OUR HAWKE'S BAY MAORIS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 48 (Supplement)

OUR HAWKE'S BAY MAORIS

Heirs to Proud Traditions of Nsati Kahungunu THEIR RACIAL HISTORY ■ (By the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa.)

tJ-HE MAORI PEOPLE all over New Zealand are divided into tribes, and most of these tribes are known by the name of some illustrious ancestor. The Hawke's Bay Maoris, as well as those living at Wairoa and as far south ais Wairarapa, are known by the name of Kahungunu, who was the son of Tamatea-Ariki-nui. Tamatea was a very great chifef vvlio wielded great mana in old Hawaiki. He and his party of 72 arrived in tho Takitimu canoe during the greai migration of about 1350. His determinatiou to visit Aotearoa was the result of the fascinating description given by New Zealand 's Polynesian Columbus after his- return to Hawaiki in his canoe Mata-horua. There is very strongrevidence that Kupe, on his return to his homcland, visited Rarotonga,. Kaiatea, and Tahiti. It is interesting to note, after a period of 800 years, the exact description he gave of some of the characteristics of this country, which has been handed down by oral tradition through the mists of eight eenturies. He said: "In the centre are mountain ranges, the spurs that come down to the sea are sheltered, with plains on both East and West Coasts. The East Coast will preserve life, and is fine to look on. The soil of Aotearoa is good, being rich black soil. In some places it is subject to land slips, but the growth of plauts is healthy and vigorous. There are fish both in the sea and inland. Paua, mussels, and cockles are to be found along the margin of the oceau. ' He evidently referred "to the moa when he stated: "There are birds there iwhich stand as high as the eaves of a house, and one bird is sufficient to feed a whole tribe." Takitimu Canoe Cnder Tamatea 's instructions the Takiiimu canoe was shaped in the rough and then buried in a trench for six lxonths to allow the timber to season and not split. The canoe was made in three pieces, the body of the canoe ■ and an addition to the bow called a Haumi, and also an addition to the stern. On the side tops were added the wash-boards or pairL Two masts were also provided with the triangular sails. The canoe was also painted with- horu, a red paint made from hematite earth and oil. When Mataatua and the other great canoes (including Te Arawa, Tainui and Aotea) were completed, it was decided to hold a competition to see which canoe was the fastest. Tradition states this trial was held at Pikopiko-i-whiti, which is the name of a lagoon at Tahiti.- . ■ Mataatua was so f ast that the land appeared to be swallowed up by her fast progress. Hence the name Horo (swallow) Uta (land) From this incident the name of the canoe was known as Horo-uta as well as Mataatua. .It is necessary to remember this incident, for theffe is still some coufu sion as to whether the two names appJy to the one canoe, or whether there wernot two distinct canoes. Sacred Canoe Takitimu was a sacred canoe; consc quentlv, no eooked food was carried o« board. The food consisted mainly of dried fish, while fresh wafoi was carried in sea-weed bags. There were" elso many embleros of the Maeri fdua (gods) in the canoe incluAl^f Kahukura,

Rongomai, Taraa-i-waho, Hine-korako, Tunui-te-ika and" others. Several taniwha (monsters) are said to have aecompanied the canoe on its long voyage, Ruamano, a big sea moaster leading a school of fish, in front, and Arai-te-uru following at the stern. The god Kahukura (Rainbow) was sent ahead of the canoe during daylight and Hine-korakot the Lunar Rainbow, gave guidance by night. Although th'e canoe left Hawaiki somewhere about mid-summer, they must have enconntered some very rough weather, for tradition states when they got as far as Tuahiwi-nui-o Hine-Moaria (The Ridge of Lady Oeean), abont halfway to their ' destinatioii, "they beheld the seas standing up like cliffs. " Fnrtunately they carried two sacred axcs with divine powers, named "Te Awliiorangi" and "Whiro-nui." * The tohunga, after reei'. ing a special incantation, manipulated these tapu axes with sueh effectiveness that the great waves were cut down and a cairn passage carved through the great seas. Arrival in N.Z. The Takitimu arrived safely at Wha ngaparaoa (Bay of Whales), a little north of East Cape. Here they found the people of the Arawa and Tainui canoes . Tamatea decided to go farther north to some uuoeeupied part of the island. He settled for a tim® at Muri-whenua, in the extreme north. Then he went to Hokianga and settled there for some time, cultivating food. He then made up his inind to explore the country. He sailed down the East Coast, ealling in at a place near Tokomaru Bay, and at Gable End. They came on to Nukutaurua and stayed for a while at the Mahia Peninsular, which for eenturies was a nursery of the Kahungunu tribe. He later came on to Waimarama and there left one of the anchors, called "Taupunga." The present meeting-house is nfimed Taupunga. The skids of Takitimu were also left at Waimarama at the moutk of the Mokomokouri stream. They are now petrified, and visible when the tides have washed the sand off. Tamatea left four of his nephews at Waimarama, their names being Tuterangi wetewetea, Tunui, Tuaitehe and Taewa. All these men were priests, or tohungas. Tamatea sailed on to Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Port Nicholson) and on to the South Island, where his canoe met with disaster at the mouth of the Waiau River in Southlaud. There he made another canoe and named it Te Karaerae and returned to the North Island. But space will not permit our following up his exploration tours both by sea -and land. t •Influential Tribe The Kahungunu tribe grew into a numerous and influential people around the district of the Mahia and Wairoa and ultimately made their way to Heretaunga. They found the district lnbabited by a race called the Ngati Maruiwi. Their origin is lost in oblivion, but from all accounts they were probably a mixture of Melanesian and Polynesian blood and arrived in New Zealand some time before the Maori. Their largest and most famous fighting pa in Hawke's Bay was that at Otatara, in the Taradale district. Ihe outline of their oarth-works, whieh covers" an ai'ea of about- 70 acres, must have been inhabiled bv a verv lar^A

population, probably from five to ten thousand. Not being warrions, they fell an easy victim to the Polynesian Maori. Pohokura, a hill near Tarawera, on the Napier-Taupo road, was named after the son of Maruiwi and is one of the few reminders of the existence of an aboriginal race before the Maori. The Kahungunu tribe produced many famous men, famous as warriors, as leaders, and tohungas or experts. TJnlike many of the other tribes, no aneestral canoe made Hawke's Bay Its land-fall, but their descendants made their way here and remained after seeing the fertility of this part of the country. Other tribes looked with envious eyes upon this land flowing with milk and honey, or their Maori equivalents, and many a battle was fought with taiaha and mere for the possession of these fertile plains. On the intelleetual side of 'the life of the Maori the Ngati Kahungunv pTayed an important p^rt, for there were three famous Whare-kura, or colleges, established in different parts of

the district, where the sons of chiefs were taught the lore of the tribe. On the spiritual side of tho old Maori there were sacred places where the tohunga revealed to the tauira or learner the mystcries relating to the old spiritual conceptions. In almost every department Kahungunu in the good old days could hold its own with any tribe. This Generation To-day, unfortunately, Ihe same pruise would not be quite true. The present generation has been marking time. It has been placed in a very hard position. Its forebeaTs were such great men in their Maori" day and generation that the present generation suffera in comparison, Tbe worid is changing so rapidly even here in New Zealand that the Maori must take advantage of every dpportunity of advancement intellectually, morally, in the ibdustrial world, as well as spiritually. There are fine .sc-hools and eolleges for the education of the. children of the Maori race in fhe district, but alas! other tribes have valued tliese opportunities of intelleetual development more than our own local people. But the future is hopeful. There is muc'h more real interest taken in the welfare of the people to-day than "Poi many years past. During the past generation there was abundance of money in all direetions, and plenty of land to be sold if they ran short. But to-day there are very few who have a superabundance of land, and quite a large proportion who have not enougli land to live on. This may appear to be hard, but in the longer vision it will be a blessing in disguise. St. Paul's expression, "If any would not work, neither should he eat," is paralleled bv the cld Maori saying: "Ma mahi (e kai'' (Food is for thc lahourer) and Ihe still nobler proverb: "He toa taua - he tca pahokeheke, tenn ko te toa maln kai he toa mau tonu" (The warrior upon the field of battle has a passing fame, but tho warrior upon the field of industry, his is an enduring fame). Already we have descendants ot Kahungunu climbing towards the top of the tree. We have oue a doetor, a few in the teaching prolession, some nursea. Many are farmers in a fairly

big way, a large number being engaged in dairy work. -Most of the younger men are now engaged in day-labour and development work under the Government schemes. Get the Maori away from the pakeha Jabourer's influence^ and, with few exeeptions, he will do an honest day's work.- "Under a .supervisor sueh as tho Govornment schemei employ the Maori makes a very successful worker. With sympathetic treatment and A good guiding hand the Maori can at? tain very high positions. I hope onr pakeha friends will do all they can to extend the hand of fellowship to their darker-skinned brethren, with whom they are now joint heirs to the won* derfully Tich traditions of Aotearoa,