these and cold -water bathing and
sp rinkling seem to be their p rin cip al stock-in - trade . But
they are very often successful,for the M aori imagination
is strong , and the p atien t’s faith works wonders .
Thesetohimg a
'
gen erally p rofess to have sp ecial gods or fam ilysp irits of their own .
118 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
Ap art from these faith-healing p rofessors, however ,there are many M aoris of A riki descen t who have beenschooled by their fathers in the sacred lore and p rayersof the p ast, and it is from these that the real M aoriideas of the sup ernatural and the un seen are to begathered to—day . Som e p riests
'
of rep uted great and
un canny p owers survived up to quite recen t times . On e
of these was the celebrated Tuhoto Ariki,who was buried
un der the volcan ic debris in the Tarawera erup tion in
1886 but was dug out alive after four days ’ imp rison
m en t . An other was the
savag e old priest Te Ao
K a t o a (“
The Who l e
of the NgatiRaukawa tribe
,who died
in the Waikato in 1885 .
Weréwere’
te Ran g i-
pn
m am ao,
of Taupo , was
an other . A pupil, or tai iira ,
of Weréweré’
s was Te
Ran g i- tahau , of Opepe ,who escaped With Te
Kooti from the ChathamIslan ds in the schoon er
Rifl em an in 1868 and
g
was on e of the H auhau
A Tohwnmi , V Verewe
l
i‘g’
lit
e
n
lfzi
tfiiifil
i1iil
leader’
s fi el 'CeSli fighting “
o f Tauno (died a bout m en durin g the three years’
war that followed . Te Rangi—tahau,or Tahau
,as he was
gen era lly called,a dour
,tattooed
,white -moustached old
warrior,died sudden ly at Rotorua in 1900
,shortly after
p erform ing the ceremon y of i chan- 71111111111 or removing thetap u, from a n ewly -built carved hou se . His death was
by some of his p eop le attribu ted to his having inadverten tlv committed what is kn own as a wha ti
,that is
an om is sion or m istake in rep eating som e of the
in can tation s , and a lso to or the exercise of the“ black art
,
”b y 11. r iva l o ld Tumutara Pio
,of
the Ngati-Awa tribe,who took part in the tap u,
—laying
120 TH E MAOR I S OF NEW Z EALAND
in p articular of those relating to linakutu or the“ black
There is little doubt that the old M aori tohung a p ossessed som e of the strange p owers that Indian p riests
and fakirs exercise to-day . They certa in ly seem to havehad the ab ility to m ake p eop le believe that they have seenthings which as a matter of fact did n ot exist . I haveheard of num erou s in stan ces of this strange p ower ,mesm erism or hy pn otic suggestion or whatever it may be
,
and it has n ot y et been quite lost to the race . Telep athic
p owers the M aori tohung a un d oubtedly had,and the
p ower of p roj ection of the will, by which he was enabledto affl ict his en em ies fata lly . M any of the singularstories told of the occult p owers of the adep ts in
tohung a- ism are obviously exaggeration s and fables
,but
there is sufficien t of fact left to suggest that the M aori
p riest en joy ed certain faculties which were widely
p ossessed in the early stages of human history,but which
through disu se— and civilisation— hav e been lost to
common kn owledge .
Of the mu ltitude of sp ells and charms in the M aori ’sarmoury of karakia
,such invocation s as the atahu or
love—charm s are well known to-day . These a te-ha are sup
p osed to have the value of the Indian man tra, the
rep etition of which,accompan ied by p ersonal p sychic
influen ce (what the M aori would call mana tang ata ) ,causes any p erson to be obe d ien t to the will of theinvoker .
The following , given m e in the Sou th Taranaki district,
is a p oten t a te /m,in M ao ri be lief
, for ga in ing a girl ’s .
affection s .
Man ing ,in “ Old New Zealand
,
” na r r a tes how he once was un derthe b an o f tap u, because o f hav in g han dl ed a hu m an skul l .
“Tare” N el so n
w as in a s i m ila r p l ig h t o n on e occas ion l ong afte r Man ing’
s exper ien ce .
Wh ile l i v ing w ith the Ng a t i-\Vha tua peop le he co liiued an
fi
e l d c h ie f whodied ( I th ink it was th is sa m e Ka lle ) . I n c onsequ en ce .
”he sa id .
“I
w as lupu’
d fo r a w eek o r two a nd had to b e fed j us t l ike the. tohun qfi inl i indauer
’
s p ic tu r e in M r . l."artridg e
’
s A r t. (lalle ry in Au ck lan d . A g irl '
used to com e and b r in g m e f e e d th ree t i m e s a day ,st ick b its o f m eat and
po ta to e s o n the e nd o f a p ie c e o f f ew s ta lk and feed m e. in that way . Iwas no t a l l owed to t ou ch the food w ith m y han ds .
TAPU,AND TH E 1131.
Shoul d the love r be d oubtful o f his sue e e ss,he mu st
g o o ut. into the bu sh and b y u s ing a p ap a o r ca ll- leaf , o r
b y chi rrup ing in im ita tion o f b ir d -n o tes , g z'
i the r the bi rds
a rou n d him . He then k ills o ne o f the litt le b ir d s w ith a
s tick , and tak in g it in his hand (“a bir d in the han d is
wo rth two in the bush” ) repea ts the cha rm,liken in g the
d esire d g irl. to the cap tu re d b ir d . S tra ightway , shou l dthe love r have S l l ll
'
lult-HI t p um a lam/ am,the gir l ’s hea rt
no mat te r at what d istan ce she m ight be will ti ll w ithlove fo r him and she w ill be his
The se a re the wo rds of the cha rm
H e l ia ra. wa te m anu '?"
Lle. p ito r i te mann,
.l le l ia ra wa te m anu ’H e k a r ewa te, m ann ,
1 whano k i r e i r a ,
“ Ti -t i a i
I whan o k i re i r a . Ke—te a i,
ca l l ing
I whan o k i r e i ra tu tu m a i a i ;
Te m anu atu tupu ra tangata .
Matua i a Tane .
Tah u e
Nan m a i,
K ia p ir i , kia tata .
Again,to come to more p rosaic matters
,should y ou
g et a fi sh-bon e stuck in your throat
,and be in danger of
choking,the tohung a Maori is u seful . Y ou must sen d
for the m ed icin e—man and leave the case to him . He willtap y ou smartly on the back of the n eck
,with his hand
held edgeways , and rep eat his p owerful in can tationbeginn ing ,
“ Whitt,whit/ih whiti rawa te p araoa ,
”and
ending,Naku kt rotoNaku kt waho ,Tukua at, 6 POM ! ”
Mo v e inside,
Mo v e out of that,
Let g o , oh Poké !
(Poké is the demon who is holding the bon e fast in yourthroat . )
Wha t is th is b i r d ?fl t is a wood - r ob in
,
is t h is b i r dN ow
,
’
t is a spa r r ow -h awk .
j u m p ing h ith e r and t h ith er,
ch i rp ing “T i-t i"
l‘
is j u m p ing t he r e,
Ke -te !
I t is sk ip p ing ,fl it t ing f r o m boug h
to boug h .
Th is is the b ir d tha t is to b r in gfo r t h m en
,
The paren t o f m ank in d .
O w ife o f m ine,
Co m e h ithe r !App r oach and fl y to my e m b r ace .
122 TH E MAORI S OF -NEW ZEALAND
On lv seeing that the karakia is a rather long on e,and
takes som e con siderable tim e to rep eat , as fast as the
tohung a can lay tongue to it , y ou may be beyond all aid
by the tim e he reaches his heathen doxology .
The belief in matakité or the gift of secon d-sight isun iversal amongst the M aoris . Those p akehas who havelived much with the natives and understand them do n ot
laugh at matakité.
The followin g story illustrates the belief that dreams
are often warn ings from the sp irit-worldAbout two hun dred yards out in Rotorua Lake from
the headlan d of Kawaha,there is a ven erable p ost , a
totara tree , which was hewn in to a p ole and carved,and
driven in to the bed of the lake . I t used to p roj ect abovethe water un til recen tly
,when the crew of on e of the
lake - laun ches tried to haul it out because it was a sourceof annoyan ce to fisherm en ; they succeeded in breakingoff the upp er p art of the p ost . This old sunken p ost iskn own as Te Purewa ; it is a p ost to whi ch the koura
(crayfi sh) - catchers of old used to fasten the lin es of
their n ets,and it belonged to the an cestors Wahiao and
Tunohopu . On e n ight,eighty- six y ears ag o , a woman
n am ed Tona ,while sleep ing in her house at Ohin emutu
,
had a strange dream in which this p ea - totara was con
cern ed . She dream t that she heard the carved p ost TePurewa calling to her and singing a mourn ful song ; andas she listen ed she caught the words of the song . Theseare the words the singing tree uttered
Kaorc to areha i an
K i Moko ia ra e,
E tu kau n e a ra
K i filto to rua. m oana,
17} te r c no a ma i ra .
K a ng a r o te tang a ta ,F a m eme
'
ne ki tawh it i,
Ka, n ui i an to a re ha
I — i— i i
I n the mo rn ing Ten a to ld her d ream to the assembled
p eo p le , and repeate d the om in ou s words of the singingto ta ra . This d ream was in te rp reted as a matakité
,a
(A las ! the sor r ow w ith in m e
For Moko ia’s isle
,
S tan d ing deso late y on de rI n the sea o f Ro to r ua
,
Wh o se wate r s dr if t lonely to and fro .
Lost are the p eop le ,.l ) iSpcrsed and d r i v en f ar away .
S o r r ow we l l s h ig h with in m e,
A las ! )
1 94 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND-J
wearisom e j ourn ey from “ Taitahanui , n ear the greatOtamarakau Pa , on the sea-coast between M aketu and
M atata. Desiring to cross the water to the p a, he lookedabout for a can oe but could n ot fi nd on e . The island wason ly a short distan ce from the shore
,so T e Rarau
shouted to the p eop le of the village to sen d a can oe forhim .
“ Har ia mail te wake ! he cried , but there was n o
resp on se . Again he shouted,but in vain . No on e took
any n otice of him . Deep ly affron ted,he resolved up on
revenge . He set to at his terrible ka rakia to the p owersof d arkn ess
,to the demon s of the waters
, to the
gods of the un derworld,to destroy the p a . And he
combed his hair with a. hem or sacred bon e comb, an
op eration which was supp osed in M aori eyes to giveadditional efficacy to the invocation s
,and by his wizardry
he called sp ir its from the deep . A ta i z i iwha,or water
mon ster , at his behest underm in ed the doom ed islan d,
and that n ight it sudden ly subsi d ed in to the lake,and all
its p eop le were lost . Those who were n ot drown ed fellto the tan iwha . So Motu ~ tara was severely p un ished forits inhosp itality to
“the cloth” of M aoridom .
The following gen ealogy recited by Ng a- M ahanga is
in teresting as showing his descen t from the wizard
p riest Te Rarau and from Puhaorang i, a great Polyn esian an cestor who was deified
,like so many other
illu strious m en in M aori legen d ; it goes back twen tyseven gen eration s
,or over 67 5 y ears .
Puhaoran g i
( ) hom a iran g i
Muturang i
Tan n g a.
Mawake -ilu i
Urn ik a
(Tru ika - tuarua
(Ca m e to New Ze a land in the A r awaCan oe )
AND Tun To n im oA 125
To l le ng ia
Te. lx'
a lio ta pn
TE lmnA U
Te A o -ko ara ng i
Ma i re -ka i-tok i
Te A o ta pa irn
Te .lio ng o re re
To Tan r u
Tawa r i
Ran g it ill i-1
‘
Cl°
e - l
i ra - r akau Yong o - m auri-ao (you ng e r b r o ther o fA ra - r akau )
‘
e Rang i-tukuteheHake
‘
e Rang iwawahi
Tuhourang i-koroko r o -nui
'
e Top e -o -Hou
Te Tumunui‘
e Ahirara
Te Manu -whit i-tua'
au -ka r io iNohorua (a wo m an )
‘
aunga ’ a—Ta raNg a
-Mahang a ,o r Te Rua-hu ihu i-t u
{eihana (d ied in 1906 ) ki-te -rang i (born about 1830 )
Old Ng a-Mahang a ,
whose face bears the tattoo scrolls of
past gen eration ,is him self som ething of a tohung a ,
nd has a memory stored with a great n umber of stories,
eo'
ends,songs
,and karakia of his tribe
,Ngati—Pikiao .
I any chiefs n amed’
on his an cien t fam ily tree are
amous amongst the Rotoiti M aoris, becau se'
of the
ronderful p owers of occultism said to have beenos sessed by them . The first two were atua or gods,o-called ; then down to Ng
’
a- M ahanga all were of what5 called the A riki- tan iwha lin e
,the
“ Lords of Dragon s,
”
nd all but on e were of the male lin e,aha- tam e . Te
.otapairu is said to have up on his death become a
m iwha . Tuhourang i-korokoro -nui Great-throated
‘uhourang i
”) was another n otable man f He is said to
126 TH E MAORI S on NEW ZEALAND
have had an extraordinarily p owerful voice ; he couldmake himself heard over many m iles
,and up on occasion
would shout from the p a on top of M oun t Matawhaura,
Lake Rotoiti, to his servan ts at M aketu and at
Kaikokopu, on the coast, some twen ty m iles away as the
wild duck flies, ordering them to p rep are food for him .
much in teresting story is , n o doubt , as M ark Twain saidof the rep ort of his own death
,
“ greatly exaggerated .
”
The M aori tribes still credited with a kn owledge of
the in can tation s and ceremon ies used in makutu or
the art of fatal bewitchm en t (the p roj ection of thought,
and the malignan t use of the p ower of suggestion ) are
the Ng aiterang i and Whakatohea ,of the Bay of Plen ty
,
the U rewera p eop le , Ngati-Peron of the East Oap e , theNgati-Kahun gunu livin g in the V Vairoa (Hawke
’s Bay )
district,the Waikato ,
and the Ngati-Ruanui of Taranaki .
The sp ells b elieved to be effi cacious in coun teracting themakutu are also kn own
,and will be han ded down for
many a gen eration y et . The effi cacy both of the makutu
and the an ti-makutu in can tation s dep ends to a largeexten t on the secrecy with which they are u sed . The
karakia must be rep eated early in the morn ing or late at
n ight ; and n ot in a house used in common by the p eop leor in a hou se in which food is eaten .
The late Hon e Heke,MP . for the Northern M aori
district, a y oung Ngapuhi chief with a good Englisheducation
,was warn ed in 1900 again st the Waikato
p eop le - ing him in revenge for his p olitical cam
p a ig n undertaken against the mana of the M aoriKingdom .
” H is old p eop le were very angry with himfor his wan t of caution in daring Waikato
,and in
sp en d ing so much tim e in their coun try on a m ission
which won for him \Vaikato an imosity . To this
day amongst Ngapuhi (and som e other tribes ) if a p ersonis going on a j ou rn ey to a d istan t p lace , he or she is oftenkarakia
’d ove r by the o ld p eop le as a m easure of p ro
tection again st the sp ells or the“ evil eve ” of som e ill
disposed tohung a of an alien tribe .
1 28 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
ston e . This was a small black volcan ic ston e (rang itoto ) about half an in ch in diam eter . Tuhoto
,after
reciting certain ka-rakia over the boy ,who w as a relation
and p rotege of his,gave him this ston e , and told him to
p lace it on his tongu e and swallow it ; it would p reservehis m aurt—ora
,or life -
p rin cip le , and avert witchcraft andun timely death. Tutan ekai did so
,and he attributes his
f reedom from illn ess and from the m achin ation s of rivaltohtmg as to the whakang ungu cerem ony and the p oten ttapu of Tuhoto Ariki .
I t was p oin ted out to Tutan ekai that swallowin g a
s ton e of that size would p robably cause serious troublein the in terior of even a M aori tohm tga .
E tam e !”
said Tutan ekai,
“an ordin ary ston e
m ight,in deed
,kill a man if he swallowed it
,but this was
n o ordinary ston e . I t was a very p oten t and tap e on e,
charm ed by the greatest tohung a of the Arawa,for the
v ery p urp ose of averting death. And see,it has fulfilled
the p urp ose , for I have n ever had an illn ess,and
,though
I have been in battle,I have n ever been touched by bullet
o r tomahawk ; and I am alive and well y et and am goingt o live to be a hundred ! ”
CHAPTER I X .
TH E STORY o r"A Ha'
ra'
ri e N .
M y old friend Hare E ruera was a King Coun try halfe caste who had rece ived a fairly good Eng lish education .
A stout, black—bear d ed , stalwart fe llow ,he was qu ite
“
p alecha-fi ed
,
”p layed the violin well, wrote shorthand
,
and, amongst his more solid accomp lishm ents, he was a
good carp en ter . He on ce built a church at Kihikihi,
though at the same time he scoffed at all“sky
—p ilots ,
”
both p akeha and M aori . H is p rin cip al and most
remun erative occup ation was that of Native in terp reterand agen t ; be ing a very cap able man
, Haré (Anglice ,Harry ) con ducted many cases in the Land Court. And
though he ridiculed all tohung a-ism and occultism
,and
anything that was not hard matter- of—fact and
erialistic, still , as I very well rem ember,Haré in
course of his fight in the Lan d Court for
own p articular block at Kiekie,in the King
n try ,based his claim to the lan d on the ground
his direct descen t , on his mother ’s side
,from
n ed an cestor of the Ngati-Man iap oto tribe whothe Pacific Ocean from Hawaiiki to New
nd on the back of a great fi sh, and from another
tor, who was whisked from the summer isles of
to these shores in a whirlwind . And he g ot his
too .
three cen turies ag o a certain an cestor of Hare ’s,
ef n am ed Rua , lived on the bank s of the Upp era lp a , n ear the p resen t town ship of Otorohanga
,
brough which the M ain Trunk railway lin e run s. This
130 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
Rua p ossessed a great treasure,a fi n e green ston e ax e ,
which was extrem ely sacred , and p ossessed a sp ecialinan e of its own
,being accoun ted the abiding-
p lace of
a sp irit .
On e day ,according to the tribal legends of the Ngati
Man iap oto and Ngati-Matakore p eop le , Rua was out
parrot-sn aring
,on the banks of the M anga-o-Ron go
Creek,which flows in to the VV aip a River som e m iles below
Otorohanga,when he had the m isfortun e to lose his
much-
p rized ax e,the n am e of which was Pap ataun aki .
He was en deavourin g to g et som e young kaka p arrots
from a n est which he had discovered in a big ,hollow
totara tree by the river-ban k,when his sacred ax e
slipp ed from his grasp and fell clattering down in to theinn er recesses of the great tree
,lost for ever . Rua was
greatly distressed , but he had the satisfaction of kn owin gthat the sacred mama of the green ston e weap on had
entered in to the tree,which n ow becam e known as
Pap ataun aki.
I n the course of years,Rua died
,and was born e to the
tribal burial cave,and in tim e the tree by the S tream - of
Rongo becam e associated with his n ame and fam e,and
was reveren ced by the M aoris as the material embodi
men t of the chiefly an cestor .
S everal gen eration s later the ven erable tree fell and
lay p artly on lan d and p artly in the M anga-o-RongoCreek . The sacred sp ell still clung to it
, and it was
honoured and feared as a tipua , a demon -tree,with which
it was n ot wise to take liberties . Some curious tales are
told of man ifestation s of Papataunaki’s inane .
The n ext I know of Pap ataunaki’s history is that in
the e ighties a ve ry heavy flood shifted the old treefrom its resting p lace on the creek-side
,carried it down
the stream ,and dep osited it at last across the creek close
to Hare Eruera’s hou se , where he lived surrounded by
his fam ily of p retty olive - coloured children,and his
tribal relatives . The sub sid ing waters left the tree ly in gacross the stream ,
supp orte d by its roots and bran ches ;
132 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
the sp irit of Papataunaki still lives ! H e A tma ral A
g od indeed ! ”
But sign s and om en s were lost on the in terp reter . I n
due course the bon es of Papataun aki stood roun d the
paddocks holding up the wires . And,worst of all
,Hare
gathered the small p ieces and chip s of his an cestor,and
with a certain m ischievous satisfaction at kn ocking thebottom out of the silly old sup erstition s of his p eople ,used them for cooking p urp oses .
This was the fin ishing stroke . The horrified M aorim embers of the household withdrew ,
and all the wom enfolk as well as the men left Hare to his own resources forsom e mon ths . The awful imp iety of using on e ’s own
sacred tmpmma for cooking on e’s daily food was too much
for even the modern ised b illiard-
p layin g Ngati-Matakore .
Not a M aori would en ter the house,fearful of the tapm,
and Hare began to feel that an icon oclastic p olicy hadits drawbacks .
After a tim e the tribe,in con feren ce assembled
,took
p ity on the victim of the tap u, and decided that Harehad been sufficien tly p un ished by the three or fourm on ths
’ boycott . So on e day an an cien t p agan ceremonytook p lace in fron t of the in terp reter
’s house . The old
warrior and tohmmg a Hepa— whom I remember from myboyhood as a small-bodied man with a very m assive head
,
and a very thickly tattooed dark grim face— was the
master of ceremon ies . A fi re was kindled,and som e
lam/imam roasted . The food cooked,it was han ded roun d
to the M aoris , who ate the sweet p otatoes while the old
chief recited his p oten t Icaraloia,in can tation s to the
M aori deities,for the p urp ose of lifting the tapu . This
don e,the house and the half- caste were moa and free to
all again .
The in terp reter’s crime
,however
,was too hein ous to
be overlooked by the inv isible sp irits of earth and sky
and wood , o r else I le pa’s p ersonal mama was n ot
sufficien tly p owerful to overcom e the virulen t e ffects of
the M aor i tapu . IVhatever the cause,Ha l e
sicken ed and took to his bed . Paralysis crep t over
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19,inconference11339111119111001
the tt11 ,p11 and1noledt tlinHare
piinisliedliii ththe 01 111111
indo anancientpaganreunion
inint'
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ei terslionse. Theold
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leiilenihei tion111}iiia1911 lllzl
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face-f inse
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T i i ic e n c i i AN'
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his limbs . The doc to rs could do no thing fosa id it was locomo to r atax ia ; but the tr il
Nga ti-Matalm re,as they sat in the whe n
M anga-o -Rongo,kn ow better . I t was a case
lup in, which n o p alm/1a doctor can cure .
A visit to the Rotorua ho t sp rings did l land he return e d to his hom e in the Rohepotthe end of 1897 I saw my o ld friend a ;
laughed as he told m e the histo ry of his to taa
and of the tup u’
s ban .
One n ight the M ao ris on the M anga-o -Rc
the look—out for sign s and om en s,behek
lightn ing strike three tim es on a hill behi
p reter’s house . The cry was raised
,
“ H t
A p orten t of death ! ” I t was the last a
doom ed half-caste .
I n two day s,Hare died ; and n othing we
his Ngati-Matakore relatives that his deathd irect e ffect of his in fringem en t of t
Papataun aki .
CH APTER X .
THE SHRINE OF AN ATUA .
Old Rangiriri took his p ip e and tobacco and box
of matches out of his p ocket and laid them on the
ground beside a fl ax bush “ Now ,
” he said ,“ we will
en ter the enema ,the sacred burial-p lace of my tribe , and
View the “ Hmten gu p a . And should y ou have tobaccoor p ip e with y ou, it will be well to leave them here withm in e
,for it is n ot right to con tamin ate sacred p laces
with anything of that sort . Perhap s the tap u m ight n othave any in fluen ce over. y ou
,becau se y ou are a pakeha ,
but it certain ly would sm ite me were I to violate it bytaking tobacco
,which is food
,in to the shrin e of the
gods .
We had dismoun ted and tethered our horses to the
shrubs on the crest of a long ridge, the Tihi-o-Tonga
(“ Pinnacle of the which swells gen tly up fromthe p lain s of Rotorua in beautiful green slop es and thenfalls p recip itou sly on the southern side to a woody valley .
South of this sudden cliffy break, the valley stretchesaway for two or three m iles
,then rises aga in in to very
w ild and bold volcan ic coun try,the forested ranges of
Paewhenua and the remarkable crateral con e of
Hapmrang i. R ight on the crest of the T ibi- o -Tonga are
the fe rn -grown earth walls of an an c ien t p 11, longd ese rted and abandon ed to w ild Nature
, to the fl ax and
fe rn and the b lack-berried tw in - thickets . From the
shadow y woods be low 3111110 the song of the tee-13,n ow like
a flute and aga in r inging like a bell.To this lon ely beau tifu l sp o t, the blue lake of Rotorua
sp read out to the n orth,and man y a m isty p urp le p eak
cu tting the sky lin e to the sou th,m y old M aori friend
136 TH E MAORI S or NEW Z EALAND
sacred ceremon ies,and n ow I alon e am left of all the men
of my hop e who kn ow the history of this exceedinglysacred sp ot and who p ossess the kn owledge n ecessary toavert the evils of the tapu . Let us rest awhile on this
taumata in the sun shin e and View the land , and I will. tell
vou the story of this hill-fort , Te Wheten gu , before wedescen d the p ath which is called The S tep s-Carved -by
Tutanekai,and look up on the ston e face of my goddess
Horoirang i .
And Rangiriri,a small-built wiry veteran of about
sixty,who had carried rifle and tomahawk on many a
wild forest trail in the camp aign s again st the Hauhaus,
told of the building of this p a by his an cestor Paiaka .
This Paiaka was a chief of the Ngati-U enukukopako
section of the Arawa trib e,and he lived about two
hun dred and fifty years ag o . Paiaka named his hilltophold Te Whetengu,
but when,after his day ,
it was
occup ied for a tim e by Tutan ekai— the famous youn gchief of M okoia Islan d
,for whose sake Hin emoa swam
Rotorua Lake— it was called Te Pa-A rakari-a-Tutan ekai
(“ The Fort-where - the -Path-was-Carved -by
-Tutan ekai
because of the fact that the chief had step s cut down thecliff face from his p ro to the bush below and to the sp ot
where the images of the gods reposed . Tutan ekai and
his hop e ,the Ngati-Tuara
,had com e to the Tihi—o -Tonga
for the p urp ose of growing kemnam in the rich warmvolcan ic soil of these up lands— where their descendan tsraised fi n e crop s of wheat fi ftv y ears ag o— and of snaringand sp earing the birds that abounded in the woods below .
~
Leaving the bree zy ta-eoonat a,we p resen tlv descend
the shrub -hung cliff by a rather slipp e ry row of roughlycut step s , hacked out with ston e axes from the softrock two cen turies ag o . The step s are half covered withdecayed vege tation . They end abou t twen ty feet belowthe edge of the cliff
,where sudden ly we com e face to face
with the carven (mm in a. kind of little recess shelteredby the cliff-wal l and the surround ing trees and shrubsand fern s . A. sphinx-like little e ffi gy in ston e looks out
at us from the cliff on the right . I t is a. relief carv in g
T1 111] S JI RI NE o r AN 11 1 q 1 517Q
From a sketch, 190 9I m age of the goddess Horo iran g i , ca r v ed on the cl iff a t Tib i-o-Tonga , R
oto r ua .
1 38 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
in the semblan ce of a human figure,with the out-turn ed
kn ees always seen in ston e carvings , and with its handsheld in fron t of it . The figure is about two feet in heightand about ten in ches wide . I t is covered with a smooth
coat of beautiful red moss and a little aka forest-vin ethat has grown up across it adds to its app earan ce of
great ag e . I t is a p erfectly p reserved little figure excep tf or its n ose
, p art of which has been irreveren tly chipp edoff
,but the friendly moss has en deavoured to repair the
in j ury done by man . Rangiriri says that a Waikato and
Ngati- M aru war-p arty , which p assed through here aboute ighty years ag o on an exp edition to Lake Taup o ,wrought the damage
, but that the gods squared accoun tsw ith the raiders for their sacrilege . They were defeatedat the M otu - o -Puhi Pa, on Lake Roto-a-I ra
,by the Ngati
Tuwharetoa,and lost m any men .
I t is a beautiful little obj ect,this atom
, sacred as
Odin ’s mossy ston e of p ower ,
” con temp lating us
silen tly from the wall of its tap u grotto . How many a
wild savage scen e it has looked out up on sin ce it was firstcarven with obsidian axes from the rocky cliff ! For herecame the cann ibal war -
p arties , headed by their leaf -girded
p riest with his terrible o ffering, a human heart
,and here
rose the chan t to Tu,the Angry-Eyed
, the deity of war
and blood .
Just opp osite the carved figure and close to the footo f the ston e stairway is a singular cave -like op en ing, a
recess cut in the face of the cliff . I t is about four feetdeep ,
and about the sam e wid th, but the mouth is much
smaller , about twelve in ches by fifteen in ches ; the sidesare squared and shap ed a s if a wooden door on ce closedit . This from or cave
,Rangiriri said
,was the sacred
p a tc loa ,or storehou se of the gods
,and in it was kep t the
image of the great war-
g od of the Arawa tr ibe,M ara - te
whare—aitu .
S tand ing there before this curious altar of the an c ien ts,
the o ld 10 71/ 1111.t gave an un common ly in terestinga ccoun t of the ston e image and the sacred p at/ aka ,
and there ligious ce remon ies conn ected therew ith.
140 TH E MAORI S on NEW ZEALAND
where any en emy could g et it, for by its m ean s he couldmakutu or fatally bewitch the tribe.
”
The original Horoiran g i, Rangiriri exp lain ed , was a
wakin e—ataa,or deified woman
,who was the wife of
Taharang i , the younger brother of the chief VVhakaue ,who lived about three hundred and fifty years ag o . But
there was also a Polyn esian goddess of that nam e ,invoked by the an cestors of the Arawa tribe before thecanoe m igration from the islands of the Eastern Pacificto New Zealand .
The story of the an cien t moss-fringed cave—storehou sewas n ext told by the old warrior .
“The n am e of that ston e p ataka or rua
,said he
,is
Pata-to-rangi . I n it my p eop le kep t the exceedinglysacred symbol of M aru
,our g od of war . This symbol
was a lock of human hair,which was en closed in a waka
or wooden box hewn out of a block of totara . The box
had a lid fitted to it,and was wrap p ed round with romeo
bark,and with aka
,forest vin es . The p riests cam e here
to invoke M aru in tim e of war,and rep eated the p rayers
when the war-
p arty was about to set out ; and here aftera battle human flesh was brought, often the heart of thefirst of the en emy slain in the fight
,and o ffered as food
to the image of M aru . This man -flesh (Iodine - tang ata )was p laced in the p ataka alongside the recep tacle inwhich M aru lay .
The p ataka where the horrid o fferings from many a
cann ibal fight were laid is n ow emp ty . M aru has
disap p eared . M an y year s ag o Rangiriri and an otherman of tohemg a rank removed the waka—a tua and its
sacred relic from the shrin e and con cealed it in a cavebelow . The other tohemg a is dead , and Rangiriri alon eo f. all his tribe knows the hid ing-
p lace of the war-
g od.
This is as well,for he alon e in his bapeohas the kn owledge
of the ha re /t ia, n ecessary to avert the tap a’
s sp ell. The
younger p eop le , in sp ite of their civilisation,dread the
tapu ,and still in the ir hearts believe that som ething very
seriou s , p erhap s even death,m ight befall them if they
hand led the s ymbols of the ir fa thers ’ gods .
s nmN E o r AN AT UA 141
The re is ano the r ven e rated relic in these sec ret p laceso f the -o Down in the forest be low us is a
sac red ston e,a tuupa or p ac
-manu,reso rted to in fo rm e r
tim es b y the b ir1_l—l:1un ters of the P aA rakari . A favourited evice o f the M aori b ird ing parties and one to be obse rve dto this day in many n ative d istricts was the p cp c o r ca llleaf . This leaf
,often of the raurckaeo shrub , is hel d
between the lip s in a certain way ,and a p eculiar cry o r
whistle is made which quickly attracts the kaka and o the r
inquisitive b irds to the Sp ot where the hun ter with hisfata l stick is in hid ing . The leaf u sed in the p cp c metho dof bird -killing was first of all laid on the sacred ston e so
that it m ight imbibe the mana or p ower of the mauo'fi,the
emblem which stood for the p roductiven ess of the
forests , the birds , and fruits, etc. O fferings of more and
other berries of the woods and also of the b irds caughtwere laid before the mauri by the hun ters
,with
app rop riate p rayers.
CH APTER XI .
M AORI SOCIAL LIFE .
The social organ isation of the M aori tribe was as welln igh p erfect a commun e as can be imagin ed . I t was
comm un i sm almost pure and undefi led ; a commonwealthin which p ractically all had equal rights— excep t theslaves
,who were n ot of the tribe , but had been taken from
other tribes in war— and in which every man was a selfresp ecting and resp ected un it . I n the M aori society eachindividual took a full share of the tribal duties , and in
return each individual had the whole tribe at his or her
back to redress an in jury or avenge an in sult .
The M aori was a barbarian,but he had n o starving
p oor , n o n eglected and un fed children . There were n o
loafers,n o un emp loyed , n o crim in al classes, n o
“un for
tunate wom en,
”n o hered itary n on -workers . These
,at
least,were the advan tages of a p ure and savage socialism .
The autocracy of the chiefs was really a n om inal on e .
The M aori common er con sidered himself as good as his
lord or A riki in most p oin ts . If a chief lost the resp ectof his p eop le , his p lace as leader in em ergen cy
,such as
war, could be filled by others . “ mat he could n ot lose
was his sacred A re
’
ki- ship , which was vested in him byhere d ity . The real ru ler of the p eop le was the in stitutionof tap u.
The abj ect serfdom in which certain classes of the
conm iun ity in Polyn esia and M elan esia w ere held b y thehigh chiefs did n ot p revail in M aori Lan d . I n old Tongaand F ij i, and in som e of the island s of Eastern Poly n esia
,
a subj ect cou ld app roach some of the great chiefs on ly on
hand s and kn ees o r in som e other serv ile fashion . The
M ao ri, in these more tem p erate clim es, had cast off thisse rvility , or e lse had n eve r kn own it . The average M aorihe ld too good an op in ion of him se lf to b e thrall to any
144 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
evahin c Maori . There has been quite a revival in it of
late years,and in many a n ative hom e , p articularly in
such districts as Rotorua,the Bay of Plen ty , Waikato ,
and the U rewera Coun try , y ou may see the turuturu or
weaving- sticks of the lady of the household with a
p artially made korowao’
or hiho’
ma or other garm en tstretched thereon . But y our glimp se of them as they
are set up may be on ly mom en tary ; for it is a n ativeweaving custom to susp end work and lay the turuteoreo
down should a stranger en ter , otherwise the un seen tapu
that belongs to the whateo—p eoera art may give trouble .
The fortified Village of the olden tim e was a wellordered on e
,with everything in its p lace , and all its
app urten an ces b etoken ing a con siderable degree of
savage culture . M . Crozet,who visited the Bay of
Islan ds in 17 92 , as secon d in comman d of the Fren chexp edition un der the un fortunate M arion du Fresn e
(who was killed there by the M aoris) , has left on recordan excellen t descrip tion of the p as that studded the coastlin e of the beautiful Bay , the Tokeran of the M aoris .
Crozet ’s Journal details with p raise the large wellcon structed clean ly villages that stood on the com
manding hill-top s overlooking the Bay : their stout rowsof p alisading, and deep tren ches ; their fi ghting -towers°5ft . above the ground
,commanding . the narrow
en tran ces to the forts ; and their comp lete magazin es of
food,
of arms, and of fi shing -gear . The n avigator
p articuIa-
fly describes the armoury,or store of weap on s,
one of which stood in every village . These M aori temp lesof M ars contain ed large numbers of every kind of n ativeweap on -“ bon e and whalebon e p atus , sp ears and ta iahas
,
dart- throw ing sticks and so on,som e stacked
aroun d the house -p illars j u st as p akcha sold iers stacktheir rifles around the ten t- p oles . The large storehou sein which the fi shin g -gear was kep t was full of rop es and
cordage in variou s stages of manufacture,n ets
,bon e
and wood and she ll fi sh-hooks in great numbers and of
every size , sinkers , floats , and other fishing app lian ces ,and the padd les of the war- canoes .
nl m So e l‘
Ah “ 5
The. o ld- time whe re,
roo fed w ith ra np o ,orikau
,o r
foc foc ,and the floo r cove red w ith native mats (1111111711111
o r 1111111111111) is disap pea ring . The less 1'
1ictures1p i e and,
sa y s the Mao ri, less con’
i fo rtablc w eathe rboa rd hou se , too
o fte n an ugly shan ty,is tak ing the p lace of the olden ree d
hut. The old p eop le like the low - caved eclm rcs o f the ir
an cestors . Communal hab its a re still strong ; and in
eating , working , and sleep ing the M aori likes p len ty o f
comp any . Period ical feasts,
to n/11'
s and p oliticalm eetings relieve the mon otony of life in M aori 11111110 113 .
I n the North a party o f tribespeop le g o off to the
g umfi elds , in tim es of scarcity of food or when mon ey
is p articularly n eeded,to
“ here kape’
a”
or dig for kauri
g um for a few weeks or mon ths . I t was in this way that
several M aori tribes in the Aucklan d p rovin ce a fewyears ag o raised the n ecessary funds for the establishmen t of brass bands . These brass bands were at that
time the p revailing craze amongst the M aoris,who
readily adop t any n ew idea,and often drop it as quickly .
There are still a number of ban ds amongst the n ativetribes , and som e of them very good on es too .
The M aori m enu is n ot usually a very varied on e .
Europ ean food is used gen erally by the M aoris who livein the n eighbourhood of town ship s and stores ; but in
the M aori kaioeg a, as a rule,the stap le diet con sists of
p otatoes, keomara, p ork, eels,fi sh
,and occasionally
mutton . Pigeon s and other forest birds,when available
,
are added to the list,and in bush districts these birds
form‘
a very con siderable p ortion of the food supp lies .
Kafka,wild duck
,tori
,and other birds are eaten ; and in
the U rewera , Tuhua , Up p er Wanganui,and other bush
districts,the natives frequen tly p ot the p igeon s and we
in large numbers, p reserving them in their own fat in
totara-bark baskets,in which they will keep for mon ths.
M utton -birds,or 1111: are largely p reserved in the south
in p oloa, or recep tacles made of the great seaweed calledbull-kelp . The an cien t art of taking the birds of the
forest by sn
'
aring them is p ractised n ow on ly amongstthe older men and in a few localities
,chiefly
146 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
the U rewera Country,where the p eop le
’s fare for
cen turies p ast has largely con sisted of b irds.
Along the Waikato river and its tributaries and
similar p laces, eels form one of the great stap lesof food
,the hauls made in the big eel-p ots in the
creeks and swamp s of the Lower IVaikato are som etimesvery large indeed . Immg a , or white -bait
,are taken in
many streams and lakes . I n Lakes Rotorua and Rotoitithe fresh-water koa ra
,or crayfish, was also a p len tiful
food un til the pakeha trout was in troduced . Nor mustwe forget the oyster , the p ip i, the ka tai
,and other
shell-fi sh,and the fi nny food-treasures
‘
y ielded up byTangaroa
,the God of the O cean ; the coastal tribes en j oy
a much more varied diet than those of the in terior .
O f the M aori cultivated foods,the kumara was the
most imp ortan t in an cien t days,and even in these tim es
it is more valued than the p otato because , un like the
p akeha’s esculen t
,it is n ot much a ffected by blight .
The garden p atches in a M aori village of to-day,such
as the repo'
seful little ka'iez gaOwhata ,on Lake Rotorua
,
are a p leasan t sight . Potatoes, kumara , maize,
and
tororo’
,or native tobacco
,grow particularly well on this.
rich warm volcan ic soil. The well-sheltered kumara
p lots face the east ; and the rows of kumara -
p lan ts run
diagonally across the garden -
p atch. Great care is
observed by the villagers in the cultivation of the sweet
p otato ,for it is a sem i- trop ical p lan t and requires much
atten tion . The tubers are set with the cut ends facin gthe rising sun ; sand is carried up from the beach and is:
mixed with the earth in the little hillocks (ri le/ 111 17111 )heap ed round each p lan t ; and the women d iligen tly weedthe beds . The young toror i (tobacco ) p lan ts , in the heatof m idsummer , are carefu lly p rotected from the scorchingmidday rays of the sun by a screen of three or foursma ll ston es se t up aroun d and over each p lan t .
Child ren in the M aori commun e are p otted and givena great dea l of liberty by the ir p aren ts . A father mayoften be seen nursing his p e l t/{i or y oungest child forhours, carry ing it about w ith him on his back in his
148 TH E MAORI S or NEw ZEALAND
This is marriage whaka-Maori,in native fashion .
Although there was a ritual or karoko’
e for marriageinvocation s p ronoun ced by the tohomg a over youngcoup les, the p ractice does n ot app ear to have been muchobserved excep t in the case of those of con siderable rank
F rom 11 pho to 1908.
Ruatapu , the P r oph e t o f the U rewe ra Count r y . Ruatapu is aboutfor ty y e a rs o f age . H is fath e r , Kenana Canaan ”Lwas kil le d ina fi gh t w ith the Go v e r n m e n t t r oops in Dece m be r . 1868 . a t VVhareko p ao . He and m any o f his followe r s wea r th e i r ha i r long , fol lowinga n anc ient p ractice ; Ruata p u al so q uote s the e xa m p le o f Je sus
Ch r ist . who m he fanc ie s he r e se m ble s in ap pe a rance .
and imp ortance in the tribe . A s in o lden days,before
a man and gir l becom e hu sband and w ife the con sen t ofthe two in terested hop e s o r fam ilies still has to beob tain ed in fo rmal coun c il m eeting . O therwise
, there is
11mm“ se c iu . ] 49
n o ce remo n y — un less the m in iste r o r p riest o f a
llln ro pean chu rch is ca lled in —beyond the marriage feastga the ring , the pd-keoha .
“ Wha t is you r marriage ce remony he re ? Have y ouan y d'
o rakial ?” I asked old K the head man o f a
little I I auhau hapu who was ten'
1po rar ily squatting on
another tribe ’s land at Otautu,in the South Ta ranaki
bush. A youth and g irl of the hop e we re be ing ma rriedon the day I v isited the settlemen t
,and a barrel of bee r
had j ust arrived— in con traven tion of the law— f rom the
n earest town ship for the wed d ing festiv ities . I t was
rolled up on to the ona rac,where a me rry and n oisy
crowd welcomed it w ith a song and dan ce .
“ Karake'
a ! This is my ka reko'
a,
”sa id the old
rep robate , grinn ing . He filled a tin p ann ikin w ith beerand held it up .
“ I say to T im i— that ’s the boy~ -
‘Y ou
d rink this,’and then to Pare , the girl ,
‘Y ou drink.
’
When they take a d rink each,I say to them ,
‘Now, y ou
are married ’
(me once horn/a ) . That ’s all my karaho’
w
good enough,
There was n o lack of amusemen t in the kaing a M aori ,e ither by day or by n ight . Of the ol d en gam e s and
amusemen ts that have survived to this day , the p od and
haloa p osture -dan ces,with their amu sing
“
and oftenRabelaisian songs
,are the most p op ular . The
“ dan cers ”
do n ot really dan ce,but stand in rows and twirl the light
p oi-balls (made of dry raup o
-leaves ) over their heads,
from side to side,beating them at in tervals on
their heads , breasts , shoulders,and even their feet
, all
in p erfect tim e to the rhy thm of the song or the musicalaccompan im en t . The p ot is often an action song— som erep resen t the work of p lan ting food , som e the action of
p addling a canoe , some im itate the fluttering of the wildbirds . The Taranaki M aoris are amongst the cleverestp oi
—dan cers in New Zealand , but the p oi has always beensom ething of a religious ceremony in their d istrict . The
M aori p rophet Te Whiti and his chief men at Parihakavillage had their oracular utteran ces and their chan tsand p rayers rehearsed and publicly sun g by the p oi
150 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
wom en . I t was a very p retty sight to watch a large p artyof these girls and women
,their heads all decked with
white feathers— the toha or emblem of Te Whiti- ismgoing through the evolution s of the p oi, with wonderfulrap idity and deftn ess
,to the accomp an im en t of a verv
high and wild chan t— for the Prophet of the M oun taindid not look with favour on accordeon s and mouth- organ sand other p ahcha inn ovation s .
A sp ecim en of an an cien t karakia n ow sung as a p o i
chan t is Turi ’s Paddling -Song,given in Chap ter V .
, p . 54 .
I n p laces like Rotorua— where a n umber of the
in teresting old gam es have been revived for the amusemen t of white visitors —and in man y a little settlem en taroun d the Bay of Plen ty and the East Cap e and the
U rewera Coun try, such amusem en ts as the what
,or cat ’s
cradle,matimati and telt'i- to- eore (n ow bowdlerised in
Rotorua to titi- torca ) are still to be observed . One old
Arawa m an at Ohin emutu is p articularly exp ert in the
in tricate what string-work in tended to rep resen t M aui,the magic fisherman
,and his brothers
,the A ratiatia
,or
“ Ladder,
” Rap ids , etc ; and the tito—torea gam e is
p layed with four sticks in a wonderfully deft fashion byseveral of the Ohin emutu wom en . The p layers , six or
m ore in number,sit or kn eel in a circle
,a little distan ce
ap art ; four of them hold sticks,about 3ft . lon g
,in the
right hand . A rhythm ic chan t is sung and in tim e to theword s the sticks are swung to and fro or up and down
,
and at a certain word in the song they are thrown fromone to the other and caught . There are variation s of the
movem en ts , all of which are don e in exactest tim e to thesong chan ted by the leader .
An other gam e , ”in timate, p erform ed sitting
,is p lay ed
w ith the hands , in p airs , the two p lay ers sitting op positeeach othe r ; words and short sen ten ces are rep eated bythe p layers very qu ickly and at each cry the hands are
moved in a p articu lar mann er . One mu st watch it to
app rec iate the great dexterity and men tal alertn essrequ ired in what a t first may app ear a. child ish gam e .
152 TH E MAORI S on NEW ZEALAND
The moare’
, a kind of swing , or rather g ian t’s stride ,
was form erly to b e seen in many a M aori village . Thereis a good p icture of the m oari in G. F . An g as
’s
“ NewZealan d Illustrated
,
” from a sketch in the Taup o districtin 1844 . There were many moaro
’
aroun d the shores of
Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti till recen t tim es . The moari
F ro m 1 1«Irnh 'h Ivy 1 A ug/o x .
The m ou r i .
was a tall elastic tree or ricker stripp ed of its bran chesand with five or six long fl ax rop es attached to its head .
I t gen erally stood on the edge of a stream or a lake .
The p layers would each grasp a rop e and,after singing
a song in choru s , swing off all. together in to sp ace and
land either on the ground again or drop off with a sp lash
in to the water below . The old p eop le of M okoia Island,
Lake Rotorua, p oin t out the site of a celebrated fi ve -rep e
MAom so a 1. L1 19E 153
ononri which o nce stood on the hill-s lo pe at T e Rewarewa ,an an c ient p ro on the top of the is land , n ow a tribal
bu ry ing p lace .
Anothe r d ivers ion ,one huge ly en joye d by the wate r
loving l\l'
aor i, was that known as rcrcng a-wa i, o r
“ fly ing
in to the water .
” A t many of the Rotorua lakesidevillages , for instan ce , ce rta in trees , chiefly p ohutahawa ,
which extended long strong b ranches out ove r the water ,were made use of as d iv ing-boards . A su itable limb o f
the tree would be stripp e d of its tw igs and leaves , theup per side adzed down and smoothed , and the end of the
bran ch ornam en ted withcarving . On e n otedRotorua rahan rere / 1ga woo
was that which stood on
the banks of the VVaitet i
stream ,overhan g ing a
deep pool in the river.
On hot summ er days,when the cool clearwaters of the beau tifulstream s and lakes g lis
ten ed so in vitingly , the
young people of the vil
lage would often gatherby the w ater-side for thesport of the reve ng e
-wa i .
Throwing off their garmen ts , the young m en and girlswould stand out along the elastic tree sp ring-board
,
holding each other ’s hands
,and sing in chorus a lively
song . The following is a sp ecim en of these Rotoruadiving-songs
From a pho lo . by A llen Hutchinson .
An A rawa Wo m an , Roto r ua .
Te koko e re r e atu ra ra,
E r ere ra i Puke-whanake,
K i te kawe -koreroK ia Te I ripapa ;Kaore e h ok i-i .Ka tn an i te rahu i Whaka iroiroNa Tokoahu .
Kai . te ruh i n oa,
Kai te ng eng e n oa,
Ta te raumat ihang a .
Po -o -o ki roto wai
Ruh i ai l
(TRAN SLATION .
See yon der tut-b i r d that fl iesO ’
er the sl opes o f Pal m -t ree H il l ;’Tis a l itt le m essen g e rCarry ing tales to I ripapa .
I t fl ies away , and won ’t return .
Here I stan dOn Tokoahu
’s car v en t r ee ;
Here I standWeary of the su m m er ’s heat
,
So into the water I ’ll g o !
154 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
And at the fin al word all together the divers drop p eddown with a m ighty sp lash in to the cool waters , and
there they swam and chased and sp lashed each other like
a comp any of brown m erm en and m ermaiden s . The
youn g wom en were not without van ity even in that
p rim itive social state ; the softer sex delighted in havingtheir hip s and the up p er p ar ts of their legs blue - tattooedin symmetrical sp irals and in the artistic design kn ownas the pahoro (which can be seen to -day used in the
decoration of rafters in a carved house ) , for the p ublicadmiration when they ..wen t out to bathe from the carventree that stood by the diving-
p ool . A really well tattooedm an or woman in an cien t M aoridom created as muchadm iration and envy as a p akeha lady of to -day in an
exp en sive up-to—date costum e and the latest Parisian
p icture hat .
The bath was often the social gathering-
p lace , p articularly in the Hot Lakes coun try . Ruap eka , the littlesan dy bay at Ohin emutu
,Rotorua
,was the great bathing
p lace of that Arawa village . Here in the p leasan t warmwaters
,heated by many hot sp rings, p ractically the whole
p opulation of Ohin emutu would gather in the even ingsfor social gossip and song . I t was the m ost unconven
t ional of“ musical even ings .
” There is a local
p roverb ial saying that indicates the free and- easycondition s which obtain ed amongst this water - lovingtribe
,where m ixed bathing was the fashion —“ Kaore he
ta re hi Ruap eka ,
” which m ean s “ There is n o law in
Ruap eka .
” That is to say ,should a man d iscover
,for
examp le , that his wife was fl irting with an other man at
on e of these social gatherings,he n eed n ot comp lain
about it,for m en and wom en could do as they p leased in
Ruap eka ; it was a p lace where the customary code of
conduct was relaxed . If he wished to keep his wife tohimself
,he shou ld keep her away from Ruap eka . She
could “ hang her clothes on a gooseberry bush,
” in the
words of the old rhy me— or in lieu thereof,a fl ax bush
but she mu stn ’t g o n ear the water . But as the husban d
o ften p referred to indemn ify him self by making love
156 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
Thus when a p arty of n atives from the Bay of Islandsp ay a formal visit to a tang i or other social gathering at
,
say ,Waima
, Hokianga , they are welcom ed Wi th cri esof
Haere mai l Haere mai l e to manuhiri tna - rang i lHaere mai l e to iwi tai- tamahin cl H aerc mai l ”
which m ean s“ Welcom e hither , O strangers
,from beyond the sky !
Welcom e , O the p eop le of the p eaceful sea,welcome
hither ! ”
L . l I l Ng/ t‘. pho toMao r i Wo m en ' s Canoe Race , on the -
’
a ikato Ri v e r .
And when the Omanaia or M angamuka p eop le leavethe Hokianga district to d iscu ss heimara and dried sharkwith. their cousin s at Kerikeri or Waitangi
, Bay ofIsland s , the hosts will welcome the com ing guests as
v isito rs from the “tai tame - tone
,whose hom e borders
the thundering surf and the flying surges of the wildi Vest Coast
, an essen tially “man -like ” sea .
A ceremonious and p retty rite of hosp itality is theformal p resen tation of food to visitors, the hari-kai
,or
tnhn - leoi (“ food as it is called . The g uests
rema in seated on the g round in the marae or villagegreen and their hosts bring them their meals
, to theaccom pan imen t of song and dan ce .
M AORI suc u n 157
\t. a lulru-lm i I w itnessed not long ag o ,on the occasion
o f a la rge congre ss o f the tribe s,the re fi rst a d van ced a
long lin e o f m e rry girls and women , each ca rry ing a
p laited basket or ken o,of green flax
,con ta in ing a
s team ing “ fi rst-cou rse ” o f po ta toes and p ork,hot f rom
the ll l l l lf/ l. A s they cam e the y chanted a lively so ng ,keep ing tim e w ith a, skip p ing d ance , a k in d of
“ fll e re -we
come -
g atl1crin g—nuts-and-n ia y
"turn ,
swagge ring and
swinging their p lump bod ies f rom side to side . Thenthev retired in good order for an othe r cou rse . Nex t a
n umber of young men advan ced in two long lin es , yellinga haka song as they did so
,each bear ing a loaf of brea d
or a handful of biscuits,and others carrying buckets of
tea,all of which were laid out on the grass in fron t of the
visitors,a large p arty of Arawa tribesp eop le . Then a
squad of Ngapuhi natives cam e forward carrying morebread
, and p ann ikin s for the tea . They, too , haka
’d as
they p erform ed their share of the tuku-kai,and shouting
a welcom e song .
“ Here we com e,
” chanted their leader ,“ bringing our gift— the fifteen p ann ikin s of Ngapuhi !
”
Next,half-skipp ed , half-dan ced forward , sin ging lustily
as they cam e , a large p arty of VVhang anui men,carrying
baskets and dishes of boiled kumara and p reserved
p igeon s . Then there marched up , bringing m ore kai,
headed by a brass band of M aori youths p laying a quickstep ,
a p arty of Ngati-Ap a and Ngati-Raukawa p eop le .
Ngati-Apa were headed by an enormously stout woman,
whose fat body quivered and shook as she dan ced alongthe lin e
,grimacing . The Ngati—Kahun gunu p eop le in
their turn advan ced , singing as they stamp ed , and turn edthis way and that
,
“ Here we come,bringing kumara and
birds,
”and swishing their fl ax waist-m ats in Highland
fashion as they swung up to the din in g- table of the
Arawa— the grassy green— and laid their offerings on
the groun d .
The bill-of—fare comp leted , the hosts fell back a sp ace ,and their sp okesman formally p resen ted the food to theirguests . A tattooed old chief
,for the p eop le of the Lakes,
ackn owledged the gift in his dign ified fashion,and in a
1 58 TH E MAoms'
or NEW ZEALAND
fewm om en ts thereafter the hap py Arawa were making
serious in roads on the heap of kai-kai and the steam ingbuckets of tea .
Som etimes the en tertainers will jocularly lamen t theirinability to p rovide a fitting feast for their visitors . I n
a Rotorua taka -kai song,often chan ted when p resen ts
of food are being carried in to the marae and p lacedbefore visitors
,these words occur :
(TRAN SLATION . )Hai aha Kawaha ‘! What ’s the g ood of Kawaha ?Te whenua ka i-kore ! I t is a foo dless p lace !Ka p a tau ko Moko ia N ow
,if you we r e at Moko ia
Ten eten e an a to ko r oko r o Y ou r th r oat s w ou l d be d isten dedI te ku m a r a . Wit h the abun dance of the kmnara .
( M okoia Islan d is famed for its fertility and for its
abundan t yields of the kumara or sweet p otato . )There is som etimes an amusin g in troduction of English
phrases or p op ular catch-words in to these ti thai -kai
chan ts . For in stan ce,a song I on ce heard a jolly gan g of
young fellows bawl out lustily as they dan ced in to the
meeting-square , laden with hard ship’s-biscuits
,their
con tribution to the feast
(TRAN SLATION . )He aha te p ihikete ! What are the b iscu its for ?P ihikete ? The b is cu its ?He i whakap iri ki te taha o te kau Why
,t o st ick cl ose al ong s ide the beef !
Ooh—ooh -oo h ! (i m itat ing the nn te -mo r tem be l l ow of
What he she pu m p ! the“ beef ’
And at the word pump each cheery youth ap p ro
p riatelv bump ed his burden down beside the boiled beefand the p otatoes w ith a hearty thud en ergetic en ough toshatter the m ost adam an t of “ hard - tack.
”
Occasionally the easv ten or of life in p eace -tim e wasvaried bv a little diversmn in the form of a taua ~ m irri i or
“robb ing party .
” This forcible d istra in t up on p rop ertyfor o ffen ces comm itted still p revails in som e M aoridistricts , p articu larly Rotorua and the Bay of Plen ty
,
and in the Urewe ra Coun try . I a eu and lan d werethe roots of all ev il accord ing to the M aori . Disputesabou t both very often ended in war ; but it was often
160 TH E MAOR I S or NEW ZEALAND
A feeling of p akeha delicacy about robbing a fellowfor a little thing like that p reven ted my join ing the taua ,and moreover I was n ot related to Tuki ’s gran dfather .
But I was rather sorry n ext day that tanas weren ’t
for p akehas when I met the old man strutting aroun dwith a fi ne korowai fl ax cloak over his shoulders . He
in form ed me that he had don e p retty well out of the taua .
Though som eon e else secured the valuable Icahn -kiwi,the
beautiful cap e of kiwi feathers, which the naughty Mrs .
Tuki was kn own to p ossess, he had man aged to mum ”
not on ly the korowai,which was n early as good , but also
a coup le of fowls, which were by this tim e cooking in thehot sp ring at the back of his 8 x 10 dom icile .
Not so many years ag o , however , a taua was oftenatten ded with rather serious con sequen ces for the DonJuan s of M aoridom . They had to subm it to the ordealof the sp ear . I rem ember a yarn a certain other M aoria cquain tan ce of m in e on ce told m e .
We were at Vil aahi, the village of M ahuta the“ King
,
on the banks of the Waikato River . An old,old man ,
thickly tattooed , with long white hair and beard,an old
blanket around him,was squatting blinking in the sun
on the grassy m arac in the cen tre of the village . I t was
the an cien t man Tu-ata,one of the highest born chiefs of
Waikato,and som e sort of g reat ~ uncle of Mahuta ’
s .
“Look at old Tu-ata
,
”said my friend
,
“ Sun shin e,
he was well-nam ed,a b ig jovial man
,with a face like a
rising sun,slightly brown ed .
“You wouldn ’
t think he
had been a smart fighting man on ce,would vou ? And
even when he was an old fellow,he was a very good man
with the sp ear , too ,my word !
”
“ Sun shin e ” chuckled to himself a while,and I asked
him what he was grinn in g at .
“ I was thinking of somethin g,
” he said .
“ This wasthe way of it. A good many y ears ag o ,
when I was a
young fellow , I lived w ith the King ites at their b igsettlem en t on I-l ikuran g i b ill, which is away up on theslop es of M oun t
"
Pirongia , where the track to Kawhiagoes up from the \Vuip a . [This was about the year
M Ao lu SO C IAL u rn 161
Old .lx ing'
.l‘
awhiao lived there,in a fi ne large i i i/tau
house a t the tOp of the hill. Now,Tawhiao was very fond
o f young w ives , and eve ry time he wen t away on a trip
to other Mao ri tribes he was p resen ted with a n ew youngw ife
,and he brought her home to put with the others .
Well,I was a young autaia those days , and I cou ldn ’
t
help m aking loveto the g irls . Therewas on e of the
Kin g’
s wives,and
she was a veryn ice g irl . I becam e
very fon d of her,
and she liked m e
m uch better thanthe oldKing . But
som e inquisitiveold wom an foundHera in my whareon e n ight , and then
there was trouble—a great raru i
'
ami,
and talk,talk
, talk.
Well, then the
taua . All the peo
ple gathered on
the marae, and I
had to stand out
there before themall
,to be speared
at in pun ishm en t .
From a
v
photo wy ”2 1300 10 13 1906 . And that Old TuTu-ata , o f Waah i .Waikato .
ata was the spears
man . He was an old man then , and he was
Tawhiao’s foster-father [matua—wli ang ai ] . He it was
who made sharp his hardwood tao to avenge the King .
I stood there , with only a blanket on, tied roun d my
waist. I was n ot allowed to have a sp ear to defen dmyself ; all I was given was a short stick
,a karo
, to wardoff the sp ear .
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
Tu -ata cam e dan cing and taki- ing forward ,his thigh
,and lookin g very angry
,as if he were
led to kill me . He charged at me,and hurled his
p ear with all his force . An a-vi a l it whistledthe air . I just dodged it by jump ing aside . I
quick bound— like this— else had I been sp earedthe body . That was all
,excep t the mum -ing ;
st of my clothes and my watch and gun . The old
on ly allowed to throw one sp ear . But , my word ,mp !
7 7
y ou didn’t make love to any more of Tawhiao ’
s
asked the p akeha .
said “ Sun shin e ,” “
n ot for a long tim e after
164 TH E MAOR I S or NEW ZEALAND
About the largest of these is the great coun cil-houseTe Whai-a-te- M otu , at Mataatua
,in the Ruatahun a
Valley, the an cien t headquarters of the U rewera tribe ,
deep in the wild moun tain -land . I t is over eighty feetin length. A photo of this big wharc is reproduced on
this p age . The house was really a Hauhau temp le ; itwas built by the U reweras in 1890 for the war- chiefTe Kooti, and for some years it was held so sacred thatn o white man was allowed to en ter it .
A n ight in such a house as this is an in terestingexp erien ce .
Photo. by w. A . Nea le, Tapui .
Te Whai-a-te -Motu . the ca r v ed m ee ting-h ouse at Mataatua , Ruatahuna V al ley .
U rewera Count r y .
A bell at the p orch of the“VVhai-a-te - M otu ” tinkles as
the darkn ess falls over m isty p eak and woody valley,
and fires twinkle here and there through the village . The
bell is the sign al for even ing p rayers . The U rewera
he re still hold to the faith p romulgated by T e Kooti,the
ritual kn own as the“ Ring er- tn ,
”the
“ Up lifted Han d”
a m ed lov of the Psalms of David and the Church ofEngland p rayer-book .
“ Te \Vhai-a—te- M otu ” (“The
Chase of the Island ”— so n am ed in allusion to the
pursu it of Te Kooti by the Governm en t soldiers for overthree years ) is soon p acked w ith p eop le , and the scen e
'
_l‘
l l n Wl fA lt lrI—WH A | < A1no 165
is pass ing we ird . The on ly light is a fi re on the ea rth
floor,j ust a t the foo t o f the cen tral li tmse—rnllar , the
sacred p ow[e lm - inane 1m ,whe re the c arven woo d en statue
of a sem i-de ifi ed king ly ancestm o f the tribe ,stares fo rth w ith scorn ful v isage , beautifu lly sc rolle dw ith blue l in es of tattoo . S trange shadows dan ce w ith
the flickering o f the fi re , and the carved cllig ie s of ance s
tra l heroes group ed round the walls seem a live , ready to
start forth on the war-
path again— stern figu resgrotesquely fea rfu l w ith the ir huge distorted hea d s and
leer ing m ouths from which p roj ect en ormous red-
p a in tedtong ues, their three -fi ng ered hands grasp ing ston eweap on s, the ir faces tattooed in exactest im itation of the
in tricate m olro of m en . Som e of the wall- slabs are carvedin to fan tastic figures of fabulou s water-mon sters ,tan iwha and maraki-hmi
,scoop ing in their victim s w ith
long funn el-shap ed tongues ; others rep resen t the
my thical creatures kn own as the manaia and whcki i,with
bird -like beaks and snaky tails all coiled in endlesssp irals . The wide rafters are decorated with handsomeblack and red scroll—work and with rude p ain tings of
trees and birds and bird - sp earin g . On the latticed wallshang weap on s of war and imp lemen ts of the chase— a
Terrv carbin e , trophy of the war ; som e rifles and shot
gun s,glisten ing green ston e clubs and bon e -handled
tomahawks,and a bundle of long limber smoke -blacken ed
bird-sp ears , tipp ed with sharp bon e and iron barbs .
An other large tribal meeting-house of this characteris “ Te Tokanga-nui-a-noho
,
”at Te Kuiti, in the King
Coun try . I t belongs to the Ngati-Man iap oto tribe . The
wli arc is 7 5 feet in length by 32 feet in width,with a
height to ridge -
p ole of about 20 feet . I t was built in 187 8as a Hanhan whai
'
c-karakia,or p rayer-hou se
,for T e
Kooti,and first stood at Tokang amutu ,
half-a-m ile or
so from the town ship of Te Kuiti . This house -nam e,
“ Te Tokanga-nui- a -n oho,
” holds a story . I t m ean s “ The
Great Food-basket of the Stay-at-homes,
”or
“The
Basket of Plen ty .
” This is p art of a famous p roverbialsaying or i oli akataiiki amongst the Ngati-Man iap oto .
166 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
I ts origin dates back to the an cien t fi ghting -days . A
dispute arose in this d istrict between two high chiefs,on e of Whom was an xious to lead his followers to battleagain st a distan t tribe
,while the other p referred to
remain p eacefully at home . After an angry discussionthe war- chief rose and calling on his followers said ,Com e with me
,leave the abundan t food baskets of the
stay-at-hom es [te tokang a-m ii-a-n oho ] ; for us are the
small handfuls of the war-
p arty [te roarou- iti-a
m ean ing thereby that he and his would desert their hom esand cultivation s and b e con ten t with the short comm on s
of travellers through a far and hostile territorv . His
tribesmen followed him,and they becam e great warriors ;
and“Te rouroa - iti-a—hacrc"is an exp ression still used
in referen ce to an y bold undertaking involving p rivation ,
or adven turousThough a modern house
,the carvings in T e Tokanga
nui-a-n oho ” are in terestin g as being rep resen tative of
n early all the imp ortan t tribes of the North Islan d ; infact the house is a national M aori art gallery in its
p rimitive way, con tain ing effig ies of the founders and
heroes of various tribes from Aucklan d to Cook S trait,
b esides some of the mythological Polyn esian gods and
demi-gods . The slabs and p osts were carved by men
from many differen t tribes— Ngati-Man iap oto ,Waikato
,
Whakatohea,U rewera
,and others— as con tribution s to
the whe re from the various Hauhau tribes under the
influen ce of Te Kooti . The lm lcaho or reed -
p an el work,however
,is base im itation
,the work of the p akeha saw
m ill . The p am ta or carved p ortion of the massiveridge -
p ole in the p orch rep resen ts Rangi and Pap a (asa lso does that in
“ Te “ lha i-a—te the p rimal
paren ts in the Poly n esian cosm ogon y, the Sky - father and
Earth-m o the r . M au i,the M aori Hercu les and Sun -
g od, is
dep icted o n the walls , w ith his p laited rop e n oosing a
l la il and fa r ewe l l ! I' m us t a r ise
Lea v e he re the fat ted cattle ,
A nd pa in t on fo r e ig n lands and sk iesM y Od y ssey o f batt le .
”
—I i’
ob crt Lou is S tevenson (“ So ng s of
168 TH E MAORI S or NEW ZEALAND
sm iling-looking sun— in allusion to the Polyn esian mythof his snaring of Tama-nui—te -Ra
,the Sun ,
and there ,too
,is his mag ic fi sh-hook with which he drew up the
North Islan d of New Zealan d . A curious little reliefcarving is an effigy of Man iap oto , showin g this famousold chief crouching in a limeston e stalactite cave . Thiscave is Te Ana-U riuri (
“The Gloomy which
is n ear Te Kuiti,and Man iap oto , according to tradition ,
sometim es lived in it . There,again
,is Tuwharetoa , the
great an cestor of the Taup o p eop le , with his sacredmoun tain s
,Ton gariro and Pihang a . There is a white
lin e of steam or m ist streaming from Tongariro in to
Pihang a’s crater . This is in allusion to the legend that
Pihan g a was Tong ariro’s wife
,and that the steam and
clouds som etim es seen driftin g from Tongariro towardsPihang a are the visible token s of his love for his
moun tain - sp ou se . And on an other slab is Maahu (helike the others
,is carefully lab elled with his name lest y ou
should n ot know him ) , the forest- chief , on e of the veryremote an cestors of the Lake “ laikaremoana and
U rewera M aoris . He has a tawhara,the fruit of the
kickic climbing p lan t, in his hand ; for such were the foodsof the bushm en of yore . This slab was carved by a
descendan t of Maahu .
I n a little Lakeland village , the ita l/ng a Owhata ,on the
tree -bowere d eastern shores of Lake Rotorua , there
stands a wharep uni which the p eop le of the village havenamed “ H inemoa
,
”after their ren own ed an cestress
,
whose hom e this ka ing a was in the long ag o . I t is qu itea p retty little hou se , w ith its carved fron t- slabs and
barg e -boards,and its tclrof-clto or fi gurehead crown ing
the j un ction of the barge - lmards , and the in terior is
br ight w ith beau tifu l scroll-pa in ted rafter-
p attern s .
The re a re man y varieties of p attern s on theserafters and wall-p lates , exhib iting som e of the
grace fu l design s evolved b y the M aor i artist fromhis study of n atu ral objects fl - the curve of the wave
,
the vo lu te of a, shell,the droop ing beau ty of the howliai
blossom . And vou a re rem inded that y ou are in the
T H E - \V fl'
lA li A l ll O 109
i nc icn t home o f l lin emo a,fo r he re on on e of the wa ll
slabs .is a qua int little p icture in black and white b y
om e v illage im p ression ist illustrating the leg end o f the
e ve—led sw in‘
im e r . () n the r ight is the hill of
m the left a p y rmn ida l islan d-hill re p re sents Afloko ia ;
ie tween them stre tche s the lake . Mi d way o n the wa te rs
.s seen l l in emoa,o r rathe r he r head above the wat e rs
f
ac ing a steam -j e t co iling from the sho re o f
ml icatiug the hot ba th whe re in the girl rested a fte r he r
rreat sw im . This steam -j e t is labe lled w ith its n am e ,WVa i-kim ihia ,
” for the in fo rmation of the stran g e r ;-l Il (l above all the crescen t m oon and many stars watch
) ve _r the hero ic sw immer .
I n the v illage of Whakarewarewa , Rotorua ,there
i re
'
two or three good sp ec im en s of i oli arc-whaka iro .
All are of recen t erection ,but are carved in accordan ce
.vith the ap p roved trad ition s of the foli img as of Bauru ’s
3hisel . I n M ita Taup opoki’s big whe re ,
“El ahiao ,
”a
e markably good p iece of carv ing is that at the top of the
en tral p illar (p O’
Nl‘
OldO rep resen ting the g od
Pan e-h'l ahuta,he who sep arated Heaven and Earth
,w ith
ris arm s up raised supp orting the ridge -p ole or tali i i li i i,
vhich is Rangi the Sky . Rangi,indeed
,or his M aori
n'
esen tm en t , ap p ears on the un der- surface of“
the broadalt /aha ; his mouth is Op en ,
the carver shows him weep ing’or his wife
,
‘Papa ,the Earth. Lower down the great
rouse -
p illar is a carving of M aui,the magic fisherman
,
n the act of hauling up from the sea this North Island oflew Z ealand Te I ka - roa -a- M aui- tikitiki- o -Taranga~ rep resen ted by a skilful carving of a fi sh. M aui ’s red
»ain ted tongue p rotrudes in his great lifting effort . Heas a can oe ben eath his feet ; this is in Arawa mythologyhe
“ Nuku -tai-maroro,
"from which he fished up—that
discovered— this island ; his en chan ted fi sh-hook
aught in the roof of the house of Tangaroa . A t the footf the p ost is carved the effigy o f a chief with sterntttooed face , a ston e club in his right hand and a beauti1l taii ikorbordered korohimg a waist—mat aroun d him .
he in terior of the house is rich and bright with scrolls,
1 7 0 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
tattooing,
and p ain ting . The li ckc (rafters ) , kaho
(cross-beam s ) , and wall-p lates all hear their app rop riatedesign s . The rafter p attern s are p articularly fi ne
,
showing the black and white scrolls known as the p i thoro,
the m ango-
"
p are
(hamm er headedshark) , the lcow lia i ,etc .
,and the wall
plates are pain ted
all roun d w ith the
geom etrical pat
tern s,ih white
,
red and black,of
the tan iluo m at
border design .
The alm ost un i
versal M aori fashion of carvin g thehan d w ith on lythree fin gers has
often puz z led European s . This is a
M aori explan ationof the practice as
g iven m e by a
carver :The first m an
of the M aori race
to carve and dec
orate houses as we
ca rve them to -daywas Nuku - i
‘
n ai
teko, or M utu-wai
Ca r v ed Doo rway o f a Mao r i House . The cu r v ed p ieceabo v e the doo r i s the pure , a nd th ose a t e ach sid e the teko
)as 80 111 6 trlbes
fwucumc o r l e gs . 1 110 fi gu r e o n the doo r i s i ntend ed to have I t),{b 11 18111 ofr e p r e sent ->ka.i play ing o n h is flute to H iuem oa
H awa i iki . H e hadon lv three fi nge rs on each hand
, and he p erp etuatedthis 11] hi s ca rvm g s . A ll his fi gures he carved w ithon ly three fi ngers on each hand , and this has b een kep tup even to this dav bv M ao ri carve rs . This was in the
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
I n this arap aki work, light horizon tal laths or sp lints
(kaho- ta-ra-i) , half an in ch to an in ch wide and of even
thickn ess,are closely laced to vertical stalks , gen erally
of the kakaho reed,with n arrow strip s of kickie fibre ,
white or dved black,and occasionally with p iny ao, an
orange—coloured grass or fl ax . The kaho- tarai are
p ain ted red,som etim es red and black. The various
p attern s are form ed by the variation s 111 the method of
win ding and lacing the strip s of kickic.
There is con sidered to be a p eculiar san ctity p ertain ingto a house con tain ing figures carved in the semblan ce of
gods or great an cestors . The Rotorua carvers of
to-day are very careful n ot to in fringe any of
the unwritten laws of the art and of tap u. For
in stan ce,n either they n or an y of their p eop le would ever
think of using the chip s or shavings from the carvingsfor cooking food ; n either will a carver blow the shavingsoff while he is at work on a slab or a p ost . The breathis p ollution ; he turn s the timb er on its side and shakesthe shavings off
,or bru shes them off .
A“Ho u s e -w a rm in g
” C e r e m o n y .
How TH E TAPU 1s REMOVED .
An an cien t M aori belief which p revails to this day isthat which p ertain s to the tap e of n ewly - carved houses .
This top ic or baleful en chan tm en t has its origin in the
fact that the sacred children of Tan e the Forest Fatherhave been felled by human hands
,and have been carved
in to the semb lan ce of gods and an ce stors . The tap e
must be d isp osed of,or its dangerou s p owers averted
,
before the house can be safe lv occup ied . This p riestlyce remon v o f “ la y ing
”the tap u, is known as whai-kawa
o r Ira “ Yuma—who rc.
Am ongst manv tribes the bran ches of the lea /wakawa
shrub or the t e rm in i are used in these whai-kawa ceremon ies . fBut amongst som e of them
,such as the Ngati
Awa and the U rewera, the ro ta bran che s or twigs are
used ; w ith these the p riest strikes the om ihi,the tolcoili i
,
Tun w riAuE-w i fAKAI RO 1 7 3
ie pure and the va rious other p rin cipal carved slabs and
illa rs,repea ting his p raye rs the while . The ra te tree
3 sacre d amongst Ngati-Awa in conn ection w ith such
eremon ies . I ts classical n am e is “ To ma ro -a
the loin -mat of Tam e the g od) , as ap p lied to its leaves .
The following is the form of ritual still used in the
i rawa coun trv for the purpose of— n ot“ con secration ,
”
s it has been som etimes term e d , but the reverse— the
emoval of the tap e of carved houses ; this in stan ce1908) was the occasion of the Op en ing and
“ housewarm ing” of the fi ne large carved whore calledlVahiao ,
” built at \Vhakarewarewa ,Rotorua , by M ita
.
‘aup opoki, a house beautifully adorn ed with woodarving both in side andOut
Taua Tutan ekai Haerehuka was the tohuii g a selected0 recite the n ecessary formulae for the purposef removing the tapu from the carved timbers.nd allowing the tribe and their guests to en ter and
ccupy the house . Outside in the carved maili i or bargeloards on the fron t of the house were p laced the chisels,he bon e and wooden mallets, and the other tools used
y the carvers in their work . These tools were for theime being sacred
,and sp ecial karakia were p ronoun ced
ver them .
Sp ear-tongued taiaha in han d and a kiwi cloak aroun dim
, Tutan ekai advan ced to the right fron t of the housend stood there by the side of the sp iral- carved maihi or
arge-board , while he recited in a loud voice his an cien tharms to p rop itiate Tan e , the g od of the forests
,from
hich the sacred timbers cam e . This was his firstarakia :
(KO te tuang a o te rakau kiKakariki powhaitere ,I te YVao -nui-a-Tane
,
I te u r ung a tapu ,Kua ara
,kua ara
A Tane ki rung a ;Kua kot ia ng a pa takeO te rakau o te whare n ei ;Kua waiho atu
I te urunga tapu ;Kua kot ia ng a kauru
1 7 4 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
O te rakau o te wha r e n ei ;Kua waiho atu
I te Wao nui-a -Tane.
Kua tae au
K i n g a pukeng a ,K i ng a wanang a ,K i ng a tau i r a .
Patna ku r u ,Patna whao ,Patua te tok i a Tai-haruru .
Kua p ik i h ok i n eiK i te m a r o -hukahuka-nui
A Tang aroa ,Te n g a r u ai e what i ai
E Nuk u -ta i—m a r o r o .
Kaore ko an
E k i m i an a,e hahau ana
I nga uri o te wh anau a RataHai pokap oka ia TaneE t u n e i-i -i .
Kaore i kitea ,Kua mate n oa atu
I te awa i Pikop ikO-i-Whiti .
Ma te m a r ang a m ai ai
K 0 h ik i-nuku 9 !
Ta taua rang i !
The tran slation of this invocation is as follows
For the F e l l ing of the TreeKing of the forest -b i r ds , ch ief of the p a rakeets that g ua r d Tane ’
s
m ig h ty w oods,Tan e ’s sac r ed rest ing p lace (l isten to my pray er ) ! Tane
(the Tree ) sto o d erect,sto o d e r ec t
,a m idst the fo r est shades ; but now he
’s
fal len . The trunk of Tane has been se v e r ed fro m the butt ; the stu m p of
the tree fel led to bu il d th is h ouse stan ds y on der in the sacred rest ing p lace .
The b r an chy tree -top , the leafy head , has been cu t Off ; it l ies y on der in the
Vast -F orest -of -Tanc . I ha v e p erfor m ed my cere m on ies of prop it iat ion ;I ha v e app ealed to the sp irit s o f our p rie stly an cestors
,and t o the sacred
ones . I ha v e struck th ese t i m be r s w ith m a l le t and ch isel ; I ha v e struckthe m w ith the axe o f the Sou n d in g -Seas . I ha v e m oun te d up on the g reatf oa m ing g irdl e of the sea—g od Tan g aroa . the wa v es beaten dow n and
di v ided by the can oe Nuku -ta i- m aroro . 1 am seek ing , search ing for the
descendan ts o f the ch il d r en of Rata . t o ca r v e th ese t i m bers for me . I
fou nd the m n o t ; they were sla in at the ri v e r P ikop ikO-i-“ lhit i. O an c ien t
on es,re tu r n and a id me on th is our sacred day .
The kalca i ilizi p owha itcrc invoked in the first lin es isthe b ird which is said to lead the flocks of p arakeets inthe forests ; it is in M aori mythology the guard ian of the
sacred w oods of Tan e -mahuta . The leader of the
p arakeets is an (Uri/t i
,
“a. p riest and king” of the birds .
The lmralcia ap peals to the b ird for its help and san ction ;
1 7 6 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
the an cien t belief was that if the forest- creatures werenot app eased by supp lication and by p ious rites whena gr eat tree such as a totara was felled by ax e and fi re ,
the birds and the fairies would set it up again during then ight . Rata
,m en tion ed in the chan t
,was a Polyn esian
chief and canoe-voyager who lived cen turies ag o in on e
of the islan ds of Polyn esia,most p robably Up olu , in the
Samoa Group ; the lin es alluding to Rata and his childrenm emorise the fact that he and his p eop le were greatcarvers and can oe -builders .
The second karakia in the ceremony was for the
r emoval of the en chan tmen t of the carvers ’ sacredimp lem en ts , and of the tapu attaching to the carving of
the trees in to the semblan ce of gods and of sacredan cestors . I t began -
“Takiii a te katwa o te whare e in
n ei,he kawa tuatahi” -
“ Rehearse the sacred ritual of
the house stan ding here,the first tapu—averting sp ell,
”
etc.
,to the ten th kawa or charm for the lifting of the tapu.
Then the chan t p roceeded :“ This is the p rayer of M arn
te-whare—aitu,of M aru -whakawhiwhia [deified an cestors
of the Arawa tribe ] , the p rayer of the house Han—te
An anui” [a great whare-maire,
or sacred house of
in struction for the p riests, which stood in an cien t tim esin Arorangi Pa on the eastern slop es of M okoia Island ]and ended with these words
,always used at the end of
invocation s of this kind
Whan o ,whan o ,
Harama i te tok i,
Han m i 0 !
(B r ing h ithe r the axe ,”l
‘
is fin ish ed ! )
The last two lin es were rep eated by the assembled
p eop le in a choru sed shout . A s Tutan ekai recited the
heme he struck with hisq
taiaha the var ious carved slabsand p osts on the fron t of the house .
The third and fin al kawa was the “ Ramiki i o te
whare, an app eal to the gods to make the house stable
q mc-WHAKA IRO 17 7
t(l fi rm, to avert all acci d en ts and ills
,and make
i n n and p leasan t dwe lling-
p lace . I t began :
Rukut ia,
Rukut ia ng a pou tauhu
O to wha r e n e i ;Bakut ia n g a p oup ouO te wha ro n e i ;Rukut ia n g a tuku tuk uO to wharc n e i ;
id so on,invoking the gods to b ind firmly and make
rong and fast the various p arts o f the house,so that
l its p osts and p illars , its rafters and beams and carvedtbs
,its thatch and roof m ight stand fi rm and n ever be
e rturn ed.
Then the chan t p roceeded
Rukut ia,rukut ia,
K ia 11,k ia man
,
Ka i tae 1n a i
A te A nu - m ataoK i r oto i a kocg c !
K ia n in ihi atu a i
A U a -whata,a U a -ng anga,
Kai whakam ai hok iA H an -nu i
,a I I au-roa
,
A Tawh i r i- m atea .
Taku h ok i i pa i a iMo r oto ia Tan cE t u n e i ~ i
,
KO Mahana,
Ko Pu- m ahanaKO W
'
orawo raKo Kohakoha ,Ng a tang ata m o rotoI a Tane e t u n e i !
Whan o, whan o ,Haramai te toki,Han m i e !U i e !
Taik i e !
[n the above beautiful chan t the house is con sideredTan e the Tree -g od p erson ified . This is a tran slation
the invocation
Bin d , b in d tog ethe r that all may b e fi rm and steadfast,so that in to
O Tane , may en te r n o t the co l d and stor m y e le m ents, the Frost -w in d ,
Great-Rain , the Long -Rain , the Cold S leety Rain , the Hail stones ; that1 m ay st stan d ag ains t the assaul t o f the Mig hty Win d, the Long'
ail ing Wind , the te m pests o f the w in d -god Tawh iri- m atea ! May all
.v ar m and safe w ith in thy wal l s ! Th ese shal l dwe l l therein— War m th,
ped—up Wa r m t h , and Gl owing Heat , Joy and Gladness
,t hese are the
) le who shal l dwel l w ith in Tane stan ding here before m e ! N ow ,
’t is
I
3 ! Bring h it her the axe,and b in d it on . Our work is o
’er !
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
as Tutan ekai ended,all the p eop le said— n ot
but its an cien t M aori equivalen t :
cam e the ceremony of takahi-p aep ae, treadingShold. I n accordan ce with immemorial customdon e by a woman
,on e of ariki rank, a Ruahin c,
n ecessity chosen for the crossing of the door- sill,
the house might hen ceforth be free to wom en to
This woman was M ere Kan ea,daughter of M ita
Oki,
and cousin of Hun e,the chief carver .
(ai,the toli i mg a ,
accompan ied her , and gave heromary sacred food
,a kamara or sweet p otato ,
iad - been cooked in a tap e oven,the
“ fi re of- i-rangi
,
”on e of the boiling sp rings. This was
to remove the tapu from the in terior of thef'
,so that food m ight be brought in to it
,and that
n ight eat and sleep there without fear .
180 TH E MAORI S OF NEw ZEALAND
paddlers, winn ingl
a race at the Hong-Kon g regatta inDecember
,1904 ; the boat is exactly like a M aori canoe
in outlin e and has a carved fi gure-head and stern
decoration ,and a man stan ds amidship s— j ust like a
M aori kai-hau—ta— beating a drum to keep the paddlersin time
,while two others,w ith fan s in their han ds, urge on
the crew . The other p icture is on e from “ The Sphere ,”
a drawin g from a photo . by F . M atan ia,dep ictin g an
exciting race between large boats, or rather can oes,each
with fifty p addles going, on a river at Sarawak,Born eo .
There are fuglemen in these canoes in citing the toilingcrews
,and the whole p icture comp els close comp arison
L. H i nge , photo .
Racing Canoes at Ngaruawahia , Wa ikato Ri v e r .
with our M aori can oe-races . The p addle and the can oeare widesp read amon gst p rimitive races
,but it is curious
indeed to fi nd the war- can oe race am ongst the Chin ese ,who have in other resp ects nothing in common with theM aori .The felling of a forest- tree to be hewn in to a canoe
was attended by careful ceremony,up to recen t times . A
tohm i ga learn ed in forest- lore sup erin tended the work,and recited the p rop er in can tation s over the trees and
over the axes used to fell it. The following was the
p rocedure in Taranaki :— \Vhen the first chip flew fromthe tree (usuallv a totara ) it was burn ed in a sacred fi rewhich the lolm ng a kind le d som e d istan ce away . A
loimi ara o r swee t p otato was then roasted,and after
' l ‘ l l l‘1 MAO RI ( lAN tH
be ing Irurultia ’d ove r b y the p riest, it was taken to the
tree am l p lace d in the g ap f rom which the first. chip had
been cut. The pu rpose of this was to whakanoa o r
remove the tap u, the sacredn ess , f rom the tree , which
now be ing made common”
or n on,was free to the axe
of the can oe -men . The roasted ki t/ma re ,n ow con sidered
to be p e rm eated with the tap u of Tanc’s holy tree , was
taken to a hol low tree on the ou tskirts of the forest , and
p laced within its ho llow trunk , and n o man couldapp roach that tree un til the felling o f the to ta ra and the
hewing—out of the can oe had been accomp lished.
I n the \Vaikato d istricts sim ilar custom s we reobserved in form er days when ever a tree was felle d forcanoe -build ing ; and in add ition it was usual to p lace fe rnfron d s on the stump after the tree was felled , to coverthe n aked wounds of Tan e .
M any of the Sp len d id carvings seen in the New Z ealan dmu seums illustrate the remarkable skill and artistic tastewhich the M aori exp ended up on the con struction and
decoration of his great waka- tai ia . The carved fi gureheads were each worked from a solid slab or block of
totara . To the fi gureheads a great deal of tim e and
labour was devoted , and they were very highly p rized ;no large can oe was comp lete without one . M ost of themare
g
beautifully Op en -worked or fret-worked in the doublesp iral design known as p itau . The term p itaa is derivedfrom the young just-un folding fronds of the fern —tree ,which
, som e M aoris say ,the native carvers took as their
pattern . Other natural obj ects,too
, p rovided the M aoriwith in sp iration for these and similar p attern s— the
cloud - form s,the web of the Sp ider (the p itau sp iral is
remarkably like a web ) the curve of a wave , the singularwave-like markings on certain water-worn cliffs ; and
again the p itai i may have been derived from the coil of arop e , or from the Sp irals seen in a thumb p rint— this
indeed is given by one native wood- carver,as the origin
of the design .
The M aoris figuratively sp eak of a can oe as Tan e,the
God of the Forest person ified ; it is Tan e the Sea-rider .
182 THE MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
The threaten ing- looking fig ure on the p row , with staringey es and arm s braced stiffly back, is the forest—g od
dividing the waves before him .
Som e of the beautifully carved stern —p osts or tai i rap a
are from six to ten feet in height . Tli e'
stern -
p ost was
much higher than the fi gurehead of a can oe , and it stoodup at right angles or n early right angles to the hull .Like the fi g urehead,
it was carved out of a solid slab of
totara,the best of timbers for wood -working of this kin d ,
and on e that would last for gen eration s .
On e or two of the big can oes equipp ed in the old
mann er of the true waka- taua are still occasionally to beseen afloat . On Lake Rotorua there is the historic warcan oe “ Te I roiro
,
” which used to carry over fifty
p addlers , with their arm s and supp lies . I n later years itwas under the ban of tapu,
and lay half buried on the
shores of Rotoiti,un til it was repaired , with a damaged
section of the hull cut out,refitted with top sides and
carvings , and on ce more took the water .
On the Lower Waikato River is an other and largerwake—taua ,
the “ Taheretikitiki,
” Mahuta ’s royal barge
,a
handsom e and shap ely craft more than eighty feet inlength,
and beamy en ough to carry three p eop le abreastamidship s . The
“Taheretikitiki”( m ean ing literally the
topknot in which chieftain s were an cien tly accustom ed totie up the ir hair ) , was cut out of a great forest tree inthe Kaip ara bush many y ears ag o , and is built in severalsection s . The hull is in three p ieces , cleverly dovetailedin to each other
,the p ain ted top sides are lashed on with
fl ax,the tall stern -
p ost and p roj ecting bow -
p iece and
fi g urehead are bright with carving and red and whitep ain t, and from the sheering p row wave long, slen derfeathered p uli i or decorative wands , while p lum es danglefrom the lofty stern .
This Waikato River was livelv with fleets of war
can oes in the day s of old. The canoe -p arades at the
large p olitical. gatherings j ust before the Waikato War,
too ,must have been imp osing Sights . A t the great
m eeting at Rangiriri, on the Waikato,held in May ,
1857,
184 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
in conn ection with the establishmen t of the M aoriKingdom
,there were more then M aoris . The
Natives,it is recorded
,were mustering for several days
at Kahumatuku, above Rangiriri . The last to arrivewere the Ngati—Man iap oto tribe . Then ,
on May the l 0th,
the whole body started down the river “at a tremendous
p ace” for Rangiriri
,twelve m iles distan t , in about fif ty
can oes .
A canoe—cap tain is often a brave sight, with his
feathered head,his warlike air
,and his glisten ing club
,
beatin g tim e for the strokes of the p addles . Short sharpcomman ds as
“ H il li eré l H i'
ikcrél” are given in frequen tand rhythmic rep etition ,
un til the p addles are going wellall together
,taking the water as on e . Then com es the
high lilting boat- song .
The following is a short sp ecim en of a Waikato canoetim e-song still occasionally heard ; it is chan ted by thekai- ti iki
,or kai-hautu, the cap tain of the can oe
,standing
am idship s and waving his p add le or weap on now on
this side and n ow on that
(TRAN SLATION . )Kei runga riro Abo v e us fl yNg a m anu m oh io
,The bi r ds o f know ledg e ,
KO Mumuhau,
Mumuhau and the Kareto ,
KO te Kareto , Wise birds that b id us watchT irana ka waih o The o m en s of the sky .
Ng a ki-t it iro . That ’s it, go al ong !
A tena, tena ! Qu ick ly , qu ickly dip !
I'
Ifi keré,bukere !
Ng iha te ahi Y on de r burn the firesK i Maung a -tan tari, 0 11 the sl op e of Maung a-tan ta r i
,
H e i a Rang i-ng atata. The fi r es o f Rang i-ng atata .
NO na no , See our feathe r s fly ing ,Te buruburu The p lu m e s o f our can oe .
Ke i aua tapa . Now qu ickly dip y our b lades .
I l i'
lkeré,hi
'
ikeré !
The two b irds men tion ed in this song as manu-mohio
or“ wise birds” were legendary on es that accord ing to
the M aoris foretold the weather ; that is by their criesand the mann er of the ir flying the p eop le kn ew when rain
or high winds were coming .
MAo ui CANO E 185
I n o lden day s the re we re man y canoe s o f la rge Size on
’he. wa te rs o f Lake \Va ika rc -m oana,and the n atives o f
'
he Nga ti- fll uapan i tribe were expe rt in the managem en ti f the ir long dug- (n its ; in d eed they had n eed to be fo riurious mounta in ~ squa lls f re quen tly swep t d own on the
.ake , and lashed it to a fury of white water , and the
zanoe - crews caught in these sudden g a lcs had to p ad d lefor the ir lives un til they reached the she lte r o f som e
frien d ly bay .
A ce lebrated can oe on lVaika re -moana up to withinrecen t years was “ I—I in ewaho
,
”a totara wake of an c ien t
Juild,much use d by the Hauhau n atives in To Kooti ’s
wars of 1868- 7 0 . A large carved can oe,with top sides ,
L . H i ng e , pho to .
Racing Canoes on the VVa ip a Ri v e r , at Ngaruawah ia .
etc.,was the
“ Hinerakai .
” An other canoe of those days,L very large war-canoe
,was the
“ Tutong a .
” An other ,a id to be of unusually great beam ,
was the“ Tarake .
”
This craft
,Hurae Puketapu in form s me
,was cap sized in
he war-days of 1869 when crossing the lake with fortyf Te Kooti ’s arm ed followers ; it was caught in a
aii—tong a— the dreaded southerly wind— which sudden ly
prang up when the can oe was off Tikitiki headland .
‘
ortunately the land was n ot very far away,and the
rew reached it safely , but they lost their gun s and
mmun ition . They had put off in the can oe con trary to‘e Kooti ’s in struction s ; and the rebel chief drew a moral?
Om the acciden t by p oin ting out to his sup erstitiousarriors that if they had obeyed him
,who was the mouth
ieee of God, the can oe would n ot have been swamp ed ,
186 TH E MAORI S OF NEw ZEALAND
and that the disastrous hau- tong a was the breath of his
A taa .
This is an old Waikare -m oana canoe—chan t :
(TRAN SLATI ON . )a eré
,ka hukeré ! Dip fast y our paddles ,
a e re,ka hukeré ! All t og e th er !
Te ihu takoto atu, B ow s t here— all tog ether !Waeng a kia h inga , A m idsh ip s , all keep t i m e !To kei ak ina . Now , ste r n paddles , all t og ether !He p i
‘k o tang o 1n a i,
Round the cur v ing coast we g o !H e rae kap e ake , The r e , w e ’ v e p assed an other cap e.
Tah i taku pu Here I co m e,bring ing my gun
K ia Te Mau-
p araoa, To Te Mau-
paraoa,Neke
,n ekehia ! N ow
,l ift her al ong !
An other lively can oe- son g,
remin din g one of our
p akeha sailors’ chan teys, and often used as a hauling
chan t when dragging a heavy obj ect such as a log of
timber or a can oe,is this tau-waka of the Tuhoe and
Ngati-Ruap an i tribes(TRAN SLATION )
Pik i, p ik i , Cl i m b up ,
Kak e , kake , Soa r away ,K i te rang i , ane ! To the sky abo v e th ere ,Karearea, karearea , A s soa r s the sparrow -hawk .
Hopu te k iore ! See how it da r t s to seize theHop u ki w aeng a . Dart s dow n up on its prey .
Po, ka po, Co m e n ig h t , co m e n ig h t !B a r a m ai ra SO sw iftly w il l I dartH ei awh i hei a i ! To seek my l o v e !
The following is an other sp ecim en of the Waikaremoan a boat-songs and
“
p ulley-ban lev ” chan ts of otherdays
(TRAN SLATION )(The Cap ta in , solu s Oh
,hau l up the can oe !
A -a ! To ia te waka Haul the canoe !
(A ll)To ia te waka -e ! Oh
,h au l up the canoe !
(Cap ta in )To ia to waka ! Hau l the can oe !
(A ll )To ia tc waka Ay , drag up th is canoeK i ruug a kci to m aung a To the m oun ta in -topIf) tu m a i ne i. A bo v e us there .
K a whakatakotoria Lay dow n ben eath its k ee lT c n g a r o pa r apara , The sk ids of parapara ,Koa me he te tc waka , Le t th e m b e to itMe he p itau whakarci ! As a da r t ing fi gurehead,
A s a s crolled and ca r v en stern !
CHAPTER X I V .
TATTOOING.
The M aori is p re-emin en tly the face—carver of mankin d .
Other tattooin g n ation s,such as the Japanese , confin e
them selves to the body , sketching in delible p ictures oftenfrom n eck to foot
,and the old British sailor-man is often
won drously m oho’d
,as the M aori would sav . I n
Polyn esia the M arquesan s and Tahitian s formerlytattooed their faces in strange p attern s . The Samoan
to—day is almost invariably tattooed,but on the legs and
body on ly . No man in Samoa is con sidered a warrior,
or is even accoun ted worthy the nam e of man un til hehas undergon e the p rocess of tattooing . Every adultmale Samoan is tattooed very closely from the waistdown to the kn ees , and the lin es of the marking are so
close together , and so elaborate, that the skin is quite
covered with the blue-black pattern s . A t Samoa,during
the war of 1899,I watched Malietoa ’
s n ative soldiers as
they marched , rifles on shoulders,out of Ap ia ,
on theirdaily fi ghting
-exp edition s . The sole garmen t of the
warriors was a coloured p rin t lavalava,fasten ed
roun d the waist and falling to the kn ees,and it was
gen erally caught up high on on e side to Show the
remarkable le g -tattooing . These Sam oan j ungle-fi ghterswere as p roud of their barbaric skin -ornam en t as the
white sold ier is of his smart tun ic,his rakish cap , and
his other martial trimm ings .
But it was the M aor i of New Zealand that elaboratedand p erfected the face -moire
,which is the true fin ishing
“
adornm en t, in his eves , of the chieftain and the tea .
Som e of the p ictures in this book will give an idea ofthe in tricate and really artistic design s exp ressed in the
INC 189
face - ta ttoo ing . Seve ra l of the chief p atte rn s in woodcarv ing w ill be found rep roduced in the face -make of
the o ld men, pa rticu larly the doub le sp ira ls on the
cheeks .There is a sp ec ial name for each line ; the cu rve d
lin es above the eyes , fo r in stan ce , are known as tiwhan a ,
which m ean s to span like a rainbow . On ly the Mao ri
women n ew tattoo their faces ; the taiig a-moko ,
faceengraving, of the men cease d abou t the tim e of the last
M aori war . The
sight of a tattooedM aori m an
,on ce
so fam iliar to us
in the n orth o f
N ew Z ealan d,is
n ow very rare in
deed ; and a few
years will see the
last of the m olro’
d
w a rr i o r s ,the ir
faces blue -carvedand chiselled likethe graven im agesin their coun cil
houses . I n NorthAucklan d , Wai
kato , the Bay of
Plen ty coast,the
Rotorua and Tan
po districts,
andNgakuru Pana , a Ra
fi
r
glwiifgl
lref , o f Wa i m a m aku ,
the U rewera country there are a
few left ; and some. of these , besides the face-adornm en tof Bauru ’s chisel , the
tattoo -design s of_ thex rapé r or i iki—l i QpQ A really well
tattooed old M aori is quite an art—gallery of curiousdevices ; and the fi nelv cut design s of scroll-work and of
curve within curve and Sp iral within sp iral on cheek and
forehead and n ose and chin give an added force and a
barbaric dign ity to the brown man’s face . On e can easily
imag in e how it was that in forme r rday s an
fluntat too ed
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
man was called a “n aked fellow .
” The term for a facedevoid Ofmoko is
~
p ap a- tea
,
” which may be in terp retedas
“ bare-boards .
”
Some years ag o a tattooing artist from the U rewera
coun try made a tour through the Bay of Plen ty district,
p erforming the op eration of tang o-ka i iac on the chin s
of the youn g wom en . He earn ed con siderably over £100in cash as the result of his trip ,
and busin ess was so
good,in fact
,that a Rotorua toli i mg a of the art
announ ced his in ten tion of touring the sam e district and
decoratin g the faces of
the young ladies at
prices which, as p a t ella
shopkeepers would saydefy com petit ion .
At Rotorua there is a
fem ale tattooer,a lady
who com bin es faithhealin g with li 'auae
en g ravin g . She usesn eedles set in a row
in the z i lz i in stead of
the old-style chisel of
bon e or"
Steel ."
AI
MtOo
'
er—
Of tO-day u suallycharg es £ 1 or £ 1 l 0s .
for the la nc e operation1“ "W"
0 11 the chin of brownA Tattooed Mao r i Wo m an .
beau ty .
I asked Hiki, a handsom e half- caste woman,why she
had subm itted to the chisel of the tohang a- ta.Said Hiki
,
w ith a cur l. of her p atrician blue -lin ed lip s ,I like it because it is a toha [a badge ] of New
Zealand . B esides , fr iend , did n ot your Europ ean ladieshave holes p ierced in the ir ears for ear-rings
,and don ’t
they squeeze the ir wai sts in sma ll, to try and look p retty .
Well, that is a mark o f the p akcha . M y kauac is theo rnam en t of the M aori.To be tattooed , the fa ir subj ect lies down full length
on a i o/iari/ri,O1"flax fl oor -mat
, and the op erator squats
192 TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
don e about 1842 , at a M aori fishing camp on M otu-tapuIsland
,in the Hauraki Gulf . The tattooer was a man
nam ed M okomoko,from the Waikato . The p rin cipal
p art of the tattooing was fin ished in four days ; the workon each cheek took one day ,
that on the n ose another ,and that on the forehead an other . The ten derest p artswere the lip s and the corn ers of the eyes . The
tattooer used a steel chisel , in p lace of the toroa , or
albatross-bon e . The ng arahi i or blue-black colourin gmatter was obtain ed by burn ing the heart of the
kahikatea p in e and collecting the soot,which was then
m ixed with oil and m ade into small balls . Patara ’s
brother , the late Honana Maioha,was tattooed at the
sam e tim e ; he was tattooed on on e hip as well as on the
face,in the sp iral fashion kn own as the rap é .
This rap é desig n is curiously widesp read . I n Rat z el’s
History of M ankind,
”vol . iii .
, p . 22,there is a p icture
of a tattooed Shuli n egro,in the Upp er Nile region . H is
face is tattooed,and his thigh is marked in a pattern
very like the M aori tattoo ; there are in comp lete sp irals
which resemble the curves of the rap é.
I n the South Island I have n oticed a p eculiar moko
which has n ot been recorded by any p revious writer,though it must surely have been observed by men like
Dr . Shortlan d , the Rev . S tack,and the Rev . VVohlers .
Som e of the elders of Ngai-Tahu— I p articularlyrem ember two old men at M oeraki (see sketches )— weretattooed in p arallel straight lin es horizon tally across theircheeks
,a fashion unkn own in the North. Though the
men I saw had forgotten its origin , this is the old,old
make,the last relic of the ir Eastern Pacific fatherland .
I t is believed to have been the tattooin g of Tamatea (Tcmo lco a Tamatea ) , the chief of the can oe Takitimu ,
who
settled at the south end of Lake Te An au,in the South
Island,six hundred y ears ag o . Tamatea
’s tattooin g was
p robably iden tical with the Tahitian and M arquesan
p attern s of rectilin ear devices,described bv Herman
M elv ille in Ty p ee ,”
and observed half a. cen tury laterby Robert Lou is S teven son
,whose tw0 ~ lin e p icture of a
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194 TH E M AORI S or NEW Z EALAND
those in terested in the M aori ; the collection should reallybe a national on e . M any of the celebrated historymakers of the M aori race
,both our olden en em ies and
our allies,during the last cen tury , are dep icted there
dour King Tawhiao,chivalrous Tam ati Waka Nen e
,
Patuon e the p eace—maker,Eewi Man iap oto , g igan tic
Wahanui the orator,Taraia the cann ibal
,Rop ata
Wahawaha ; p riestly wizards, fierce warriors and n oble
A Mao r i Ch ie f ’s Signatu r e . Tuhawa iiki , a ce le b rated Nga itahu ranwa.ti d r ew th isp ictu r e of his own face—tattoo on a land—sale d eed , about the y ea r 1840 .
wom en of the n ative race . A c lever artist of the youngergen eration
,Mr . Charles F . 1old ie
,of Au ckland
,has
d evoted him self to record ing on can"as the tattooed faceSI
of the rap id ly -
passing ven erable chiefs and 11 11017 011 110
wom en ,and he has p roduced much sp lendid work in
Maor i. p ortra itu re ; some good examp les are to be seenon the wa lls of the Auckland A rt Gal lerv and other New
Zea lan d galleries . H is studies of the fin e old chiefl
CH APTER XV
NATURE -LORE AND FOREST—CRAFT.
Living very clo se to Nature , the M aor i was an acuteob server of the ways of the wilds ; he caught strangewhisp erings of unknown things , and hi s mind was
satu rated with the magic and mystery of the bush . Thefore st s from which he drew much of hi s means of li fewere famil iar to him from hi s childhood ; they were hi shome
,defence
,and refuge p lace ; y et he had careful
resp ect for the sp i r i t s which haunted them ,and a dread
of offending the tapu-hedged deitie s that made the woodsthei r abiding-
p lace ; and he has not vet lo s t that ancientinstinct .He was p rone , too , to invest p rominent feature s of the
landscap e , the overhanging cl i ff and the purp l e mounta in
p eak,with strange and p oeti c l egends , and with even
human attribute s . Nature -worshipp er as he was, everything was p erson ifi ed
— the trees,the streams
,the ram
and dew,the mi st
,the sunshine . A s we have seen
,in
p reviou s chap ters , he had great resp ect for the“ Wac
tapu -nui- a—Tane,
” the “ Vast and Holy Woods of Tane .
”
In the moi s t fogs that ro se l ike fleecy wra i ths from ther ivers and the swamp s were the Hau-maring iring i , thedewy children of Rangi and Papa . These
,too
,were the
d ivine o ff
sp ring of the Skv -father and Earth -mother :the Han -nui and Toma i ran g i , the dew ; Tane -narangi ,the heavy rain ; Hau-marotoroto
,rai n in big drop s ;
and the grateful warmth of m idsunuuer davs was the
‘
With the stars the M aori i s famil iar from of old,and
m an y a curi ous sto ry he has to tel l of the Bright-
i
| A tutahi o r Autahi, the Star of
the South ; Ko ]m-
p arapara. or Tawera,the bright
NA'
I.‘
U I t I‘Z- M ) “ It) AN I ) - ( 1I{A FT
mo rning s ta r,
a nd i ts ha rbinge r, twi nklingbla zing lx
’
ehna o r S i rius , and Ma ta riki,o r the
Ple iade s , the se and many ano the r p lane t, and
conste llati on are enshrined in song and n atu ren i y th,
on which manv chapte rs cou ld be w ri tten .
Like the l reeks who saw A rgo the Ship blazoned in theheav ens , the M aori see s the star ry outlin e s of cla s si ccanoes , Te \Vaka - o—Pip i ri , and To \Vaka-o —Ta inare reti .
The M ilky Way i s Te I ka, l\’li
ang o—roa
,
“ The Long Sha rkfi sh.
” The Southern Cro ss,his anci en t steering—u'
na rk a t
sea,i s Maahu- tonga (Maahu- o f—the -Soutl i ) , and aga in i s
cal led by some t ribe s Te V Vha i-a-Titip a ,—"Titipa ’
s
Sting- ray —p robably in al l u sion to i ts shap e ; the
“ Pointers,
” A lpha and Beta Cen tauri , a re the tail of thestarry The Riu -o-Maahu ,
or “ Maahu ’s Hollow
Trunk ” (the hold of a canoe ) is the Coal -Sack , the blackspace near the Southern Cro ss . Te Rua—o - M atarik i i sthe cave into which the Pl eiades are supp o sed to
di sapp ear when they set beneath the hori zon . There i sa p oeti cal exp res sion sometimes used in referring to thedeath of a chief : he has vani shed to Matariki ’s dark rue .
In many native districts there are certain trees which,
say the M aori s,indi cate by thei r manner of flowering and
bearing fruit what the season ’s weather and the harvestwill be . On the southern side of Lake Rotoiti
,in the
Arawa coun try,stand two large and ancient p ohumkawa
trees famous in the forest and nature- l o re of the lake
p eop le . They are wha t the M aori s cal l rakau-tohu-ka i,
food—p rophesying trees ,”and rakau- tOhu- tau
,
“ seasonomen- trees .
” One,cal l ed “ Tukurukuru
,
” stands on thecl i ff-top overhanging the lake at Haup aru,
j u st on thewestern side of that hamlet ; the other known as
“ Whakaue ,
” stand s on the western side of Baato vil lage,
on the li ttl e beach , quite clo se to the coach road . Thelocal M aori s
,by noti cing the manner of flowering of these
trees early in the summer , p rofes s to p redict to a
certainty what the season wil l b e in thei r food p lantations , whether good or the reverse . If the p ohutukawastarted to flower on the l owest branches first and so
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
gradual ly burst into blo s som from the bo ttom up (haereake i rare ) , i t is a whakam ai
,an omen of a warm and
p leasant season (taw mahcma ) , and a frui tful and
abundant year for crop s . But,i f
,on the contrary
,the
buds burst fir st at the top and the tree flower s downwardso r p artial ly down , i t i s a tohu-kin o
,a s ign of a cold and
inclement season (tau-he l m) and a di sa strous year fo rthe food gardens , a
“ hungry year ” (tau mate kai ) .
A scrap of Rotoiti folk- song describe s the order inwhich some of the lakeside trees b lo ss omed and fruited .
I hea koia koeI te whitu
,i te warn
,
I te kohatan g a o te pohutukawa ‘?
To te t ito‘k i
,whero te r ata
I te warn e .
(Whe r e in deed we r e youIn the se v enth m on th of the yea r , in the eighth
,
When the bu ds of the pohutukawa opened “.zTh en bu r st open the red t i toki be r r i e sAnd the r ata ’s red flowe r s appea r edIn the su m m e r -t i m e . )
The seventh and eighth months of the M aori yearcorre sp ond to our November and December .
Another item of Lake Roto it i fore st folk—lore :On the cl i ffy s ide of lofty Matawhaura M ounta in
,as we
p a s s out of Pararaki Bay ,there are a number of large
and ancient trees growing in a row a l ong the mountainwa ll
,and bending downwards over the deep water . They
are chiefly p ohumkawa ,with here and there a texme ;
thev grow just bel ow the p oint known as Te Koroki- tewao . These tree s are cal led by the M aori s “ Ng a ~ mokai-a
Tarawhata,
” which means “Tarawhata
’s Slaves .
” Theyw ere so named centuries ag o by some of the early lake
p eop l e ; Tarawhata was a. brother of the renownedHawaiikian ancestor Tuamutua
,of six hundred years
back . The trees used to sigh and l oudly comp la inin the frequent s trong winds which came down Pararaki
'
Bay ,and l ike o ther p rominent c liff-growing tree s their
huge branches w ould be seen swaying in the air,and
heard creaking and groaning against each other even
200 TH E MAOR-IS OF NEW ZEALAND
M any semi -rel igiou s cu stoms and Ob servances wereob served in the capture of the fore st-birds , the flap p ingchi ldren of Tiki and Tane . When the season came fo rthe snaring of the wood-
p igeon , the tut, the kake , and
other birds,they were careful to o ffer the firs t bi rd taken
to the Sp ir i t of the forest ; were thi s neglected i t woul dbe most unwise
,for the bi rd s would desert the place .
In some bu sh di strict s there may be seen lying beneath
tree s such as the
mire,old wooden
troughs shapedl ike a canoe . Theyhave been placedthere as waka
whangai , beingfi lled w i th wat erfor the b irds . Thep i g e o n s , w h e nthirsty aft er feedin g on the mire
berrie s,wou ld fly
down to drink in
the wake . Justabove the canoerows of runningloop snare s (here)wou ld be set by
M 0 mm by c . mam a , iM m . the bird -hunters,
Te Aho-o-te-Rangi , an o ld \V a ikato wa r r io r and and in these sn ajresce leb rated Can oc-a r ch i tect .
the p igeon s wou ldoften be caught by the neck . The firs t b i rd caught wou ldnever be taken hom e by the M ao ri s ; i t must be l eft bythe s ide of the canoe , dead or al ive , as a thank- o fferingto the gods . I Vhen u sing the l ong bi rd - sp ear they werevery careful no t to al l ow any bl ood to touch their hands ,in p ul ling out the barb from the bird ’s body . Should thebi rd ’s bl ood stain the fowler ’s hand s
,the sp ear u sed
would lo se i t s sp ecial m e nu, and coul d no l onge r be u sedwith succes s .
N l l ll l'I- I A ll l'I A N l ) Li ll1
O pposi te O nga rue Sta tion ,K ing Country ,
o n the Ma inl‘
rnnk lta ilwa y line ,in the hills ac ro s s the ( )nga rue
f ive r , about, a mile and a ha l f awa y , i s Te Rong o roa
n i sl i , a clump o f wood land famous f rom time immemoria lnnong st the Mao ri s as a p lace fo r sn z
'
i riug and s pea ringhe ti l-i o r p ar son -bi rd . A t a ce rtain sea son of the y ea r
he [at gathers he re in grea t numbe rs , ci rcl ing round1nd round with many cri e s , as if thi s were some socia li sscn
'
ilny -
p lace of d i rd - land . Thi s fo re st consi st s o f
imbers which are n ot the favouri te feeding tree s of thei i i
,so that the y do n ot gather here for food. The Mao ri
zx p lanation of thi s congres s of the tut i s tha t tlntong oroa bush contain s the sacred f
ift ee n,or tali sman ,
if the native birds ; thi s m am i i s a ston e p laced here byL toka /
ng a of old , and duly lim'
tiJiVHL’d ove r . Thi s embl em[as ensured an abundance of bi rd s . To thi s dav tut
tbOHlld in the Rong oroa bush in the snaring season , andbid Tu - tahang a ,
a member of the Ngati -Man iapoto tr ibe ,vho l ives at the l i ttl e M aori. vi llage of Ongarue , s til lakes out hi s snaring tackl e to the sacred woodland , ande turn s well laden with bird s .
The most rudimen tarv art of p rimi tive man,the
lbtain in g of fire from wood by friction,was often
»ractised in the bush in modern times,e sp ecial ly
1 the war-days of the “ sixti es,
” when the M ao ri seldom had mat ches and only a few of themossessed flint and steel . T he make
,o r ha fikomako
,
fee was the one most u sed for fi re -making ;[1 exp ert in bushcraft can obtain fire from a
ood dry p i ece of thi s timber in a few minute s . Themtkomako i s the fl re -goddess ’s tree
,in M aori legend .
[ahuika was the goddess ; she l iteral ly had fi re at her
tiger- tip s . To her the cunning M aui,hal f god
,hal f
aortal,went in the dim old days when wonders were
rought in the M aori Isl e s of the Sea , and caj ol ed fromer all her fiery fi ng er -nai l s and toe s excep t one . Thisre refused him ,
and he by hi s incantations brought downdeluge of rain , which threatened to exting ui sh the fire sMahuika . The goddess , to save the remnant of the
202 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
fire,threw it into the kaikomako tree , which hold s i t
to thi s day . I Vherefore i t was that the M aori sought outthe kaikomako in the Great -Fore st—of—Tane and with a
rubbing- stick of tame wood coaxed the saving fire fromits heart .An old p akcha
- M aori,who l ived with the Taranaki
Hauhaus all through the war s of 1865 - 69,tel l s me that
he had frequently to p rocure fi re by friction in thi s waywhen out p ig -hunting or on the war -
p ath .
“ I wouldhunt around
,
” he says,
“ until I found a good drykaikomako
,and would set a chunk of thi s on the ground
and get to work with a sharp -
p ointed p i ece of tawa . Thedust from the groove form ed by the rubbing would coll ecta t one end and thi s would at last igni te
,and then I would
have some dry mos s or a p ie ce of old fl ax mat or something of that sort ready for the fire . If I wanted to carryfire when on the march through the bush
,I would cut a
short p iece of the hol low ramvine and set fire to one endof i t ; i t would burn away slowly inside
,and all I had to
do was to s tu ff up the ends and wrap up the rate in mossand i t would smoulder away slowly for hour s . Thus,when it was time to camp ,
we could quickly get a fire forwarmth and cooking without the trouble of hunting fora dry kaikomako and sweating over i t with a rubbing
TH E M AORIS OF NE‘V ZEALAND
go up there p ig -hunting on such a day . The fa i ri e s weresometimes heard singing their fa i ry bakes . The elder
p eop l e say that long ag o their fathers heard these dancesongs chanted high up in the mountain , on sti ll calm dayswhen fog envelop ed the upp er p arts of the range . Thisi s one of the fai ry halcas , as recited bv old t ia
Horahia te m a r ino, Sp r ead out below l i es Roto r ua Lak e ;Horahia i Roto r ua ; How cal m and st i l l it l ie s !Tukua te r angi mo te r u r i Th i s is our day for dan ce and song .
K ia rerehu-i How far the soun d w il l t ra v e l !E binawa-e
Te R ii a n d t he En c ha n t e d Fo r e s t .
One night some years ag o ,as the peop l e of a li ttl e hapu
on the Up p er Wa i tara River,in Taranaki
,sat smoking
thei r p ip e s of strong torori round the fire in the whe re
pum’
,after the p rayers were over , the rambling white
man who was camp ed with them a sked Hakop a , the chi ef ,to tel l him of the fai ry p eop l e of the bush , of whom he
had heard much but had never had the fortune,good or
ill to encounter in all hi s wanderings .
Fri end,
” said the old m an,
“ the Patu-
p aiarehe are
still a numerous p eop l e in thi s land , and their dwel l ingsare the great bunches and bu shes of kiekie and
kowhamwham which y ou see growing in the forks of thefores t t rees . They live ever in the fo re s t
, and y ou may
p as s their homes a hundred times and never see them,
yet they are sti l l there,as I my self wel l know
,for I have
seen them in the night and heard them singing thei rfa i ry songs .
”
“ And I,too , have heard the Pe ta -
paiarehe , and I dono t wish to hear them again .
”
It was Te Rii,the Red—head
,who broke in on old
Hakop a’s exp lanati on of. the habi ts an d customs of the
Pa,ta -
p criarehc .
Te Ri i was a Ngati -Mam man , a bearded middl e—agedfe l l ow with a shaggy head of hai r that had the fai rcop p ery tinge cal l ed bv the M ao ri s mat- licehu or “ redhair .
”
SU M I". A N I ) I“A I It \’
He had l ived nea rl y a ll hi s li fe in the bush country of
the Uppe r Wai ta ra , and ta lk o f the fai rie s and the wood s
se t him II e handed his p i pe to his
neighbou r a t the fi re side , a young woman,who p ut i t in
her mouth and sucked at i t conten tedly .
“ It was up on the ridge o f hi l l s cal l ed the l ’ae -Patu
pa iarchc that I fel l in with the fai ri e s , said To Rii .
This ridge of rough mountainou s land i s cove redeverywhe re with thick fo rest . It l ie s away on the up per
p art of thi s Wa i tara Rive r , not far f rom I ’uran g i
vil lage .The bush there is ful l of bi rd s , and i t i s a
grand p lace for the fru it of the Metric , but there i s a
p ecul iar thing about the kick/ lie there— the frui t i s qui te
red inside ,instead of being white as i t i s elsewhere . Thi s
i s because i t i s the food of the fai rie s ; and i f we go the refor that frui t we shal l have to p rop i tiate them wi th a
ke rat in ,else things may p erhap s not go wel l with u s .
“ Immediately a stranger , a M aori o r a p akeha. of thi souter world
,enter s those tapu forests hi s p re sence i s
detected by the fa irie s,and they wil l sometimes p lay
strange tricks on him . He wil l p erhap s hear a strangewild woman ’s voice cal l ing , thin and high , our M aori crvof wel come to vi s ito rs
I-I aere—mai e te manuhiri tuarang i
and so on , but when he follows in the direction whencethe invitat ion came
,he wil l find no one— it was the
phantom voice of the Patu-
p ai arehe .
“ Now,some years ag o , I went up to the Fae-Patu
p aiarehe hunting the wild p ig . Up near the top of theforest range I kil l ed a p ig , and after cleaning it Istrapp ed it on my back , with bands of fl ax over eachshoulder
,and started to return to my camp in the bu sh
below . The country was all ridges and gul l ie s— so,l ike
the fingers of my hand— and everywhere the trees,and
ferns and shrub s grew thickly and were tied togetherwith vines and kareao
,and the fai ry fl ax
,the
kowharawham,grew in great bunches of long leaves in
the tree-forks . I walked on and on,and scrambled
CH APTER XVII .
O M ENS TI PUAS ,AND TANIWHAS .
Every M aori tr ibe has i t s omen-mounta in , wherel ightning flashing in a p ecul iar manner , p art icularly infine calm weather
,i s read as an omen of death or
mi sfortune . In Wa ikato and other di stri ct s thesemountain s are cal l ed maung a
-hikong a-uira p eaks
where l ightning fla shes ” ; in the U rewera country theyare known as ruc -kohe ; in the Hot Lakes di str ict as
rue -kanap a . A noted rue —kan apu. in the Lakes Countryi s Matawhaura mountain , at the ea stern end of Roto iti ;l ightning flashes darting downward s from immediatelyabove thi s p eak are interp reted as an omen of death fo rmember s of the Ngati -Pikiao tribe
,of Roto iti . E l se
where,Moehau
,or Oap e Colville , Ran g itoto (the K ing
Country range ) , Pi rongia,Wharep uhunga ,
KarewaIsland
,are such p eaks of omen . Rang itoto i s the
l ightning mounta in of the Nga ti -Matakore tribe,of the
Rohep otae . When lightning fla she s straight downwardson that range a chi ef of the tribe wil l d ie . Says a songof lamentation :
Fea r fu l ly flashes the l i ghtn i ngOn Rang itoto
’s peak ."Tie a m essage to me
A s i gn of D eathTo my ch i l d r en , to my t r ibe ,
Of e v i l to fall upon
The people .
”
Te Kanae— “ The Jaw ”— the bold ridge bare of tree s ,which stretches out from Ngongotaha mounta in towardsLake Rotorua
,and ends in a. steep rock—strewn and fern
clad b lu ff,sl op ing abrup tly to the p lain clo se to the
railway lin e,i s a l ightning—mountain of grea t mem e . It
i s regarded b y the A rawa. as a p lace of omen , and i t i s
TH E M AOR-I S OF NEW ZEALAND
lakes and river s , p lunging al ong l ike the F lying Dutchman ,
head to win d . Says old Ng a - M ahanga ,of the
Ngati -Pikiao tribe , Rotoiti“ In my younger days there was an enchanted tree
,a
sacred taniwha-log ,which u sed to dri ft about thi s lake
,
Rotoi ti . It s name was M ataura . It had original ly beena p ea
- teu-koum ,that i s a p o st to which the crayfi sh net s
were fastened or stretched for drying ; i t s tood on theeast s ide of Pateko Isl et , the side facing Tapuaeharuruvi l lage
,but i t b roke adrift an d used to go sai l ing about
the lake,and i t was regarded as a tan iwha, [demon ] . It s
own er was one Kahu -Pukatea,of the Waitaha tr ibe
,and
he a lone could app roach i t . It was a tohu-aitua,an evi l
omen,to see i t at clo se quarters , should one be out in a
canoe ; i t u sual ly app eared to the p eop l e only as a har
binger of misfortune or death . Should you come acro s si t in a year when war p reva i l ed , i t was a s ign that therewould shortly be a battl e in which many l ive s would belo st . Should you see i t in a tau-ate , that i s , a year of
p eace and quietne s s , i t was an omen of mi sfortune toyour tribe in the form of a fatal vi sitation of s icknes so r of dea th s cau sed by makutu— witchcraft . It was la stseen floating about
,with i ts head rai sed above water
,in
the year of the great fight at Te Ranga,near Tauranga
[in the year 1864 ] when the white sol di er s so terriblydefeated the M aori s and shot and bayoneted many ofthe Ng aiterang i and al s o the Ngati -Pikiao of thi sd i s trict
,an d the Ngati -Ran g iwewehi of Rotorua .
”
Another eccentri c timli er- tamwha tha t u sed to gocrui sing round Rotoi ti was a totara- l og cal l ed “ TeUp oko
-o-Huraki -tai"(“ Huraki - ta i ’s It wasa m kau- tipua , a magic tree . It would go sail ing aboutthe lake
,wi th a broken branch at one end sticking up
above the water , an d sometimes when i t appeared at
Tapuac -haruru , at the ea s tern end of the lake,the
p eop l e would go ou t to i t and would reci te karakia o rcha rm s to p rop i tiate the sp i r i t whi ch inhabited i t and
would adorn i ts branching head wi th feathers,j us t as if
i t w ere a living p erson .
o iu i-s,
A NDt
rAN iw n As 2111
Ano the r Mao ri banshee “ a s— and p erhap s sti l l i sthe en chanted log Rz-ing irir i, which , when I last heardof i t
,la y s t randed below Da rg avi ll e , on the No i the i n
Wai roa River . Rangi ri ri i s a t Cl /Cwlt tip/1m
,a demo 11~ t i co .
It i s a l og of to tem,who se e rrati c c rui ses up and
down the river were l ooked on b y the Ngati -\Vha tnanatives w ith supe rsti ti ous d read. Rangi ri ri u sed to p laysome queer p rank s on the [ to would sometime srun in to a raft of l ogs and break i t up fo r shee r devilment . He would be seen steering straight up the rive r,wi th his wooden ta i l sti cking up , right against the e bb
tide,or he would take a run down stream in sp i te o f the
fact that a. strong flood - tide was setting in his tee th .
That sort of thing invested him with sup ern a tu ralattributes . O ften
,again , a b ird
,a lm lm pa (p igeon ) ,
a [m an na (shag )— the bird of i ll - omen— would be seen
perched sil ently on the l og as i t p l oughed its ghostly way
through the ye l l ow waters of the IV airoa . That was a
si gn that never fail ed . It told the rivers ide p eop le thatsome one of thei r headmen was soon to die . A s fatefuland significan t an omen as the down -fl ashing of thesummer forked - l ightning on the sacred p eak of Tutamoewas the app earance of that demon—l og at a kaing a on theriver -bank . When Rangirir i l eave s hi s bed on the muddyshores and goes no sing up the river ,
’ti s not l ong beforezl1e tangi ’s mournful wai l wil l be ra i sed a l ong thelVairoa .
*
Thi s and other weird folk- tal e s of the IVairoa were:old me once by the late chief Te Rore Taoho . He was a
vi z en ed grey old fel low,wearing a fine shark ’s - tooth
) endan t in each ear . Squatting beside him in his
veatherboard house by the Kaibu ’s banks,was another
reteran ,the tattooed , saturnine Hap eta . And the tal e s
ame forth of the Tan iwhas of the Kaip ara and I Vairoa .
There were tan-iwhas and demons of land and water
He r e (at B r e r eton , in Chesh i r e ) is on e th ing inc r edib ly st r ange ; butttested to m y se l f b y m any pe r son s , and common lv be l i e v ed Be fo r eny h e i r of th i s fa m i ly d ies the r e al e seen in a lake adj o i n ing the bod i esEt i ces swi m m i ng on the water f or se\ e1 al days . —Camdcn ’
s“ B 1 i ta111ua .
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
haunting all thi s di stri ct,sa id the old men , in the days
that are p ast . F rom the Ka ip ara Heads right up theWa i roa and the Kaihu
,these dragons and l ep rechauns
held sway . The high clay and sandy hi l l s at the mouthof the Kaipara were once the homes of powerful sea
gods . If a canoe and i t s crew di sapp eared there , was i tnot the work of the water -monster , who ra i sed the angrywaves and drew the dug-out and p addler s down into hi sawful maw ? Koia ano ! These tamwhas must certa inlybe p rop i tiated if the mariner i s to l ive . And when p akehaship s go to p i eces on the Kaipara Heads shoa l s , whoshal l say that i t i s not the work of the tan twha ?The great dragon of the Ka ip ara was Pokop oko
(ap p arently a deified or tan iwha-fi ed hero of o lden days )who dwel t in a cave under a hal f-tide rock at the westernhead of the Ka ipara River , close to which the whi teman ’s steamers p as s . Not far away i s Shel ly Beach
, a
nat ive settlement , and in i t s vi cinity are the vestiges ofa cl i ff on which once stood the great Okaka Pa . Thi swas Pokop oko
’s hunting-ground . Here he was wont to
a s semble hi s army of sea -monsters,of gamboll ing
tamwhas and maraki—hau ; they would gather here and
p erform thei r singular evolutions before the dreadcavernous eyes of the ir sea- l ord . And he would p lacehi s sacred brand on thei r back s
,a mark in kokowai
(red ochre ) , and the wonderful insp ection p aradeof the M aori T ri tons woul d be di smi s sed . Theonly taniwhas , say the Northerners
,who would
not bow before Pokop oko and submit to the sea
god ’s ear-mark were Nina an d A rai - te -uru,who
now dwell under the Head s of Hokianga. Harbour .
Po s sibl y the sea - creatu re s of Pokop oko’s marine p arade
were a s chool of blackfisli , o r of p o rp o i se s , or a herd ofthe van i shed sea -l i on s , which would readi ly becometa1z i111hn s to anv M ao ri of a. rea sonabl y imaginativem ind .
S even gen erat i on s ag o Pokopoko dest roy ed the OkakaPa and a ll i t s inhabi tants . A 150 71111119 11 named M awe ,who cheri shed a grudge agains t the Ngati-Whatna
216 THE M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
“ I ading into the water , she began to p i ck up the
wriggl ing locum from the sandy bottom , placing themin the fl ax basket that she carried slung over her bareshoulders . The river—demon
,in order to entice her
further in,cunningly sti rred up the sand , and made the
hom e come out in numbers,so that the woman , del ighted
with the abundance of the li ttl e crayfi sh , waded intodeep er water , intent on fill ing her basket . Al l at once ,when she was in as deep as her wai s t
,the scaly monster
sei zed her,and op ening hi s trem endou s jaws swa l l owed
her,koum
,basket and all
,fir st b iting off her head
,which
she sp at out and set on a fl at s tone at the river-edge,as
a warning to others not to offend the Tan iwha and
Ng am ra family . There the head l ong remained,no one
daring to touch it ; and there i s the very rock to thi s dayto convince all unbel ievers
,white or brown
,of the truth
of thi s tal e of the Tan iwha .
Se v e ra l o the r Ro to r ua tn n iu’ha. sto r i es speak of th ese legen da r y wate r1
‘
no ns ters as ha v i ng been kep t as 1110 150 13 or“ pets b y ce r ta i n ch i efs . A
v e ry sugges t i v e pa r a lle l , and poss ib l e sou r ce o f those s to r i es . is the an cien tEgyp t i an p r a c t i ce , as m ent i on ed b y Dr , K i tto in h i s B ib l i cal n otes
, of
keep i ng and feed i ng ta m e c r ocod i l e s . The sam e. cus to m has been noteda m on gs t; the n eg roes o f “ f est A f r i ca . .D r . K i tto iden t i fies the c rocod i leo f the N i le w i th Le v ia than as d esc r ibed in the Ro ok o f Job .
C H APTER XV I I I .
THE POET {Y OF TIIE
Full of bold images of Sp ee ch and often of much
p atho s and beauty are the e legiac ba l lad s and dirge swhi ch fo rm p robably the la rgest secti on of the p oet ry o f
the Maori . The mourners as the.
r gathe r on the ”LC”(i a
at the wai l ing-
p lace liken the dead chief to a l ofty fore s tt ree overthrown— “ 7mm. hing e te t(1ta1
'
a” — to a ca rved
war- canoe shattered by the wave s ; to a sweet singingbi rd who se voi ce i s hushed . The leading men of theas sembl ed tribes wil l p ace to and fro ,
fine fl ax o r fea thermats thrown acro ss their shoulders
,over thei r Europ ean
clothe s and greenstone , whal ebone or wooden weap on s ,cheri shed family hei rl ooms
,in their hands
,and thu s
addre s s the deadGo
,O Sire ! Go to the black p it of death ! Go to the
Re ing a ,the l eap ing-of
f
p lace of departed sp i ri t s !Depart to the underworld , to the home of Hine -nui - te -Po
[The Great Lady of Night ] , for that i s the great abodeof us all ! Go to greet y our ancestors who have gonebefore you ! Go ! ”
And then they wil l chant a wild lament in which oftenthe whole as semblage j o ins
, a tang i-
p oem p erhap scenturie s old .
And again :“ Who i s thi s p erson , Death
“
? [K 0 wai ten ei tang ata ,
A ituaf ] Had he but taken the form of a man,I coul d
fight him with thi s taiaha of mine ! But he i s intangible,
and he cannot be conquered .
”
M any a chanted lament heard in the kaing a echoe sthe words of O ss ian , bewai l ing the deaths of Ryno and
O rla“ They have fal len l ike the oak of the desert ; whenit l ie s acro s s a stream and withers in the wind
.
”
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
the flying clouds,the pas sage of the wind the
ng sea,the on - rol l ing river
,the M aori s inger finds
‘
ation . A deserted wife chants :
The sun sh ines fo r th,
Pleasant to the sk in ;But thou art gone .
The t ideway r o l l s,Down speeds the sw ift r i v e r ;But the hu sban d co m es not aga i n .
Y et on th is salt sea -b r eezeHe may r etu r n to m e .
at ive lament frequently begins with such
E to e te Ra,rehurehu ki te rua ;
Ringi- r ingi a wai te roimata i aku ka m o .
(The sun is sett i n g , s i nk i ng to his ocean ca v e ;L i ke wate r the tea r s fl ow dow n my cheeks . )
i an ancient man,seated on some tree—shaded
n ee overlooking hi s ancestra l lands,chant s in hi s
ng sing- song a lament fo r hi s old home and hi sls of other day s
R ippl ing afa r are theWate r s of Wa ikato ,
Pa r ted f ro m you am IBy the fast -fl ow in g t i de .
Oh,sho r es of Kaw h i a ,
Sepa rated I ’
111 f r o m y ouB y the sw i ft -speed i ng
,
Fast - r o l l i n g t i de.
1ther song of l ove and regret,a 11117 113areha
,begins
The f r esh Sou th w i n d ,Blow i n g co l d f ro m Tong ar iro ’
s snowsF eeds upon my sk i n ;
n the breeze the singer imagines the message ofted fri end i s borne to her .
e - songs or p e e and to o,form a large
11 of M aori. p oetry . M any of these are hi storic,
d down by word of m outh . The romance ofand Tutan ekai
, fo r in stan ce , i s sun g in every3 o f the On e dav on M oko ia I sland , a
attooed old dame sai d
TH E M AORIS OF NEIV ZEALAND
In the flying clouds,the p as sage of the wind the
surging sea,the on - ro ll ing river
,the M aori S inger finds
insp iration . A deserted wife chant s
The sun sh ines fo r th,
Pleasant to the sk i n ;But thou art gone .
The t ideway r ol l s,Dow n speeds the swift r i v e r ;But the hu sban d co m es n ot aga i n .
Y et on th i s sa lt sea -b r eezeHe may r etu r n to m e .
A nat ive lament frequently begins with such l ine s as
these :E to e te Ra
,rehurehu ki te rua ;
Ringi-r ingi a wai te roimata i aku ka m o .
(The sun is sett i n g , s i nk i ng to h i s ocean ca v e ;Like wate r the tea r s fl ow dow n my cheeks . )
And an ancient man,seated on some tree - shaded
eminence overlooking hi s ancestra l lands,chant s in hi s
droning sing- song a lament for hi s old home and hi sfriends of o ther days '
R i ppl i n g afa r are theWate r s of Wa ik ato,Pa r ted f r o m you am IBy the fast -fl ow in g t ide .
Oh,sh o r es of Kawh ia ,
Sepa rated I ’ m f ro m youBy the sw i ft -Speeding .
F ast - r ol l i n g t i de .
Another song of l ove and regret , a 110177113areha,begins
The .f r esh Sou th w i n d ,B low i n g col d f r o m Toug ar iro ’
s snow s,
F eeds upon my sk i n ;
and in the breeze the singer imagines the mes sage ofa p arted friend i s bo rne to her .
Love - songs o r p e e and rarer zu'
c, to o , form a large
secti on of M aori p oetry . Many of the se are hi storic,
handed down by w ord of m outh. The romance ofH in emoa and Tutan eka i, for instance , i s sun g in everyvi l lage of the A rawas . One day on M oko ia I sland , a
blue - ta tto oed old dame sa id :
T HE POETRY o n T H E M AO RI 2 19
Li s ten ,0 p e li
'
clm ! Thi s i s the lacuna e song handeddown amongst our p eop l e , the 11
‘
e ie te wh ich Tutaneka icom po sed for a fl ute - song
,when he and T iki p la y ed
to l linemoa o f Owhata”
and she wagged he r cl o sec ropp ed venerable head , and imitated the sound of the
p laying of the koe/
e en ,the no se - fl ute , with the brea th
of the no stri ls,and at the same time the nasa l l ong
drawn singing of the we ie te(TRAN SLATION )
N a -a to waka -ra I n yo u cano eKa i tc Kopua -a
,Thou ’
lt paddle to Moko ia’s i s le .
Ha i-i wa -aka 1n a i 1110 -0 11 F ro m hea v e n art thou ,
K i-i Mokoia -a .
“
Pro m hea v en ’s c r i m son l i gh t,
Ka i r ang i n a koe -c,
O da r l i ng o f my hea r t !K a i r ang i ku r a-a te tam e ! Sec yonde r lone ly fo r mKo ’
a i ra -a i r uuga 0 11 l ri-kapua ’s d i stan t r ockI -a -a I ri- i r i -Kapua ? Pe r c hance ’
t is l l'
inem oa,
K 0 H inemoa p ea-a
,The m a i den ch i ld o f Umukar ia
Kc te-e tamahine o -o Umukaria -a ; A lo v i ng w i fe o f m i ne thou ’lt be .
H a i tau naku ki te w ha r e ra-a .
”
‘And this,
” sa id the tattooed descendant of H in emoa,
i s the song which H in emoa i s sa id to have sung as shesat l onely on y ou rock at Owhata when She found tha tShe could not launch a canoe to p addle to her Tutan ekai
”
and she chanted a p laintive l i ttl e l ow-
p itched ze e ie te
A ue, my we l l -belo v ed !Oh that thou woul d ’st co m e for me !
Then sea r ch i ng, slow ly paddl i ng ,Thy w i l l i ng b r i de wou ld ’
st fi nd,
And both woul d fl ee togethe r .He r e on th i s lon ely r est i n g -place
,
L i ke g r ey n i gh t -owl ,I sadly c rouch and wa i t .
Woul d that I we r e in thy dea r ho m e ,On Whit irere ’
s th r esho l d the r e abo v e !I ’d g r eet thee fon dly and e m b raceThy lo r dly fo r m , w i th ch i ef ’s tattoo ado r ned
O lo v e r m i ne ! ”
An often- sung 1ee 1le te -emhe o r p e e to -day i s theretty love- song which begins :
(TRAN SLATION .
okihoki tonu mai te wa i r ua o te Of t the sp i r i t of my lo v e r etu r n s totau
,m e
i te awh i -Rein ga ki tene i ki r i-e ! To e m b race i n Reing a-lan dtaw h i t i te a r oha c pai ana e te Th i s fo rm of m i ne .
tau . Though far away , I e v e r d r ea mpaanga ki te uma m a m ac an a
, e F ondly of thee,
te tau ! And a sweet pa i n i s e v e r inMy boso m , O my Lo v e !
TH E MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Another p oeti c l ove- song with some beautiful meta
phors i s the fol lowing, which I fir s t heard sung in a p 0 1}
chant by a p arty of Wanganui and Turakina g i rl s
Whakepukepuke ai an -e !
Te roimata i aku ka m o,He r ite ki te nga r uWhat i mai waho -c l
Taku turanga ake
I te take o te r ata ,K a t itiro atu
K i te akauroa-c l
K o te r ite i aku ka m oK i te pua ko r a r i ;Ka pupuhi te hau
,
Ka m arin g i te wai-c l
KO te r ite i ahauK i te ran o te w iw i ,E w iwiri n ei
He nui n o te arOha -e !
H e a r oha takn hoa
I hu r i ai k i te moe ,
He i ha r i atu
(TRAN SLATION )L i ke a flood
,ah me !
The tea r s fl ow f r o m m i n e eyes ;They bu r st l ik e ocean -wa v esB r eak i ng yon de r on the sho r e .
Ah me !
Lon ely I sit
Beneath my rate t r ee ,Gaz i ng , e v e r gaz i n gU pon the long sea -st ran d .
Ah me !
My weep i ng ey esA re l i ke the d r oop i ng fl ax -fl owers ;When the w in d r ust les th e m
,
Down fal l the honey showe r s .Ah me !
I am l i ke nu toThe lea v es of the whet-r eedQu i v e r i n g , shak i n g , t r e m bl i ngWith the st r ength of my lo v e .
A ll m e !
Ah ! On ce lo v e w as m y co m pan i on‘ Vhen I tu r n ed m e to slu m be r ;I t was the Sp i r it of my lo v e
Ki r a r o Rein g a e te tau-c l That ioin ed m e in the Lan d of Dr ea m s .
T h e Dirg e fo r M o ve r e .
The most beautiful native wefata- te ng i o r lament Ihave ever heard
,I think
,i s the Taranaki dirge fo r the
Hauhau warrior s who fel l on the fata l glaci s Of SentryHil l in 1864
,when the rifle s and the cohorn mortar s of
the Bri ti sh garri son p oured a shower of death on the
p rophet I—I ep anaia and his charging fanati cs
,who boldly
advan ced on the redoubt in Op en day . It i s often sungto -day in the vil lages of the Ngati -Ruanui and Ng a.
Ruahine on the IV aimate Plain s,and from Wa i tara to
the foo t of Taranak i M ountain . It i s Tamati Hone’slam en t for hi s son s and tribesmen who were kil l ed at TeM orere, as the M aori s cal l ed the ferny mound (near the
p resen t rai lway s ta ti on at Sentry Hil l , North Taran aki )on whi ch the redoubt of 1864. sto od .
C) TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
O son ,a r ise ! Retu r n , r etu r n !
Cannot thy p rophet m ake thee l i v e againResto r e thy b r eath , and b i nd thy woun ds ?Ah me —my hopes !
76 6‘
The bil low s f r o m the west r ol l inA n d thun de r ing c rash 0 11
’Taraimaka’s sho r e
The r e,too
,my ch il d r en fough t ,
In day s gone by .
On MOrere ’s batt le -h il l th ey fel l ;
The r e shatte r ed lay my t r ibe, Ah me !0 si m ple on es and b r a v e !How st r ong is Whiro ’
s sna r e;The sna r e of Fate !
Y e cha r ged along the path of D eath ,Y e we re decei v ed ,Begu iled in that fal se path ,The path of
’Hau.
How v ain you r v alou r , v ain you r cha r geAgainst Merere ’
s wal l s !Lost on that r ocky coast of deathA re all my c r ewsTa i n u i , Toko m a r u, Kurahanpo , AoteaAh me ! my b r a v e canoesLie w recked upon the sho r e !
C1 IAPTER XIX .
THE M A O RI IN “ IAN .
The M aor i had succe s sfu lly solved fo r himse lf the
p robl em of defence . Every man was tra ined to armsevery man was a soldier when the wa r- cal l came ,
H e wheke e riki, he 111heke e '
r1'
ki e !
In a savage soci ety there was at l eas t thi s advantage ,that the whol e mal e s trength of the communi ty —and
sometime s the femal e as wel l— could take the field whenneces sary
,ful ly equipp ed at Short notice for defence and
o ffence . There was no cal l ing for volunteers , no hastydrill ing of Territorials ,no trouble with Skulker s . Thi s was
the natural outcome of the communal sy stem , thegradual evolution of the family into the tribe , which wasreal ly only the family on a larger scal e . Whether i t was
a home - fort to be buil t or an enemy ’s stockade to bestormed
,the whol e force Of the tribe was at the command
of the war-chief or chiefs . From hi s early year s everyM aori was trained in the u se Of the Sp ear , the taiaha ,
the p atu,and later the g un of the white man
,the
wonderful p 1i , that darted i t s bull et s with a voice Of
thunder and a tongue of fire . He learned,too
,the
variou s charms and Sp ell s , the kite e and other invocations
,that gave 111e11e to hi s weap on and
“ more p owerto his elbow .
” On the war-
p ath hi s commissariat didnot trouble him overmuch ; he needed no waggon- loadsof “ bul ly-beef” and hard bi s cuit ; was not hi s enemy
’s
own body to p rovide the rations“
Z In the del ightfullys imp l e economy of the M aori , he not only kil l ed hi s foebut he al so ate him .
The Olden M aori warrior l iked to d ie in battle . Hedisl iked the idea of a s low
,ignominiou s
, p eaceful end on
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
hi s bed . A p oetic i l lu stration of the native feel ing onthi s subj ect i s given in a lament comp o sed and sung byone Te I V aerO over the remain s of the cel ebrated fi ghtingchief M i ti -kakau
,of Te A tiawa t ribe , Taranaki . M i ti
kakau was renowned for hi s daring and succes s in warand p arti cularly in hand - to -hand combat s with indivi dual te e s or brave s of the enemy . It i s related Of himtha t on one occas ion
,about eighty year s ag o , when the
A tiawa fortre s s at Paritutu,near where New Plymouth
now stands,was besieged by the warrio r s of Wa ikato ,
M i ti-Kakau i s sued a chal l enge to any Of the be si egingte e s to meet him outside the p al i sades in a duel
,and he
met and ki ll ed the champ i on who was sent out to slayhim . In after v ears he j o ined Te Raup araha and theNgati—Toa in the southern p art of the North Is land , andfought in the battl e of the “ Kn ititang a
” on the sanddunes at Waikanae in 1839 . EIhen he di ed
,in the days
o f p eace , Te Waero,an old warrio r and comrade - in
a rms,sang a lament in which these l ines occurred
E ko r e an, e te hoa ,
E tangi kia koeMe kapohia koe
E te ngutu o te pu ;KO tc r i r i tuku -tu r iK e i o m atua ,
K e i waho i Onuku , han dKe i r unga Te Mo r e r e .
The Old M aori warrior , too , when faced with suddendeath
,l iked to be kil l ed with a p e tu
- re e g e tire ,a chiefly
weap on . Sometime s,when a tribe was defeated in battl e
o r a p e taken , a cap tu red chief , submi tting to the in evitabl e , would calmly awai t the death-bl ow and woul d handhis cap tor his Own weap on , gen eral ly a treasured and
sacred p e tu o r m ere of greenstone or whal ebone .
“ Takethi s my weap on ,
” he would say ,and bow hi s head for the
tip i , the dea th- s troke . l i e was con t en t for in that he wasbe ing sen t to the Re in g a- land wi th his own good p atu ;i t was n o reheat- twine ,
tha t is, a mean or p l ebeian weap on ,
that touched his p roud and sacred head .
(TRAN SLATION )Oh f r i en d of m ine !Less keen had been my g r iefH ad
’St thou but d ied in batt le ,
By the m outh of the m u sket .
Or had’St thou fal len
A s fel l thy fath e r sIn the day s of Mao r i weapon s ,
to-han d ,Bes ide Onuku
’
s pal i sades,Or 0 11 MOrere H i l l .
226 TH E M AORI S or NEW ZEALAND
by which we were to go,on our front
,i t was a warning
from our god of battl e,a portent of defeat , and we would
remain at home .
”
Of endle s s number are the war- songs,or ng eri and
p alm ,chanted by the soldier s of old M aori Land . Thi s
ancient war-ng cri of the Taranaki M aori s embodie s thenational affecti on for Taranaki mounta in— Mt . Egmont— the mighty symbol of thei r tribal glory and the ci tadelof thei r ance stral lands . It has often been sung inmodern times at meetings of the Ngat i-Awa and Ngat iRuanui t ribes and other Taranaki clans . It was chantedwith thril l ing fo rce on one p arti cular occa si on j ust afterthe M aori war
,when a very large armed force of Tara
naki natives who had been in arms for severa l year sagainst the white s gathered on the beach at M oturoa
,
near New Plymouth,and made formal p eace with the
Government authoritie s :
(The Ch i ef , so lus , po i n t i ng w ith h i s taiaha snowyof Eg m on t beh i n d the war -pa r ty )
K 0 hea ,
K 0 hea ,Kobea te r a m aungaE tu 1n a i ra ra ?
(Cho r u s )Ko Ta r anak i !Nukunuku ma i.
N eken eke m a i lNukunuku 1n a i
,
N eken cke 1n a i !
(So lo )K i taku tana r oK i k imi kik in i a i l
(Cho r u s )I -i-a ! I -i ’ a !
Kekoke n oa,Kekeke noa !
(TRAN SLATION . )
(The Ch i ef )Vt’ha t i s y onde r m ou n ta i nS tan d i ng i n the sky ?
(Cho r u s )"l‘ is ’
s peak !0 11 [add re ss i ng the m oun ta i n ] d r aw nea rCo m e c lo se to us ,
D r aw n ea r to us,
Co m e c lose to us .
l ia r, we may t i gh t ly e m b ra ce y o u,A nd c las p yo u c lo se !
A li -h ! A li -h !
We c r u nc h the sa nds be ne a th o ur fe e tL i ke th i s !
The l oudl y ve lled fi nah'
noa,Ire /(e lse wo n ! ”
imitate s the sound of bare fee t o r o f g un-butt s be ing
brought down wi th a cra sh and thud on the grave l andsands o f the sea shore where the fighting men dancedthei r great war-dance .
A s in the Iliad and in the grea t Hindu ep i c s , waitrrio rs
in battl e can conceal themselve s in magic mist s to e scap etheir as sa ilants . Charms or kura /t ia, for concealmentfrom the eyes of the enemy are cal l ed lama (l i tera l ly“ to The fol l owing i s a sp ecimen of such a sp el l ,recited to me by an ol d Arawa warri o r
,who himself
p rofe s sed to have found i t of service in bush-fi ghtin gaforetime
(TRAN SLATION . )Pun g awerewcre , heiheia mai aku Sp i de r s
,h i de my face ;
m ata,
A n ts , obscu r e m e f ro m the foe '
Popokorua , heihe ia ma i aku m ata . O ’Moko ,E Moko e ! Co m e fo r th f r o m out thy p it ,Tu 1n a i ki waho And let me en te r it .
Moku to taua rua . Sea r ch all a roun d ,Titiro ki r unga
,Gaze up and down ,
Titiro ki r a r o, See noth i ng but the e m pty lan d .
k i whenua n oa atu .
charm was often rep eated not only in ancientin the modern war s of the M aori s aga inst
p s . When a M aori was hard p res sed ,0 e scap e from hi s p ursuing enemies , he
knew it,recite thi s appeal to the sp iri t s of
conceal him from the eyes of the foemen .
to the sp iders to weave their webs acro s s thech he had gone , and to the ants (which my
an t described as“ he iwi i roto i te whenua
,
” “a
e of the earth ”) to hide him in the ground withhem .
“ M oko ” i s a contract ion of the name Ruaimoko
228 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAN D
in M aor i my thology the god of volcanoes and earth
quakes , whose home i s deep beneath the surface of theearth . M any a M aori warri o r attributed hi s e scap e fromthe Government forces during the war s of 1860—7 0 to his
p re sence of mind in reci ting thi s or a s imilar him/a, charm
(sometimes al so call ed mate ) as he ran endeavouring toconceal himsel f from hi s pursuers . It was bel ieved thata kam kia would sometimes have the re sul t of cau sing a
friendly fog to descend suddenly and hide the fly ing sonof the soi l from hi s foes . Certainly a very u sefu l kindof charm to the M aor i who ran away in order to fightagain some other day .
The return of the warrior s from an exp edi ti on was
attended by much p rie stly ritual , for they were under thetapu of blood , which must be removed before they couldre sume thei r o rdinary l i fe .
One of the immea surably tapu sp ots of M oko ia Island ,in M aori eyes
,i s M atariki
,on the white sandy beach at
the north side of the i sland . Here,under the shade of
the weep ing wil l ows , i s a t iny gras sy a l cove where youmay see lying the mouldering remains of a small M aoricanoe . Just a bit of rotting wood
,says the p al eface
p icnicker whose beer-bottle s and lunch-
p ap er s be strewthi s aboriginal holy p lace . The p akcha,
“turuhi” may
desecrate the p lace , but the reverent M ao ri wil l not somuch as set foot on i t
,and old Tamat i Hap imana
,when
fi rst he escorted me to thi s thri ce -hal l owed sp ot , wascareful
,though a churchman after the hear t of the mis
s ionaries,n ot to tread the ground where the canoe lay .
Fo r thi s was the abid ing -
p lace of the olden heathengod s ; i t was the p rimi t ive al tar where o ff erings weremade to the Sp iri t s of earth and sky
,and where the gods
by thei r oracle s would make kn own their w i shes and
re sp ond to the divinati ons of the tohung as . Thisdeca y ing canoe was hal f a c entury ag o , and more
,the
sac red boat of the famous high-
p rie st Umuahu , he who ,zn zco rding to the Mao ri s
,b y hi s p otent incantati ons and
sac red meme could w i the r tree s,ki l l m en
,calm a sto rm
,or
cause the p owers o f the a ir to wage war,the l ightning
230 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
and the warrio r-priest s answered in a chorused shout‘We co m e f ro m abo v e ,We co m e f ro m be low ,
We co m e f ro m the seek i ng -out,The sea r ch i ngPilg r i m s
,g r eat p i lg r i m s of Whiro .
Then,said Tamat i
,the so ldiers would leap naked into
the sha l l ow water and remain there unti l the high p ri e sthad p erformed the ceremonie s to remove the tapu ofblood which had been imp o sed on them when they wentforth to fight . And the great tohung a ,
dandling to and
fro the sacred o ffering from the field of battl e,the
emblem of the slain,to the M aori gods of war
,would
chantH ik it ia ma i taua kai
,
Hapain g a mai taua ka i ,K i r unga r angi taua ka i.K ia ka i 1nai Ron g oma i,Heke iho i te r an g i— taua ka i.
(Ra i se up the food ,L i ft up the food ,Ra i se up to the h ea v en s th at food .
Co m e and eat , Ron g omai ;Descen d f r o m the h ea v en s —that food . )
And soon the warrio rs were free to mingl e with theirf riends aga in
,the tap e safely l ifted .
M any interes ting songs are included in the watchchants or Whakaam ara—p a of the M ao ri s . Thi s i s a
brief examp l e of a sentinel ’s chant,sa id to have been
sung nearly two centurie s ag o by the chief Torekahe
,on Motutawa
, when tha t i s land -
p a in Roto -kakah iwas beleaguered by a war-party
YVhakarong o ake an
K i te tang i 1n a i o te m anuTako iko i, tako iko i !
“ Takcre,take r e !
N a whakarara koa
Ng a ta i o to Mata-tahunaE tu te hau k i waho ,K i waho i
,c !
A -haha l
The sharp bi rd - cri e s which the sentinel imitated are
tho se which,the M aori say s
,are made by the he lm
(TRAN SLATION . )I l i sten to the cryOf yonde r b i r d ,I t c r ies “ Tako iko i
, tako iko i
Take r e, take r e !
("l‘
is a. wa r n i ng cry ) .
Gen t ly flow s the t i de,
R i ppl i n g on the sho r e ;Ou ts i de our wall s the foe m en stand ,Ou ts i de ! Ha
,ha !
M AU I“ I N WAR fl ii’
l
p a rro t. The Ira /(u i s the fi rs t. bi rd o f the fo re st hea rd inthe dawning o f the da y ; i ts c ry ,
o r ra the r scre ech,i s an
in tima ti on tha t mo rning i s at hand,and ofte n al so
,as in
thi s ins tance,a signa l of danger
,fo r the bi rd was
di s turbed by m en moving about in the t ree s . The “ gentlyrip pl ing tide
”was a metapho rica l ex p res sion meant to
conve y the intimati on to the ga rri son o f the p a ,tha t the
wa t che r on the p ahara or towe r could see from his
e levated p o si ti on that the en emy we re scattered here andthere outside the fortres s
,and we re n o t fo rmed in wa r
array for the assau l t . (I nChapter XXIII . some o therhistoric —
2) (L ofr
I‘
orckahe are g iven . )Often the look-out m en in
the p aka /‘
a t owers that stoodat the pa ang le s and over themain gat eways wou ld exchan gechallenge s and taunts w ith thebesiegers . An example of theseinterchang es of c ivil i t ie s con
c erns the ancient Pa - a - TeVVera
,TeWera ’s Fort
,
” whi chstood on the green pen insu laof Huriawa
,or Kari tane
,near
Puketiraki,on the O tago coas t .
Taoka ’s army,the besiegers of
Te VVera ’
s Fort,pit ched the ir
camp s on the long i sland—sandsp i t cal l ed Ohin ep ouwera , inWaikouaiti Bay ,
j us t to the north of the p a . Here theyl ived fo r some six months
,al so occupying at times
p ortions of the mainland . Sometimes as saul ts were ledaga inst the great fort ; the se were a lways rep ul sed .
Sometimes the attacking force cut o ff stragglers from the
p a ; the se went into the cooking haag i . Taoka ’s warr ior swould gather for leap ing p arade on the beach near then arrow neck bel ow the p a , and when the war dance hadbeen furiously p erformed the loud threat would be borneto the ears of the garri son
Ca r v ed gateway of a m ode rnMao r i m ode l p a .
- 32 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
Mef
zrhalratikei koatoa ki te kai !”(“ lV e ’ll starve you
Then the defiant reply would come , shouted by a
Ng aitahu chief on the p aha-ra above the Kutu (Ngutu )
a -Te rete re,the great gateway
E kore ai,e kore ! E kore aa 6 mate i 156 kai , c kore
ma te mataa ‘whakatakoto kt te Ka ta -a-Toretorc— c kore
c taea ! Eag ari ma te mataa mate-wa i Ira mate at!
(“ Never
,never ! We wil l never die fo r want of food ,
neither wil l we be conquered by the army ly ing therebel ow the L ip s - of—Toretore ! You shal l never reach u s !Only by the army of thir s t shal l we be overcome ”
if the water supp ly shoul d be cut o ff o r give out . )
In M aori hi story we frequently find instances of thedestructi on of unsu sp ecting p artie s of enemies byburning them to death in thei r large wharcp un -is
,which
were constructed of very combu stibl e mater ial s . InTaranaki p articularly there are numerou s tradi tions ofthi s sort . One instance i s that o f the burning of a wholehapa ,
the Titahi,whose stronghold was on a hil l ca l l ed
Whakam ere,beside the Patea River ; thi s now p eaceful
looking gra s sy fi at- topp ed mount can be seen from the
t ra in near Pariroa,a short d i stance from the p re sent
town of Patea . The Titahi were a tu rbul ent tribe o fIshmael i te s numbering about 140 warrio rs
,who had
migrated here from the north,and who had made them
selve s p articularly di sagreeabl e to the Taranaki p eop l e .
The Ngati -Ruanui tribe decided to extirpate the newcomers , and sel ected a very wet sto rmy n ight fo r thedeed . About seventy armed men embarked in a largecanoe some di stance above Hukatere
,descended the
r iver , and si l ently surrounded the \Vhaka1'
nere Pa . Theydi scovered that the whol e of the p eop l e were as sembledin a large reed -bui l t m ee ting-hou se in the middl e of thevil lage ; and a s the n ight was so co ld and temp e stuou s n osentin el s w ere p o sted . The Nga ti -Ruanui r
arriors
quietl y fa ste n ed the door of the big hou se securelv on theoutside , and then se t fi re to the wha r z and burned i t and
234 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
ma s sacre of Te Pae - o—te- rangi and hi s party of NgapuhiV i s ito rs from the Bay of Islands , at the Tuhouran g i Paon M o tu - tawa Island in Roto -kakahi . He fled afterM oko ia had been stormed ; but he was captured and
brought into the midst of the canniba l men of the northfo r execration and execution . A sharp sp ear was thrustinto hi s throat and other p arts of hi s body , and then
,
while he was sti l l al ive,three of the women who had
accomp anied the Ngap uhi expediti on , widows of TePae-o- te-rangi and o ther s ki lled at M otu- tawa
,app l i ed
their mou ths to the
wounds and drank the
flow ing b lood unt i l heexpired .
The last int ertribalfight among st the Maori soccurred as lat ely as
1888,am ong st two fac
t ions of the North "AuckJ
land nat ive s . Away upnear the head-waters of
the NorthernWairoa,n ot
far from the great WairuaFal l s
,there st il l stands
on a w ana lta ridg e them odern p a of “ Ti-le a
,
thrown up in that year,
when a ski rmi sh occurred between the Parawhau and theU r i- roroi sections of the Ngapuhi tribe . The two hapus ,cl o sely related to each other bv marriage tie s
, quarrel l edover the money accru ing from the renting of a gum -fi eld
near Poroti to the Europ ean s . Arming themselve s thevski rmished over the bare tea- tree sp urs and clayeyhol lows of Po roti and I 'Va irua . A number were sho t ;three deaths on each side was the tally . This breastworkon the V Vi-roa ridge was constructed under the d irect ionof the old chief Taurau Kukupa , who wi th the tattooedTito Papa , of Pukekohe
,l ed the r ifl emen of the Para
whau . The U ri- roro i w ere headed by the p rophete s s
From a pho to by Pulnmn . A uckla nd .
A Wa ikato Ch iefta in ess .
'
l‘
l l l'2 MAU I” I N wa n 2357
Te l tu,and o ne l‘lru l I iri. Fo r two we ek s a fte r the fata l
ski rmishing the Pa rawhau w zi r- l'
mrty l ived in tents and
l ac ak—w im ‘
ls o f p um a/m in thi s fo rti ficati on on the hillto p , wa i ting fo r the enem y
’s attack . The wo rk i s simp l y
a. l i ttle redoubt of cla y and sod wa l l s thrown up to thehe igh t; of four o r five fee t , a pa ral le l og ram about a chainl ong
,with rectangula r flanking angle s
,and two n a rrow
entran ce s covered b y sma l l p ro w, :p a rc o r b rea s two rks .
An insignificant so rt o f pa thi s \Vi—roa ; in a. few y ea rsthe tangled wil l cove r i t aga in , but i t wi l l bememo rable in the anna l s of the ba ttle o f Po roti
,the la s t
Maor i fi ght in A otea -m a .
A short di stan ce be y ond the “ (i-roa fi ghting-
g roumi
in the di recti on of (Thunde r ) M ountain , the reri ses out of the p la in the ren
'
iarkab le hil l -p a Oko ihu,a
p erfect t y p e o f the olden forts of the M aori . The hi l l i sa network of terrace s ri sing in regular ti ers , trenchedwith the wooden spades of the aboriginal s
,to the l ofty
summit . There on a l i ttl e p iece of ground sl ightlyhol lowed in the centre stood the tihi
,the ci tadel
,where
dwelt the chief familie s of the ancient p a . The wal l sand p arap ets are fi n e examp le s of barbarian mil i taryengineering
,but all are now covered with a beautiful
mantle of native verdure,the brown bracken fern
mingling with the fl ax and the sweet p inkey -whi tebl o s soms of the harem/Nee
,and the dainty flowers of the
t rai l ing convolvulu s . On the up p ermo st terrace , in thesandy wal l s of the tile
",are a serie s of old kamara store
p it s,thei r arched roofs as p erfect as when they were firs t
hollowed out many generations ag o .
In North Auckland,too , were fi red the last shots in
anger between M aori and white man . Thi s was in theM aori anti-dog- tax and land-tax “ ri sing” of 1898. TheGovernment co lumn
,under Colonel Newal l
,very
narrowly escap ed a di sastrous attack by the force ofarmed M ao ri s under Hone Toia and Romana
,who were
p o sted in the bush on either side of the hil l -road leadingfrom Rawene
,on Hokianga , southwards to the Waima
Val ley . About eighty M aori s of the Mahurehure tr ib e
236 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
were in ambush there,many of them armed with modern
rifles and the rest with shotguns , and they could withl i ttl e difficul ty
,owing to the strategi c advantage of their
p os ition , have“ bowled over ” hal f the Government force
of 120 Permanent Artil lery and p ol i ce . Our rear-guardhad j u s t entered the bush when two sho ts were suddenlyfired over our heads from the cover on the l eft ; i t turnedout that these had been fired by an old fanati c namedWi remu M akara
,as a s ignal to the re st of the M aori s ,
not one of whom was vi sib le from the road , but whowere quite clo se by . Fortunatelv the word had beensent al ong by Hone Toia
,at the urgent app eal of the
late Hone Heke,M .H .R. for the Northern M aori di stri ct ,
ordering the nat ive s no t to fight but to retire throughthe bush to the Wa ima Val l ey (where their l eader ssurrendered next day ) . Thi s o rder arrived only j u st intime to p revent seriou s bl oodshed , for there i s n o doubtthat the Mahurehure
,who have a lways borne the
rep utation of being turbulent and war-l oving,would have
fired on the troop s from thei r wel l -arranged ambu sh ,with murderous re sul ts . It i s a rather remarkable factthat the M aori s of Waima and thei r cou sins of Kaikohe
and vicini ty ,who have been l onger in contact wi th the
white man than most other tribes,should retain thi s old
war - sp i ri t ; they are the most “ touchy ” p eop l e in theIsland
,and have ever been readv to ru sh fo r thei r guns .
But they are of the true anci ent fi ghting —bl ood of theNorth .
238 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
s laughtered and cooked to app ease the ari stocrat i cap p eti te .
It has been the habit of some writer s on the M aor i s torefer to Tara ia
,of Ohinemuri
,as
“ the las t of thecannibal s .
” Thi s i s an error,for human fle sh was eaten
in New Zealand long after Taraia ’s cannibal ra id on
Onare Pa,Ka tikati
,on the Bay of Pl enty , in 184°
In the Hauhau war with the white troop s , canniba l i smwas revived
,and as late as 1869 the fle sh of co lonia l
soldier s ki lled in bush fighting in Taranaki was frequentlyeaten by the M aori s of Titokowaru ’
s savage band . Thi s
p ractice was insti tuted by Titokowaru and hi s war
p rie st s not only as a rite of war—fl for the Hauhaus herereverted to the '
worship or invocation of thei r ancientwar -god U enuku— but al so with the obje ct of strikingterror into the heart s of the white s . But there were someold cannibal s amongst the Taranaki warri o r s whowelcomed the revival of human fle sh-eating for i t s ownsake
,becau se “ the fat of man was sweet . ”
There are many M aori s sti l l l iving who witnes sed,i f
they did not actuallv j oin in,the cannibal feas t s that
were held in the Ngutu -o - te - M anu fore st—s tockade,after
the repul se of McDonn ell and the death of VonTemp sky ,
and in the p a at M oturoa,in 1868
,and
again on the banks of the VVaitotara in 1869 . The fle shof the p akeha was cooked in the [tang i and served up tothe p eople in fl ax basket s with p otatoe s and kumara .
M any another barbarou s cu stom was rev ived byTitokowaru
’s wild bu shmen in that war . The heart of
the fi rs t man of the enemy kil l ed in a fight was cut outand o ffered as a burnt-sacrifi ce to U enuku ; thi s was thean cie n t ri te of the whang a i-haa .
Big Ke reopa ,a W’
a i to tara man,who di ed a coup l e of
years ag o ,w as a notoriou s cannibal
,and boasted of
having eaten the leg of Sergeant M en zi e s , who was kil l edin an ambuscade at the Pap atupu p each-groves
,on the
on February 18th,1869 .
Eru the old fi ghting - chief of the Nga iTan ia sec tion of the U rewe ra t ribe
,who i s s ti l l l iving at
l\'
A I N lA'
l‘
A
\Va i1naua .wa s a cannibal in the l lauha u
wa rs o f the sixtie s on the Ea st Coa st . fill e and his
raide rs who we re expe rt in the mu rde rou s a rt o f lavingambuscade s , ate the hea rt s and othe r p a rt s o f thre e me n
“ hem thev ki l led at va ri ous time s in 1860 and 1807 , two
o f them white s,
and the othe r a n A rawa ma ihnan .
'J_
‘ama ikowh a o ffe red p a rt o f the he arts o f the sla in me n
in sac ri fice to his wa r-gods .l'
l ukita and Te. Rel iu-o
repeating the incanta tion of theO l d Patara te Tuhi , the llx
'
ing ite chi ef de pi cted in thef ronti sp i ece to thi s book , once told m e of hi s fi rst and
only ta ste of human fle sh. l ie. was a y outh , l iving wi thhi s fathe r at Kawhia
,at the time , which was about the
vear A. slave -woman in a n e ighbouring se ttl ementwas kil led by her owne r in puni shment for some o ff enceand a p ortion of the meat was thoughtful ly sen t toPatara
’s famil y as a p resent —much after the manner of
the settl er of to -day who,when he kil l s a beast
,send s
some round to hi s neighbours .
Te Araki te Pohu,the venerabl e Arawa warrior quoted
at the beginning of thi s chap ter , thu s described to methe canniba l fea s t which fol l owed the storming of theNg aiterang i Pa ,
Te Tumu,on the coa s t near M aketu
,in
1836“ When we returned from p ursuing tho se of the enemywho escap ed from the Pa , we fea sted up on the I ka—a“ (hirof
f= We cut o ff the heads of the slain,to be smoked
and p re served as trophies of war , and we cooked and ate
the bodies . That was indeed the warrior ’s food,the fle sh
of man . There was no other meat to equal i t . Inap p earance it was l ike p o rk when cooked , and i t tastedl ike p ork , only sweeter . I ate i t , and I al so drank humanblood (tau i te toto ) .t Tha t was the custom of us all intho se days . This was al so a custom of our p eep le : whena man had succeeded in kil l ing a foe whom he p ar
ticularly hated , he would di ink the blood of the s la in* “ The F i s h -of -Wh iro —the sla i n . Whiro is the g od of v iolen t deeds
and death.
tThe dr inking of hu m an b lood was an ancien t A siat ic and in pa r t i c u lara Phoen i c i an u sage .
240 TH E LI AORI S OF NEW’ ZEALAND
m an,and wou ld cook the bodv and consume every p o rt ion
o f it— kai katoa !“ After thi s battl e some of the human fle sh was carried
back by our slaves to Roto rua ,as presents for the p eop l e
there . A chief in tho se days liked to have some p reservedman -fl esh in hi s p ataka [sto rehouse ] , so that in themornings when he felt incl ined he coul d g o to the p atakaand take out a l i ttl e basket of meat as a rel i sh for hi skamara .
Some of the flesh of those k ill ed at Te Tumu was al so
p otted in bark recep tacl e s by a section of the Tuhoe orU rewera tribe who fought there , and was carried all theway home to M aunga-
p ohatu ,in the U rew era mountain s .
O ld Araki told a story that curi ously il lu strate s thel onging for human flesh which i s said to return even aftermany years to the man who has once eaten i t .
“ It was at Kaokaoroa,
” he sa id,
“ near where thetattooed cl i ffs are
,the white p recip i ce that ri se s from the
beach -way between M atata and O tamarakau . We were
p ursuing the Haubans , who had marched on M aketu ,
e astwards al ong the beach,shooting and tomahawking
them . I was one of the Government men,and I was
armed with a Government rifle,and there I ran
,a. man of
fifty , 0 11 the war -
p ath again after many year s— chasingHauhaus . The bodies of Ngat i-Po rou strewed the beach— here one , there another
,al ong the sandhi ll s near the
sea . And as I ran al ong and l ooked at tho se bodie s,the
old craving fo r [alike - tang ata retu rned to me . I stopp ed .
and l ooked at tho se Fi sh - of—t i ro ly ing stretched outthere , and I had a great l onging to eat them . How Iwould have liked to have had them cooking in the hang i !But I had to l eave them , fo r i t was n ow the day of thell
’
lialitap imo,the n ew rel igion .
”
Some A fri can tribe s seem to look up on th e fle sh of man
w i th. as favou rabl e an ey e— or tooth— as old Araki . A 11
-\fri can trave l l e r sa y s that the -li en g a las of the U p p erCongo cal l human flesh “
a nobl e food .
l-’a ta ra te Ng ung ukai , the tattooed satu rnine t ribalbone - sc rap er of the A rawa s , who died at Roto rua a few
242 TH E MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
lived al one , for he was an Ishmael of the p la in s , a
man whose strong hand was again s t everyone ’s . Hehad no wife no fri end . He was a hunter
,and hi s prev
was man .
Hihi ~ o- tote had hi s home amongst the thick high reedsof the di smal swamp ,
on a l i ttl e p l o t of firm soi l,
surrounded by quaking bogs and eel - swarming water s .Here he l ived in a l ow- roofed raup o
- thatched hut,walled
in with a wattl ed fence . He slew men for food,and the
marsh was strewn with the bones of hi s victims .
Hihi ’s p lan was to l i e in wa i t amongst the raup o clo seto the Kaikohe track unti l he sp i ed a single p ersoncoming al ong . A s the l onely travel l er app roached , thecannibal of the swamp would leave hi s lai r and go fo rthto meet the stranger
,and p retend to greet him with the
710 729 13, or rubbing of no ses .
“Tena m ko koe ! Haere
mai,Haere-mai ! ” he would exclaim . Salu tat ions to
you ! Welcome ! Welcome ! ” And,as the unsusp ecting
Wayfarer s topp ed and ap p roached hi s face to H ihi’s fo r
the friendly hong'i,the man—eater would suddenly snatch
out from under the fold s of hi s fl ax cl oak a concea ledweap on , a l i ttl e p atu-moire
,described as a very sharp
wooden sp ike or dagger about six inche s long . Withthi s he would swiftly stab the travel ler in the throat j u stunder the chin . Just one dexterou s lunge and the victimwas dead at hi s feet . The body was quickly draggedinto the ogre ’s den in the raap o, i t s blo od sucked , and theflesh cooked in a steam-hdng i by the murderer .
Af ter some time,however
,when many travel l er s by
thi s track had mysteriou sly di sapp eared , susp icion wasaroused in the neighbouring vil lages
,and in some way
p robably through some one luckier than hi s predeces sorsevading the fata l embrace of Hihi - o - to te — it becameknown tha t a m y s te riou s murderer l ived in the swampand slew m en w i th a wooden needle o r dagger while
p retending to -sa lu te them after the fashi on of the M aori .So a va lian t man
,M ahia bv n ame
,re solved to put an
end to the ogre o f the swamp . He took hi s l i t tl e boywi th him am gave hi s stone club to the chi ld
,tel l ing him
7 I \ 1 I ‘“IxA I - I A N h A I A
”
to concea l i t. carefull y unde r his mat. M ahia himse l fwe n t. una rmed , but took his famil y lnlg le with him ,
a
p i t- la te n t o r shell—t rumpe t , which emit s a l oud dol e ful
sound not unlike that o f the t rombone . S o o fl"
111a rc l1ed Mahia,blowing away at interval s on his p a
fo ta ro . l l'
ihi-o - tote,hea ring the me lancl
'
1oly t rum pe t bla st ,fix ed his sha rp p a tu - 11m i1
'
c in it s accu stomed p lace insidehis shoulde r-m at
,and went out to the p oint whe re the
t rack p a s sed the edge of the swamp . Pre sentl y Mahi acame in sight
,al ong the t rack in the fe rn
, p utting hismouth to his trombon e and now and aga in bl owing a cal las i f fo r amusement . He m e t Hihi
,and there was an
exchange of greetings .ko e
,c hea ! Tena 1 a ko e ! H acre w ai
,haere
ma il” exclaimed the cannibal . “ I heard you coming
al ong ; I knew you by your p a - tatara sounding as youtravel led down the roac
“ 7 i th these word s , Hihi advanced as i f to rub no se s .
M ahia l et the vil lain app roach , but warily watched him ,
and,as Hihi suddenly drew hi s dagger
,the other j erked
up hi s trump et , warded the p atu-mairc o ff wi th i t , and inthe same movement struck Hihi so severe a blow on thehead as to knock him o ff hi s balance . In another momentHihi was on the ground with the avenger of bl ood on topof him .
M ahia ca l l ed l oudly to hi s boy to bring him hi s club,
and with i t he p romp tly beat out Hihi’s brains . And
these were the swamp -canniba l ’s last word s as he saw theboy running up with the deadly m ere
“1 taki- raatia
i mate at a H ih'i-o-Tote”(“ By two was Hihi slain ” ) —~an
exp res sion which has p as sed into a p roverbial say ing .
So died the ghoul of the YVharerimu ; and, when M ahiasearched out the den in the raup o sedges , he found the
p o st s surrounding it decorated with the skull s and
severed heads of the victims whose bodie s had beendevoured by the Cannibal of the Swamp ;
CHAPTER XXI .
A CALABASH OF M EAT .
Sitting on the breezy cl i ff-top at the Tib i -o -Tongawhere the Step s—carved-by
-Tutan ekai descend to thetap e shrine of Horoirang i , Rangiri ri the tohimg a to ldthe tal e s of the times of old . And one of the se tale s has
a grim humour in i t , the story of a canniba l raid , and a
fitt ing retr ibution .
Early one Sunday morning about seventy-fi ve yearsag o
— I gather from the old hi storian— Ihaka , the nat iveteacher of Te A ra-kar i Pa
,which stood on thi s hi l l- tOp
where we are si tting , l eft hi s thatched whare and walkedacro s s the marae, the vil lage square , into the low-cavedreed-bui l t church . Hi s grand - daughter
,a merry l ittl e
girl,was p laying about the front of the hut , and
the old m an told her to fo ll ow him to the whare
karakia,the p rayer—house . Then he forgot all about her
for a while,for he was soon busily engaged in banging
away with a short i ron sti ck on an ol d mu sket-barrelthat hung in the p o rch of the raup o
- thatched chap el , theonly church bel l that had yet reached the Tihi-o -Tonga ;and shortly thereafter he was vigorously expounding tohi s tattooed flock an O ld Testament chap ter tha t was a
special favourite with the ol d warrior becau se i t contain ed an account of a rattl ing good hip
-and- thighcombat
,in whi ch the Israel i te s sl ew their thousands .
Thi s p akcha rel igion was qui te a new thing in the Rotoruadi s t ri ct
,and being an inte re sting novel ty
,i t put the old
heathen tohung as qu ite ou t of bu sine s s fo r a while . Sol haka
,once a cannibal
,and now a lay
-reader o f thechurch
,was an impo rtant man in Te A ra—kari
,and so
intent was he 0 11 tha t thri l l ing chap te r that he qu itefo rgo t hi s 111,0 71; 0 p 1ma
,his l i t tl e grand—daughte r .
244
246 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
of war by an exp editi on of musket -armed Northerner ssome y ears before . Now thev were endeavouring to reachtheir own country again
,an undertaking of grea t
difficul ty and danger,fo r they had to p enetra te the
terri tory of the Arawa,the Tuhoe and other tribe s
,most
of whom were enemies of the Ngat i-Kahungunu . Thev
were therefore forced to avoid the ordinary routes oft ravel
,and to l ive on the foods of the fore st
,or what they
could secure by stea l th on the way . The l itt l e gi rl hadevidently been p laying about outs ide the fence of the p a,o r had descended the track to the fore s t ; the meathun gry fugitives seized her
,kil l ed her before she had
time to cry out,and retreated to the fo re st below .
For many miles they carried the stolen g i rl before theydared to hal t
,then in the shel ter of the woods they
kindled a fire by friction,cooked and ate the greater
p orti on of the body , and p otted the rest , the haha orthighs— considered by the man - eater s of ol d a mostexcel lent j oint— in a large taha or calaba sh . M eatpreserved in taha in thi s way was hermetica l ly seal ed bythe fat being p oured in over the top until the recep taclewas ful l ; i t was then careful ly wrap p ed in bark or l eavesof fl ax .
Thi s calabash of meat was carried by the cannibalraider s right up into the U rewera Country
,unti l they
reached Ruatahuna . That was the only route by whichthey could hep e to reach thei r Eas t Coas t homes
,and
they intended to make a p re sent of the deli cacy to oldTe Purewa ,
the Tuhoe war- chief,up on Whose favour
thei r live s would dep end . The escap ed slaves , i t seems ,we re ignorant of the geography of the Rotorua country ,and onlv found thei r way to Ruatahuna with thea s si stance of some na tives whom they found fri endly tothem
,l iving near the Rangi taik i Rive r
,which divide s
the desolate Kaingaroa Pla ins from the sharp -cut bl uemounta in wal ls of the U rewera Country . The y did notknow the name of the village where they had cap turedthei r m eat , o r the tribe tha t held i t .
( ) I"M 247
\'Vhen the v a rrived a t ill-natahuna,the fugitives a sked
to se e To l’a rewa , and we re take n be fo re him ,
where hesa t in hi s big wi th some o f hi s fol lowers a roundhim . The leade r o f the Itcrchcrc re lated the i r adven
ture s,and reque s ted p ermi s sion to p roceml on the i r
j ou rne y,and at the conclusion p resented the calabash of
fle sh to the chief .
The old warri o r sn iffed the p acked ta lta o f 111eat -he
was a n otori ous,or ra the r le t u s say famous , eate r-of
man ’s fl esh— then he said with a laugh“ Mo -ho ! thi s i s p rime meat indeed . I low lucky you
we re to g e t such fi n e - tam/ a ta ! And whe re did youobtain i t ? ”
“ It was a chil d we ki l led ,” said the spokesman of the
e scap ed slaves , a girl whom we found outs ide a p a ona hi l l -tep ,
far away to the west of the p la in s , n ear a highmountain above a m oana [sea or lake ] we do not knowthe name of the mounta in o r the lake .
”
Te Purewa quickly guessed . He looked at hi s tribesmen and said
,
“ Friends,I know where that i s . The mountain must
be Ngongotaha,and the lake Rotorua . Thi s calaba sh of
meat must be from some vil lage of the Arawa s . Thegirl must even be related to me
,for I am
,as you well
know, p art Arawa and p art Tuhoe in blood . M y Arawa
t ribes are Ngat i-VVhakaue and Ngat i—Tun ohopu .
”
Then turning with a terrible grin to the wa i t ingfugit ives who sat cro s s - l egged before him on the fl oormat
,he sa id
“ So you have ki l led my children,have you ! You have
t reacherously slain my young relative,thi s chi ld of
Ngat i-Whakaue . “ Tell you must die . I shal l no t eat
your taha of meat , but I shal l eat YOU instead !”
The terror- stricken hcrehcrc said not a word . Theywere led outs ide
,at Te Purewa ’
s order,and tomahawked .
Pre sently the cooking hang i rece ived thei r bodie s , and
there was grea t feast ing in the mountain va l ley ofRuatahuna . “
That was l eft of them after Te Purewa and
248 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
his people had dined well was packed in basket s oftotara-bark and in taha ca labashe s and sent as p resentsto the tr ibe of the Hot Lakes ; and had not o ld Ihaka beena reformed canniba l and a re sp ectabl e Chri stian layreader
,he would have taken substantia l a ta with hi s
teeth out of the p otted herehere— which restriction , toI haka
’s mind
,was a lway s one of the great drawbacks
of the New Religion .
250 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
The witnes ses who deta il ed the story of the Lake weretwo geneal ogi st s and hi storians of the old school, deeplyversed in the traditions of thei r race— Poihip i teRakatahi and Ereatar
’
a Rang ihoro . The account whichfoll ows
,comp i l ed from their evidence , i s grimly bu sines s
l ike in i t s s trict ob servance of the lea: talion is, an eternalsquaring of the a ta account .Tumoan a
,that p icturesque green i sland—p eninsula
on the southern side of Lake Roto iti,was the source
o f the troubl e that l ed to Tuhourang i’s undoing .
Both Tuhouran g i and Ngati-Pikiao were secti ons of theArawa nation
,but the tribe s and sub - tr ibe s
,even of the
on e“ canoe ” or root- sto ck
,were seldom loath to fl v at
each other ’s threats,and they dwelt in thei r several
s ecurely- stockaded vi llages general ly p erched on a
hil l top or o ther commanding and stra tegic sp ot , wherethey could enj oy a far- reaching V i ew and keep a watchfuley e on the avenues , by land o r water , by which an enemycould ap p roach . The Tumoan a p a was in tho se day s ,two hundred years ag o , occup ied by the Tuhourang it ribe
,who held a number of o ther p al i saded vi l lages
on the shores of Rotoit i,and were the owner s of that
beautiful lake,abounding in food for i ts savage l ord s in
the form of the kakahi shellfi sh,the koara crayfi sh
,and
the tuang a ,o r whiteba i t
,now almo st dep l eted by the
p akeha’
s greedy rainbow trout .Tumoana
’s chief was a man ca l led Rang iunuora . Now
on e day when there ap p ears to have been a largeas sembly of Tuhouran g i war r io r s on Tum oan a
,there
came p add ling down a Rotoi t i taua,o r war -
p arty , fromRoto rua
,headed bv Tutan ekai
,the famou s chief of
M okoia Island , for whose l ove H inemoa swam thelake . The armed canoe -p arty were bound for thee a stern end of Roto iti , whence they were to go by thefo re s t track to Rotoehu, to settl e a l it tl e busines s matterwith the edge of the p a tu, but they hal ted awhile at
Tumoana . The custo 111arv ceremonie s of welcome were
p erfo rmed , as the Roto rua men landed ; then fol lowed an
e xci ting war dance , in which the two partie s encountered
'
l‘
I I I'l s'
1‘
e 111’
o r AN
o ne ano the r in the manne r o f a sham light . The mimic
wa r,howeve r, deve l o p ed une x pe c tedlv into a rea l fight
w i th spe a r and Ia in /m and stone axe . I n the m e lee a
y oung man n amed son o f the chie f l ’ ikiao a nd
related to was ki l led . and his m en
were d riven to the i r canoe s , leaving behind them the bodyo f and they retrea ted to M okoia ls land a nd
Rotorua . The body of the sla in m an was taken bv the
m en o f Tumoana to Omawhiti l ’a,whe re i t was cooked
and eaten .
Fo r the p urp oses of account-kee l1i11g in thi s gam e o f
*
ar now opened , the sco re mav,at thi s s tage , he sta ted
thu s :Tuhouran g i One
Tutanekai and others NilNow began the mi sfortune s of the descendant s of
Taketake-hikuroa,the men of Tumoan a . Tutan ekai
and the M okoia and Owhata p eop l e made p repa rati onsfor a campaign against the Tuhourang i of Rotoit i . Theyendeavoured to strengthen the exp editionary force byinvi ting the as s i s tance of the Ngati -Awa tr ibe , of theBav of Pl enty shores , to accomp any them in the questfor a ta .
Ngati -Awa,however
,were not incl ined to fight in
another tribe ’s cau se just then,
and decl ined . The“ Taitaha tribe
,who dwel t in the great wal l ed p a
O tamarakau,still to be seen as one travel s a l ong the
beautiful coast between M atata and M aketu,were al so
app roached by Tutan ekai’s delegate s . They at first
refused to as si st,but some time afterward s consented
,
and with Ngati-Pikiao and a war-
party of Tutan ekai’s,
made a fierce attack on Tumoana . They cap tured the
p eninsula-
p a, kil l ed a chief named Hioi,and numerou s
others,and took a number of p ri soners . Tutan ekai
returned in triumph to Rotorua in hi s war-canoe,
carrying with him the body of Hioi,to be cooked and
eaten as a ta for the s la in Tamakari .
TheWaitaha and Pikiao warr ior s went from Tumoana
to Tapuaeharuru,at the eastern end of Rotoiti
, and
252 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
leaving thei r canoes there marched on to Rotoehu (bywhich way they had evidently come to j o in Tutan ekai ) ;the Ngat i-Pikiao p eop l e were then apparently l iving at
Rotoehu . When they arrived at that lake,they ki ll ed all
thei r p ri soners excep t one , and cooked and devouredthem .
Pho to by (‘
up l . T. l i’
uun ,
B a m u t i B ank ino , an o ld Hauhau wa r r io r . o f Tokaan u , Lake Tau p o .
The score was now equali sed , excep t in the detai l ofthe number of heads taken and bodie s eaten
Tutan eka i and Ngati -Pikiao and al li e s OneTuhourang i On e
The soli tary p ri sone r p ermitted to l ive was a womannamed Te A on iwaho . Kotio ra
,a chief of Pikiao
,spared
254 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
took i t by storm,ki l l ing the Tuhourang i chief Te Karere
p ounamu , and a grea t many others,and then returned to
their homes in triumph with their sp oi l of human fle sh .
“ And so the descendants of Taketake-hikuroa,
” saysthe old tattooed hi storian
,
“ no longer l ived near theeastern end of the lake .
”
Ngati-Pikiao Two
Tuhourang i Two
But the a ta account,though aga in equal i sed , was not
a l l owed to s tand there . The descendants of Taketakethe-Long-Tai l
,recru iting thei r force s and nerving them
selves with many a fiery sp eech and furiou s war-dancefor another foray
,took the route for Rotoehu to obta in
a ta for the s laying of the chieftain,Te Karere -p ounamu .
Landing from their canoes on the sounding sands ofTapuaeharuru ,
they marched al ong the fore s t t ra i l thata century afterwards became known as Hongi ’s Track ,through the beauti ful Tahuna Bush
,which covers the fl at
neck of land between Lake s Rotoi ti and Rotoehu . There,
in the woods, the taua suddenly encountered a p arty ofNgat i-Pikiao p eop l e , including the chi ldren of the chiefTe Taking a , and attacked and slew them . Cutting o ff theheads of the sla in
,they danced thei r haka of terribl e gl ee
,
and taking the bodie s they turned right about and fi l edback through the fore st to Rotoiti , fo r they had wontheir a ta . Home they p addled to M otu - tawa p a ,
whichstood 0 11 the top of yonder white cl iff-p eninsula near thewes tern end of the lake . They carri ed the heads of thei rfoe s stuck up on short p ol e s in the bows of thei r canoesthe bodie s were fo r the cannibal feas t— and as they went
p as t the p as 0 11 headland and i sland,they sp read the
news of thei r late s t v ictorv
Tuhourang i ThreeNgati -Pikiao Two
which,of course
,l eft the Rotoehu p eop l e one ata to the
bad. The bodie s w e re lai d before Rang ipuawhe , thechi e f of Motu—tawa
,and were ea ten . Prepa ring fo r the
in evi table ra id of re ta l iati on,Tuhouran g i withdrew to
T HE STORY O I"A N U'
l‘
l l
the s tronge s t o f th e i r s tocluulml p o siti on s around the
w e s te rn e nd o f the lake the p as known as Pukurahi,
Kakanui , Te “r
e ta ,Titaka , Te I
’uke roa ,
i\lakamaka
hinaki, filx'
o pua roa ,1‘
\lo t11- o - l l iwa (“ l l iwa
’s
— the
l i t tle i s land n ow cove red wi th w i l l ows whi ch vou m a y see
in the a rm o f Rotoi ti and Motu -tawa ,the lo ft y
peninsula -
pa on the o pp osi te side o f the lake .
The Ro toehu p eop le who escaped the club s and s pea rs of
the war-
p a rty in the Tahuna fo re st had, of cou rse , quicklv
informed the i r tribe , and the red axe w as rai sed again
hv Wa itaha and Ngati -Pikiao ,wild wi th ange r a t the
p ersisten tlv bel li co se p oli cy of the in solen tPrep arati ons were made fo r a final de sperate attemp t tosweep the w estern Rotoi t i inhabitant s out o f exi stence ,o r at any rate out of the Lake p as . The inland -dwell inglVaitaha sent to the i r kinsmen l iving at O tamarakauand elsewhere on the Bay of Plenty coast , and a
formidable column of brown warrio r s soon thereafte rapp eared in l ight marching order , on the SoundingSands , and manned every ava i labl e canoe for thei r greatfo ray ag ainst Tuhouran g i .They p addled swiftly up the lake by night , and j u s t
at break of day attacked and took Te Weta Pa,which
stood on the i sland - l ike p eninsula in the beautiful bay ofWVai- i ti , near the western end of Roto iti . They wa stedl i ttl e time
,fo r hurrying on from Te “ Teta they al so
stormed in succes sion Kakanui,M otu-o -Hiwa
,Te
Pukeroa,Makamaka-hinaki
,and Kapuakin o forts , all 0 11
the Taheke block . The refugees fled to M otu—tawa and
settled on that s ide of Rotoi ti neare s t Rotorua,which Te
Ran g ipuawhe , thei r head-chi ef,soon abandoned to
Ngati -Pikiao,removing with hi s p eop l e to Rotorua and
Roto -kakahi .And so the Roto iti war-game
,begun by the sham fight
on Tumoana,ended in a final squaring of accounts in
favour of the sp ear smen of Ngati -Pikiao and Waitaha .
ScoreNgat i-Pikiao ThreeTuhourang i Three
So ’Pikiao drew “ last b lood ” and the land .
H A P'
I‘
ER A'
4
TOREKAHE ’S REVENGE .
Just Opp o si te the l i ttl e burial—i sland Pateko,about
hal f-way down Lake Roto iti , on the southern side , i s thesteep woody headland or matarae known as Ng arehu ;behind i t i s a deep gully , and then ri ses the cl i ffy hi l lPae-hinahina (
“ ridge covered with hin ahiaa
Thi s hill i s the s i te of a cel ebrated fort of ancient times,
a p a which occup i ed a very strong p os iti on . On threes ides i t was defended by cl i ffs ; the only entrance , - or
ka -waha,was on the south side , where the app roach was
a l ong a narrow ridge,which could be eas ily defended by
the garri son . The sp ot was an excel lent one for a
fortified vi llage,for any canoe s on the lake could be seen
while yet a long way Off,and the cl i ffy wal l s made the p a
imp regnabl e again st a sudden as saul t . The p a was
cap tured , however , on one occas ion in a rather remarkable fa shion . The story i s worth tel l ing as a hithertounchronicled and intere sting ep i sode in Lakeland hi sto ry ,and p art icularly as an i l lu stration of the re source and
s trategy of the M aori warrior of tho se days,a man who
,
though a cannibal savage,was a man of bra in s
,and a
ma ster of m ilitarv tacti cs .
No M aori tribe undertook a war—exp edi tion withouts ome take
,or cause
,sufficient to ju sti fy taking up sp ear
and club . Some of the se takes seem very rid iculou s tothe whi te man
,but in the case of Pae -hinahina the
p rovocati on was a cruel murder whi ch brought a deservedretributi on .
On e day , a hund red and fifty y ear s ag o , a smal lcom pan y of Ngati -Pikiao warri or s , numbering a scoreo r so
,fi l ed out from the gateway of Pae -hinahina Pa
,and
took the n a rrow tra i l through the fore st and over the
258 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Here the scout rep orted that there were three peop l ein sight
,coming a l ong the track from Roto -kakahi . The
“ meat ” was walking into the trap . The Ngat i-Pikiaotaua sank to the earth in stan tlv
,for fear they might have
been observed by the wayfarer s ; then thei r l eader p o stedthem ready for the deed of blood
,hal f the taua on on e
s ide of the track and half on the other. The ambush laid,
the man -hunter s wa i ted for thei r p rey .
The three travel ler s were a chief named Torekahe and
hi s si sters,young women named Hakura and Ng arehu .
Torekahe was a warri or of some fame,an active daring
man who had had many a narrow escap e from the cluband the oven ; he was the chief of the fortified vi l lage ofNgati—te -Whetu
,the “ Tribe of The S tar
,
” on M o tu- tawa,
the i sland in Roto-kakahi . The brother and s i ster s werej ourneying to Te Whakarewarewa on a vi si t to relat ivesin that p a . They came al ong in singl e fi le
,all nu
susp ic iou s of the hungry savages who crouched in theroadside thi ckets .Suddenly Torekahe
’s quick eye noticed something
moving a moment in the low maaaka shrubbery ju stahead . It l ooked l ike a sp ear p roj ecting above thebu shes . Then he heard a sound of a breaking branchclo se by the track
,and he caught a gl imp se of a feather
head-
p lume such as warrio r s wear . Tha t was enough forthe chief . He knew tha t he had wa lked right into an
ambush . Torekahe , death’s hand i s at your throa t !
The brave chief of M otu - tawa divined ins tantly that hecoul d not save his s i ster s
,and tha t i t would be mar
ve l l on s if he succeeded in e scap ing himself . He turned,
and excla iming ,“ It i s death ! ” he qui ckly p re s sed hi s
face to the face s of hi s si s ter s in succe s s ion,in the
greeting of the hong i, the touching of no se s— hi s la s tfarewel l . The women
,too
,had in stantly real i sed their
hop el e s s ca se , fo r none bu t deadly foe s cou ld be lurkingin tho se bu shes .
The n ext moment wi th a terrible war- cry the Ngat iPikiao men leap ed from thei r hiding-
p laces , and chargedwi th sp ear and m ere on the three .
w 1
I'A l( l I l' ; h I t I‘A\’IUN ( I ll ; c
leaving his te rrified si ste rs , and grip p ingtightl y his tongue -
1io in ted taiaha ,sp rang to on e side of
the track and m ade a feint at the enem y the re ; then likelightning he faced about , and l eap ing to the othe r sidecharged through his adve rsa ri e s befo re they could bringa weap on to p lay on him . Da rting through the scrub heoutran hi s p ursuers ; they soon gave up the chase and
returned to the ma in body , who had se i zed and bound thetwo women
,and were even n ow making hor ribl e
p rep arations fo r a cannibal fea st .Torekahe cauti ou sly made his way to a n ear -by h il l
brow,from whi ch he could watch his enemies and thei r
cap tive s in the valley bel ow . He made sure that his way
of escap e was clear i f he were again pursued , and then hecried exul tingly to the Ngati—Pikiao ,
who were wi thineasy hearing
Hae r e,e hok i ! E ko r e ah au e man ia kou tou ; he m an u hon eng a ahau
110 te p ae !”
(“ G0 . r etu r n wh en ce you ca m e ! I shal l n ot b e caugh t by you ; I ha v e
escaped l i ke a bi r d f r o m the sna r e set f or it !
Then,as he exp ected , he saw hi s two unfortunate
si sters ki l l ed . Each was fel l ed with a bl ow on the headfrom a p atu . Their heads were hacked Off with thesharp -edged stone weap ons , and held up and waved inderi sion at the grief - stricken Torekahe on the hil l above .
And the brother,who had but a few minute s before
farewel led hi s si sters with the hong i of sorrowingaffection , now cried his p orop oroaki, hi s p arting messageto thei r unheeding ears
Aku tuahin e e ! Hae r e , hae re ! MO ko r na te tai awatea , m oku te ta i p o l(“Oh s i ste r s ! Fa r ewe l l , Fa r ewel l !Go you on the t ide th at ebb s in the l i gh t of day ; I w il l fol low y ou on
the e v en ing t ide !
And Torekahe turned and p re ssed homeward s againover the spurs of M oerangi , and sp read the news ofinva sion and murder . And the savage s of Pae-hinahina
,
bearing the di smembered bodie s of their victims withthem , cut up into p i ece s and p acked in fl ax basket s , madetheir way back as sp eedily as p o s sibl e to their lakeside
260 TH E M AORI S or NEW ZEALAND
fort . And there the cannibal feas t was held , and war
dances of furiou s sound were danced , and p rep arationsmade to re si st the certain attack that mu st fol l ow themurder at Obsidian Creek .
Torekahe sp eedily rai s ed an armed force to avenge thetreacherous slaying of hi s s i sters . The exp edit ionconsi sted of one hundred and seventy men . He himselfhad hi s mama or comp any of seventy men , (hokowhitu )all tried and skil l ed warrio rs , the p i ck of hi s tr ibe ,Ngat i -Te-V Vhetu . The remaining hundred men
,from
M otu - tawa,Te Puia (Whakarewarewa ) , Owhatiura ,
and
other p as of the Tuhourang i tribe and kindred hapus,were under the command of hi s o ld comrade TeRang ikotua . Thi s op e, or army
,after being kam kia ’d
over for the war-path by the p rie sts , and after the win o rsacred rods had been duly thrown to divine the i s sue s ofbattl e
,and the warrio rs sp rink l ed with the sacred wa ter s
to tapu them for deeds of bl ood , set out for Lake Rotoitito work vengeance on the cannibal s of Pae—hinahina .
They marched by way of Rotokawa (“ Bitter Lake ” ) and
Tikitere,and reached the shore s of Rotoit i cl o se to the
place where the hot sulphur Sp ring Manup irua bubble sup under it s overhanging p ohutukawa, tree . Thence theytravel l ed a l ong the coastl ine until at. night thev reacheda bay not very far from Pae -hinahina and lay in ambushthere
,having ascertained from a man who l ived by the
lakeside tha t a party of fi shermen from the fort wouldshortly come down to draw thei r seine fo r tuang a, (whitebait ) , which at that season swarmed on the Lake .
Early in the morning the men of Ngati -Pikiao cameal ong in their canoes , and sweep ing thei r l ong fi n e
meshed net of fl ax round the shoa l s of the in ang a ,drew
the end s in to the beach . Then Torekahe’s warrior s
ru shed down and sei zed the n et as i t was being draggedashore
,and p lay ed p atu. and sp ear on thei r a stoni shed
enem ies . There was a lively li ttl e battl e there that rawearly mornin g- time ; heads were sp li t and bodi e s sp earedthrough and through . The fi shermen were eas ilydefeated ; a number were ki l l ed , and the re st fled at top
TH E MAORI S OF NEW ZEALAND
watchmen, p erched al oft in the pahara or slender tower
l ike bal conies that ro se above the p al i sades , chanted at
interval s their wild songs of battl e . On the woody ridgeburned the camp fire s of Te Rang ikotua .
Torekahe now instructed hi s fol l ower s to take a
number of thei r sp ear s and spl i ce them firmly togetherwith fl ax cords so as to form a l ong p ol e the height ofthe cl i ff above them . Thi s was done , and then to theend of the long l imber pole was t ied a large wooden hook.
The p ole was careful ly rai sed , and the warrior s grapp l edwith the hook one of the branches of the overhanging
p ohutukawa .
M aking sure that the hold was secure,the daring chief
then swarmed up the p ol e of spears , haul ing himself uphand over hand un ti l he reached the tree
,and drew
himself up safely on the bough to which the hook was
attached . He crawled cauti ou sly al ong the branch and
down into the p a , into the nest of hi s enemie s . With thewarines s and cunning of a s cout of many war-
path s andmany clo se ca l l s
, Torekahe crep t about the cl i ff- s ide ,spying out the p o si ti on .
Quite clo se to the huge knotty butt of the p ohutukawa ,
a smal l hut s tood by it self . Just at the entrance to thi swhare lay an old man asl eep . Alongside him was a
p artly p lai ted fl ax rop e ; i t was intended for one of thehaul ing rop e s of a kup cag a, or fi shing -net ; the old fel l owhad been working at i t before he fel l as leep . It was hi slas t s leep ,
fo r Torekahe quietly drew hi s stone patu fromhi s fl ax wai s t-belt and swiftly deal t the man a deathbl ow on the side of the temp l e . Then
,ty i ng the rop e to
the body,he l owered it down to hi s men below . It was
the mata- fika,the “ firs t fi sh ” slain .
Dawn was app roaching , and the sentinels on thestockade were chanting thei r songs to the morning stars .
Af ter lowering down the body of the unfortunate makerof rop es , Torekahe made fa s t the end of the fl ax ropeto the and hi s m en qui etl y ascended on e
by one .
tro nr:’s n lev No r: 2 th !
Now the da ring leade r rai sed hi s voi ce in a lo ud
sentine l - song o r ll’ lia litaa n mra -
p a . i n the gloom o f the
ea rl y mo rning he was not re cogn i sed by the p eop le of the
pa ,who thought he was one o f the i r own sentrie s .
Thi s,translated,
i s p a rt o f hi s song , a chant we l lremembe red to thi s day by his de scendants ; an
“
A l l’
swe l l” song to Ta riao and Kopu . the fi rs t and mo rningstars :
Th i s i s the pa !
These the h igh p a l i sades ,Bound w i th the fo r es t v i ne s .A n d here w i thi n am li
S i ng i ng my song .
S h i ne b r igh t ly , Ta r iao !Le t fea r se i ze o n our foe s ,Dea th
’s fate ful ha rb i nge rl low l fea r fu l in t he i r ea r s ,N g ahne
’
s red-toothed dogMoo -oo -i .
"l 'llKeen blows the weste r n w i n d ,\Vaf t ing a sound of war .
A i d u s,shade s of our s i r es ,
Ahi-ko r i k i,Rongotaha !
He r e on the watch am I .
EJ ' ! I aha -ha !
VVakeful on watch am I,
Ready to r u sh to the f ray ,Cha r ge on the th i ckets of spea r s !E -é ! I aha -ha !
Keen for the confl i ct are we ,Hot for the slay i ng of men
,
Hung ry f or eat i ng of m en !
L i ke a a g arara m on ste r our h ostLo ! the m u r de rous sweep of its ta i l !The snapp i ng , the foam of its j aws !Kopu bea m s fo r th in the sky ,He r e on the watch am I ,E-é ! I aha -ha !
There was a p ause , and then a sentinel in another p artf the pa , all unknowing of the fact that the singer whoad ju st ended hi s l oud chant was an enemy
,l ifted up
voice in a song of hi s own . When he had ended,
ek‘
ahe sang a second watch—song ; and then whenn was j ust app roaching, and i t was nece s sary
for the as sault,he
In thi s chant,which Torekahe shouted so that i t would
be p lainly heard by Te Rang ikotua and hi s hundred mencamp ed in front of the p a ,
he addre s sed hi s comrades as“ The fire s burning yonder
,
”and warned them to gather
on the land side and sweep down on the p a .
“ Sweepi t ! ” he cried
,
“ Here am I by the water- s ide .
”
In another moment Te Rang ikotua had given hi s menthe order to charge and they da shed withfury at the stockade of thei r fe es .
The garri son rushed to defend the main gateway and
the stockade . Then Torekahe,in the rear
,made his
attack . In the re sul tant confusion,the front mataa
swarmed into the fo rt,hacking thei r way through and
over the sto ckades and gateways,and j oined with their
cl i ff—cl imbing comrades in the work of slaughter .
Pae-hinahina fel l . M any of i t s garri son went into theovens of the conqueror s , and many other s were taken as
slaves . Thus did Torekahe quickly take a ta fo r themurder of hi s two si ster s .
Thi s warrio r chief Torekahe was born about eightgenerations ag o . He was seventh in de scent fromKahureremoa
,a famou s puhi or tapa
’d maiden ; she was
a chief taines s of Tainui stock . Kahureremoa marriedTakakop iri, and her daughter was Tup arahaki, anothercel ebrated p alm? of high rank , many of who se descendantsare l iving at Rotorua and Tauranga and M aketu at thepresent day .
266 TH E M AORIS or N EW ZEALAND
the whol e North Island,of making hi s name ring to the
boundarie s of the sky . He went to England in 1820,sai l ing from the Bay of Islands in the whal er
“ NewZealander
,
” with the exp res sed intention of procuringfarms with which to overcome hi s enemies
,particularly
those of the Ka ip ara and Hauraki di strict s .
In England he was made much of, p articularly by the
Church M i s s ionary Society p eop l e , who had hi s p ortrai t
p ainted , with the chief Waika to . He was p re sented bythe Prince Regent
,afterwards King George IV .
,with
some gifts,including steel cui ra s se s and helmets
,the
armour of old . He was given many other p re sents , butmost of them
,excep t the armour , he exchanged when he
reached Sydney for fl in tlock muskets, p owder , and
bul lets . From Sydney he took p as sage to hi s native land .
Straightway he armed hi s men with the wonderful. newweap ons , and l ed them on camp aign afte r camp ai gn ,shooting and eating hi s way southwards , p aying o ff oldscore s and running up new ones . The heart of the Islandhe raided
,the West Coa st and the Eas t , the victims
fa l l ing in many hundreds to hi s musketeers .
Then he turned hi s g uns on thi s“ Takiwa Waiariki .
For the invasi on of the Lakeland di s tri ct Hon gi was notwithout take or cau se
,in M aori eyes . In the p reviou s
year the Tuhouran g i t ribe had murdered the Northernchief Te Pae ~ o—te -Rangi and a vi s i ting p arty of Ngap uhion the i sland M otu - tawa
,in Lake Roto -kakahi . Eagerly
the dark conquero r sei zed on thi s talc-c, and,early in
1823,he set sai l wi th several hundred s— one account says
1200— of hi s warr io r s from V Vhang aroa and the Bay ofIslands
,in a flee t of war-canoes . Under sa i l and p addle
they voyaged down the coas t to the Bay of Pl enty . Thenentering the I Vaihi, they p addled up the PongakawaRiver
,which bursts from the ground a few mil e s from
Lake Rotoehu ,and when they had reached the head of
naviga ti on , they bent on the drag-rop e s and hauled thecanoes over the b ills to the Lake . M eanwhil e a p orti on ofthe army had al ready marched on Roto rua .
T l l l'l MAORI. AND TH E M U SKET 207
From a sl.ctch by Maj or-Genera l G. Roblcy , af terthe p ol tra it pam ted i n E ng land i n 1820.
H ongi H ika .
268 TH E M AORI S or NEW ZEALAND
The Arawa gathered for defence on M okoia,taking
with them ' every canoe that floated on the lake . On thei ri sland - fortres s they fancied themselve s secure . H ap a
by hap a the Arawa p araded on the i sland , under thei rchiefs
,M oko -nui -a -Rangi
,H ikairo
,Rakau
,Haerehuka
,
Te Kahawa i,Te Awaawa ,
the p rie st s U nuahu and
Tuhoto,and other men of high and sacred rank .
From Lake Rotoehu Hongi hauled hi s canoes acro s sthe Tahuna fore st p ortage— where the road i s to thisday cal l ed
“ Hongi ’s "Track ”— and launched them onRotoi ti . Paddl ing up that lake and breas ting the swiftcurrent of the Ohau stream the Ngap uhi warrio r s re stedtriumphantly at la st on the waters of Rotorua .
The M okoia garri son now observed an unu sua l s t i r inthe Ngap uhi encampment on the curving sands of theOhau
,and to their consternation they beheld a fleet of
strange canoes on the beach . Then one day the attackwas made . The army of Northmen embarked
,each l ong
narrow craft p acked with men , their p ol i shed musket sand tomahawks flashing back the sun . Hundred s of
p addles p l unged deep ; sp ray flew from each gargoyledbow and each sharp manuka blade as the canoes da shedfo rward
,the chiefs p erched up amidship s swaying from
side to s ide,and beating time fo r the p addles with their
weap ons , whil e the awful war - song boomed acro s s thelake . In the foremost canoe
,her fifty p addle s dipp ing
and p oi sing in air as one and dipp ing again,s tood Hongi
Hika,in hi s suit of a rmour
,surely the strangest
,wildes t
man of war the M aor i had ever l ooked up on . A
gli ttering helmet— the “Po tae-M n o
” or “ Iron Hat,
”as
the M aori s ca ll ed it —crowned hi s fero ciou s tattooed face,
and a cui ra s s of s teel p rotected hi s body , in s trangecontra st wi th the naked brown limbs of the a thleti csavage . His hand gripp ed a doubl e -barre l l ed fl intmusket
,hi s tapu gun Pa tu - iwi ” (
“ Slay theand in hi s fl ax wai st - bel t was stuck a sharp short-handledtomahawk . Like some medieva l hero he led on his
barbarous horde,a helmeted C ru sader of thi s “ F i sh o f
27 0 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
as they lan ded on the beach— but how could Te Arawastand again st them
,Te Arawa whose only weap ons were
rakau Mi am i— weap ons of wood and club s of stone and
bone “.2 They had but one or two guns ; they must fightthe enemy with the strength of their hands .
“ The guns sounded ; the Arawa fel l in heap s : from thesacred p lace of the gods at M atariki here , even to TePaep aerau y onder
,the warrio r s of the North ru shed
,
shouting and shooting and tomahawking as they went .Came Hongi the Man -Eater
,wearing hi s sacred p o tae
M a o ; came the army of Ngapuhi with thei r manv guns .
So fel l the i sland-men . The hi l l- fort s were cap tured ;many score s of men
,women and children were slain , and
great numbers were taken p ri soner s . Then ro se thesmoke of the man -cooking ovens al ong thi s Huruhurufl at where now you see the kumara and the p otato and thema i ze growing ; and from the fore st s on the ma inlandthe remnant of Te Arawa rai sed the tang i for thei rdead / ’
A daring exp l o i t was that of the chief M oko-nui -aRang i , who escap ed from the i sland . When the Arawawere rep ul sed M oko
’and number s of hi s p eop l e took to
the wa ter and struck out for the mainland . He wasSW1mmmg m cl o se comp any with two other s when he wasoverhauled by a smal l p arty of Ngap uhi in a canoe and
p ul led on board . Not recogni sing him,but knowing the
chief was amongst the escap ing men , they inquired thewhereabouts of M oko -nui -a-Rangi . “ There he i s
,
” sa idM oko ’
, p ointing to the leading swimmer . The Ngap uhi
p i cked up the second man,and threw him into the bo ttom
of the canoe,and then overtaking the remaining Arawa
they la id down thei r p addle s and l eaned over in thei reagernes s to haul thei r p ri ze on board . M oko ’ and hi scomp anion instantly sei zed a p addl e each and kil led orstunned thei r cap tor s . Throwing the Ngapuhis overboard , re scuing thei r comrade , and p icking up other s asthey proceeded , they reached the shore in safety , and
di sapp eared in the friendly wood s .
MAORI A ND T H E M U SKET 27 1.
Te Ra U p a r a ha , a n d Ho w h e S le w t h e M u a u p o k o .
Te Raupa rah a! .I t was,indeed
,a n ame to invoke, in
the. ea rlv decade s o f la s t century . Some say the cann ibal
wa rrio r became a Chri stian conve rt in his la s t day s , andl ied in a ll the odou r of sancti ty . It i s , howeve r, di fficul tto accep t the be lief that the Ra uparaha ,
the“O ld
Sarp in t” of the earl y Yankee wha le rs , who had all his
li fe revell ed “in the roar of battle and the fea st on the
luman “ F i sh - o f—Tu,
” should so comp le tel y ren oun ce the
(aua Maori and all thei r work s as to become a humblefoll ower of the mild and p eaceful. divini ty of the p akeha .
If he real ly did so , the idea suggests i t se l f that i t wasonly fo r the same reason for whi ch ol d K ing Thakombauof F ij i— the original “ K ing of the Cannibal Islands ”
.11 hi s decl ining years abandoned man - eating— becau sehe had l o st hi s teeth . One p refer s to bel i eve thatRauparaha rema ined to the last a sturdy heathen in hi sheart —~ in Sp i te of hi s benevolence to the ea rly
ionaries and hi s latter -day church -bui lding .
was as early as 1817 or 1818 tha t Raup arahased the p ractical advantages of cultivating the white’s friendship . His descendants at O taki and Poriruathe story to thi s day . Tamati Waka Nene (of
Rauparaha ,and other northern chiefs
,l ed a
oy ing army down the INest Coas t from Kawhia,
g and eating as they went . On the seas of Cookt they saw the white sa i l s of a p akeha ship ,
and as
gazed on the rare s ight Waka said,
“ Oh,
’Raha,
white p eop l e are a good p eop l e and a useful ! Ifbtain p o s ses sion of thi s land you wil l become a
man— you wil l p o s ses s guns and p owder inance .
” And stra ightway Raup araha re so lved tod , so that he might be near the Europ eanobtain the muskets that we1 e to become thegods of the M aori . About a year later he
f Ngat i—Toa abandoned thei r home s onand after many months ’ marching and
arrived in thei r p romised land , and
TH E M AORIS OF NE IV ZEALAND
p roceeded to e stabli sh thei r ti tl e by the summary p roce s sof eating the then owners
,the Muaup oko ,
Ran g itan e , and
kindred tribes .
The i slet -dotted,shal low lake of Horowhenua (cl o se
to the p resent township of Levin ) was the scene of someo f Raup araha
’s most frightful slaughter s o f the
unfortunate Muaup oko . On the northern and westernshore s of Horowhenua the remnant of Muaup oko l iveto -dav . They have not yet forgotten (or forgiven ) theconquering raid .
The most remarkable feature s of Horowhenua to -day
are the six artificia l i slands,o r lake -p as , which were
bui lt about the year 1820 by the Muaup oko as a meansof p rotection again st Raup araha . At the northern endo f the lake are the i slets of Karapu and Namu - i t i . Nearthe south end are the i slands VVai-kiekie
,Roha- o - te -kawau
(which are clo se to the Hokio s tream ,the outl et o f the
lake ) , Waip ata and Puke- i ti . The water s of the lake arenowhere more than twenty to twenty —fi ve feet in dep th ;on e of the deep est p art s , Op p o site the road leading fromLevin township to the lake side , i s the fabled dwel l ingplace of the tan -iwha Kawau -a—Toru
,Muaup oko
’s g en ius
loci . The largest of the se artificial i s lands are Karapu
and Wai-kiekie . M o st of them are in sha l l ow water,not
more than six or seven feet in dep th . They are nowluxuriant tangle s of Taup o , toetoe , fl ax and shrubbery ;on e or two of the southern ones are mere dot s of fl axc lump s , with here and there an ancient p al i sade—p o st .In building them— as the late Rangi -ma i rehau
,of Horo
whenua,described it to 1n e —the Muaup oko firs t of all
drove down li nes of strong stakes in the lake -bed,making
large circular fences . The tu ssock s,fl ax
,Taup o , etc .
,
were brought in canoes and p re s sed down over thesharp —p ointed stakes , so as to form a wal l ; and ba sket sup on ba sket s of earth from the shore were emp tiedwithin the encl o sure
,until. the i slands were made . Inside
the encircling fence more sap l ings and s take s were drivendown in to the so il and others cro s sed up on them ,
and
a s the ground grew sol id , huts were buil t thereon , and
TH E IVI AOB I S OF N E I V ZEALAND
to the i sland,fifty yard s away
, p i ck out the fatte s tMuaup oko , ki l l them ,
evi scerate them ,and drag the
bodie s back through the water to the shore . For manydays the water s were sta ined red with bl ood for greatdi s tances , and ghastly tal e s are told of how the monste reel s of Horowhenua congregated there
,and gorged ti l l
they lay , helple s sly bloated , on the lake , and how theseag ul l s from the coast , and the hawks f rom the p lain shovered continua l ly round the scene of butchery
,fea st ing
on what the Ngati -Tea left,and screaming the dirge of
the dai ly- l e s sening band of cap tive s .
In Lake Waiw iri (or Pap aitong a ,as i t i s genera l ly
cal l ed ) , south of Horowhenua ,there i s a similar low
lying artificial i sland,named Pap awharang i, now covered
with a beautiful grove of karaka- tree s and r ich withferns and ti-p alms . Thi s i s land p a was al s o taken by theinvader s
,and at the same time the larger i sland (Pap a i
tonga ) in the lake was cap tured . M any of Ngat i-Te aswam acro s s to the i sland
,and so ferociou sly dauntle s s
was thei r onslaught that the p lace was eas i ly stormed .
One warrior,Te Tip i , armed with a double—barrel l ed
fl int musket,struck terro r to the hearts of Muaup oko by
firing hi s gun as he swam— a veritabl e water-god .
Kap i t i I sland was Te Rauparaha’s stronghold fo r
many years after that , and with hi s musket s he held i tagainst all- comers . And here he traded wi th the whiteman
,and ever added to hi s store of firearms by barter
with the cap tains and sup ercargoe s , right up to thearriva l of the “ Tory ” with the p ioneers of Well ingtonin 1839 . M any a Europ ean ve ssel cas t anchor under thel ee of Kap i t i in tho se days , for i t was one of the mostimp o rtant trading stat ion s in the land of the M aori .O ld ship s and quaint . F i r s t the wha le r—d ongvani shed from these water s— bluff and tubby
,with her
row of long sharp -ended boat s hoi sted to the cranes one i ther side , crew
’s -nest at the main,the c rew often a
motl ey gang of a ll nati ons , booted into o rder by a roughand m a sterful “ ol d man
” from New Bedford o rM artha ’s Vin eyard . Trading brigs and schooners from
A ND T H E mus k eT 2 7 5
ly dne y side,w e l l -armed as befi tted the time s , ca rronade s
n the wa i s t and swive l s by the ta ff rai l ; ready to t radeo r an y thing f rom a ton of fl ax to a ki t of d ried tattooedtOIldS
,and equal ly ready to rep el boarde rs o r fi re a
l ao ri p a . Sometimes a stray Government ves sel f romcro s s the Ta sman Sea ; occasi onal ly some craft o r o the rc aring a mis sionary
,when Chri s tiani ty and p ot
-ha t se f
ame fa shionable amongst the refo rmed cannibal s oflg ati-Toa and Ngati-Awa .
CHAPTER XXV .
THE M AORI AND THE WHITE TRADER .
It was the immense demand for firearms and ammun i
t ion that made the early Europ ean trader such a p owerin the land of the M aori dur ing the two decades 1820 to1840. The wars waged by Hongi and Te Raup araha withtheir newly - acquired muskets fired every tribe with thedesi re to obta in supp l ie s of the new weap ons and so p lacethemselves on something l ike equa l terms with an
invading army . The white coast- trader was the man whocould supp ly them ,
in return for dre s sed fl ax and o thercommoditie s
,and accordingly every tribe was eager to
obtain a trader who would be i t s own sp ecial p akeha .
The M aori s to ry of the firs t white men who came toKawhia Harbour furni she s a good il lustration of the wayin which the M aori chiefs sought and obta ined theservices of Europ ean traders . I extract the narrativefrom a M S . record of the evidence given by M aj orWiremu te Wheoro ,
the Lower Wa ikato chief,during the
hear ing of the Rohepotae ca se s befo re the fir st NativeLand Court at O to rohanga ,
K ing Country , i n 1886 :“ Shortl y afte r the ce s sation of fighting between the
Waikato p eop l e and the Ngap uhi , of the Norththe Kawhia chief Te Puaha went 0 11 a. vi s it to theNgapuhi coun try [Bay of I slands ] . W’
lien he returned toKawhia Harbour he b rought with him a. Europ eannamed ‘
Amuke te .
’ He got him to come in with hi s shipas fa r as H eahea ,
at the entrance to Kawhia . TheI Va ikato p eop l e then re sident at Kawhia asked him
,the
cap tain of the ship ,to sup p l y them w i th p owder and with
firearms . He sai led away to Sydney and brought back
TH E M AORIS OF N EW ZEALAND
T rad in g fo r Ka u h i S p a r s .
A STORY OF PETER DILLON AND POM ARE .
In a rare l i ttl e book by Cap tain George Bayly , Sea
l ife S ixty Years Ago,
an excellent account i s given ofthe exciting busines s of trading on the canniba l coa s t ofNew Zealand in the early days . Bayly served under thecelebrated Cap ta in Peter Di l l on— who di scovered theremains of the il l - fated La Perouse exp edition at
Vanikoro in the New Hebride s— and was thi rd Officer ofDi l lon ’s ship ,
the “ St . Patri ck,
”0 11 a voyage from
Valp arai so to New Zealand for kauri spars , and thenceto Cal cutta
,in 1825-26 . The “ St . Patrick
,
”a ship of
430 tons,l oaded her sp ar s at the F i rth of Thames
,
Hauraki Gulf . On the voyage acro s s the Pacific Di l lonhad a l o t of o ld musket s which he bought in Va lp arai sorep a i red and p ol i shed up , to be bartered to the M aori sfo r the timber . Immediately the ship anchored (evidentlythe l ocal i ty was near the entrance to the Southern Wa i roaRiver ) she was put into a p rop er state of defence agains tthe M aori s
,who
,though general ly friendly di sp o sed
towards traders , were neverthele s s“ kittle cattl e
,
”and
not to be given any chance of cap turing the ves sel . Baylythu s describes the methods of defence
“ An a r m s—ch est was ho i sted i n to each top ,con ta i n i n g hal f -a -dozen
m uskets , as m any p i stols . cu tlasses , boa r d i ng-p i kes . and a good suppl y ofa m m u n i t i on . The two ca r ron ades we r e hau led i n to the r oun d h ou se ; on e
m oun ted i n each doo rway co m m an ded the deck on both s i des,in the e v en t
of the n at i v es m ak in g a r u sh on boa r d in g r eat n u m be r s . The se we r eloaded w i th cha r ges of m u sket bal l s and slugs . In s i de the r oun d house thebu lkheads we r e fi t ted w i th r ack s for fi r ea r m s
,cu tlasses , axes . and so on .
The capta i n and Offi ce r s w e r e p ro v i ded w i th weapon s at h an d,so as to b eable to r ush up on deck , a r m ed at a m o m en t ’ s n o t i ce . The c r ew we r es ta t i on ed as fol low s : s ix han ds each in the fo r e and ma i n tops
,fou r i n
the m i zzen -top , six i n the r oun dhouse . and the r e st abou t the m a i n deckand fo r ecast le . I f. a host o f nat i v es w e r e at te m pt i n g to boa r d on alls i des , the deck -hands , af te r fi r i ng the i r m u sket s , we r e to r et i r e to the roun dh ou se andal ef e
nd it . A gen e ral o r d e r to the o f fi ce r in cha r ge of the deckwas tha t , i f m o r e than one la r ge canoe ca m e a lon gs i de
,h al f the c r ew we
re
tob e kept
.
at the sta t i on s ; but if a d i spo s i t i on Was Obse r v ed on the pa r tt°
i ,0 drop u bate\ er he was abou tand h as ten to h i s stat i on , se i ze h i s m u sket
, and be p r epa r ed to act Noon e was to fi re w i thou t o r de r s .
ru n M AO RI A N D TH E WH ITE TRADER 27 9
I t wa s we l l that Di l lon and his men were on the q a i a im ,
fo r during the wo rk o f l oading the kau ri spars early inJanua ry ,
1826 , a quarrel occurred wi th Poma re , the
Ngapuhi chief , who had come down w i th some o f his
.varr io rs from the Bay o f Islands . Po n'
iare had
endeavoured to fo rce hi s way on deck from his canoe,but
she sentry held hi s cutla s s acro s s the gangway ,and the
ehief , se iz ing hold of i t,had his fingers cut . Thi s
exasp erated him so greatl y that he cal l ed to his friends30 p addle away ashore and rou se all the nat ive s to comeeff and avenge the insult . Cap ta in Di l l on detain edPomare (
“ Boo M array ” i s Bayly ’s sp el l ing ) as a
pri soner on deck in view of the M aori s,who soon came
iashin g Off to the ship in twelve large war- canoes,armed
with their muskets,sp ears , club s , and axes .
Eac h canoe , na r rates Capta i n Bayly .
“ had se v en ty or e i gh ty men
11 her. in all about n i n e h und r ed sta r k -naked sa v ages , m u ste r i ng about s i x tynuskets between the m . They fo r m ed in two l i ne s on our po r t qua r te r ,vhere , find i ng a c r ew of the
‘ St Pat r ick ’at qua r te r s p r epa r ed for a
.tand -up fight,an d wel l know ing how w e we r e a r m ed
,and that t hey m i gh t
expect a wa r m r ecept ion , they hes i tated , and hel d a council of war as to
vhether they shoul d take the sh i p at once or wait for a m o r e con v en i en tipportun ity .
’ A few m o m ent s late r , at a s i gnal f r o m the ch iefs,the
welve canoes shot up ab r east of the gangway .
“ We we r e h el d in b r eath l ess suspense for abou t fi ve m i n utes,th en
ndden ly the w hole of the nat i v e wa r r i o r s sta r ted to the i r feet .
‘ Stan d by !’ shou ted the Capta i n
,co v e r ing Boo Ma r r ay w ith h i s
» i stoi .“ If one t r i gge r had been pu l led at th i s m o m en t , i n all hu m an p robab i l ityhe r e woul d ha v e been a bloody bat t le . Happ i ly e v e ry man had caugh t thep i r it of the m atte r . E v e ry m u sket was pointed at a foe ; the gunne r and. i s c r ew stood by the ca r ronades m atc h in h an d ; but n ot a shot w as fi red .
“ The sa v ages sta m pe d all togethe r f r om s ide to s i de of the i r canoes ,oilin g the m w i t h a t r e m endous splash e ithe r way , t i l l the gunwales we r erithin two or th r ee in ches of the wate r . Th ey utte r ed d iabo l i cal th r eats ;rith f rant i c ge stu r es and the m ost h i deous conto r t ions of coun tenan ce
,
hey y elled out th ei r w ar—c r ies . Th ey th r ust out thei r tongues l ike th i r styog s (they we r e in deed th i r st i ng for our b lood ) . Noth i ng m o r e Satan i could wel l be con ce i v ed . A fte r keep ing th i s up for a f ew m i nu tes
,they
aused. F in d i ng that we w e r e n ot to b e int i m idated,and that Pete r wou l d
old n o pa r ley w i th th e m,t hey co m posed a so r t of r e citat i v e
, the bu r denf wh ich was that
,if we had n ot been p r epa r ed to figh t the m
, or if Boo
{a r r ay had n ot been in our powe r , they woul d ha v e taken the sh i p ando u l d ha v e k il led and eaten u s all befo r e the m o r n ing . They then dashed1e ir paddles aga i n in to the wate r , m any of them fi r ed th e i r m uskets ahead3 th ey spu n r oun d the bow s , and all r etu r ned on sho re , lea v i n g BOO Ma r r ayhis fate .
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
lowe r ed h i s p i stol , cong r atulated the ch ief on his na r row escape ,d h i m dow n to the cab i n to feast on col d r oast po r k and
morning Pomare was sent safely ashore , -after) tain had p re sented him with the cutla s s whichhi s fingers
,and with a hal f-p ound bag of gun
and the loading of the spar s (which were p aidth muskets
,gunp owder , and hat chet s )
y resumed . It was thi s chief,Pomare
,who
,soon
e incident j u st related , l ed an exp edi tion of severa lNgap uhi warrior s up the Wa ikato in canoes
,and
bushed by the Waikato men and kil l ed,together
arly all hi s foll owers,at Te Rore
,on the Wa ipa
TH E M AORIS OF NE\V ZEALAND
Te Raup araha and hi s men were camp ed on the bankof the Tuamarina Stream
,a branch of the IVairau River
(in what was afterwards the M arlborough p rovince ) . Onthe opp o site bank of the river l ived a white man and hi sM aori wife . “ ford was brought to Raup araha that a
man - of-war had landed Cap ta in Wakefield and a p artyof thi rty or forty men in Cloudy Bav . Wakefield and hi s
p arty arrived at the white man ’s hou se and camp ed forthe evening . The native woman cooked food for themand l i stened to thei r conversation
,and
,whil e they were
eating, she told her hu sband she was going for a swim .
She went out,and cro s sing the stream
,which was spanned
by a canoe,went to Rauparaha
’s camp and told him the
p akehas intended to cro s s the r iver and attack him at
dayl ight . She then came back,and wetting her head in
the stream,so as to cause the Europ eans to bel i eve she
had been bathing,returned to her whe re .
Early next morning Raup araha sent a man to removethe canoe as soon as the p akeha cro s sed , and thu s cut o fftheir retreat . The tohung a consul ted the gods by meanso f the and found that all the omens were in favourof Te Raup araha .
The Europ eans advanced and cro s sed the river . A ssoon as they were over and into the scrub
,the canoe was
removed by the na t ive p laced there fo r that p urp o se . Hehad hidden himself in the creek , al ongside the canoe , withonly hi s head above the water . One of Raup araha
’s men
n ew advanced to w ere the that i s to cas t a lightSp ear at them in chal l enge . Some of the whites who werein advan ce
,not knowing thi s M aori cu stom
,turned to ask
I Vakefi e ld, who was in the rea r,wha t i t meant . Thi s
turn ing the face from the tang a ta were or chal l enger wasaccep ted bv Rauparaha. as a su re sign of vi ctory
,and he
at once cal l ed out to his m en,
“H e 7.70 1'
ap a”
unlucky
I n th i s c e r e m ony o f d i v i n at i on sho r t s t i cks or r ods cal led min we r eth r own by the p r i est , who p roph es i ed the r esu lt of the fight ac co r d i n g to
the m ann e r in wh i ch thev fe l l .
A MAO RI VERS ION U A FFA I R. 283
.\ fte r a di scu ssion w ith Te Raupa raha and the
a l lure to a rre s t him ,some o f the whi te s ti red at the
iative s, who we re crouching on the ground . Two were
struck , a woman and the native who had take n the canoe
iwav and was j ust re tu rning to j oin his p arty . J efo n
he smoke clea red , the n ative s advanced wi th a rush and,
is the Europe ans rai sed thei r gun s to ti re another volleyig ain th rew themselve s fl at on the ground . Not on e
nat ive was hit . Spring in gto their fee t again , the
nat ives c lo sed in,and the
first wh ite fe l l beneath th etomahawk of Te Oro .
In a few moment s theEuropeans were fleeing in
disorder for the river . Whenthey reached it , they foundthe canoe g one . Som ewho c ou ld n ot sw im weredrowned in the river
,o thers
suc ceeded in cro ssing . The
nat ives pursued t hem ho t ly .
One white man,finding
him se lf being overtaken,
turned and,taking a bi scuit
from his haversack,bit off
a port i on and offered the
he To m ahawk y amwh ich Rang ihaeata remainder to h is pursuer as
as:was a token of surrender nassession o f Mrs . Tan iora Lo v e . of Wai was ac c epted
,with the re
kawa ' Mm b om ugh '
mark,
KO [roe he taup e
areka make,
”(“ You sha l l be my and he was
pared .
Captain. Wakefield,who was wearing a l ong cl oak and
aiters, was p ursued by Te O ro . Wakefield reached theater and waded out to hi s wa i st . Te Oro , armed withlong-handled tomahawk, waded after him
,but being a
.uch shorter man,soon found himself in up to the arm
.ts . Wakefield now turned,and drawing a Short sword he
irried, awai ted the M aori’s attack.
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Te O ro did n ot keep him wa i ting l ong . Careful lymeasuring hi s di stance
,he made a terrific b low at
Wakefield who p arried i t with p erfect ease . Once morethe long-handled tomahawk fla shed through the air , and
again the blow was p arr ied .
Te Oro now hesi tated,bel ieving that i f he made another
blow and fa i l ed,he would be ki l led
,as the white officer
was evidently a' skil ful fighter .
While he was sti l l wondering as to what was the be stthing to do
,Wakefield addre s sed him in broken M ao ri ,
and with Signs made him understand tha t he wi shed tosu rrender . To thi s Te Oro gladly agreed , and the twowaded ashore
,where Wakefield handed to Te O ro hi s
sword,Spy
-gla s s,overcoat
,gold watch
,and s ome money
,
after which the chief a s sured Wakefield of hi s friendshipand p rotection . They then returned to the main body
,
where they found the white man who hadand hi s cap to r . (The other white s cap tured werebeing tomahawked by Te Rang ihaeata )Te Rauparaha was quite wil l ing to spare the two
men , as he wanted to hold them as hostages in the eof any trouble over the fight . After hi s Sp eechconcl uded
,the whole party s tarted to shift camp .
A S they were marching al ong,one of the South I S
n ative s sp rang at Wakefield,and wi th a
bl ow of hi s tomahawk,s truck him ju s t bel ow the S
Hearing the scuffl e , Te Oro turned to see wha tmatte r
,but befo re he could interfere
,Wakefield
another blow on the back,which fel l ed him to the
Wakefield now cal l ed to Te Oro,and a sked him
,as
f riend , to de spa tch him with hi s own han d , as he did 110
wi sh to die like a slave .
Te O ro was greatly touched by thi s mark of e steem,bu
did n ot care to comp ly .
Wakefield aga in u rged him to ki l l him quickly .
i
i ow in g his head in gri ef , Te Oro wep t over hi s friand then ki l l ed him wi th a bl ow of hi s tomahawk.
turning fi e rce lv on the South Islander,he cha l l
him to singl e combat .
CHAPTER XXVII .
THE KINGI TES AND THE IVAR .
K a ag ap e te whenua,Ka ha ere ng a tang ata 7 m: whee ?
A ~ a -a i ta .
!
K13a man , kia maul
Thi s King ite war - song,chanted in every V i l lage in the
days of the Waikato and Taranaki campai gns of thesixt ie s
,i s sti l l on the l ip s of the Wa ikato p eop l e . I have
heard i t sung with inexp re s sibl e earnestnes s and forceat a p oli tica l gathering of the Ngati -Hana ,
the clan of thehonest and p at rioti c hVilliam Thomp son , the
“ K ingmaker
,
”and hi s no l e s s honest and p atr io ti c son Tupu
Ta in g akawa te VVaharoa ,the p re sent head of the tribe .
There i s ever befo re the mind of the V Vaikatos thememory of the war . For in i t they l o s t thei r p atrimony
(Nga ti-Hana themselve s did not come so badly ou t of i tas the Wa ikato p eop le p rop er )— the beautiful fertil elands 0 11 which they had l ived for genera tion aftergenera ti on
,and which they l oved wi th a p as s ion tha t few
p akehas real i se .
“The land ,
” says the M aori,
“ i s ourwa i/u
,our mother ’s mi lk . It i s all we have ; without i t we
are as bi rd s who se tree has fal l en and who have nore sting-
p lace . It i s our li fe to u s from childhood,our
m other ’s m i lk .
The other day Ta ing akawa , the“ King -maker ’s ” son
,
addre s sing some Ngati -Awa peop le , origina l ly fromTa ranaki
,at O taki
,sai d
The ea r thquake shakes the lan d ;Wh e r e sha l l man find an abiding
place ?0 Ruaim oko !
(God of the un de r -wo r ld )Hold fast our lan ds !B in d
,t i gh t ly b i n d !
B e fi r m, b e fi r m
,
N or let th e m f ro m our g rasp b e to r n .
T im‘
k rNo rrus AN D THE WAR 287
Now , it wa s y ou Ngati—Awa who sta rted the fi re in theera which burnt us all up . You should remember that ,nd come ove r and help u s .
Ta ing akawa was re fe rring to the Ten Yea rs ’ Wa r
rhich started at Wai tara ,in
fl‘
a ran aki , in 1860 , and whi ch
p read all over the i sland,and he used thi s as an
rg umen t in sup p o rt of his ap peal to the other t ribe s tooin I Vaikato in thei r agitation fo r fuller p oli ti cal rightsnd contro l of thei r remaining lands .
But a member of the Ngati -Awa re to rted“E tama ,
’ti s not so ! The fire burnt u s up , but onlyinged you . Look at me ; I lo s t all my land , whil e you.ave s til l thousands of acres l eft .It was indeed the war in Taranaki , p rovoked by the
.nhappy Wai tara land p urchase , that p recip i ta ted theVaikato War , and i t was such fiery warrio rs as Rew i
I an iap oto and some others that up set all the efforts ofThomp son (IV iremu Tamehana ) in the cause of p eace .
Iad Tamehana had hi s way ,war would never have
ocurred,and hi s p eop l e would never have had thei r land
onfi scated.
The sett ing-up Of the first M aori K ing,Potatau Te
Vherowhero ,in 1858
,was not intended as an act of direct
ostilitv to the p oint of war aga inst the whi te settler s ;ut the p olit ical comp l i cations which fol lowed it widened1e breach between the p akeha Government and the M aori ,ad in five years after the p rocla iming of the K ing (o r1e
“I ng iki
”— Inca — as he was cal l ed by the M aori s,who
ad read a translat ion giving something of the hi storyf Peru ) , the firs t shot was fired in Waikato .
The King ite movement was nobly conceived by Tame1na and hi s fel low-
p atrio ts . It had for i t s obj ect thereservati on of the land , mama and nati ona l indep endencethe native p eop l e . M y old King ite friend Patara te
uhi says that the notion of a K ing fo r the M aori s'igi nated with Tamehan a Rauparaha (son of the famou sarrie r Te Rauparaha ) , who went 0 11 a voyage tong land and returned convinced tha t i t would be an
TH E MAORIS OF NE‘V ZEALAND
t thing fo r the M aori s to have one head chief over3 be cal led a K ing . He vigorou sly p romulga tedand M atene te Whiwhi, of O taki , took i t up ,
and
ccd the King ite cru sade . He vi si ted the Roto ruahe U rewera mounta in dwell er s
,the Taup o p eop l e ,
Waikato tribes,haranguing them to unite and set
ng ,and p revent the p akeha from usurp ing their
ad acquiring all their lands .
A head-p iece f ro m the Ringite newsp ap e r , Te Pak i-o-Mata r iki .
i rst large meeting in connection wi th the Kingn t was tha t held at Man awap ou,
in Taranaki,in
[t was there that the grea t war- song was firs tby the a s sembled p eop l e : E ko re Taranaki e
ata, etc .
, Taranaki wil l no t be cas t from u s .
ehief of the Ng arauru tribe , named VVhitikau ,was
;he firs t app roached by the council of chief s and1 al l ow the p eop le to e l ect him King
,and head of
; i- land sell ing l eague . He refu sed . Then1g to a account— thev a sked Tamat i11d he refu sed . O ther chi efs were then sugge sted
,
290 TH E MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Wa ikato s and Taran akis were bent on a bitter war . The
l eaders,too
,conceived the idea that the obj ect of the
Government in beginning a mil itary read up from Druryto the Wa ikato River was the stea l ing of thei r land byforce . Bitternes s and hate we re engendered between theM aori s and the p akehas of Auckland and near—by di stricts . In Taranaki the sturdy Devon men who had sa i l edround the world to bui ld homes in thi s new country werenot to be turned from their purp o se by a few tribe s of
half—savages who did not u se a t ithe of their lands .
The war in Taranaki began in 1860 ; and in i t many of'
the Up p er Wa ikato men,headed by Eewi and others
,took
a l eading share . In July,1863
,the IV aikato war began .
Thousands of Imp erial troop s , co lonial volunteers and
mil itia took -the field,and marched fo r the Wa ika to Va l l ey .
The ‘ Briti sh “ regiment s in the fiel d,under Gen eral
Cameron,included the 65th
,40th
,50th
,43rd
,12th
,68th
,
and 7 0th Regiments, the 2nd Battal i on of the 14th, the
18th Roya l Iri sh,Cap tain M ercer
’s F i el d Battery ofRoyal
‘
Artillery,and detachm ents of Engineer s . To the
A rmy’s
‘
aid,too , came the Naval Brig ade of seamen and
marines landed f rom the Briti sh ship s of war 0 11 the
sta tion,unde r Commodore I 'V iseman
,of
Curacoa . Then there were the volunteers,i n p articular
Col onel Nixon ’s Cavalry ,and Cap tain s Jackson
’s and
V on Temp sky’s hard -fi ghtin g corp s of Fore st Ranger s .
The Waika to held few white men in 1863 . Te Awamn tu.
was the p rincipal p akeha settl ement ; at the Governmentstati on here M r . Gorst had hi s industrial s chool and hisp rinting p re s s — the p re s s on whi ch the famou sPihoiho i ” was printed . M r . Gorst was evicted by Rew i
and his warrior s under p ain of death if he remained . He
l eft New Zealand to win fame in the Parliament and
Government of the O ld Country, and returned f orty - three
year s afte r his evi cti on,a kn i ght and a King ’s Coun sel
,
to look again on the scenes of his y ou th . Here and thereal ong the I ’Vaikato bank s are the sites of the early mi s sionstati on s , tangle s n ow Of soft green acacia and sweet -briar
,
T i l l-1 k i N i a'
rics AM » T H E WA R
o r ma rked by the vene rable moss—grown f rui t- tree s
peache s , a lmonds , app le s , p ea rs— w i th which the
Chu rch p i onee rs loved to su rround thei r l one l y home s in
the wi lds . The sp i ri t of connn e rce was rep re sen ted“
in
tho se day s by the enterp ri sing trader , who ba rtered the
p i t/rcha’
s good s fo r p igs and d res sed fl ax ,and othe r na tive
commodities .
From a dra u ing by Maj or ron Temp s/r”.
A ski r m ish a t Waiari , Mangap iko Ri v e r , U p p e r Waikato , on Feb . 11 , 1864 , b e twe e n
the Fo r est Range r s and the Mao r is .
Up in the rich I’Vaikato Val l ey and the p lains of the
Waip a in those old romantic days before the war , theM aori was an industrious agricul turi st . It i s on reco rdthat in 1852 the natives of Ran g iawhia -w l1ich i s at the
p resent day one of the p rettie s t and best cul tivatedfarming di stricts in the Waikato— had 800 acres in wheat
,
the p roduce of which (estimated at twenty bushel s p eracre ) was set down at a tota l value of about £4000. The
Natives took thei r wheat to Auckland , carting i t first ofall to the banks of the Wa ip a ,
thence canoeing into the
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Wa ikato and down to the Awaroa p ortage , where theycro s sed into the M anukau Harbour— a toi l some j ourneyoccupying days which now we cover in as many hour s .
But the tide of war swep t over Ran g iawhia and manyanother Waikato vi l lage , where the p eop l e grew thei rma i ze and wheat and p otatoes , ground thei r wheat intoflou r in thei r own water—driven mil l s , and l ived underthe heavily- laden branches of their own p each and ap p l etree s and their tra i l ing vines , and the happy indu striou sag e vani shed before fire and sword .
The fir st fight was at Koheroa , where the troop scarri ed the M ao ri trenches at the p o int of the bayonet .Then the Wa ikato s fell back on M eremere , j us t above the
p re sent s ite of M ercer , and there Patara te Tuhi , my Old
hi storian of the war,squatting in the midst Of the
tatto oed , stern - eyed garri son on the long rifl e—p i t ted and
trenched fern ridge,overlooking the sweep ing river , with
hi s tup ara*acro s s hi s knee s
,saw the fir st steamer that
ever floated on the water s of the Waikato come p uffi ng upthe wide swift stream . Thi s was the gunboat “ Avon
,
armed with a 12—p ounder Armstrong . Then came thegunboa t “ Pioneer
,
” bui l t in Sydney,an i ron sha l low
draught craft with two cup olas on her deck p i erced forrifles
,and entered from below . Early in October the
“ Avon” and the “Pi oneer ,
” with troop s on board ,steamed up the Wa ikato p a st M eremere , and tho se onboard met with a surp ri se , for , besides being fired on byrifl emen from the hil l trenches , they were saluted withshots from big guns humming about thei r ears . The roarof arti l l e ry was a sound unlooked fo r in these Native
part s , and there was much enquiry to what the p i ece swere and how they came there
,mounted on the remote
ridge of M eremere .
Patara tel l s me tha t the guns were two ol d piece s ofship artil l e ry , given to hi s p eop l e many y ears ag o on theWest Coa s t by Cap tain Kent , the trader . When the warbroke out , the Nga ti -Tabinga tribe and o thers d ragged
Tapura r —t two -ba r r el s, the Mao r i te r m for a donb le -ba r r elled gun .
294 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
armsmen p racti sed at the steamers or at the Bredoubt on the opp os i te r idge . Patara was there amongstthem
,l etting drive with hi s t'ap ara ,
and u sing up muchammun i t ion without any l o s s to the Europ ean soldier s ,and taking safe cover in the rifle p i t s when the Armstrongs on the gun -boat s began to sp eak .
Then came a time when the M aori had to fal l back onRangiriri
,and further back sti l l , when that redoubt had
been surrendered— af ter a di sas trou s as sault in whi chsix Briti sh offi cer s and thirty- seven men were kil l ed . Upthe M i s s i s sip p i Of New Zea land p oured the steamers , thetransp ort boat s and canoes , and the regiments and NavalB rigade of the Bri ti sh . Sorrowfully and angrily reti ring
,
the Wa ikato s canoed up their ancestra l wa ter-way ,
chanting the old Song s of war as thei r p addl e s dip p ed andro se
,and dipp ed again
,and now and then rai sing a
waiata of g rief as they swep t p ast some olden hamlet ,some -much -
p rized cul tivati on , o r a sacred burial -p lace ofthei r tribe
,shel tered by the l ow bending fol iage of the
fore st They fel l back on Ng aruwahia , the beautifu lmountain shadowed Sp ot where the waters of the Wa ikatoand the Waip a meet . But before the soldier s came theyabandoned that p lace , the Old cap i ta l of the M aori K ing ;bui l t a formidabl e p a at Paterang i and wai ted l ong forthe as saul t -which never came . On the p arap et s ,
ofPate1 ang i , f1 om which they could sn i vey the whol e g1 een
p la in of the IVaip a and see the 1 iver s tl11 eading downtln ough the fe1 ny val leys to the lo st Waikato
,thev danced
thei 1 wild dances of battle , and yel l ed thei 1 chal l enges tothe ten ted encampment of the troop s . Thereafter the menof the ski rmi shed stoutly at Haerin i and
Rang iawhia , in the I Va ipa basin , and final ly faced death,
fi ghting “ l ike the shark ,
” in the famous redoubt at
Orakau , on the borders of wha t afterward s came to beknown as the K ing Coun trv .
Thus fel l the M ao ri s ’ K ingdom ; their land s went tothe conque ring pa/rclm .
‘
A cro s s the p al e of the Aaka lri
fl ed the exil ed Wa ika to s,and there K ing Tawhiao
,Patara
,
f I”
T H E k i No rrRs AN ! ) T i l l". WA R 205
Re wi, Whitio ra ,and man y anothe r sul len
chie fta in dwel t fo r many a vear afterwa rds , and g rievmg ,
a lwa y s grieving ,fo r thei r l o st ance st ra l land s , the W ide
m a sketch by Mfr/or con Tennis/41, 1mm.
Rush ing th e Mao r i t r e n ch es An incident of the Wa ikato war .
val ley of the Waikato,where n ew stood the redoubts and
the farm-houses of the white man .
It was not t il l 1881 that the Wa ikato s smoked the final
p ip e of p eace . Then they made a p roce s sion through thefrontier settl ements
,when the long-bani shed King ites
296 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
once more vi s ited thei r o lden homes,wep t over the battl e
ground s of the p as t , danced wild war-dances , blazed awaymuch blank ammunition
,and fea sted mighti ly .
The p resent writer witnes sed thei r martia l entry intoKihikihi township ,
six hundred strong,with Old Tawhiao
seated in hi s buggy in the midst of hi s armed men . Therewas a touch of humour about the march from A l exandra ,on the Wa ip a , to Te Awamutu . The Te Awamutu Cava l ryBand turned out and headed the p roces sion , in compl iment to the M aori King and hi s chiefs
,and p layed them
into the township to the air of“ The K ing of the Cann iba l
I slands .
”Tawhiao was much taken with the rousing
tune,and when the march was ended he enquired what
i t was . When the titl e was interp reted to him ,the K ing
was very wroth indeed at thi s imp ol i te if musi cala l lu s ion to the “ l ong-
p ig”p rocl iviti e s of hi s family , and
said some cutting things about Bandma ster S ibl ey .
298 TH E M AORIS OF N EW ZEALAND
of fighting fame level with Leonidas and hi s threehundred heroe s of Thermopylae.
Hauraki Tonganni,of Taup o , who died a few year s ag o ,
was the man who del ivered the famous rep ly of defiancein answer to the cal l to surrender
,and i t was a Taup o
woman,the brave Ahumai
,who sa id tha t the women . too ,
would die if their hu sbands were slain .
The battl e,or rather Si ege
,of Orakau ,
the la st fortifiedhold bui l t by the King ites , took p lace on the 3l st of M archand the l st and 2nd of Ap ril , 1864. A band Of about threehundred M aori s
,including many women and some
chi ldren,shut themselves up in a ha st ily-bui l t redoubt at
Orakau,about three miles beyond the K ihikihi mil itary
p o st . Here they were attacked by the Imp eria l and
Col onial troop s , strong,under Brigadier-General
Carey— [Genera l Cameron arrived later ] —but they heldout for three days
,again s t artill ery -fi re as well as rifle ,
and against bayonet - charges . At last,in a desp a i r ing
break for freedom,they charged out of the p a , l eaving
more than half their number dead .
Nothing n ew remain s to mark the site of tha t unforgettabl e fight . The p each - trees that grew SO abundantlythere in the Old days had di sapp eared— cut up for fi rewood— when las t I vi si ted the place . Tha t sacred sp ot , myfather ’s old farm of Orakau ,
wi th i t s fine grove s of M aori
p lanted p eaches and cherri e s , and its rel i cs of vani shedM aoridom
,i s my earli e st memory of childhood . Some of
the p each - tree s alongside the road were riddl ed wi thbull ets ; the hole s made by the p roj ecti l es of tho se day sof big-bore s were easi l y to be found ; and Enfi eld bull etswe re som etimes to be p i cked out from the tree - trunks . Afew y ears after the ba ttl e , when m y fa ther settl ed in that .then remote and di s tu rbed di s tri ct
,one of the fu rthe st-out
p i oneer s , rel ic s o f the fight were often p loughed up . The
p resen t publi c road pa s se s through the redoubt Si te ;and the t rave l le r mav n ew d rive over the sp o t whersco res o f s lain Mao ri s were la id in the t renches
,their]
sel f—dug grave s .
TH E D'
EIA‘
ENDEBS O li‘
ORAKAU 299
F rom a photo buJ . McDona ld ,
Gert. Ton-ris ! Dep t , 1905 .
Tup otahi , the na r rato r of the Sto ry of Orakau .
TH E M AORIS OF NEW’ ZEALAND
Tu p o t a h i’s S t o ry .
The best narrative of the Orakau fight I have gatheredfrom the M aori survivors i s that o f the old Ngat iMan iap oto chief, Wini Tana Tup otahi , who was one ofthe heroes of the defence
,and who was severely wounded
by a Briti sh bullet . Tup otahi i s a first cousm of Rew i
M anga Man iap oto ,who died in the Wa ikato in 1894 . He
i s a smal l-buil t,white -moustached old man
,with a thin ,
keen face,bearing the tattoo mark s of a p ast generation .
He i s now about seven ty - seven year s of ag e , and has hishome in the li ttl e vil lage of Puke -kawakawa ,
on the bank sof the Puniu River— the olden aukati or boundary l inebetween the Upp er Waikato and the K ing Country .
“ It was at Orakau ,
” said Tup otahi ,“ that we made a
final s tand aga inst the Queen ’s troop s . We had beendriven back all the way up the Wa ikato River
,from
M eremere,where I and my tribe smen were in the trenche s
overlooking the r iver . I was in Pateran g i p a ,which we
abandoned after the fight at Rangi awhia . Then,as we
fel l further back,l eaving our vil lages and food - culti
vation s to the p akeha s oldier s , we took counsel togetherand re so lved to make one la st e ffort to retain the land ofour ancestor s . We as sembl ed cl o se to the vil lage ofOrakau ,
a beautiful fertil e p lace , cel ebrated amongst u sfo r i t s abundant food - crop s and i t s large groves of
p eache s— and there we buil t a redoubt . It was not in a
strong p osi ti on , but some of the old men would have i tbu il t there
,so we deferred to thei r word s . The pa we
buil t was obl ong in shap e , about a chain and a -hal f l ongby something le s s than a chain in width . It had flankingangl es o r outwork s at two of the co rners— one of the seangl e s , that facing the south -ea st , was held by theWaikato men ; the o ther , facing the di recti on of Kihikihi ,was manned by the Nga ti -Raukawa tribe (Ngati -TeKohera
, e tc ) . An earth p arap et , six or seven fee t high,
surrounded the p a , together wi th a di tch and a has ti lybui l t fen ce . The pa was bui l t p artl y in a grove of p eachtree s ; som e o f the se we cu t down for fi rewood . Fern and
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
arms were mostly double and S ingle—barrel l ed smoothbore guns ; our ammuni tion supp ly was short . I wasarmed with a tap ara [double-barrel led gun ] , and w ere
two hamam t [cartridge -belt s ] one strapp ed round mywa i s t
,the other over my shoulder . Some of us had
Europ ean cl othe s , some M ao ri garment s of fl ax . Roun dour loins we we re Shawls or short fl ax mats . Rewi
Man iap oto had a short p arawai mat of soft fl ax round hi swa i s t ; over that he wore a fl ax p iup ia ki l t ; he al so we rea Shirt and wa i s tcoa t . He did not carry a gun , but borea wha l ebone m ore or p atu
-
p araoa . Rew i did not
p er sonal ly take p art in the firing , but gave order s to hi speop l e and served out p owder , bull et s , and p ap er withwhich to make cartridge s .
“So on marched the soldier s , tramp ing through the
fern and fl ax and al ong the narrow p ath s between the
p lantations and fruit-groves , unti l they arrived near ourearthworks
,and
,as soon as they came within clo se range
,
we fired heavy vol leys at them . They quickly surroundedthe p a ,
and then gradual ly drew thei r l ines clo ser,firing
into u s continual ly . On a hil l clo se by (nea r the Sp otwhere the p akeha blockhouse was afterwards bui l t ) they
p lanted a gun and began to shel l u s . O ther s with spadesbegan to sap towards u s , and dug thei r trench cl o se upto the corn er nea re st the gun-hil l . When thi s sap
app roached comp l e tion , the soldie rs in i t threw handgrenades ove r the p arap ets into the p a . Sometimes the sethings burst wi th terribl e n oi se and ki l l ed and woundedmany M aori s . Sometim e s
,however
,the wiki
fu se ] did not burn qui ckly enough and we were abl e tohu rl them back again into the sap where thev exp l odedamongst the men who had fi rs t thrown them . The biggun battered away at our defences
,and all the t ime the
bull e ts were singing round our head s .
We made several so rti e s into the sap . Twenty o f uSmade a. t oki/ii [charge ] in to the trench as i t was beingdriven up to the wa ll s . The chief Te Huirama was Shot
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1111 o n ( ) RAKAU
dead outside the p a . “ 7 0 ki l l ed and woundso ldie rs . I shot a soldie r that da y on the ea st
the p a . A l l dav the fi ring wa s lie rce ; no r 1 !
whe n darkne s s came .
"1 1i th sides continued fi i
the night , though we could see n othing but “ 11
the guns . And now began our su ffe rings , fo rwater , and dead and wounded m en lav about t
“ A l l n ext dav (the second of the S iege ) W(fighting . Our ammuniti on began to fai l , and
ve ry few bul lets w e cut up smal l bi t s of wood , I
p each and app l e ti ees and put them in the ca
se1 ve as bulle ts . The day was ve 1y hot, an
p arched with thi rst . But all thi s time the p eop lthe p akeha to the death . I p rep osed to Reshould fight our way out tha t night , else , didt il l day,we were all dead men .
Rew i agreed with m e,and went to sp eak w i
chiefs and get thei r op inions . He went to Ra iPaerata
,to Te Heuheu
,Of the U rewera
,but 2
the same rep ly :‘W’
e wil l not retreat,
’ said thfight on .
’
[Kaore e p at lrai haere, eng ari 11
tonu .
‘E’
p ai an d ,It i s well sai d Rew i.
A ll day and night the bull ets and the shel lsus
,kil l ing and wounding many . We cooked
but could eat l i ttle , for our throats were so i
But our chiefs encouraged the garri son to fithe men and women sang songs to encourageand to inflame their sou ls to battle . Thi s wa .
war- songs sung by the p eop l e at night— a songthe Governor and his land -hunger to a bulloclthe leaves of the raurekau Shrub
He kau ra,
He kau ra,
U -u !
He kau Kawana ‘koe
K ia m it i mai te rau r ekau
Oh, a beast,A beast that b ellov0 0 -0 0 !
A beast art then, C
That l ickest i n the
raurekau,
A beast— oh, a beas0 0
A be kau ra— he kau ra !
THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
The early morning of the thi rd day was overcas t and
fogg y
,and as the day began to break fa intly , I again
suggested to Eewi ,‘Let u s charge out before i t i s quite
l ight ; in the fog we may fight our wav through .
’
“ To thi s Eewi as sented , and again sounded the chiefs .
But they would not agree , and rep eated that they wouldfight and fight on . So Eewi and I and all of u s remainedto re si st to the end . The firing was hot , and the handgrenades from the men in the sap fel l and burst amongstu s . Tha t day the white General sent hi s interp reter , M r .M a i r [afterwards M aj or M a ir , Judge of the Nat ive LandCourt ] , to u s with a p rop o sal that we should surrenderand so save our l ive s . We refused to surrender , and
rep l ied that we would continue to fight . The interp retera sked us to let the women and chil dren l eave the p a ,
so
that i f we p ersi sted in our resi stance they at l eas t mightbe saved . But our women were as determined as the men ,and they rep l ied that i f their hu sbands were to di e theywould die too .
*
“Thebrave chief Te Heuheu
,of the U rewera company ,
was one of the most stubborn in hi s determination to hol dthe p ct . The fi ring recommenced , hotter than before , andthe chiefs l oudly encouraged thei r warrio rs . Te Heuheu
was a man of between 40 and 45 years of ag e , with a
tattooed face and of fine ap p earance . Up he sp rang , girtabout the wa i s t wi th a shawl
,his gun in hi s hand and
hi s cartridge -bel t s buckl ed round him— he l eap ed in thea ir and rol led his eve s in the 17 11711111111 grimace as he ran
up and down . He waved hi s gun,and he and hi s men
*A Nga t i -te -Kohera ac cou nt I ha v e r ece i v ed states that Hau r ak i Tongan n iwas the ma n who r epl i ed to the 1111798111111 de m an d for su r rende r . Th i sco r robo rate s Maj o r Ma i r ’s accoun t g i v en el sewh e r e . Hau r ak i. sa i d to the
in te r p r ete r :“ No
,w e won ’
t su r r end e r to y ou . Let all of y ou g o back to K i h ik i h ian d we w i ll g o ho m e and l ea v e Orakau .
"koutou ka toa. lei
i. 710 11511 1111111 0 11. 11 13 10 10111111111, me 111111110 a tu Orakau n ei .’
'
l‘
l11~u A h u m a i . To Paera ta '
s daugh te r , who was i n the ou te r t r ench w i ththe me n .
stood up and m ade a. s i m i la r r e pl y , add i n g that i f the men d i edthe w o m e n w ou ld r e m a i n and die w i th the m .
306 TH E MAORIS on NEW ZEALAND
here — and the old man bared hi s neck on the right s ideand showed a deep s carred mark where the bullet had
p a s sed in at the co l lar-bone .
“ The bull et broke the boneand went out at the back of my right shoulder . I fel l inthe fern
,and my gun was hurl ed from my hand two or
three yards away . I got up and tried to p i ck up the gun ,but my right arm hung help l e s s , as if i t were para lysed .
I took the gun in my left hand and ran on after the other s .I could not fire a shot
,and to supp ort my right arm I
carr ied the hand in my mouth so,
”p lacing hi s finger s
between hi s teeth .
“ I went on l ike that for a l i t tl edi st ance ; but I was bi ting my fingers so hard that the
p a in made me take them out , and I then supported myright hand and arm with my left , l eaving my gun on theground . A s I travel led al ong so
,I suddenly saw a bayonet
shining in front of me,and a gun l evel led at me through
the fern,but I was not hi t again
,though the bul let s were
flying all round . IV e ha stened down to the swamp - edge,
and into the shel ter of the man/11171111 scrub . M y comrade s
fel l all around me . I saw the old chief Te Paerata ki l l ed,
he was shot dead whi le de scending the hil l to the swamp .
Nearly all hi s family were sla in —Hone Teri amongstthem ,
and hi s daughter Ahuma i was wounded in severa l
p laces . The brave U rewera chief Te B enb en was shotdead whil e fighting hi s way to the swamp . I saw theTaup o chi ef Te Kohika in hand - to -hand confl ict wi th a
soldier . Raureti, too , fought bravely . I saw him shoot
a
‘
soldier as we made our e scap e . The tr0 0 p s were nowbehind u s and on our flanks
,and the mounted men
, armed
with Swords , rode round the swamp to cut u s o ff as wefled to the Ngamoko hi ll s and the Pun ru . I s truggl ed onthrough the high h eme/ 1.179“ unti l. I heard the soldi er s ’ bugl esound to cal l them back from the chase
,as i t was now
darkening . Then as I was ha l f-dead with p a in and l o s sof blood , and thi rst , I lay down unab le to move anyfurther . I lay there fo r some time , to rtured with thir st ,for the swamp was dry and I coul d fi nd n o wate r .
A t lastI ro se again and made my way through the 1711111117111 to
T11 11: o w () HA KAU 307
From 11 111 11 11 1111] by Cap t . T. Rya n , Ta up o .
Ah u m ai te Pae rata , the h e roine of Orakau . Ahu m ai died at Mokai , Tau p o , in 1908.
308 TH E M AORIS or N EW Z EALAND
the hil l s on the other s ide,and then travel led slowly a l ong
a l one through the fern to the banks of the Puniu . Therethe survivors gathered
,and I was taken to the Otewa
vil lage,on the U pp er Waip a ,
where my wound was
t ended .
“ One hundred and sixty M aori s were kil led in the threedays ’ battle— abou t hal f of us— besides many wounded .
Some of the women were kil led and wounded . Grea t wasthe lamentat ion for the brave
,fa l len in defence of the soil
of thei r ancestors . Our lands wen t to the 111171 6 7111, and wewere as a remnant . But i t was a good fight and we tookour honour with us .
M a j o r M a ir ’s Na r ra t iv e .
M aj or W . G . M ai r give s me the fol lowing account ofhi s interview with the M aori s when he
,as staff
interp reter , was requested by General “ Cameron to
communicate with them and summon them to surrender .
He wrote the narrative in the form of a l etter to a
relative immediately after the cap ture of the 11 11 :
I got up on the edge of the sap and l ooked through a
g ap in the gabions made for the fi eld-
p iece . The outworkin front of me was a sort of double rifl e -
p it , with the p ao r redoub t behind it . The M aori s were in rows , theneare st row only a few y ards from me . I cannot forgetthe du st—s tained face s
,bl oodshot ey e s
,and shaggy heads .
The muzz l e s of thei r gun s re sted on the edge of the di tchin front of them . One man a imed steadilv at me all thetime [hi s name was W
' ereta ] .
“ Then I sa id : ‘
E 710 11. 11111, K 1) te 71111111
11111111 11 to —f11111'
11 : 7111 11111 1111111 11117111 1 11 71-1 to 711111151111 11111111,
711111,1111: 11111111 to 1 11 1
, 1111111 111 111, 71111 1111111111, 71111 0 1 11 11 71111111111
l i sten ! Thi s is the word of the General :Great is hi s admi ra ti on of vour luraverv . Stop ! Le t thefi ghting cea se ; come out to u s that y our bodi e s may besaved. fl
310 TH E M AORIS OF NEW Z EALAND
said,
‘They mean to fight you fo r ever .
’ The soldierscheered and the fire on both sides became very hot .
“ I went straight back to General Cameron to tel l himthe resul t of my mis s ion . He was deep ly imp re s sed (hecerta inly did not l ike kil l ing them ) and S ir Henry
Havelo ck said , in hi s j erky way ,
‘Rare p lucked’uns , rare
p lucked’uns ! ’ It was not long after thi s that Cap tain
Hurford and others made a rush from the head of thesap and drove the M aori s out of the
.
double rifl e -
p it . Aconnection was soon made with the sap ,
and the end was
app roaching .
M aj o r M a i r further informs me that Eewi did not tohi s knowledge connect himself with the famous rep ly unti lhe came to Auckland
,about 187 8, at the request of S ir
George Grey and M r . John Sheehan,Native M ini ster
,who
introduced him to the p ublic as the“ hero of Orakau
,
” i tbeing neces sary to make some p ol i t ical cap i tal out of hi svi si t . “ I was rep eatedly asked to contradict the fi cti on
,
”
M aj or M a i r says,
“ but I declined to do so while Eewi wasa l ive . I am sati sfied that i t was Hauraki Tonganni
, a
chief of Ngati -Parekawa— a 7111p 11 of Ngati—Tuwharetoaand Ngat i -Raukawa (of Taup o )— that sp oke to me first
,
and then Ahumai,Hitiri ’s s i ste r . No doubt Eewi in the
end real ly bel ieved that he was the sp eaker in thetrenche s , j u st as K ing George III . bel ieved in hi s dotagethat he commanded the Briti sh and thei r al l ie s at theBattl e ofTo thi s i t may be added that one of the real heroe s of
Orakau was Hitiri te Paerat a,who stol e ou t from the 1111
a t night , dodg ing the Briti sh soldiers,to fetch water
from the adjacent swamp for the wounded M ao ri s .
Nea rly a ll his relatives in the p 11— his father
,uncle
,and
“ Last y ea r . Ma j o r Ma i r . w h en h o ld i n g a s i t t i ng of the Nat i v e Lan dCou r t a t K ih ik i h i . was i n v i ted o ne. Sunday by M r . An d r ew Kay ,
w ho l i v esn ea r the h i sto r i c sp o t , to m e e t the Orakau set t le r s on the s i te of the 1111
a nd t e ll th e m its sto ry . He did so , and as so m e. o f the lan d had beenr ece n t ly plo u ghed the r e w as no d i ffi cu lty i n find i n g r el i cs of the battl e .
( ) ld En lie ld bu llets w e r e gath e r ed by the han d ful,and an un exploded h an d
g r en ade fo u nd o n the s i te o f the 1111 was g i v en to the Maj o r . He has
a lway s r eg r e tted that the fa m ou s r edou b t, was l e v el l ed and dest r oy ed by thet roop s .
f )(
rt-l n n iaivicu iucus o r () KA IxA U a l l
ln °
o tl| o rs —we re slain ; the onl y o ne who e scaped wa s his
s i ste r Ahumai , who was wounded in fou r p la ce s . She was
shot in the right side , the bul le t going he r bodyand coming out on the le ft ; she wa s shot right th rough
the shoulde r, the bul le t coming out at he r back ; she was
a l so shot through the wri s t ; and he r left thumb was shotaway . Yet she recovme d
,and l ived at Taupo fo r fo rt y
four years z-lfte rwan
'
ls . She died in 1908 at the l i t tlesettlement o f M oka i , on the n o rthe rn sho re of LakeTaup o , an d her val ian t brothe r, il
-l itiri te Pae rata— a fi ne
o ld ty p e of the tal l , stra ight , athl eti c M aori fi ghting —man v
died a few months ag o . The i r s i s a fam ily story of sad
ne s s and glory that our write rs of the future may wel l
emp l oy in touching song and thril l ing saga .
M emoria l s have been erected in the l i ttl e churchyardat Te Awamutu ove r the graves of the whi te soldier s whof el l at Orakau . But nothing mark s the la st re sting-
p laceo f the M aor i s who died there
,excep t a few clump s of bl ue
g ums p lanted by the settl er s to denote the ir burialtrenche s . S ome day i t wi l l be recogni sed that the bravem en and women of the native race are deserving of at
l east as much honour as the white s,and then p erhap s a
fi tting monument wil l s tand on the site of the Orakau p a .
CH APTER XXIX .
A VVAR- CANOE EXPEDITION .
In the days of the M aori camp aigns of 1863 7 1 Rotoruawas l ively with all the turmoi l of war- time . The Arawatribe were nearly all
“ Queenites,
” sup p orter s of thewhite Government ; tho se Ito-p us who were ho sti le to the
p akeha were a section of the Ngati -Pikiao ,who l ived on
the shore s of Lake Rotoi ti,and some of the Ngati-Rangi
wewehi , who se headquarter s were Te Awahou and
Puhirua,Lake Roto rua . In those times the onlv craft that
fl oated on the water s of these lakes were M aori canoes ;there were great number s of them
,and some were of
large size and were ful ly equipp ed as war- canoes,wi th
carved fi gureheads and stern -
p o sts , and other ap pur
tenances of that triumph of savage naval art the
wake - taua .
Taua Tutan ekai Haerehuka,the Arawa tohn a and
hi storian,from whose l ip s have come some of the songs
and chan ts and stori e s al ready set down in thi s book,
gives an account ful l of p i cture sque detai l of one of thewar - time can oe exp editi on s at Rotorua
,in whi ch he
shared as a boy — a M aori in fact— in
the ear l y p ar t of the Hauhau wars .
It w as towards the end of ju st after the Hauhau
fan a tici sm had sp read from Taranaki to the tribe s of theea s te rn side of the Island,
tha t n ews reached Roto rua of
L rebel inva sion from the Ta i-Rawhi ti , the“ Tide of the
flt is ing Sun ,
” tha t i s to sav , the Ea s t Coa s t . A large war
pa rt y o f the Nga ti—lku '
ou and and al l i edtribe s , n ewl y in fected w i th the I ’a i craze and
roused to a f reu z v of ha t red aga in s t the whi te s,had
marched round the (Toa st. and up from \Vhal< atan e,and
314 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
feather ; in hi s hand he waved a gli stening greenstone
p atu or sharp - edged club .
“ Te Arawa,
”p addled by the
wi ld - eyed men from the shores of the great central Lake,
was commanded by Raw iri Kahia,a fi n e- l ooking y oung
chief with a tattooed face . In hi s ha i r was stuck a hamp lume , and he , l ike Waharoa
,grip p ed a greenstone p a tu .
The kai-hautu who ba lanced himself amidship s in“ Te
Popekorua ,”
and
urg ed on Ngat i\V hakau e w i t hshout and song ,
was Kohai Tarahina
,a smart and
act ive y oung w ar
rior from Ohin e
mutu , with a reputat ien as a tea or
fight ing man . Hewas a nob le figure ,the ideal of a sav
age hero , as hestood there
, grac efu l ly and eas i lyturn ing n ow to
th i s side and n ow
to that,beat ing
the measure for
the paddle d ipsRaw iri Kah ia , o f the Ngat i
-Tuwharetoa t r ib e . Tau p o . VV Ibh his vveajponD1ed 1900 .
of wood,a p ara ffin ,
the black-and-whi te ta il -feathers of the hum and thebeautiful snowy p l umes of ,
the rare ko tuku,o r
whi te he ron , waving in hi s head -chap let ; a finewoven fl ax garment of the kind known as theko rohm ig u,
w i th an ornamen ta l borde r in the tan/flee
p atte rn , round hi s wa i s t ; hi s a thl e ti c brown tor soba re ; fi re in his eve and vigour and determinati onin his ever y ge stu re— such v as old Koha i in hi s prime.
( O nl y the othe r da y Kohai showed that he was s til l
.
i
sitill llil lli illlt‘ ii itlishout andwas llOllzllha. asmart andattireianuf
t
1101 l1'01n lll1i11l
A WAR—CAN O E ux rrm '
r io a
anima ted by some thing of the olden s p i ri t , fo r i t
who wa s o ne of the - NH’
I'
U o r sp ea rsm en wlu‘
,
chal lenge afte r the an cient manner to Admi ra l S
a nd the o ffice rs o f the Ameri can F lee t on the i r
e ntry into the Gove rnment ground s a t lto to rua . )Ng aun g u,
” the fourth la rge canoe , was ca p ta ined
chie f named Te T ieke ,who brandi shed a ta ta./m ; hi,
c l o thing was a wa i st-mat .
“ I was i‘Po pokorua ,
’ savs Tutan eka i ;“ there I sat
,a l
twelve o r so,on my fi rst wa r-
path . M y weapon
p i stol , which m y father al l owed me to have . The wa
w ere armed with tap e rs ,double -barrel l ed g un s , and
fi rearms,some given to them b y the Government ;
had M aori weap ons , such as stone hand - clubs [p rm ore ] , twiaha ,
and whal ebone hoeroa ; all they wora wa i s t -mat or shaw l of some kind , fa stened rourbody and fal l ing to the knee s .
”
Shoving o ff from the beach at Ohinemutu , theset out acro s s the lake , bound for the mouth of theRive r . A s soon as they had g e t wel l off from thethey ranged a l ongside one another , bows level , in oradvance in true warl ike order down the lake . No
the songs of the kai-hautu. Paddle s swung and dippro se aga in and fel l in time to the chants of the car
and every p addle took the water as one , fo r the caa ll chanted the same song, young Waharoa givinword to begin . And thi s i s the w ild boat - songArawa that rang far acro s s the lake , as the sharp -
p
manuka blades of two hundred and fifty brown p asent the gargoy l e -decorated bows of the seven warhi ssing through the water
R i te . ko te r i te !Te i h u takoto atu
,
Waeng a k ia h i nga ,Te ke i ak i na
Aha -ha !
Te r a ko ia ko Tiorior i
E purehurehu ana i r unga ra .
E a‘
ku ka i-ka m o e wa irutu n e i.
T ia i a,a t i a i a !
Tok i h i ka tok i !
(TRAN SLATION . )Togethe r— all togeth e r !Bow -paddles the r e . all tog ethe’M i dsh i ps the r e . keep t i m e !Ste r n -paddles
,all togethe r .
Now we’ re go i ng along !
See you b r i gh t ly sh i n ing sta rTior ior i, flash ing in the m o r n iMy eye s are d i m m e d w i th the
p addhng .
P lunge in you r paddles !D i g away , d i g away !
816 TH E M AORIS on N EW Z EALAND
(Silence for a while,a breathing sp ace , the kai- tukis
heat in g time for the paddle s then they began aga in . )
E te tahakura
VV hakar ika r awa mai
I te ahiahi,
K ia tohu an
He tukung a taha 1n a i
N o taku hoa e .
Ka hok i an .
T i a i a,e t ia i a !
Tok i h ika tok i !Te ra koia n g a hoa,Win i a Te H a im on a ,
I k i te ake te pa r i ki Tuhua..
E kai ong eong e taku touK i te noho ;E tu ia ake an a
E pu r ub i ngau papa,
To r unga tapu o takn hnha.
E t it iro p i an ko B onebone ;Whakamau kau atu te t it iro
K i te wahapu k i Ohau ra .
T i a i a !Rite
,ko te r i te !
B uke r e,ka hukere !
Ka r e r e -e,a ka r e r e
Te pai huruhuru
K i te papa o te waka n e i .
Toki h ika tok i ,Tok i h i ka tok i !
So chanting and p addl ing , all the crews keep ing theirlong narrow craf t l evel with each other
,the Queenite
warrio rs swep t acro s s the lake . Then in singl e fil e theyentered the Ohau stream and came abrea st again whenthey reached Rotoiti . Paddl ing down that lake in theevening they ran thei r canoes up ,
as darknes s fel l,on the
sandy beach of Te Ngutu - o - te -koko (“ The Beak of the
Parson at Taimae—haru ru (“Sounding-Foot
He re the p ath known as“ Hongi ’s Track
emerged from. the fo re s t tha t lay to the ea s t . In thatda rk fore s t we re camped the men of Ngat i—Pe ron and
thei r Lake land a l li e s,the Nga ti -Pikiao .
The Roto rua w ar-
p arty sent out s couts to a scertain thewhe reabouts of the enem y . One of them
,the chi ef Fete ra
te l ’ukuatua , saw a l ight in the bu sh and cauti ou sl ya pp roaching Jl l that di recti on heard vo ices and re cogni sedthe dia lec t o f Ngati -Pe ron . He re tu rn ed and gave the
7
Ah,w hen e v en i ng ca m e
And slu m be r closed my eyesThe sp i r i t of my love
Did v i s i t m e .
My s i de tw i tched as I d r ea m ed,"
I‘
was a s i gn my lo v e w as nea r .Ah
,let m e soon r etu r n !Paddle away !
Y onde r see our leade r sWin iata an d Haimon a .
Who gazed upon the c l i ff s of Tuhua .
I ’ m wea ry s i t t i ng at my paddle ;But soon I ’ll leap to battleAs if I had been b i tten .
Now our ey ebal l s m adly sta r e !Stee r s m an
,st r a i ght f or the Oh au
R i v e r m ou thPaddle away !
All togethe r , all togeth e r !Qu i ck ly plunge you r paddle b lades .How b ra v e ly fl y the feathe r sThat de ck our war canoe !Paddle away ,A nd away !
CH APTER XXX .
THE HAUHAUS .
The strange fanati c fai th of Hanhan - i sm or Pai-mam’
re,
which spread from the foot of Taranaki mounta inthroughout the North Island in 1864-65
,banded together
the unfriendly tribe s in a bitterly savage confederati onagainst the white man . It was a semi - rel igiou s crusade ,a kind of “ Holy War
,
”and i t had i t s Mad M ul lahs , its
p rophets l ike KereOp a and Hepanaia ,who carried the
go sp el of blood from tribe to tribe , and bore the fierycro s s
,o r it s symbol
,a whi te so ldier ’s severed head , from
kaing a to kaing a ,from the p la in s of Wa imate to the
di stant forests of Tuhoe - land . It was a crazy cul t,but it
kn i t together tribe s which otherwi se would have stooda l oof from each other and sent them into active ho stil i t iesaga ins t the Government tr0 0 p s , and p rotracted unti l 187 1a war whi ch otherwi se would have ended p robabl y in1864 .
Te U a,of Taranaki
,the founder of the Hanhan
rel igi on,was from all accounts a harmle s s fell ow
,who suf
fered from a mi ld form of rel igi ou s man ia,but who did not
anti cip ate or reali se the extraord inary hold hi s fantasti cfa i th would have up on the p eop le , o r the exces se s
'
intowhich i t would l ead them . The later p rophets and war
l eaders,of whom Te Kooti was the greate st , were p roto
ty p e s of the Egyp tian Mahdi s , who gave many a B r i ti shregimen t a “ cutting-up
” in the Soudan . The bl ind fa i thwhi ch the Hauban s rep o sed in their leader s had itscoun te rp ar t in the M ohammedan reli gi ou s fren zy . To
the chan t of “ Mama pm? m ar-ire (Fa ther , Good and
Graci ous ] — ~
rirc ,r im — hau !
” the Maori warri o rs ru shedinto battl e , wi th up li fted right hands making mystic
o i
uA i i uA us m l .)
p a s se s ; thi s incan ta tirm ending in the loudly -ba rked
Ne w!”[f rom which came the name
“ l'
lauhan w a s
accounted a p owe rful s pe l l , fo r i t was be l i eved to wa rd o ff
the white man’s bul le ts and an y hi ckle ss h
'
lam ' i who fe l l
had but his own want o f fa i th to blame . So sa id the
fil-lauhau p rophets ! And to thi s da y ,n ight and n
'
io rn ing ,
i n some of the bush t h ie f/ (Ls of - | and the cul t o f the“ Ringa-tu
”— the “ Up l i fted Il aud”— i s honoured wi th
chant and ge sture as o f old, though the old fana ti c fi re ha s
g en e .
In every Hauhau vil lage , in some p laces l ong after the
wa r had ended,there stood a NM
,a sacred flagsta ff,
rigged with yard and flag-hall iard s . Round this we re
p erfo rmed the singular ceremoni es of the Pat—marin a.
M orning and n ight,and sometimes several times a day
the p eop l e would march in p rocession round the p ol e ,chanting the wild music of the Hanhan ri tual .It was a most curious medley of words and phra se slearned from the Europ eans , a jargon whi ch Te U a had
originated ; hi s fol l ower s , in mouthing the sensel e s smixture of p idgin-Engl i sh
,imagined they had been given
the B ibli ca l gi ft of tongues . M il i tary words of commandheard in soldiers ’ camp s and sa i l o r-phrase s l earned oncoa sting craft were mingled with the loavr'
akfia .
A Hauhau who fol lowed the savage ol d war- chiefTitokowaru
’s fortunes throughout the bush-fi ghtin g in
Taranaki in the later s ixtie s,has described to me the
hw'
ehte of the NW,and chanted again and again the
Hauhau wamms . Let me introduce a typ ical. scene in1866- 7 in the big M aori vil lage Taip orohenui
— nearwhere the p resent town of Hawera stands— the greatgathering-
p lace of the Taranaki tribes then in rebell i on .
“Porin i
,hoia ! ” (
“ Fal l in, Soldiers l
”) shouted the
p rie st , the big black-bearded fighting chief Tito teHan ataua
,his blanket girded round him . He stood at the
foot of the flagstaff,and all the p eop l e , men , women , and
chi ldren,ran to take thei r p lace s in a dense ring around
the p ol e .
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Teihmm ! ” and they stood sti l lwai ting . Then— “ Piki mauten i
,rong o mautea i , p iki
N in,
”and so on the l eader chanted
,and round the
p ray ing-
p ol e they went in a ring . Thi s i s some of thegibberi sh the p rophet- deluded p eop l e intoned as theymarched . The translat ion reads ridicul ou s ly
,but in the
many -vowell ed M aori tongue the words were softenedand long-drawn out ti l l they sounded l ike some anci entheathen hymn ; the il lu sio n , however , w as broken by theshouted “
Teihcma ! at the end of each m ag i or'
verse :
322 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
Thi s chant,rhythmic and haunting in it s frequent
rep eti tions , seemed to be taken from the Church of
Eng land p ray er-book. It cal l ed up on God the Father ,God the Son
,and God the Holy Ghost to have mercy
up on a s— mercy,mercy .
In the evenings,too
,there were weird picture s and
weirder sounds in the great meeting-hou se of Taip orohenui . Before the night ’s sp eech-making and gos s ip ingbegan
,there were the Hanhan p rayers , intoned by many
earnest voices,and there was much of wild beauty in the
chanting . This i s one of the evening chant s :
To tang ikere Pata , mai m er ire ,To tan g ikere Pata, mai m erire .
To tang ikere Pata . ma i merire .
To tang ikere T itekot i, 1nai mer ire .
To tan g ikere Titekot i, 1n a i mer ire .
To tang ikere Titekot i,ma i mer ire .
To tan g ikere Or ikot i, 1n a i m er ire
To tan g ikere Or ikot i , 1na i m er ire ,
To tang ikere Orikot i, mai merire .
To r i r e , r i r e !
Translated and avoiding the rep eti tions of the M aor i ,these l ines were :
0 Fathe r , ha v e m e r cy on me,
Holy Gho st . have m e r cy on me .
Holy Ghost , ha v e m e r cy on me
Me r cy . m e r cy !
Peace and p i ety were apparentl y the sp ecial characterist ics of the Haubans , i f one judged them by the ir hymnsand p rayers ; but all these chants were regarded as so
many p otent in cantati on s . all desi gned to exal t the M aor iand obtai n fo r him sp iri tual and material advantage overthe hated whi te m an .
These Hauhau chants su rvived long after the war inTm f
an aki and elsewhe re , and w ere to be heard amongstthe Waikato and Ngati - i\ l
'
an iap o to p eop l e up t il l com
p a rative ly recen tl y . K ing Tawhiao ’s fol l ower s had a
som ewhat simi la r ri tua l in the“ eighti e s
,
”a. service
TH E I -I AU l—I AU S 0 4 3
From a photo , 1908.
Tutan g eWaionui , of Patea . on e of Titokowaru'
s m o st acti v e sco u ts and fi ghting -m en in theTa ranaki War of 1868-69 . Tutang e is he r e shown in war-costu m e sim ila r to that of 1868.
324 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
ca l l ed the “ Tariao ” (the M orning Star a verymusical seri e s of chant s
,all the p eop le j o ining in the l ong
drawn resp onses .
In the Hanhan war s which were waged from 1864 to187 1 much of the savagery of ancient day s was revivedthe beheading and mutilation of bodie s , the cutting out ofheart s
,and cannibal i sm . A fter 1865 the work of fighting
the Haubans fel l wholly up on the Colonial fo rce s— whatBriti sh regiments remained in New Zealand did garri sonduty— and a hard tu s sl e it was fo r the p akeha columns inthe Taranaki bush and on the East Coas t . M uch hasap p eared in p r int in narration of that s ix-y ears
’ Hanhanstruggle
,but a real ly good hi story of the war has yet to
be wri tten .
Taranaki was the scene of the sharp e st fighting . Here,
beneath the towering form of hi s mounta in -god,whom the
p akeha cal l s M ount Egmont , the w ar - chief and p ri e stTitokowaru ga thered hi s wild fol l owers and launchedthem again st the white s . He revived many a p agan riteof old
,and in hi s fore st—stockades the heart of the first
p akeha sla in in a ski rmi sh was o ffered in burnt sacrificeto U enuku
,the God of War .
Titokowaru had a sacred op e or war -
p arty call ed theTckau-ma- rua (
“ The who p receded the ma inbody of fi ghtin g -men on the war-
p ath . Says Tutang e
Waionui,the ex-Hanhan warrio r
,of Pariroa , Pa tea
I was on many occa sions a member of the tapu war
p arty of twelve , all tin e tea ,or tri ed soldi er s
,cal l ed the
Tchau-ma - rua . Titokowaru so numbered and namedthem
,because of the my sti c force or prestige supp o sed to
a ttach to the number 12 . There were the TwelveAp o stl e s in the Scrip tu res— Titokowaru and all theHauban s were great students of the Bible ; there were thetwe lve sons of Jacob [it w as real l y the se that the Telecam o - rua were n amed afte r ] and there were twelve monthsof the vear . Titokowaru would choo se the members of theTwelve in hi s p raying-hou se
,divining by means of hi s
sacred taiaha,which p oin ted toward s each man
,
TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
comp any without being caught , he and hi s comrades couldenter up on the battl e with the p akehas with a l ight heartand with as surance of vi ctory . Such was the omen of thew ere .
Then,the exciting race over
,each op e l eaped to it s feet ,
and each in turn danced with terrible noi se and fury ofa ction that wi ld dance the tutu-ng arehu, the danceof battl e and death . With feathers waving
,eyes glaring
,
and guns held butt up ,now above thei r heads
,now swept
low to the ground,the bushmen stamp ed the earth in far
resounding tread,then jump ed into the air
,facing thi s
way ,then the other
,all together in exactes t t ime ; and,
as they danced and l eap ed and s tamp ed , they chanted ina roaring choru s an awful war- s ong that rang far throughthe l i stening fore st . It was an intensely savage
,terr ifying
scene ; excep t fo r the firearms and cro s s -bel t s and
cartr idge-boxes of the naked brown warrior s i t mighthave been a p i ctu re of a war -
p arty back in the day s ofCap tain Cook . Every vestige of the white man ’s civil i sat ion but hi s weap ons had been utterly ca s t as ide .
Then,when the Tekeu-ma—rue and the ir comrades
had fil led thei r cartouche -boxes and made all ready forthe war-
p a th , thei r s i ster s and sweethearts and wives to oka hand . A tti ring themselve s in their wai s t-p 'iup ius ofcol oured fl ax ,
adorning their ha i r with white feathers,and
dabbing red ochre on their cheek s , they l ined up on them em e and danced the merry and volup tuou s p et, to sendthe warrior s o ff “ in good heart ” as the M aori has i t .
Then,on the other coas t o f the Island , the Tai—Rawhiti
,
there were the camp aigns agains t Te Kooti,o r Turuki te
Rikirang i as he was al so cal l ed . Te Kooti figure s in therecorded s to ry of New Zealand as a M aor i Nana Sahib .
But,ru thle ss bu tcher a s he was
,there were tra i t s in hi s
s tern p i ti l e s s character tha t gave an air of hero i sm tohis wonderful fight again s t the p akehe forces . There arel ll the el em ents of a thri l l ing tal e o f adventure in hi salmo s t in credibl e exp loi t s . F rom the day he
“ brokebounds ” in the p ri son—isl e of the Chathams , and sei zed
T h 19 :11A UH A us 327
the th ree -ma sted schoone r “ Rifl eman,in which he and
his J'
t-i l l ow - exi le s rega ined the coa st o f New Zealand ,his
was an ext rao rdina ry caree r of blood shed and ba rba rou swa rfa re . Som e tin
’
ies victo rious,but m o re o ften re nted
b y the Gove rnment t roop s (whi te and Mao ri ) , th ree time swounded in acti on
,surp ri sed innume rable times
,his
wa rrio r band decimated , fleeing tl'
1roug l1 hungr y fo re stsand sto rmy wa ste s
,n ew p i llaging and carousmg l ike a
p i ra te , now running fo r life wi th rifle s cracking a ll around— from these vici s s itude s thi s maste r of stratagem and
gueri l la warfare emerged,at worn and broken man
,but
free . For more than three years he eluded all the t roop sthat the Col ony could put in the fie ld against him
,and
when he died— p ardoned— in 1893 he was revered as a
very demi -god by hi s fol l owers . He had tha t Nap oleoni c
p ersona l magneti sm tha t grapp l ed hi s cut - throa tfol lowers to him “ with hoop s of steel .
” He p roclaimedhimsel f a p rophet ; he founded a fanat ica l rel igion of hi sown ; he was as rigid and uncomp romi sing and as severea di scip l inarian as M ahomet .
A S k irm is h w it h T e Ko o t i.
One of the sharp est encounters Te Kooti and his menever had with the Government force s was the runningfight of Te Kap enga ,
near Rotorua,on February 7 th
,
187 0, a fight in which Cap ta in Gilbert M a i r earned hi sNew Zealand Cro ss . Te Kooti and a s trong fo rce hadattacked Ohinemutu
,the Arawa lake—s ide vil lage
,but
made o ff when M ai r— “ Tawa ” the M aori s call ed himand hi s native constabulary ap p eared .
M a i r and hi s men— he had only about twenty-fi ve p i ckedfi ghtin g
-men with him that day ,the res t were old fel lows
—p ursued the retreating Hauhaus up the Heme Hill
, pastthe geyser-val l ey of Whakarewarewa
,and out acro ss the
p lains south-eastward ; Te Kooti was making for theU rewera M oun tains aga in . Seventy or eighty men
,all
trained fighters , formed the enemy’s rearguard . Some of
them were U reweras ; others were East Coast e scap ees
328 TH E M AORIS or N EW ZEALAND
from the Chatham Islands . Te Kooti and hiswife were both mounted . The b lack - bearded Hauhau
chiefta in,
as p icturesque a figure as a Wild Westbandit
,gal l op ed about the p la in , shouting to hi s fo l lowers
and waving hi s revolver . He wore a grey shirt,riding
trou sers and high boots,and a wide soft felt hat . His
so ldiery were a ha lf-naked body of savages , who se brownskin s g l i stened in the
warm sun shine as ifthey had been o iled.
They had that m orn ingkil led a n umber of pig s ,and had greased theirbod ie s we l l with porkfat in an t i c ipat i on of a
runn in g figh t throughthe c l ing ing fern and
thi ck m an/
aka . L ikeFal s taff’s ragg ed army
,
there was barely a shirtand a half in all the
company . Every warrior had stripped to a
gan tlin’
; the c lo th ingworn was in m ost case ssimp ly a shaw l or pieceof b lanket or a fl ax
Te Ran g itahau . of Op e p e . Ta u p o . Th is round the WQJISb.
H anha n wa r r io r e scap ed w ith Te Ko o t i E tt Cll 111 81 1 WOI 'C 0 al~
t _
f r o m the Cha tha m I slands i n 1868 , a nd
fo ugh t aga inst the Go v e r n m en t t r o o p s up I‘
ldg’
e—bel t s— SOIHQ hadto 187 1 . Died at Ro to r ua , 1900 .
three or four ; somewere armed wi th revolve rs as well as breech—l oadingrifles
,carbine s , or doubl e -barrel l ed shot -guns
,and a
sharp tomahawk stuck in the wai s tbe lt comp l e ted theHauhau equipmen t .
Photo by P u lman , A uckla nd , a bo u t 1883 .
On a littl e ferny ri se above the Puareng a creek— j u stto the right of where the coach to VVaiman gu sp la she sthrough an inte rcepting rivulet —tl 1e en emy turned and
op en ed a heavy fire . M ai r extended hi s men, p anting and
330 THE M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
down underneath the surface Of the swamp ,in order to
conceal hi s body from the Arawa s .
F ighting s tubbornly,
as they retired acro s s theKap enga p lains , the Hanhan rearguard made a shortstand at every ri se
,and la id frequent ambuscades in the
thicket s and fern . A l l thi s time their women were kep tsafely in advance . M en dropp ed frequently , and the rebe ll ine Of retreat was a tra i l of blo od . A t la st as the sunset over the blue ranges VVaikatO-ward s
,the enemy
reached the f riendly gloom Of the Tumunui bush . Here,
to the far rear of Pakaraka vi llage,the forested mas s Of
Tumunni mounta in ri se s from the p lain s , and up i t s cl i ffsclambered the Hauhaus
,Te Kooti and hi s own bodyguard
strikin g Off around the mountain flank,where they were
soon bevond pursu it . Just at the foot Of the range , wherethe undulating ground sweep s away to table - topp edHorohoro M ountain
,
“ Tawa ” fell into an ambuscade laidby about thirty Hauhaus, and having only three men withhim he had a very narrow escap e . F i ring r ight and l eft ,as rap id ly as he could shove the cartr idges into hi scarbine , he kep t the enemy Off
,well—sup p orted by hi s all
but exhau sted so ldier s,and here he sho t the ruffian ly hal f
caste Peka te Makarin i,who was Te Kooti
’s bugler , and
p robably the best fighting man in the Hanhan force s .
Peka te Makarin i (Baker McLean ) was an a thleticy oung savage , so singularly fa i r - skinned that he seemedalmos t a p ct-kakau A ll hi s clo thing was a p a i r Of tweedtrousers
,roll ed up above the knee s . He was barefooted
and ba reheaded ; cartouche -bel t s were strapp ed round hi swa i s t
,a revo lver and a bugle hung from cro s sed be lts over
hi s shoulder s,a short -handled tomahawk was s tuck in hi s
leathe r gi rd le . A cro s s his broad chest was ta tto oed inb lue l e tter s in the shape Of a ha l f-moon hi s name ,
“Peka
tc Makarin i,
”and on one arm was the name of hi s s i ster
,
“ i tahana ” (Susan ) . Peka ro se suddenly in M a ir ’s p athand fi red at hi s p ursuers . The bul let struck an Arawaj us t behind N ai r. The Hanhan bugl er
,re—l oading as he
ran,ru shed a t M a i r
,who le t him come to within fifteen
9 0
]TH E l I AU l lA US a » )
pace s and then tired . The ba l l sma shed Peka ’s hip -bone
and he p i tched O11 his face in the fe rn , his carbine fal l ing
f rom his gra sp just. out o f hi s reach . He died in a few
minute s . “ 7116 11 the i r leader dropp ed , the enemy
continued thei r flight to the I tang ita iki, and and
The late Majo r Rop ata Wahawaha , of Te Aowera ha pu . Ngati-Po rou t r ib e .
his exhausted Arawas were l eft with the honour s Of
victory and a tal ly of about twenty dead Hauhaus .
From the time Of that ski rmi sh up to about the end of187 1
,Te Kooti and hi s Hauhaus were chevied p ersi stently
through the forest s Of the U rewera Country by M aj o rRepata Wahawaha and Cap tain (n ew L ieut . -Colonel )Po rter and their Ngati -Porou soldier s , and many a t ime
332 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
the fo rest s Of that wil d mountain land rattl ed with therifl e -fi re Of skirmi sh and ambuscade . It was a rough and
crue l country to fight over . The exp edi t ionary forcesunder M aj or Repata and hi s men were very Often onstarvation rations
,and were frequently reduced to eating
tawe berri es and fern- root (m ake ) , and when in thefore st country they could not even get fern -root . TheU rewera Hauhaus did not build s trong stockade s , butrel i ed on ambuscades and on thei r knowl edge Of therugged fores t country . Their refuge was the ng ehcreherc,the deep and tangled forest . One Of the bu sh vil lagescap tured by Rep ata was Toreatai
,high up on the
shoulders Of M aun gap ohatu , the sacred “ RockyM ountain
,
” cl o se to where the modern p rophet Of theU rew eras
,the long-hai red many -wived Ruatap u , has buil t
hi s “ New Jeru salem .
”
The bush-fi ghtin g co stume Of the Government Constabulary in the se later M aori war s
,1868—7 1 , was
p i cturesquely simp l e , not to say brigand - l ike . Colonials old ier s who had to do much bush -marching and
camp aigning di scarded the trousers Of civili sa ti on and
took to the “ garb of Old Gaul,
” the kil t,worn al ike by
the Scotti sh Highlander and the M aori . Thi s kil t wasu sual ly a col oured shawl, strapp ed round the wai s t andfal l ing to the knees . Col onel Po rter
,in hi s exp edi tions
with the Ngati -Pe ron and A ra"a M ao ri s on the Ea s t and
West Coasts and in the U rewera Country ,u sed to take
the war-
p ath thus equipp ed : re pak-
z
’
. o r shawl -ki l t ; greywool len shi rt and uniform coat ; boots wi th eyel ets cu t inthe te e s to give free p a s sage to the water when on themarch (a very neces sary thing when so much marchinghad to be done up and down creek -bed s and acro s s rivers )l ong stockings ; lea ther p ads for the knee s (a great
p rotecti on when p en etrating thi ck scrub , a Col t ’ssi x- shot revo lver
,slung round the neck by a lanyard ; a
sho rt Terry carbine wi th gun—s to ck,slung over the
shou lders ; and a p ri sma ti c comp a s s fo r u se in the bu shand in foggy wea the r and night -marcl
'
i in g .
334 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
entrance just big enough to admit a man,which would
clo se aga in after him . Thi s secret “ stage -door ” heturned to account . He would p rophesy before hi s p eopl ein the carved house
,— the only l ight p erhap s the smoky
fire in the centre Of the hal l,faintly i l luminating the forms
Of the squatting silent Hauhaus and the grinning woodenstatues round the wa ll s— ju s t the sort of dim hal f- l ight
4 . ( i 1utyu ll , Ha l l em , photo .
Wl i arca itu . o f Ng ahau , Ta ranak i , co stu m ed as one o f th e l e ade rs of thePa r ihaka p o i-g i r ls , a t To Whiti 5 m onth ly m ee t ings .
ap p rop riate to ghost - ta l e s and o racular del iverances . The
p rophet , his sermon over , w ould walk through the m id stof the p eop l e to the front of the hou se and di sap p earoutside , and a ll hand s w ould brea the more freely whenthei r te lmtmj a, had made his exi t . 3 11t
,in a few moments
there right befo re them at the rear end Of the house,
suddenly stood Te Kooti. again— his grey bea rd fal l ing
Tu‘
u h u mmus 335
over hi s blanke ted b rea st , his l lauhau book o f ri tua l in hishandm
g a z ing grimly at his flock . 11'
1iracle !”
his confidentia l aco l y te s w ould excla im . The y had sodi spo sed themse lve s as to hide f rom the c o nuno n viewthei r chief ’s second through. the se c re t back-doo r ,and now
,when he so une xp r
—a z tedlv reve a led himse l f, hisap p ea i ance was set down to suitie rnatura l m eans . How
could he come in ”
! we saw him l eave,but n o e
‘
ve behe ldhi s return ! H e c tr/ (1 m ! He i s a
In Taran aki after the war,the Hauhaus who had
fo ll owed Titokowa ru on many a waru path gathered at the
fee t Of Te l l’l‘ i iti and Tohu in the large n at ive town ofParihaka
,and the re until the re cent death Of tho se two
p rophets the fai thful Of the tribes congregated to l i s tento their o racular del iverances . TeWhiti I bel ieve tO havebeen a much misunderstood man . He suffered imp ri sonment fo r hi s p eop l e , and he was at one time the mostabused and most hated Of a ll men by the p akche settler s ;but hi s influence was always for p eace , and had i t notbeen for him there would have been war again in 1881
,
when M r . John Bryce,then Native M ini ster
,marched hi s
troop s on Parihaka . Tohu,the rival p rophet , was a dour
Old fighting man,very di fferent in character from Te
Whiti . He w as a big,strong
,thick- set man . He
fought all through the wars in Taranaki,and had been
one of Titokowaru ’s best warrio rs . In the fighting with
the Briti sh troop s at Pukerang iora in 1861 he l o st thes ight Of hi s left eye by a sp l inter from a p al i sade p o sts truck by a bullet . He and Titokowaru were bothone -eyed .
Tohu was alway s anxiou s for war,and
,had i t no t been
for Te Whiti , he would have attacked the Governmentforce s at Parihaka in 1881 . Tohu
,I have heard
,was
furious with Te Whiti for forbidding hi s p eop l e to renewthe war . The Ngati -Ruanui in Parihaka were all bushfighters
,and skil l ed in ambuscades . Tohu ’
s p rop o sa l wasto take a fo rce Of hi s young men out by night and lay an
ambuscade at a suitable p lace al ong the road between
336 TH E MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
Rahotu and Parihaka by which M r . Bryce and hi s troop swere tO come . Had thi s been agreed to by Te Whiti
,the
course Of Taranaki hi story would have been a l tered,and
the di sastrou s war which ceased in 1869 would have beenrenewed . There were between three and four hundredarmed men in Parihaka . But a large number Of gunswere quietly taken out of the kaing a ju s t befo re theinvas ion . Those rema ining
,about a hundred and twenty
stand Of arms , were in the large wharepun i, where M aj orTuke afterward s found them and sei zed them . Te Whitiwas very anxious that he should take them ,
and so ensure
p eace .
From a pho to , Mutt.Rua ta p u . the P ro ph e t o f Maunua p oha tu , U rewe ra Coun t ry , and so m e o f
h is w i v e s and da u gh te rs
338 TH E M AORIS OF N EW ZEALAND
sp ectacled Old chief kneel s holding the g ay fl ag Of hi s“TautOkO
” vil lage band . The canoe,a l ight swift one ,
shoo ts down clo se under our stern,and so we p addle on ,
Our water- serenader s banging away vigorou sly at“ Safe
in the Arms of Jesu s ” and “ Pul l fo r the Shore .
” Theyhave the late st coon songs
,too
,these brown musicians ,
but good rou sing hy mn tune s are thei r favourite s .
“ Haere-mat,
haere-1nai,
hac- c—rc—mai ! Ne al -mo i,
h au -mat! Thi s i s the M ao ri welcome we get in high andmusica l chorus as we sheer in through the softly suckingeddies of the river to the further bank where the weep ingwil lows tra i l thei r fingers in the water . The shore i s l inedwith brightly—garbed
,great—eyed buxom women and girl s
,
shawl s and mats and green boughs in their hands . Theywave their garments and their l eafy branches to and fro
,
swaying from one s ide to the other in a semi-dance,and
a s we jump a shore there comes the ancient song Of
g reetingHae r e ma i
,hae r e mai !
E te m anuh i r i tua- r angi !Na takn pot iki
‘
koe i t ik i atuI to taha a tu o te r ang iKukume ma i-ai !
Hae r e mai,hae r e 1n ai
,hae r e 1na i !
We l co m e , we l co m e !St range r s f r o m the f ar ho r i zon
,
F ro m the d i m and d i stant sky-l i ne
,’Twas our dea r est c h i l d that b r ough tB r ought ye to our ho m e and people .
Welco m e ye ! Oh co m e , Oh co m e !
The M aori ’s warm -hearted Haere-me t to vi si tor shas no thing Of our sti ff and fo rmal p akeha addre s s Of
welcome about i t . It i s a M aori land “ Ccad M i lle Failte .
”
So we fal l in on the r iver bank for the p arade up to thevi llag e me m e
,where the ke rcre i s to take p lace . M ore
bra s s band s are wa i ting fo r u s,and headed by the
Ng eang ea Band (Mahuta’s own ) we march a l ong
,in
coup le s , t rying to l ook very seri ou s and dignifiedrcmg c tfh
'
c‘
lns,al ong the winding p a th to the roya l tw ing e
a proce s si on i rresi s tibly b ringing up to the mind thedarkey-minstrel son g Of the an imal s and the Ark.
A DA Y AT A l l l l l
M u si c in fron t and m o re behind band s to the right andbands to the le ft o f u s
,
“ volle y ed and thunde red,
”o ne
p la y ing the pq c /m’
s Na ti ona l An them ,whi le the othe r ,
heedle s s o f i t s riva l ’s blew awa y chee ri l y at
i t s one and on ly me l od y ,You Must lie a Love r o f the
Lo rd,o r You Won ’t go to Heaven
'
\Vhen y o u l lie .
”The
ha l f- s trip pml c rew o f meanwhi le camedancing in the rea r , fl ou ri shing the i r paddle s in high gleeand p iroue tting to and f ro as the y sang lusty [m ica - songs
“ Ka l/we, h uri to wake,
”(“ il lan l up the canoe
”) and the
rousing Old cho rus “ Kw ma le , mute— Ira em,
om”
’Tis death,
’ti s death ! No — ’ti s li fe ,
’ti s
SO,a ll very merry and del ightful l y n oi s y
,w e pa s sed
into the vil lage square ,the bands , hal ting , Opening out
into a guard of honour when we reached the green b l am e ,
and giving u s a pa rting b lew as we marched through thedouble l in e o f brazen artil l ery .
Now we have time to lOOk round u s on the I Vaahi ma ra c
A bright and varied mas s Of col our i s thi s a s semblage Ofthe tribes
, a great half-moon shap ed body Of p eop lesquatting on the ground facing us. There are fi n e-l ookingful l -bl own M aori women with tattooed l ip s and a haughtytil t to their p lump chins ; strapp ing handsome girl s , manyOf them ha l f- ca stes . The womenfolks ’ rainbow-col ouredraiment i s j u st the sort Of thing that i s needed to set Offthei r flowing black hai r , thei r dark l i quid ey es
,thei r ful l
l ip s , and their ri ch warm col our that el ude s the arti st ’sbrush . In contrast i s that li ttl e knot Of
“Old hands
,
”
deep ly tattooed ve terans Of the war,greenstones and
shark ’s - teeth hanging from thei r ears . Vt’euld you knowthem ? Then that sage with the straggling white beardi s Tu -ata , a relative Of the fi rst M aori King
,hi s y ears
verging on nine ty ; the clean - shaven,sharp ~ ey ed Old man
beside him,Sphinx - l ike and grim Of feature
,and wrapp ed
in a red blanke t,i s Pirip i te VVhanatan g i ; another is
the cel ebrated Patara te Tuhi,benevol ent - l ooking
,
with a shrewdly humorou s twinkl e in hi s ey e ; anotheri s the grim Old war ~ hawk and famous canoe archi tect Te
340 TH E MAORIS OF N EW ZEALAND
Aho -o- te -Rangi— all true typ e s of the Old order . Europ ean
g arments are the rule , though here and there the
p eop l e air their much—p rized careful ly-worked fl ax en mat sand shawl s ; and some wear rough fl ax ki l t s (p iap iu )which ru stl e l oudly at every movement
,col oured in bands
Of black and white with a dve from the bark of a fore stt ree .
Facing the square , beneath the fold s of the King itebanners
,stands K ing Mahuta
’s guest-house
,a large low
eaved hou se,roofed with ra-up o reeds and supp orted by
On e o f the “ 7a ikato Ringite Flags at Was h i . The canoe r ep r esents the Ta in u i ; the
rainb ow is the sy m bo l o f the g od U e nuku , and the se v en sta r s ab o v e the ra in b ow are
th e Ple iades (Mata r iki) .
carved wooden p o sts . M ahuta himsel f o ccup i e s a ca rvedand decorated hou se at the other end of the settl ement
,
surrounded b y a neat fence near the re sidence Of the“Tumuaki” o r M aori Premier
,for the
“ Kingdom ”
boa st s a. Prem i er and two Hou se s of Counci llor s . Theo ther n ative houses are arranged round an Op en squaresp ace , sl op ing very gen tly toward s the centre and forminga gras sy am phi theatre . Thi s is the p ra iri e , a M aoriT y nwald Hill , where the sp eeche s are made and the lawsdi scu s sed in the bright li ght o f day . I n addi ti on to thehou se s , there a re sco re s of ten t s and temp orary reed huts
342 TH E MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
interva l s by the Wa ikato s on their own p re s s ; above the
qua int wood-cut on the front p age are the seven lu strou sstars
,the beloved Of the Old Greek navigato rs
,the con stel
lation whose annual r i sing was the occasi on of fea stingand worship amongst South American as well as
Polynesian savages . The benign rays Of M a tariki areto the M aori verily the same as tho se which p romp tedthe vo ice “ out Of the whirlwind ” in the Book ofJoh— “ Canst thou bind the sweet influence s Of Pl eiades
,
or loo se the bands Of O rion ? ” The Ra inbow-god U enuku
and the seven Of M atariki are as sacred omens to the Oldschoo l of Wa ikato s . K ing Tawhiao
,shortly befo re hi s
death in 1894,farewel l ing hi s fol l ower s in the vi l lage
m em e at Parawera,chanted these oracular word s :
Papa te what it iri,
Ka puta U enuku ,
Ka pu ta Mata r i k iKO Mahuta te K i ng i .The t hun de r peal s
,
The Ra i nbow -
g od appea r s,
The Pleiades sh i n e fo r thMahuta is the King ”
)
It was in thi s p oetic way ,in the figurative language Of
hi s race,tha t the dying chieftain announced hi s eldest
son as hi s succe sso r,the la s t Of the M ao ri K ings .
But we have gotten up amongst the star s,and the K ing
i s coming . Stray dogs are kicked out Of the mem o,and
“ down the valley came again the mu sic on the wind .
The Ng eang ea band , p receded by an Old white—moustachedchief carrying a Union Jack, marches into the square ,p laying a ra the r p retty mel ody , an Engl i sh p opular air
Maorifi ed. Thi s i s Mahuta’s royal anthem . The band
p lays a verse and then . a band Of men and women sing theword s Of the hymn . It begin s :
KO Mahu ta te K i ng i .il le i K i ng i heu ,
l -I e i K i ng i tua -to r uMo te ao -katoa
tha t i s to say ,M ahuta i s the K ing
,the new K ing
,the
thi rd King in the whole Of thi s land .
” The M ao ri ver si on
NO. 6 ] MAUNGAKAWA,
pr“ 0 fi l ah n ln .
Kg 7 1mm u m I‘m 110 1 “ u : L-w n u
KAUNQ AKAWA. “ HENA l l , 1695
many Il ICRENl I TETAU.
I‘I knpu n o 1 110 1 e h im-ho nno kl
H min 1 to Hmongnmo 111 Tungnln 111.
me 111 Tungntn mhi. om. nga knpu 1: who
kubokm “ N t i mto i nga a inga rum ko
to Ngnknu.
Te rn pen nga Boa ln tit-ln iho , me If
korcro one I n em 0 1111 11 hon korcro
Nupopn,—Penoi atu E Bo o n he
haere noa 111111 in nei to P0 h ahau . Knton to la a fig: Boo. kohi Town m o
ha pea 00 . [mi Poapoa nto no. Kain h ite rn h was atu, no, i mu: m m o, K.1
pnui ano ngn Hos l 111 t raw E1 wh o m o 0 In toh u mm . n . K:tahi 1: Hon kn moo atu, komm o Kn
mum on In: mm ano i lo Putxngn moikin koe n muri ake DP! An — rone te ns
hangs . E ki um to Win k-un li t a 0 mmPnkcke. Komuru kn atu, Komnru km
moi , ln'
ngobc-ngo he, e barn to km a to
tangata ho km Ti to ngi (Pntoi lm-ln , 111111
atu main : 0 was ringa , (mo km, two
mnkona.
TE
HAERE ATE KIINGI.
KI TEHAUAURU
No to 6 0 11311 11 o' Hopetown. 1m hnerc
atu T9 Knngi 1 Donate“ ; kn lilm la
ILA }!
Ar
r A“l I
-
U I’ 7
CMBRIDGE, WA I KATO. NEW Z EALAND. Tl fl EblA 10 . 1893.
ln lnrnhl 1 to I’m. Wamp um , () lmulml . kn u K ungi . haere nm Waikato , harm: malpal-n k l t » huum lu o Wnile lulm. lm' tonu mgn tang o Wa t-malmm . hncru moi ti
in Mutuhnhmnrow-hero touu '
l‘
cwn k l re ira . l lncrc tonuu l u rate “ , 1 uka mo to Ma lcolm. lukuay wn
nlu, kua mpcke nga ta ngata 0 run X1 Ra
ornolmnom. haere to nu atu mum In rmn ,
1 too pen mice In he 80, 1 rupolto ka lou ng .1
ln 0 Aotea ln Haomokauero, h to (aten
mu 1 1» K now, mlou ko onn Tcinn,Nn u-‘J o ngu m i uw o tu ul b ra n . ho
nga karm a 1) teen n , 1110 ng a Mote nuakeI to .mngn ake o to m, b to mm he to
Whores-0 11 Ra koun, mo nga Note w e to u
km gn o nga kupu . ko etebi com e one ku
pu Haere atu. haere atu Hae re atu
nga ta ngata Imam. roreroro lnln moi imm
1 ta kn arm ro. E k l mm(m m honga to to ;
again. in n tuiuki 1 a 13 um munkn kore
no. ake . 0 id am it s on 1 n 111, hon noa ake
ko te ne i —Baere mm o u» Whanau .a ta Ton to Kmnu u t on hm
W u ,l i on han g-mo 1. mi n 1101 than)
Ton otn to
Haere mm 9 Toma ma. tuk un atu ki 11
hnefe nga mnga lu Whnkm ro koreHae re ngu tangata Whakruu o kore."lo 11 1
no ! she he ponongntangn” Haere mm
id Aotea , [10 1 ohmmok u n Kaw h ia.Haere 1n ai , ln nga ta ngata 1 worn i toahi. Unerc mai ng a tangata o Wai-mahuruH aere mm to K 1ing 1 o le areha e le Ra .
ROTA KAK ERA Haere moi 11»
Eiingi o to Rnng nmnn c. ban ; mm to nrohn .
Tu r i n-tn 1 11 h a Room 3 R0 11 1 To
i n. to Puromng n to Tn' hang. to numa«A l o w Mom non, ko ugn Tang
-nu
Hem mu ln s lute atu, Tenn kou tou ,
TUAWHENUA TAUIRA Hou r 1nai
Front p age of the Waikato Ringite newsp ap e r ,
1 man 11111 a to Whe
E U o to L‘n-g Rangu i t n nut-l. EA.»ho on. 1 11 41. To koko U Ku pan .
Tom a » to m ap
Boom moi to Kung i o to Bongum rw
Rita to -Vou nga 0 Run hi to pumas; RWhiht hlln-ou to ast hmaungu no ' o
Haere ami h Aotea. “ new un i h K.whm
RIDA KOPUERA Haere moiwKn
kontu make 1 oku mimnc In to Hokcrcuu'i
1 oku malc hoki , 1 ahau 0 (w ho nei.K i n rongo mm koe . ko ahau e nobo nei
km ro ta 1 ago rmgarmgn o to Pakchu, tl kll
Mu ng-11 ko to Where herchcro, he In Puta
ke o tene i Male 1 pa 111 hi ahau . ho hum no
nga Mmita 1 ngn Tu e 0 toWhore k, ahau ,ki 11 kito nhou 1 nga Turn moku , to o noa Into Whenun, me no. hok i ln nku Knmrche ,E Impungi a mm nhnu c to l 'ukel-a, mo aku
Kon Inc one In 11 Rent : n to Knv '
nnnu ‘
nga 1 n ui-ca 1 tone : Whenua.E to ne ahau ki 11 koo minu t e. I1 1 I in
1 u-nmtc, moti f-men pro 0 k i te 1h“
nga Ture , e noho marnmn am to ug h. 11.
hoalu o nga kupn rungs 1 ng a ulmnga oto Tum . kn roug e mm 110 1 £00 In h: ah ua onga mi h i , no Wmmalmru huutou, no in
Mal e 0 110 1, km nei tom alum,he (do no:
mm ma N: Pakelm ho h. 111 noa qi tu In to
Whore he i. :111 lui r 111 Li 1.
Te Paki-o-Mata r iki .
343
of “ God Save the King” di sp o sed of , the K ing ites salutetheir sovereign chief
,the descendant of the mighty Te
V Vherowhero .
A s M ahuta wa lked slowly into the marae the p eop l ero se as one
,and uncovered their heads . Big Te Rawhiti ,
the suave and smil ing secretary , advanced and cri ed with
a l oud voice the mandate “ Whakahonare lei te K ing i !”
(“ M ake obei sance to the The a s semblagebowed low
,with the excep t ion of some of the vi si tor s from
other tribe s,who were not all enamoured of King ism .
“ K ei mang e !”
and the p eop le s toodaga in . Once more the order
,
“ W'
hakahonare ki te Ki
was cried,and once more the brown - skinned subj
bowed deep ly and reverently and up ro se at
mmg a ! For the third and las t t ime the commandrep eated ; and after the final “ K e i rang e
” the p eop ledown
,and the sp eeches began . They were long-winded
tho se sp eeches , both on the p akeha s ide and on the M aoribut they breathed throughout the warmes t friendshipChief after chief aro se from the cre scent of nativeschanted the melancholy- soun ding waiata which i s thusual p reface to a M aori o ration
,some perfo rming th
taki (a l i ttl e run or hop - step —and—j ump up and down thm arac) , by wa } r of p unctuati on mark s between th
s entences . Ful l of p oetic metapho r and ap t simi le werthe addre s se s of the King ite l eaders— dig n ifi ed,
p o s ses sed orato r s , weighing thei r sentences well , butno l o s s fo r word s .
But now comes the cal l to Im i. “ 7 c are taken to a lardining-hal l
,where food i s Sp read in Europ ean sty
M ao ri wai ters,deft and eager to serve
, p lace befo rethe be st fare of the luaing a . Mahuta
’s chi efs even
a hand and show that they have p l easure in serving
p ak clm fri ends . M ahuta beli eve s in the good
p rin cip l e of g on eros itv to vi si to r s ; we are Op en -handedl
hosp itised here in a fashion to which the cl o se -fi ste
p al eface is g on erallv a st ranger .
346 TH E M AORI S or NEW Z EALAND
The looker s—on gaze greedily and breathl e ssly : theyhave before them the p rie ste s s of the mo st ancient worldcul t
,the devotee of the Hebrew A shtaroth , the
Phoenician A starte,the dancing—girl of Egyp t , the hula
hula damsel of Hawai i . The dancer ’s body sw ings and
quivers , fa ster and faster ; i t i s the den se da c en tre, theconsummat ion of the act of Venus -worship . Her eyesare widely staring but seeing nothing in their intenseself- concentrati on .
Then the audacious cl imax comes,and the danseu se
stop s dead,her hands on her wel l—cu rved hip s . If she
be young and not yet case -hardened she actual ly l ook s asif she could blu sh : and glowing all over with her sel fevo lved emotions and sensations
,she gl ides to her p lace
and take s up her tin flute once more . And throughoutthe dance the band -girl s
,their eyes fixed on the ground
,
are p ip ing away at a M oody and Sankey hymn—tune,to
which,indeed
,through all her Dmdalian p erformances the
dancing-girl keep s exactes t time .
M ore sp eeche s , that lasted ti ll afte r dark . The starswere out ; over the black shadows of the western hil lshung gl i ttering M eremere
,and to the north the faint s i lver
swarm of M atariki ,“ shedding sweet influence
,
” with thekeen eye of Rehua blazing earthward s from the high east— the stars were out , and our sharp bow out through t
g l i s tening star-lit water s as we made ou r return tripHuntly in the “
Taheretikitiki ,”
after a l ong and merday in the home of the Wa ikato s ’ l ord p aramount .courteou s laughing crowd escorted u s to the river -sand cri ed us l oud farewel l s o f “ Haere m
,haere m !
”
The brawny- shouldered crew dipp ed thei r p addles , tfugl eman amid ship s rai sed his wi ld canoe - song .
“H o
to wake,
”(“U rge on the canoe ” ) was the word , and t
K ing ite crew put thei r shoulders into i t . Quicker a
qui cker came the s trokes ltakerc,halt ere
Pre sently , t lrlze lm (“ Ear s
,li s ten !
shouted the cap tain ; thi s b y way of caution,o r ca l l
a ttenti on . Then ~ (“ Lift and
A DA Y AT A “mm ” 347
sha rp command eve ry paddle wa s l i fted clear above thecanoe - side , 111i s sing one st roke . w i th a
de l’t 11‘ 1oven 1ent on e hand , the inboa rd on e,was sla pp ed on
the we t blade and clap ped o n the handle aga in,a ll in
p erfect uni son . Then once more eve ry man p lunged deephis d rip p ing hoc, and the cap tain began aga in his sl owand mea sured time—song ,
“ Rite,Ire te ri te
,r ite
,Ice te
rife ! ” gradual ly qui cken ing i t as before ; and the roya lcanoe swep t on ove r the old waterway of the war—p artie s ,l eaving the K ing and hi s p eop l e to seclus ion untroubled of
the white man . And as we climbed the bank to the hotelat Huntly we could still hear
,faint and sweet in the quiet
night, the silver p ip ing of the King ’s “ fre e t ban ’
THE TANGI .
I saw the l i ghtn ing ’s gla r eU pon the peak of Taup i r iTh e r e the thou san ds of thy people sleepThe i r last long sleep ;They r est fo r e v e r on the
Pla i n s of Tang irau.
”
A Waikato Lamen t .
When sorrow smite s the p eop l e , when loved ones are
seized by the hand of the Unseen and hurried away in theWake 0 A ime ,
the Canoe of Death,then the soul o f the
M aori i s bared,and the p rima l grief—note , the coronach
of the tang i , sounds through the stricken ka ing a . It i sat a tang ihang a , a funera l gathering , that one see s something of the real M aori . O ld cu stoms are revived
,brown
no se i s p re s sed to no se , and the oration s over the deadare rich in song , in p roverb , and in touching sy mbol and
M uch that isp ak eha and incongruou s nowadays oftencreep s into the te ng ihang a ,
but in some of the p urelyM aori d istri ct s the funeral Ob servances to a large extentfol l ow the fashi ons of ol d , wi th the excep tion that thedead are n ow general l y interred in a graveyard
,often
wi thin the fern -grown wal l s of some anci ent hi l l-fort,
in stead of being hidden in caves o r lowered into abys ses,
as was the ca se in former davs when the p re serva t ion ofthe bone s of the dead from the sacril egi ou s hands ofenemies was a holy duty .
The most remarkabl e {(mg ihang c I have ever seen wasthe grea t funeral. gathering of tribes held at Taup i ri , onthe Waika to River , in October , 1894 , over the remain sof King r
l‘
awhiao,the son of the famou s Potatau te
Whe rowhero . Here w ere wi tnes sed , p robably for the
la st time on such a s cale , some thril l ing p i cture s of o ld
350 TH E M AORIS OF NEW ZEALAND
A t thi s great tang i over the remain s of Tawhiao , thecrying of the dead monarch to the M ao ri Sp i r i t—land , therewere at l east three thou sand M aori s p re sent , bel ongingto some thirty tribe s from all p art s of the
“ F i sh ofM aui . ” Long thatched mlkau and m up o whe res werebuil t by the ho st s— the Waikato tribes p rOp er— for theaccommodation of the army of vi si to r s ; there werehundreds of tent s p i tched , and immense quanti tie s of food—p ork and beef
, p ota toes , fi sh , dried eel s , shel lfi sh , and
p akeha bread— were p rovided to feed the hungry mul titude . The smoke from score s of hdng i , the p rimit iveearth- ovens
,ro se into the air night and morning . There
was to be da i ly seen the p retty ceremonial o f the Tulsa -hat,
the formal p resentation of cooked food in l i tt le round fl axbasket s to the guest s
,with the accompaniment of dance
and song ; there were almo st continual p erformances ofthe he l m and p owhiri of greeting ; and the wild mi li tary
p arades of the p ast were revived in honour of the sacreddead .
One thrill ing scene stands out before all the other s inthe many - coloured p anorama that p as se s before themind ’s eye as I reca l l the stir ring week at Tawhiao ’
s
tang i . Thi s was the recep tion of the old K ing’s body as
i t was borne into the “ faikato camp from di stant Parawera
,on the K ing Country border- l ine , after a l ong and
weary p il grimage through the U p p er Waikato,a j ourney
p ro longed by wa il ing tang is and funeral feas ts at eachsettl ement . Cl o se on a thou sand p eop l e of the NgatiMan iap oto , Ngati -Raukawa ,
Nga ti -Hana,
and o therup
- country tribes reverently e scorted the rema in s ; morethan two thousand W
’
a ika to s , swayed by the intenses tfeel ing
,awai ted them here on the Taup i r i river-s ide .
The p eop l e wore the unive rsal sign of mourningsp ray s of green wil l ow o r of korom iko , o r the beauti fult ra il ing creep ers of the ly cop odium fern— wreathedround thei r heads and over thei r shoulders . GunsM aor i weap ons of wood and s tone were in every 11a nd he re and there a sword— a trophy of the war . F
H i: TAN e 1 351.
o f bright co lou r and curiou s de sign fl app ed at ha l f-mastin the centre o f the f
in e/
re c,the campus . Some l' 1undreds
o f \Va ikato m en,unde r the i r chiefs
,we re d rawn up in
soldi erl y fo rmati on jus t inside the fence o f the mem e
enclo su re ; the ranks ten o r twelve dee p , a ll s trip ped toa wai s t-g z-i rmen tw shaw l
,blanke t
,o r mat ; fea the rs in
ha ir — the l ordly lm 'ie p lume and the feathe rs o f the
albatro s s,the p igeon or the wild goo se ; all we re a rmed
with rifles or doul‘1le -ba rrel led guns and had c z-i rtridg e
p ouche s s trapp ed round them . The chiefs ca rried thei rtrea sured weap ons , ancestra l embl em s of rank , greenston em ercs and whal ebone p e ters , and carved and p lumedsp ear—headed te iehe s .
The long cortege of U pp er Wa ikato men wound in sightround a turn in the road , with a M aori band at thei r head
p laying the“ Dead M arch ”— an innovation borrowed
from the mil itary funera l s of the p akeha . Behind theband came the coffin encl o sing Tawhiao ’
s body,borne by
sixteen hal f-naked brown figure s . Beside hi s father ’sremain s wa lked M ahuta . Then marched the armed menof the K ing Country , in fighting co stume
,a sp lendid
savage battali on three to four hundred strong,thei r only
garments a shawl or sheet round ther lo ins,their black
ha i r dre s sed with feathers,cartridge -belt s round their
bare shoulders,and ammuniti on -
p ouches at their wa i st s .
All carried guns , and, as they slowly advanced , they fi redthei r rifles and fowling-p iece s loaded with blank . Eightdeep came the wild soldiery
,led on by A rakatare
Rong owhitiao , a big black-bearded Ngati -Raukawa chief ,stripp ed to a wai st - sheet
, quivering a gl i stening whal ebone m ere in hi s hand . Then came the re st of the s ingular
p roces si on , hundreds of natives with thei r heads and
bodies p rofusely wreathed and entwined with green leave sand nodding branchlets ; i t seemed to u s almo st a
“ moving grove,
” l ike B irnam Wood which came todoomed M acbeth in Dunsinane .
Volleys of musketry,then single and i rregular shots ,
were fired,continual ly
,both by the oncoming ho st and the
352 TH E M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
wa i t ing Waikato s ; a hum of lamentation ro se on the heavyair ; the gunp owder smoke hung around the wa i l ingthrongs ; and all the time on the “ green hi l l knowe underthe dark shoulder of Taup i r i p uffs of smoke were seenand rep ort s l ike cannon were heard , waking the mountainechoes . It was the M aori s at the buria l-p lace expl odingdynamite round the sep ulchre destined fo r the K ing .
The sorrowful p roce s s ion , every man and womanmarching with head bowed in grief
,sl owly ap p roached the
en trance to the camp . The hundreds of Wa ikato,s i lent
now as death,were mas sed some eighty yard s ins ide the
enclo sure,the armed men in front with thei r guns at the
“
p ort ,” behind them the genera l body of the p eop l e
including the women . A s the coffi n was borne throughthe gate
,the Wa ikato s bowed their heads low three times
and at the same time the colour s on the tal l flagstaff weredipp ed . On trod with mea sured step , p ainful and slow ,
the vi siting ho st,crying in the inexp re s s ibly sad monotone
of the tang i. Wa ikato sl owly retired a few p ace s and oncemore bowed to the ground . Then they rai sed thei r threehundred guns and fired a thundering vol ley of blankcartr idge in honour of the mighty dead .
Now came VVaikato ’s great song and dance of greeting
and of grief . Led by a furiou sly gesti culating wildcap ta in , they roared out with one voice thei r song oflamentation
,the i r chant for the home -bringing of the
K ing . To the song they kep t sp l endid time with thei rwar -dance , bending to the ground as one man unti l themu z zl e s of the guns nearly touched the earth , holdingthei r firearms near the breech , and then giving a suddensp ring up right with thei r w eap ons ra i sed at arms ’- l engthabove thei r heads . To the right they faced
,then to the
l eft,then up and down
,l ike a marvel l ou s machine .
The lam ent they sang was a. fun g i p oem Sp ec ial ly com
p o sed and rehearsed fo r the grea t o ccas i on . It was “Te
Te am/m. u te Rue (“ The Dragon of the
liken ing the departed chi ef’s sp i ri t to a grea t tan iwha or
god - like m onste r of the dep ths . They chanted, as they
354 THE M AORIS or NEW ZEALAND
The roaring chorus rang out far acro s s the wide riverand was sent back by the l i s tening hi l l s
,and before the
echoes had time to die away they were rou sed again byvolleys of musketry . Both the armie s j oined in the genera lfu si llade
,the men rel oading with blank as fas t as they
could p ush the cartridges in and blaze away into the air .
The coffin was borne to the foot of the flagstaff,and
there i t was at last at rest,enshrouded in soft feather
cloaks and fine fl ax mat s . The Upp er Wa ikato men,when
the Lower Waikato sol
diers fel l back on the
m ain body , repl ied w i thrifle firing and w ith a
son g of the ir own ,rai s ing
a thunderous choru s thatmight have been heardfor m ile s around
,and
w i th an earth- shakings im u l taneou s stamp of
hun dreds of fee t on the
so i l of the m em e .
Then came the g eneraltang i, the
“
keenin g”for
the dead chi eftain . The
W'
aikat o people n ow for
the first tim e had the”We", P’m’a 18 “ opportunity of cry ing
On e o f the Wa ikato war-dances atTawhiao
’
s Te n g iha nga .
OV e l the “ IXl ll g The
v i s it ing tribes,who had
brought in the body from the south,ma inta ined
thei r p o si ti on thi rty or forty y ard s away,
al l owingWa ikato p rop er to gather round the coffin . TheWaika to s formed a large and dense hal f-moon cl o seunder the col our s , wi th the armed men on the rightand the green—garlanded wom en on the l eft . Some of thewomen had bared them selve s to the wai s t
,and wore
weep ing-wil l ows and fern s entwined abou t thei r shoulder sand bo som s . In fo rmer times they would have scarifi ed
thei r face s and arm s and breas ts wi th sharp shel l s o r
T ] [ E TAN (l l
flakes of obsidian . Men and women,y oung and o ld
,j oined
in the fung i , and the a ir was full o f the low inarticu latehum of grief . The p eop l e a ll sat with the i r heads bowed ,some of them with the i r blankets o r mat s ove r thei r face s .
Through the dul l me an of grie f tha t came from the bow 3d
t ribespeop le l ike the no ise of di s tant surf on the se asho rethere ro se now and then a m o re p ie rcing note , a woman ’secstasy of sorrow . Tears streamed down many face s . A tinterval s a body of the mourne rs ra i sed a song
,a mournful
funeral we ie te,and fo r a whi le the genera l lamentati ons
ceased whil e the tattooed and grey old warri o r Whitiorate Kumete
,Tawhiao
’s firs t cou sin
,who had been a
l eading sp i ri t in the Waikato \Var of 1863-64,ro se and
welcomed the vi si ting tribes, pacing quickly to and fro
,
sp ear-tongued te iahe in hand , as he cried hi s greetings .
Thi s ceremonious salutation ove r , the whole of Waikatoleap ed into the grand action of the war-dance
,and aga in
shouted with on e voice their great teng i song,“Te
Tem’
mba 0 te Rue ,
” sweep ing their firearms to right andl eft
,up above the i r heads and l ow to the ground , and all
treading the resounding ear th as one . When they hadended
,the vis iting M aori s— Ngati -Maniapoto , Ngati
Hana,and the other U pp er Wa ikato clans— fi red severa l
volleys of blank cartridge,thei r soldierly sa lute to the
dead K ing ; and aga in the white p uffs of smoke were seenon the funera l hi ll
,and the boom as of cannon came down
the wind ; i t was the exp l o s ion of salvoes of dynamitearound the op en grave .
Then came more rousing songs and funera l d irges fromthe mournful ly excited mult itude , punctuated by rifle3racks ; and the
“ greeting of the bones ” was clo sed by:he chanting by all Waikato of the grand old song ofvelcome
,
“ Kumea mai te Waka ” (“ Haul up the Canoe
”)
vi th it s l ong-drawn far-echoing refrain
Tote me i te wake lei te u rung a ,K i te moeng a
— te wake é .
”
Hau l up the canoe to its p i llow ,
To its sleep i n g place— the canoe .
356 TH E MAORIS or N EW ZEALAND
And so came the dead King to hi s home p i l l ow ,to hi s las t
bed in the midst of hi s tribe .
But it isnow known that Tawhiao ’s remains werenever
laid on the summit of that burial hi l l . The body wassecretly removed from the camp at midnight by a p artyof Ngati— M ahuta and Ngat i -Hana chiefs and take-n awayin a vehicle to a di s tant p art of Waikato
,where i t was
interred in a wel l -hidden cave,an ancestral necrop ol i s .
Thi s was no“
doubt an arrangement with Tawhiao ’s
family,but i t w ould
'
have been strongly opp o sed by theWa ikato tribe had i t been general ly known at the time .
Thi s secret removal i s quite in accordance with ancientM aori custom ; the obj ect i s to ensure p erfect securi ty forthe sacred bones of the dead . There i s no longer the oldendread of a hostil e M aori tribe di sinterring the remains
,
but I am sorry to sav the M aori fear s the desecratingsearch of unscrup ul ous white men , who have no reverencefor the graves of native p eop l e . Indeed there w ererumours amongst the M aori s tha t the p akehas des ired thetattooed head of the old King as a museum curio s ity
,and
so angry were some of the King ites that I bel ieve any
p rying whi te man would have rece ived the content s of ashot -gun had he been found exp l oring the burial. hill .the heavy cof fin which the p roces s ion of tang i- ing p eOpbore with them as thev wound up the tepu
’d mounta infew days afte r the event s I have described , l ed on bvvenerab le wizard-like tohmrg a,
whatever el se i t containeddid no t encl o se Tawhiao ’
s remain s ; and l e s s than hal f-adozen men know the actual bury ing-
p lace of the M aoriKing .
Pr in ted by l l’
li ilcombc and Tombs Limi ted, Christchurch,New Z ea land.
