REPORT BY MR. HANSON TURTON RESPECTING THE RUNANGA MAORI.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 68, 16 October 1862, Page 5 (Supplement)

REPORT BY MR. HANSON TURTON RESPECTING THE RUNANGA MAORI.

(Continued from our issue of the 'loth tilt.) At a place called Te Maro, I attended a Runanga, which lasted till daybreak, and which was called by one of my attendants (Aperahama, a returned chief from Taupo), on suchof the residents as were charged with encroaching on a portion of his patrimony. The argument, both pro and con , was conducted with good temper and great research : the genealogy of many generations being placed under contribution for the supply of facts with which cither side opposed or defended the present occupancy of the land in question. It is but a small piece, but were it only a square yard a Maori would fight for it all the same ; and an Englishman would go to law in a case equally insignificent. The battle, however, was drawn ; the defendants maintaining their right to the land on the ground of some sub-division which one of their ancestors had made in their favour, and of their subsequent occupancy ; the complainant, on the other hand, disputing the truth of the statement made, and objected to their further occupation of the piece. The others replied, that they were in possession, and would so continue until they were removed by a stronger power : that they had cleared the ground and should plough it up for wheat next week: on which Aperahama quietly declared that, in that case, he should come and sow the seed and claim the crop. Ho was told to act as he pleased, and the Runanga broke up. And this is but a slight specimen of the endless controversies, personal quarrels, and bitter hatred with which near relatives frequently indulge themselves, when the mere occupancy of their common property is the point in question. What then, it might be asked, would be the general state of family feeling, if the right to alienate were included in the disposition of the estate? To individualize Native property has always been considered desirable by the friends of the Natives and so the subject has been discussed for the last thirty years at least, and constantly urged on Maori attention: but the more cautious and thoughtful of the Natives cannot be brought to try tlie experiment, looking on it as replete with difficulty and danger, and therefore impracticable by themselves. A few of the younger or more impoverished branches of the tribes might easily be brought to accept of Government assistance, in acquiring for them possessory rights which they could not otherwise obtain. Rut as a general rule, if extensively carried out, I think the danger to their present peaceful state (as amongst themselves) would far out weigh any real advantage which any of them woidd derive from the system. On a subject like this, we cannot safely argue from the European to the Maori; and the less wo interfere, for some time to come, with Native lands, except by wholesale purchase, I believe, on the whole, the better. I have noticed, whore such sales have been made, and individual or family properties repurchased or reserved, that the general satisfaction of the Natives has been great; if the Maori Reserves, now- in common occupancy, could in the first place be subdivided, it w-ould lie a great step to that more extended individualiztion of property which seems so desirable. In the Taranaki and Wellington Provinces, the young men cry out most bitterly against the monopolisation and leasing of their Reserves by the more elderly chiefs, who endeavour to keep the rents to themselves. Maori Ivingism, (which does not allow of leasing at all) they say, w-ould put a stop to this ; and so, in disgust, they patronize the Native Runanga as if that were the panacea for all existing evils. At Matamata I did not meet Tamchana Tarapipipi and the Runanga, as they were away at Maungatautari. I found that a Maori Boarding School was here established, taught by Tc Ropiha, notTamchana, as somewhere represented. There were 20 boys and girls at that time, fed and clothed by their parents, who nevertheless provide no support for the Teacher. The food was substantial and in abundance, but the clothes were very ragged and the bedding deficient. I therefore expended a small sum at Tauranga in supplying these wants and making them warm for the winter. Four or five little fatherless things were described to me as having no blanket or coverlid, and obliged to crouch together in a corner all night, to obtain warmth to sleep. I afterwards spoke largely on this subject (the proper treatment of widows and orphans) to most of the runangas, but met with very little support, for in matters of natural affection the Maori is a hard-hearted race. No one w-ho has not resided amongst them, and become intimate with their ways, can have the least

spoken of. I have heard of their going about the houses, evcs-dropping, and ahenvards citing the husband or e before the Council for some tart remark or reply which one of them bad’ used to the other ; and then when both parlies naturally joined forces and complained of the inquisitorial cba acter of the runanga the latter body has fallen b o i dignity, and fined each of them severely „ 01 ' l c l °; ltem P t of Co , lrf ” another a man was Imco lGs. ior propeHy correcting his own child It is from this kind of thraldom and perpetual interference, that so many of the middle aud lower classes of Maories would, I believe, delight to be liberated. Another man at Obiwa ’ was hi formed by his wife that a youth of the vMaoe had taken the liberty of ticking her on the arm - oir which he instantly called the runanm and’ demanded £3 50 damage-’. Not haring many friends on the bench, he lost his case, which he then removed to Opotiki, whose Council adjudged him £2O, and the offence was at last compounded for by the present of a young horse. Now considering that nearly all operation to irregular behayour, in the inaori society, proceeds iu the first instance from the woman and not from the man it will be seen what a lucrative investment can be made by inter-marrying with a Maori coquette who will be arffnl enough to inveigle others, without committing herself or husband. In this way much money and property changes hands in Xew Zealand. I recollect one of the Maitava people being fined £2OO for adultery with one of the women of the Puketapu, aud t his large sum was collected aud paid by the tribe. Immediately after this the tables were turned, and one of the Puketapus was found convicted of a similar offence with one of the chief married women of Waitara. Expecting to meet with equal promptitude, as from themselves, (hoy laid the damages at £3OO, hoping to clear £3.00 by the transaction, for such it was in every sense of the word. For I was credibly informed that it was a mere intrigue between the young chief and bis wO'e (never very chaste,) that she should so prostitute herself, as not only to bring back to the tribe the original fine, but half as much again by way of interest. At my suggestion the £2OO wei’e re-paid Atiawas and a ndl stop put to all further prosecutions for criminal convictions of so outrageous a character. Put for that we should shortly not have a virtuous woman in the district. (To he Coniomed.)