LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Chronicle (Levin), 5 August 1947, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Early History of HorWhellfls MaorisSif, — -IiS youf repyf t of my receritaddfess to the Leviri Juriior Chariibef . of doririhefce refeferiee made to* orie Of- • Our loc-ai Mariri tribes as- briirig..a "slave people," yrid the wrong interpretation was plac'ed on a chance remark' iri what was only a sketchy outline of the liYes of the local natives during ,that period. The refefence could have been only tri the /Muaupoko Tribe, arid 1 wiri eridriavoiir to rectify the matter by feeOuntirig what I kriow to be the true faC'ts of the position, At.the beginning of last ceritury' the Muaupoko- was- a very powerf-ul tribe, holding all this coast Jrom Paekakariki" to the Manawatu River, iwitli- virtuai commarid of Cook Strait, a most desirable home from a Maori point of view and one that eoufd have been held only by a sfrorig and virile people. *

The first we know of any inVasi'on of these parts occurred some-Whei-e about 1819, when a great war expedition called Te Amio Whenuaset out from Auckland under the Ngati Whatua chieftain, Murupadnga, to eneirclerihe land (as thri name irid'icateS) .- This was the gredtest expedition ever undertaken by any tribe .armed with purely natlve weapdns. Ngati whatua pushed fhfo'ugh to tlie East Coast ahd right from Poverty Bay to Wellington, leaving a trail of sanguinerius havoc and destruction. Corriing round' to the West Coast they annihilated a people called Ngati Ira at Porirua and thereabouts. Muaupoko were next on the/ist drid they were eventually brought td bay on Horowhenua Lake, Muaupoko taking refuge on Namu-iii, an island at the northern end. The begieging force' c'amped on Rae-o-te~-Kafaka, almost directly opposite Queen Street, where one cari now S6e a few pinus insignus trees. Waiting uritil they received reinforcements, Muaupoko, early one morning sent their women in canoes to make a feint attack while' the men swam ashore and attacked the invaders' position from the rear. The result was a rout, Ngaii Whatua leaving many dead behind. The survivors were liotly pursued to j the Manawatu', where they eseaped by sea. This brought to an end the activities of another would-be Ghengis Khan. The next to appear on the loeal scene was Te Rauparaha arid hi's Ngati Toa warrlors/ arrried with rriuskets. From the outset Muaupoko had no chance against the pakeha weapons and they were forced to flee into the bush. Many

went to kinsmen in the Wairarapa and- to the South Island. A few, under Taueki and Tanguru, clung tenaciously to their home, living in the most inaccessible places until peace at the instigauoh of Te Whatanui was iriade, The remnants of Muaupoko theh re-assembled, but were compelled i to iive alongside Horov/henua Lake, their boundaries being Taua-te-Ruru, about half a mile north of the outlet of the Hokio Stream, to Uamairangi, approximately where the southern boundary of the Government plantation meets the beaich at Hokio, and to a post which still stands on Ngatokorua, an islarid in the swamp to the south and adjacent to Poroutawhao. In this way Muaupoko were deprived of the fishing on two of the most desirable creeks on the coast, if not in New Zealand, namely, the Hokio and Waiwiri. No wonder they, as it were, sat down by the waters of Babylon- and wept when they remembered Zion. Now, be it remembered, at that time — their worst period— Muaupoko were not slaves, but by sheer neCessity were compelled to lay low. Later • on when Muaupoko got muskets the courts extended their southern boundary to the Waiwiri Strearn. This was done to avoid a fnajor conflict again. Since then all tribes have lived in peace and harmony, and are so iriter-marrying and associating •frith one another that it is harri to' iell where one tribe ends and the other begins. Myself, a pure pakeha, I have relations both inMuaupoko and Ngati Raukawa tribes. That Muaupoko never lost hope in regaining what was originally their's was exemplified by Te Hajkepe, who, on 'ihe birth of liis son, Te Rara-o-Te Rangi (rib of the Sky) , took him outside and, 1-ike Hannibal of old, dedicated him to the gods for the return of the l'ands Of his maternal ancestors. In His; Song he took his child in fancy from Whakaari (Mount Stewart, outside Feilding) to Pukehou (that high hill this 'side of Otaki) to gaze on Te Tai-o-Raukawa (Cook Strait) , gateway to the Pacific. . Of great interest is the sfdry of Heri.ga Henga, a very beautiful woman of high rank. She f611 into a trap and was captured by a noted Chief, Ngarangi-o-Rehua-. As a eaptive she was" unruly with the knowledge that she was attractive. However much it irked her to be a Caprive, her ladyShip becArriri reeonciled to her position in the new household with the passage of time, and \vheri the war was ericfed and the time came to part, suc-h jvaS her gratitude for th6 many little acts of kindness' bestowed on hdr that she made a gift of the fising town of Poroutawhao, with all . the land, lakes and forests contiguous to it. As sbriie wi§e iriari bn.ce' said, Allah is great but jiix'fa--pc/sition is greater. That is the only specific case I evrir heard of a person being held In captivity, Were it not for the faet that the fair orie Hved to bnjoy her protracted sojourn in Mr Rehua's household, and that the

captor himself was captivated,nothihg would ha-ye ever been heard of the affair. 4 1 Many years after* in the Land Courts Muaupoko denied that Henga Henga had., the right to rriake the' gift, whilb Ngati Huia, denied th&t the gift had eve£ 1 been iriade, alleging that ifhad been taken as the spoils of war. Wh'atever the tfufh of the matter, after weeks of argument the judge gave d most wonderful ribcisibn. He said it was not a gift neither had it been acquired by fbrce' bf arnis, but that in his opinion it. was "he mea hopu," mfeariirig that U had been caught as a ball or something, or, in football parlaribe, it was a mark, a verdict whifih made sense neither to European nor Maori. I hope io be able tb continue this subjeCt at a l&tef date. Yriurs etc., HECTOR McDONALD. • Levin, Aug. 4.