EAST COAST NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1780, 11 June 1906, Page 3

EAST COAST NEWS.

TOKOMARU.

DEATH OF A NOTED MAORI CLERGYMAN.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) Death has removed from our midst ;he Rev. Matiaha Pahewa, for a long

period a noted figure in Maori life along tho East Coast. Born in Tokomaru from 95 to 100 years ago, he,

after an eventful and noble life, ended

his days here, respected and loved by Maoris and Europeans alike. Ho died on June stb, after an illness of a few

days. Although of a great age death came unexpectedly, as he preached as usual on Sunday, May 27th. His age is fixed with some degree of certainty

by tho fact that he was a man when Queen Victoria ascended the throne,

and also because he remembered and

conversed about the time when George IV. was king. Truly Matiaha’s life has been blameless, and he has served his master right well and faithfully. His life should be written, as he was

a link with the past. He was born in Tokomaru at a time when a fierce

;ribal war was taking place between

his tribe, the Whanauarua and another. Indeed he came very near to

losing his life when a few days old. The pah at which he lived was invaded by the enemy, and all the dwellers who were able sought safety by flight. Matiaha’s mother was . too weak to

carry her baby, so she suspended him in a kit to the ceiling of a whata or store-room. The attacking party did not notice the baby, and after their de-

parture, a man of tho Whanauarua, a relative, on hearing from the mother that she had left a male child in the whata went and rescued little Matiaha. When ho attained manhood he became

a tohunga, not the tohunga of nowadays, but one to whom and on whom tho laws of tapu were binding, a Holy man in his tribe He then came under the influence of the missionaries, and ombraced the Christian faith. He left Tokomaru and went to the Taupo district, where he studied and labored under the well-known missionary, Mr Grace (Kerehi). Te‘Heu Heu was the chief of the tribe there at the time of Matiaha’s pioneer work in the ser» | vice of Christ. Ho stayed some yeirs with Mr Grace, and accompanied him in his travels. When in that district he met the first bishop of New Zealand, Bishop Selywn. About 4-1 years ago ho returned to Tokomaru. He married here at that date, and was ordained as a Church of England

clergyman by the first bishop o: Waiapu. From that time his labors have been at Tokomaru and aloDg the Coast. He being the first Maori Minister tho natives came from all quarters to listen to his preaching, and he has been a power for good during his life-long ministry. He siw only too|plainly the causes of the decay of the Maori, and dealt sternly with tho vices of his raco. He was of course in his prime at the time of the Maori wars, and has always been a loyal supporter of the British Government. To show his wonderful vitality and his i great love for the work he had undertaken, it must be mentioned that last Christmas he rode to Tolagofrom hore, held sorvice and rode back—no mean feat for a man so old as he was. His mental powers, too, v ere unimpairi A to the last, and his fund of general information of the world’s doings was astonishing. Although a man of peace his fighting blood was stirred by the l victories of the Japanese in the late war. Although he knew no English he acquired an intimate knowledge of the subject, and followed on his war map the advance of tho Japanese, and clearly showed that his sympathies were entirely with Britain’s ally. He also has always been a consistent ad* vocato of tho benefits of education to

the Maori raco, and Binco tho inoeption of tho nativo school at Tokomaru ho has boon tho sohool-mnstor’s friend.

This intorest in tho school he always

maintained, and ono of his greatest pleasures was to go into tho school .and watch tho young Maoris at their work. Ho loaves a widow, who is also a groat ago, and four childron, ono son and throo daughtors. His only son, tho oldest, is tho Rev. Zachariah Paliewa, who is stationed among tho Bay of Plenty Maoris. Tho Maoris aro ovinoing gonuino sorrow at his death, and thoy truly feel that thoy havo lost a kindly teachor and proachor, a real friend, and ono who well doeorvod to be called “a servant of Christ.” Telegrams of sympathy havo boon sent from all parts of the Coast and Gisborne, among thorn being one from the Bishop of Waiapu (Bishop Williams), between whom and tho Rev. Matiaha Pahowa a doop and lasting friendship has always existed.