TE KOOTI’S RETURN

Hokitika Guardian, 18 July 1931, Page 6

TE KOOTI’S RETURN

(By E. Nepia in Auckland Star). In the pale dawn of July 10, 1868, the little schooner Rifleman stole to anchor at Whareongaonga, a small cove a little to the south of Young Nick's Head, on the east- coast of the North Island. Her crew was composed of a band of Maoris who had seized her in order to escape from the Chatham Islands. At their head was Te Kooti, who, a week previously, had instigated the successful attack on the vessel. Later his name •was to strike fear in the hearts of settlers and natives far and wide.

The voyage had been full of incident. To propitiate Tangaroa, the god of the ocean, Paratene, his own uncle, had been cast overboard when a storm arose This act had ensured a fair wind, and the short voyage had brought the little band back to the mainland without further incident. Smarting under the feeling of resentment, Te Kooti climbed the headland, vyhere he vowed that the pakeha should pay dearly for the unjust treatment meted out to him. Now was to be fulfilled the ohl, prophecy delivered to the -Ngati-Kahungunii people by Toiroa, the greatest tohunga of all tune. To Te Kangi Patai, Te K-ooti’s father, the old man said : “Your wife shall bear a child whose fame shall spread throughout the country for good or tor evil. When he-Ts born you will christen him T i-w hat iw h a-1 e- Po (Dark is the Night).” The son was born as foretold and was named in accordance with the tohunga’s orders.

Tradition says that on the day preceding the escape of Te Kooti from the (Jhathams, Toiroa, now aged and bent, sent a certain Toheriri, who only recently died j to Whareongaonga. He was instructed that on a certain day “a short man will appear, whose name is Rikirangi. Give him this tokotoko (walking stick).” To make such a gift was in fact to bestow upon him the mana of the ancient- tohunga. Toheriri did as he was bidden, and on the day named Te Kooti Rikirangi appeared and received the tokotoko. The acceptance of such a gift immediately gave hbn prestige and power which otherwise he would not have attained in the-. trib°. His career subsequently has oeen told by many writers, most of whom have omitted to mention the wonderful power he wielded over his followers through religious or superstitious sway. The success he attained lie attributed to th 1

fact that by supernatural means he could anticipate the movements of his opponents. Ngatapa, his stronghold in the .Urewera Country, is perhaps a most striking instance of, the power he extrted. He was surrounded by his foes and escape seemed impossible. In answer to inquiries, Te Ivooti promised to Pad his people out of the pa. ‘‘Where the rainbow ends, there will be the wav o! escape,” he said. At eventide came a rainbow, the end of which rested upon the cliff, a sheer drop, at the back of the pa. In the, evening, just as the light was failing, the people having implicit faith, they threw themselves down the cliff and escaped into the bush. True •to tradition, Te Kooti and- his l ent nunts, under the cover ;of, night, were the last to leave the pa. To-day an old woman still lives who tells the tale that after wandering for two days in the bush all met at the prearranged spot, and not one soul was missing. Later, when the pardon was given him. at Manga-o-rougo, near Kihikihi, Te Kooti sajd : “J accept the peace, but you will be the first to break it.” 'Six years later he was arrested for attempting to visit his home in Gisborne. Before the Tarawera eruption occurred Te Kooti sent one of his followers to warn the old tohunga, Kepa-te^Rangipmiwhe, at ,Wairoa, of the impending disaster. In vain the man pleaded. The warning sent passed unheeded. The pa was destroyed next morning by the eruption.

Where Te Kooti is buried remains a mystery. Recently attempts have been made to locate his remains, but without success. To-day, when time tempers our feelings and softens the losses of wars it should be borne in mind that Te Kooti, priest and warrior, with all his faults and crimes, was but I lie product of injustice and of accepted prophecy. He was driven to ill-doing first by pakeha oppression and he does not deserve th; reputation of ferocious murderer fastened upon him by white settl rs and h storians.