OLD TE KUITI.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 373, 28 June 1911, Page 7

OLD TE KUITI.

(ByJ.WE.)

The name of this progressive town is almost as modern as the place it--self. The old Maori name of the spot Te Kuiti now stands on. was Taupiri-o-teraugi and the flat on which the township stands was in those days looked upon as of practically little value, owing to its being largely composed of pumice sand, and surrounded as it was by good land, was let severely alone. When the writer first saw it it was covered with tall ti-tree and entirely unoccupied. The valley of the Mangaokewa round about the town and higher up has always been in the possession of the important Ngati-rora tribe. The head of the tribe during troublous limes after the war, and during the negotiations for the opening of the King Country was Taonui Hikaka, one of that fine old stamp of Rangitirßß now almost extinct: hospitable, dignified, and straightforward, whose word was absolutely his bond, as it was with all the older men of standing. The ethics of many of their latter day descendants are enough to make the old Rangitiras turn in their graves. The writer knew old Taonui well, and thoroughly respected him, and recognised in him a fine example of a splendid type of man that seems, to have almost disappeared under what we call civilisation. It makes one wonder if the old Maori customs and mode of life that produced such men were much better in real essentials? On the death of old Taonui his place was taken by his brother Naunau Hikaka, who also then took the name of Taonui' Very few of those who are now in Te Kuiti that

ever saw the old Taonui, and the present bearer of the name has never filled the commanding position held by his elder brother. The so-called Te Kuiti district first became of any considerable importance after the Waikato war, when Tawniao the Maori King, and the great mass of his adherents, took up their resdence round about Tokangamutu, higher up the valley than the present town. Te Kuitians are proud of their increase of numbers, but if census taking had been fashionable in their district in the late '6o's and the early '7o's they would find that the Te Kuiti of to-day is a small place in comparison with the old Maori township of Tokangamutu, and that they have a long way to go yet to reach the population then living in the Te Kuiti riding of the Waitomo County. The residents were then estimated to have been well over 4000. Tokangamutu, however, lost its name soon after Tawhiao took up bis quarters there, and the present name of Te Kuiti was born. The name

really applies to the old Native settlement, a mile higher up the valley, and was in the first instance Te Kuititanga and the name arose from a memorable speech made by Tawhiao at Tokangamutu in the '6o's, advocating Btrongly the "Kuititanga o ngatangata," which roughly translated means the gathering closely together of the whole people into a common district or settlement. To commemorate tbia great speech and policy the name of Te Kuititanga was given to Tokangamutu. In time this became shortened by the Maoris themselves to Te Kuiti, and being a name known all over the colony, when the rough shod Pakeha came along with his railway, etc., he transferred the historical name of Te Kuiti to grace the little shed dignified by the name of a railway station. The origin and meaning of the name Te Kuititanga, and the policy behind the name, is an apt expression of the present day dreams of every loyal Te Kuitian. At present they only talk of beating Hamilton and Palmerston North, but back of their minds they believe that it is going to be the biggest city in the Dominion, and like the Maori King firmly believe that it is the proper place for the capital city. They want all the people like the old Maori King to gather there and their belief that they will, they are supporting with their hard cash, as the present prices of Te Kuiti sections clearly show. The actual start of the present Te Kuiti as a very modest commercial venture by Mr John Taonui Hettet, still of Te Kuiti, and the largest land-holder there, and Mr J. W. Ellis, of Hamilton, under the tading title' of J. T. Hetet and Co. They had a small section i cleared out of the waste of high ti-tree for their first building, which was erected out of

band sawn timber and opened as a store, and run successfully for some years. Then Mr Ellis bought his partner out, and later on sold the business to Green and Colebrook, who now have premises that I lately heard the Mayor of Te Kuiti describe to a Minister of the Crown as the finest country store in New Zeaand. The Green and ICollebrook Cpy., in Otorohanga, are also the successors and were the purchasers of the first building built by a European on the Otorobanga township, where the site for the first store had to be chopped out of the mass of furze which then covered the site of the present Otorohanga. When Te Kooti was driven from the East Coast to Taupo and beyond, he came on to Te Kuiti for protection, but was not followed there owing to political considerations, and the Go- . vernment did not wish to have trouble with the various tribes, then known to the Europeans as the Kingites; but the feeling was so strong against Te Kooti, owing to the Poverty Bay massacres, that he solved a very delicate and troublesome position both for the Ministry of the dßy, and also for his hosts, by retiring into the centre of the island towards Taupo, and was there practically lost to sight and knowledge for about two years, during which time most of his followers returned to their homes and the public excitement quieted down. He and hiß few remaining followers were then invited to come and live at Te Kuititanga, under the protection of Taonui Hikaka and Maniapoto. Te Kooti lived at Te Kuititannga for many

years, and was evidently quite willing to settle down and live a quiet life, and many of his followers and also many from the East Coast that bad not actually joined him in his fighting, made Te Kuiitanga more or less their home. Te Kooti, feeling grateful for the protection and succour that Taonui and Ngatimaniapoto had given him, decided that the best return and the one that would be best appreciated by bis hosts, would be the present of a really good carved house. The Maniapotos not being skilled in that art, Te Kooti got the best carvers available from' the East Coast, and after seven years* work of many men the present carved bouse at Te Kuiti was the result. The house, however, was built and banded over to Taonui and Maniapoto at Te Kuititanga, and was not then spoiled by the covering of corrugated iron that now disfigures it. Te Kooti and his people then took leave of those who had protected them so long, and moved to Otewa on the Waipa, where he gathered a large number of hia people about him, always keeping them in the best of order, and remained there till he was finally pardoned by the Hon. John Bryce at Mangaorongo. After this he. made several trips to the East Coast and eventually took up bis permanent residence there, dying there in his own country. When Te Kooti was pardoned it had become fairly well known that his transportation had been irregular and that he had serious grievances, and also that if he had been left alone on his return from the Cbathams, trouble would not have arisen.

When European influence began to make the present Te Kuiti an important town, the carved house, which at its opening had been christened Tokanganuianoho, was pulled down at the old Te Kuiti, and re-erected on its present site in the Te Kuiti borough. It is one of the finest carved Maori houses in existence, and many offers have been made to purchase it by the Government and also by private persons, but it is one of those things that cannot be sold. Its associations, and the way the 'present owners became the possessors, prevent any consideration of its sale, but when "Te Kuiti o nga tanagta" has arrived at such a stage that the population warrants the erection of a Museum in Te Kuiti, then possibly the owners will consider it etiquette to give it to the district to take care of, as a memento of the troublous days that are long past, for both Maoris and Europeans.

If the old Rangitiras and others that gathered at Te Kuititanga in their thousands in response to Tawhiao s invitation and policy, and have since departed to Te Reinga, came to life again, and saw their oM settlements, they would think that they had come back to* another world. In the old days wheat, pigs, hops, and other produce were taken from Te Kuiti, and all the King Country in canoes to Auckland, going up the Awaroa creek to close to the site of the present Waiuku township,"where a very short portage enabled them to take their cargos on -to the shores of the Manakau, and the present agitation for giving the Waikato water communication with Auckland, will in time mean-that Te Kuiti will again be able to send some of its products, say coal, limestone, and other minerals to the seaport by water. The extent of the Maori cultivations in the old days round about Te Kuiti is hard for the present Te Kuitian to realise, but the food for a resident four or Ave thousand, togethar with supplies for the large gatherings that were often held, was all produced within a very short distance of Te Kuiti. and practically all the hill sides not ip bush were under cultivation fifty years ago.

The political and historical life of Te Kuiti is so. closely bound up with the days of the King movement daring the years following the Waikato war, .that a volume might be written in connection with the subject, but it would be wearisome to the average reader, so I have not attempted it. The writer leaves Te Kuiti's history and progress daring the last ten vearß or so, to otberti more in touch with it to deal with.