A DAY WITH THE MAORIS.

Evening Star, Issue 3408, 23 January 1874, Page 2

A DAY WITH THE MAORIS.

Thursday, .January 22, was a red-letter day among the Maoris at the Kaik—a kind' of Saturnalia l with them. : It was a grand gathering of Natives for .a double purpose—S to receive money and to ask'for money ; and to open a new meeting-house. Months since word went unto the Maoris of all parts of the island of the ceremony of yesterday,' and, as a result, there . >vere present representatives fromjiearly all the aboriginal settlements in Otago and : beyond it.' There were Maoris from Waikouaiti, Moeraki, Southland, 'Canterbury, and from Westland; A, general invitation was extended, to Europeans, of whom ■ therea large attendance, the in i the neighborhbod mustering strorifdy,'\vhile there was a good sprinkling of yjsitorii from _town and Port Chalmers. When the. feast:xug was at its height there musChave been • over AOD people at the Kaiki ‘ ■ Vl :■ the. Press, intimation hid been given theft the' proceedings would commence early if 1 , .W®’ forenp'pn.' Accordingly,, the representatiyo ,df;this : paper, with a feHoiV scribe; in an early appearance,' 1 proceeding to the Kaik frqm the Port in' av wiitermaii’s poat, and the;day being gloriously fine,’ with -just enough vvind, to 'send tko boat merrily along,. iye a pleasant trip dofyn. Landed ion, the locks (a ippde of debarkation .which will soon be dispensed with, as .the Government We contracted/for the .erection there of a Small wharf for steamers to go alongside) we at once made trhlcks for the village,, only to' learn that we had several hours on our hands, as,business would .not commence till 2 p. m. A tour'of the Settjement was then made, but only three things were deemed worthy oX inspection—the . church, the school, and 1 the choking' operatloQS* The meeting-house was' too cohapiquous an object, to be overlooked, but it was sacred for‘ the notice. The, bommittefe’ Of management-for the Maoris had a Select body of their principal men to control the day s proceedings'!—had ordairied that no in; spection of it should, fee allowed until after the formal opening. * So studiously was this arrangement kept that not even the major portion of the; M aoris themselvesknew the name by which the building was to be called.' To the culinary department, then, Was attention first paid. We watched the women prepare the meats and' other articles of food; saW the, extensive cooking operations going on, and then sought the friendly shelter for the heat was excessive—of the school room, which was undergoing ihe'drocess of conversion into a dining-room,’ to’ aocommodate sixty or seventy people at a time. ■ There entering into conversation with MrW. H. Walker, the schoolmaster, we learned from him that he has some thirty boys and girls under his charge; and that the official inspection of the school had been made’the day before by Mr Watt, as Native Protector, and Mr Petrie, Assistant Inspector of Schools, after which there had been’ a diatribution of the prizes sent down by the Got vernment. W,e were told that not only did the children acquit themselves well on this special occasion, but that they make toler ably apt scholars ; and the display of the ' girls, work—such as knitting, crochet, and suiting and of mapjpmg .iaßd . waiting,

undoubtedly supported tbe assertion. The little church, so p'easanbly situated, has been described in these ci> utnns. Wo did %i not observe that any improvement had been made in it; but the graveyard beyo id showed. that Death had paid two visits to the settlement since we were thof k e last. Ic is true that the number of newly-made' graves is larger; but it was explained that spmeob them are re-interments'-—the remains of their first chiefs and great people have been recently taken up from their original deposits, of twenty ana twenty ; five yelr’s- ago,7and finally placed in the Kaik cemetery. From the Church we proceeded to a house, where Mr Watt was distributing the purchase money for the Princes street reserve. About 15,000 was paid away, in sums ranging from LBSO to 12 10s, bat the handing of cheques to each; man and taking his receipt therefor, only interested the parties immediately concerned, Shortly after two o’clock, the little steamer Result having brought down a load of visitors, a bell wa*rung for the people to assemble to witness the opening of the meet-: ing-house, which is a comfortable wooden’ building 60ft. by 18ft. The Maoris themselves supplied the whole of the material, and emiployed a carpfenter: to construct ittie' house, in which he was engaged seven weeks. In front of the.hbhsfcwat, a flagstaff;.Ahd oh tis was to be hoisted a flag (presented by the dJoit Mr Vogel), bearing ~the. name of tho! building. Everything being in order,j Taiaioa. gpt oh an empty gin case and read in Maori the following statement of tbe programme; of-the meeting:—

.To the Chiefs of the meeting assembled on the L 11 -d 1574 ° f J * na!iry ’ bl tbe yea * °* our ! • The; reasons that you: have; been called, together here to the opening of this house,’ .jand totnejmemory of it, are. It is for you, tlie’Chiefs bf the meeting as«i- ::, s , em ¥? d on this day, to seek what 'shoUld properly bfe ‘d6hfe : in' all thfe lhattta written below : i

Firal;: Let us seek the root of the-mistake at 1 selling to, the Government !of the island' called; Waipounamm: • is ,Tp.;soe]k, if payment has been made according to the promise, in schools, and hospitals, and other things promised to the Maoris at the’sale. ' T ./ .< I

•.The-third is ; How; much money shall be paid,; and how much money shallbe returned by the Government for those unfulfilled promises? ■ •, ;

, -^ e fourth is : For this meeting to consider! if rlori Kerei Taiaroa was wrong in Parlia-, ? e^i ln '.i * y ear 1873,' in asking for L 2,000,000: * . this, matter, and to satisfy 1 the Maoris ot Waipounamu. The fifth is : To seek the money for the Re-i serves that are held by the. Government, or let 1 tothe PakehaS. ' . : ; The sixth is ji To seek' what shall be dbne with respect) to : the unfulfilled-promises of the! Government to the Maoris.;? Shall we appeal v 8 General Assembly,.?; or to the Parliament of Lngland. or to the law, to seek what these promises were? ; . > - T

; i Council aeseinbledihere properly consider these things amongst others; and it is good also that Wiremu Katene, of the Hay Islands, one of the Ministers of the Golony of New Zealand, and for Hr Watt; the Magistrate, and for all the chiefs of thisr meetihg,! and for all the people who come -here, to listen to the words thatare set forth by. the Maoris of the Island. : . , . ’ . ;

- •,. Ghi Chiefs. of .the meeting!. the origins those matters have been "set • before you.- It for you to consider the : tliibgs that are rig] and to remember. ■ Taitoha; Hape, ■ , Chairmin of the Committee. , :: Taiaroa having .finished, Robertspn, i wrestling fame, and Mr Watt hoisted, am ■ - 60 '" 6 cheering, the flag, which ,is , ; ordinary merchant Jack, and bears the i j scription “Te Maki Tamariki'’—a me l ■ phorical expression, signifying that t r , maori settlement at the. Heads is unli ; other settlements, in that they’have no dhi) i _ ol,erts ? n » who interpreted throughout, ga us 16 understand that their work was ti work of the children—the liberal translate ; of the , inscription—in other words, thi ; were newly all young men, and would cari i Oii the affairs of the settlement instead of tl i oilmen, as elsewhere.' The naming of tl ■ building over, the doors of the meetii i house were , opened.! The interior is lint with stained wbod, on the floor was nice patterned matting, and the walls were fe t ;oned and hung with flags. In the cent of. the room a table was placed, and from Mr.Takoti, a native Methodist clergynu from Canterbury, conducted a religious-se vie?, which was; rather Joiger thap was.ii ! tended, is with .all things, it came to;* end, and'then the talk commenced. TaiaroA asked all the Maori chiefs an English‘and Maori ;gputlemeh to listen \ him and what he had'to say at that gres gathering. He was glad to see them a therei as'he had sent notice to all parts < the island of the opening of the house. Tli house was:put. up - because he could: talk t all the.pedplu of a lot of things ho had in hi mind, and through which he:wished to s his way. He could, not see how the G( vornment came, to have possession of th whole of this Inland. All the,promises mad to the Natives by the, Government'when tb land was' bought,were never fulfilled. Thi was why lie built the house, and called it T Maki Tamariki. He called it thus beoaus there were ho cjld, people 1 in Otago • kll wet yhang iieOple here,' and there were no ol people to carry their works thrOughl 'All th old chiefs, from the south to the north of th island, could do nothing towards gettin their, own title: bapk from the Governmeul He sent, ( a .bill,into the Committee; at Wlel lington*. but the Government did .not sen mm an answer to it; The Govemmentask© ,hup vjhat he thought the Natives, shbul charge the;, General Government., He consi dered over it, and said that,Xs,ooo,,opo wa the value of the islmd, but the Govermneh ■ agree, to it. They said they woul cpnsider it,before the next tessidn. ' Wi ; Ka tene was present, and he Would/like to he# what he had to, .say before he left Otagc •There was a gentleman in the house, M Gillies, a member of the General Assembly and he would like to hear what he had t fgainst what her proposed, so that th hngJish gentlemen would see! whether wha he said was right or wrone. He would b glad to hear Mr Katene and Mr Gillies mak 1 before the people left thehouse. Th; dxnnfer would commence at five o’clockattb Schoolhouse, and would be open to Maor and European—all free. He was glad all tin jentlemen had come to see the opening o ie Maki .Tamariki. i 6 Three cheers were, given for Taiaroa. fair pn the part of Taiaroa to call upon bin to make a speech. 13 e came because he win on the Committee to which Taiaroa had reterred, and took an interest in 'examining into the claims which Taiaroa had 1 made. was admitted that the Natives of the Middle iS u®'ft"m * claims » but not to-the extcnl which Taiaroa had put forward. The Impenal Government were written to on the subject in 1856. There was n6 dispute betwo raceß as t0 the claims, the only difference was as to the value of the claims. He would tell his Maori friends to be reasonable in their claims. . Mr Taiaroa lookedto thepreeentvalue of the land, but of what value woiild it be if there were no Europeans here ? The Europeans had spent money m opening up the land, and in bringing up the country to the position in which it was now. After the promise of the Government he thought they could make a final settlement with We hlaoris before the next session was Qvep. , Let thepj have all that was fair and just, but they must not go in for exorbitant claims. - He lipped a spirit ;pf reasonableness would characterize all this ~ : : , ' 'u

Mr Gillies. that be «■* BM abo^ ddl ® lat 4 : ,%**>* W been trying f°ii tbr . e ® tlfe jGonoral Assemblf - dd,o: ? rie considered • Bpeech Ta,mroahad made was a valuable oqe, abd the thought the value 6f the speech iWas tbte same as-the value of this island I The (Government knew the reason Tataroa hadput ixp the hnnaoT*. „ all through the Middle Island affair What Taiaroa was-asking for was aU printed in English letters in the books. Thwe was only one of the government here, and that was himself, and for this reason he could not give any decided answer relative to the matter of Tauroas speech. If the people thought he could give a decided,answer, he himself did not thinlc he'cbuldWso. He thought if he could give a decided answer—-he-mjght just as well say he could lift that island to Mother place froth-'there. The best thing for-him to do was to stop and listen to what tbe people said at that gatherspeech in atfs>lr|o what had been said that day, and he thought the best to do with the matter was to pkee ‘ bef °» Mln »sters, and let them settle it. Ho had no authority to settle this matter—ho was only one. That was all ho nacl to say, _ Katene* ClleerS were tben g iv ’ en for Wi

Tajaroa called for i three .theta' Sfor Mr Vogel, for his present of the flag with the “Nafciye«ame on it. -I—>7—“

Matiaha. TiRAMOREHUr a chief ofcMoeraki, said ho was clad to see all the Maoris and genfletofed thereto bear all ke >hW ;Wa«r. S? fe d ,, to 7 c , afcc } said a\dht rSJrtf 6 ls thought it was right for mil the. people of the MiddliftslMdrib to what Taiaroa had said. All the Mabrxt would.iooner hire the ground than ? , sooner* have' their' Mid back. thought it ; was right fbr all ‘the people t° look into this matter, anddhere would , be a great gathering in either March * or fP®?-' :3hl * was Where theT-rdiepirte , won d have to be settled, . and thonGthey would have a dhanco ; to: get toother all the people who -had a right tb the Middlfe Is. j’ i dhis great gatheringall and what Taiaroa had sAirt; would #-* looked over, and all the j&ople of this Island would be there.-•} fl -i Three-cheers having been give* for Mr Vogel for hia present of the flag, attention was given to the feist. • -Plenty dnnk wat supplied; and in less thanWhotfr an d' his’ assistants had satisfied the wants oflthe 400 atid odd hungry .Maoris and -Europeans were ,pu .the .ground. , p schopllibuse wis thrown open for the.ball. . The Maoris fe found accommodation, and. then the Europeans were, admitted—at' least such of them f® ®“ OE ® demanded.” Five shillings a-headandnot’-a penniless,” r the count©naaoes who MftxQmp pr&sTto assist the Maoris in String the hgfefanit,astic.; Loud and, deep r wer© t)ie grumblings an mtsuded ulfargu had, keen . mads, they were entitled to;.tee ,admission ;.M| t -tye Maonea held that it was enough for thiem lo provide refreshments ( <iu which, ’ 1 musk say. they were most libpral) gratis. The crush .aud huat were.^eip^eruig 4 , A ud,.t]t)B. pppoyUmity being offered, to me of Tetttffiing to Port Chalmers that' night, I gladly availed myself of it, Laving had epoggh of the Maori gathering. „:„ u ,

e I T ... THU NATIVE CLAIMS. V, , e , ft will perhaps interest our readers if ’wo !: P™ * l ß ft rfc of Mr TaiaM’s kotio^ e |J „ ft ABsembly eK u Jr a ft ut yesterday. In'lßsß, Mt Mfinn ; r ll ' Secretary, -wrote to tho'Sehret»ry. of btate for. the Colonies*—“ Bftfro. / ft fliore valuable recompense in schools, e I ln , . h .°, s P!^ a -*5 theip sick, and .in constant e ¥£ their Welfare ahd' gknerklfp^. ? tection on .tho pkrt:6f : the Imperial QoVernM ®ent, I procured the'cessron of theso lauas 7 -small- oash; payments. * loma V ;G^Ver nment ha« np^ect^Ao a promißes - ” S'esaion afteraewion b S endeavored to get.a settlei “ft °j these claims,yfeaMJo J a. Ste: to* - ’rW hut nbthfb'g 'd6We. i-( L,a . st . heTOo4 (, *bUbtt ,,^jnyittbeK 't»Wß-’2^. pointed, but only a few took ihteteH itf'it; I indeed, Mr had to taunt some of them > l? a . Bp^ hj Housei-chargingtheai^h ; being afraid to attend.» , i Twporf was 1 ro n u ßht up that ibe PGoVerhthem, and, fading their being able to^oao, --Si Vhl BhoU l d ft- fWttted by Arbitration. Mr Sheehan, who brbright up the , the committee in. the House, said ~a S ”^i c . e ut estate had been acquired frbih 1 the in Otagb hnd Canterbury fof* a J sum of LI7,000; and- certain ipyoUaUet Svith ( respect to; the establishment of hoapitab »Ud , ,schools. were made, 1 but not fulfilled.? Mr ; J. H. Gillies, a member of the committee last ; Lsession, said Fof the.last; twenty*lire.-or ; : years the .Natives had beehlc. gecting thut justice woMd >e 'to ;! them m this matter, and different Ministers had i acknowledged that the Natives, Jiad'a-jukt claim,. It was not 'right that tU settlement of the quesiion should be postponed session aftersession; as the adoption of such khoutte would. .inoneaae the:feetingsin the minds of the NativeS that lnjuatiok llad been done to them. 1 .v He hoped theiHpUle ; recognize that an injustice had heen d °s®i AS e atlve ? ¥We Middle andthatthey would recgmulebd'the GoVeca. ment to take immediate steptf to have' Wat • hM° . !f "Mr ftelleston- saidhe i had throughout held the obbion than Sere existed certain- claims, and 1 that- there-had I been an omission on .the part, pf the.GoveraI ® eQ t, in the past, to recognise those <dakns. 110 was not, however, prepared, on fhe siMir : of the moment, to subscribe to the statemrate m the report..; ‘ The Minister-ajSid he tvas' ‘ willing to admit outstanding!Clainiij,' but the daScnlty was to say whatvalue Ahould be put upon I them. Taiaroa; <in . replying) ,to, the varions speakers,' soid—“ H® iiboped jthe Hofise would agree to the report.for, tfitidid not, the next thingf wnuld be to exterminate all th, 6 Maoris in the Middle Island. If these promises were not * fulfilled,: lie Would' $e I obliged to accuse the Europeans of haring committed a great crime.