ARBITRATION COURT.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume III, Issue 5, 1 June 1863, Page 9

ARBITRATION COURT.

Present:— H. Walton, Te Hemara, G. Heath, Eruena Te Horo. Saturday, 17th January, 1863. In continuation of Te Hira's speech this paper Was read.— Hearken Arbitrators to this matter of the dogskin mat related by Hori Tahua. He says that Mangakahia was given by Taunt* rangiatea for Te Ponaharakeke's dogskin mat. It is only now that the real error of the statement is distinctly seen. Let me explain it to you. Where watfTe Ponaharakeke and where were the people who killed Tomoaure? that he conld be covered so quickly with a dogskin mat, for Hori Tabua says that it was.because he (the corpse) was covered with a dogskin mat and made sacred, otherwise it would have been cut op. Now this is my word, who was it that killed him. It was they themselves the Ngatitu. It was the Ponaharakeke and his party who killed him, witness the speed with which he was covered and made sacred or he would have been cut up; now what ground was there for giving Mangakahia for this dogskin mat that is here spoken of when they Te Ponaharakeke and party killed the man and covered the body' with a dogskin? In what other way could Taururangiatea have given Mangakahia to Tewba. 0, Arbitrators, Hori Tahua sees that he is wronp, yet he still persists. There are many old chiefs among the Ngapuhi but none of them knew anything of the dogskin mentioned by Hori Tahua and party, this is the conclusion of the speech that I commenced yesterday. Te. Tirarau now read from a paper as follows: This, is the established boundary of the land (It commences) at Waipu (thence to) Ma-! rangaitu, Takatearai, . Waiotua, Ngatoka, Te Kauri Whakaao, Whareawea,.falling into the Tauraroa stream, (thence to) Huakaranga, Kaitarioga, Pjkivahine, Mangamahoe, Ngawaka, Terekaitoketok?, Orangatua, Kiwjrua, Whakamonahit Qkahu, Te Uruhina, Turimakaukau, Tputouwai, to Ohau. These are the men who are established on this land. .Wirernu Waikaka. Te Puku Te Tirarau, Maraea te Hoia, Te Manihera, Kaiapu, Hpno te Horo, Pea, Eruhokotupeka, Ngakepa Motatau, Paora Kere, Te Pirihi, Tukukii, Maketu, Rewiti te Patubiwi, Te Tatau, Neho Te Totara and their children. Te Rata, Te Toko, Rewi, te Ponaharakeke, Te Ahiterenga, and their, children, Paora Kaitangata, Hori N |kingi Tahuja, Taurau,,Tauwaru, Tipene, Eru Pohe, Te Puia, Pakia, fiirawanui,

Te Raupaura, Horomona, Kaikou, Te Karekare Haimona, Te Hakiro, Tohukai, Hona, Tiio, Tautoro, Mita, Hamiora, Te Rewiti Maika, Ereatara, Te Uaua, Paora Waihi, Puriri, Pakj, Ana Hukatere, Rako, Eria Marepa, Moibi : 3> Hotohi, Manuera, Hemi Pene Te Whata. These are the descendants (of our aneestoi?) who are now in charge of the land. The descendants of Te Waikeri and Ponaharakeke were Tewha and Te Eahore, and #o on .we descent is traced down through fire generations. Now listen this arbitration. The land ahaJl thus be held for ever and erer. Notmaaaaall be able to draw it away for erer. Amen. . „ Hon Kingi Tahua (of Te Tirarau's fide): What I have to say refers to MangakahM, why is (the statement regarding) the dogskin mat denied and why is the (giving of the) land denied, as he acknowledges the Karakas and the going of Tewha to ask for (or demand) the laud? This was the cause our of getting Mangakabia, the dogskin mat which' oovited Tdm*aure,for not,one word has ever beettsaid to disturb us during these five generation* and his heirs still continue to residepermanently upon this land Mangakabia. It is only now that an attempt has been made to disturb us. Now let the law look into the fact of our having had undisturbed possession of the land during these five generations. For it has been 'laid down by the law that if a man remains- in undisturbed possession of another mans land for the space of twenty-one years the land shall be considered as his. Now in this.instance five generations have passed numbering many years, and therefore my thought is that the land is ours It is only now that we have been disturbed, money probably being the motive. Hearken. This is the conclusion'of my speech on the subject of Mangakabia. My hand shall continue to grasp, and;l shall continue to occupy it for ever.' This was the origin of Te Kahore getting Whatitiri and Whangarei, it wad because of bis having saved the Ngatitahuhu. Therefore it was that Whangarei was given up and Whatitiri ancl Kawhanui even as far as Waxrua. After liis having obtained possession' of a man named Rarakucame to ask TeKahorefor a place for himself, whereupon Te Kahore cave the Ruakaka to him; Pou is his Now I say, why;did not'Tr.Raraku-gO'to Te Hira's ancestors ; or to Matiu'* ancestors ; instead of which he came to my ancestor to Te Kahore. Te Kahore then for the-first time occupied, Whatitiri, Pakeokui, Kawanui on as far as Wairua. He died without a word having been said to disturb him. He-was succeeded by his children Kaiwaka and • the others, and they died without ever having been disturbed. They were succeeded by- -their

" : thildreh by Kukupa and Huiputea and not a • ifctfrd ever reached these to disturb them up to ! ikp day oftheir deaths. They were succeeded r lty/Tei-Tirarau and Hamiora, and by us all. Therijforthe first time came a word to disturb trsthG, present one. Let the law now look; to ■ "ft.'--TThey ; deny Whatitiri and acknowledge "Xawanui/ why do they acknowledge, the one "fetid* 'tibjfeot to the other portion, of Whatitiri. our- knowledge' goes the whole -of Yfßalitiri-Js ibcluded, otherwise we should have some time during those generasay therefore that our land is our" own. - Eisten, there was no other way that £his -land J*a»:acquired.; The sole cause was the - €aviag\the : Ngaitahuhu. Hearken, our hands' /.willhold and; we will occupy this our land for »._- -■ • !--;•- My speech is ended. . ?tU Horom&na- Te Aua (of Te Hira's side): :; There are two things that I know how to do ; the genealogies of men; ancT land I thus trace, the descent of the men. ;-.Krom> Te Ahitapi came Te Rarau, from Te v Raraurcame Te Hoa, and afterwards Te wHotgta, Nabanga, Te Waha, and Hawata Te . Waha married .Pare a Ngatiwhatua' i jreman>aiid from them came Te Raraku. Te •-: ißaraku .went ta his sisters to Fae and Weku. of Pae and Weku was from the -jjgfttiwhatua,. hence it was that their brother •went tp them as they were married to Te [ Kahore. The Ruakaka was given (by them) s to. Te Raraku. ..Tbey could not give Hirauta, - as the place belonged to the Ngatimoeroa and m Ngatirangi-whakapaeahi. ' It was quite right ■: fojr them to give the land of .their father Hikuraugi and of their brother Te Raraku. It waf, those women who gave the land, as Te • tKahpre.- himself belonged to the Ngapuhi. . :Thifl is the only part, that I wish to speak upon. Hon Kingi Tahua (of Te. TirarauYside): -. My- apeech shall be straight to the . pxttnt. Nearly the whole of that woman," ; Pae's; tribe, , the Ngaitahuhu, were killed, • r.axrd the remainder saved by Te Kahore. .r .That woman Te Pae then married Te Kahore, r bttt.aHthe mana of the land was vested in Te •;v Kahflre alone. For instance, Te Raraku came .. .to;tbe ; £qetoe; Te Kahore waspresiding there at ; tbfttkne. Te Kahore said, what have you come Raraku replied, It was your : ; faroe,as a iChief that brought me here, to ask you for a piece of land for myself. Where- < upon Te Kahore said, Return to Whatitiri. : Te Raraku said, I do not like that place, I. wish to be near the sea. Then Te Kahore took r. him and .gave him Rahongana. Te Raraku • worked-and grew a great quantity of food, but ,-the tide cara,e and overflowed the whole of it, and crabs crawled where the cultivations had

been, hence the najrae.ofßspaharahi, by which Te Raraku's cuJiiyauoii waa called. He then came back to.Te Kahore, and said, Over the land,which you gave me the crabs are now crawling} .Tneriifiid Te Kahoro,' Remain here at the Toetoe. Te Raraku said, Ido not Tike it. Then Te Kahore took hin>,aud,gaye him the *Rua'katw,' as/ he.(iy KahbroJJwa* all, the mana of the land. ' Tins' was; an ancestor of mine, he belonged to the also his> nante \va» .Han>J. Hiraota was given to a portion of P t uk'ekoi was given to the^ tribe. The land belonged : to'him ;ohly,, and therefore it was tKat'Hehad'the gift of ,Wr those places. J Thwis "all that I have to say'in reply to these 'statenltents. ■■"•■ Te Hira side): Thisis the subject of my speech.. We shall' get Wearied with the many things that are being discussed. This is, my real word\. I hare ri&medall the ancestors from the very commencement, and .shewn how (hey own. the lind, tracing them down to bur time. Now listen. ■ These are the mountains that stand upon the land of our ancestors : Maungatipa, Maungaru, Tutamoe, ITnuhao, IVmgihua, • Whatitiri, and Taraiwahiri. Witness the proverb of Raiigr, " The aliu of Rangi.'' That 'ohu is at Maungatipa. The pa of his descendants is Moiurunga. There is another at Hapairua: its'proverb, is, " The Paritu and Oki Oki." The meaning of which saying is> libit there is. ,one there and one at Paritu.. 'One there and one at Oki Oki; The name of TahinganuKs-house was Kapua-o-ripoi. The name of another of his honSes was Moenu* gate'rangi, and the name of his pit (food pit) 1 Was' Ijpttwhakataka. ; Those houses stood at Huarua, 3 the nanie of Tahroganur's pa,at-the "Ruabhgadnga;'" The name of his noun was i vjangatauia, that is. outside on, the Hirauta side that is the boundary of theNgaitahuhu. 'Our ancestors left a trite Tbark upon the land for us, asforTe K^hore ; having any claim upon that land, be bad nori*. He had a ; small piece at Kawanui only j and as, for Mangakahia being givert for mat, it was bot, ; that is a falsehood. The'lrarahaSonly wereeaten-by him. Te KahbreV real place at Orauta and at Poaweru, which Hori has now :it was : not on tnisland in dispute, on Whatitiri, te Wairoa and Mangakahia. That land is on our hands at'the present time. My speech ends here. Hira te Taka (of Te Tirarau's side) : Let the half castes of this side also get op. Listen Arbitrators : the grounds upon which we base our claim to the land are our ancestors, Te Kahore and Tewha; These lands, Whatitiri and Mangakahia, are ours. Although they ftiay say that Kawanui only was given, yet all

was given (including) They say that the Karakas given. No, but both the Karakas and the rland. Attend, Arbitrators, and I will ask you a question. How do you account for our having i»erraanently occupied this land fron the time of our ancestors up to our time, and being still in possession of it ? .Listen, Arbitrators : How do you account for that people being absent from this.land from the days of our ancestors until the present time, and being still living away from,.it? ..jfor some are ft tiakianga, some at Kaikbhe, some at Waimate, and others at the Bay of Islands. 0, Arbitrators, what in your opinion caused them to be scattered over the "face-oT~thtr earth?.. Was it because they had place of tesidence? : To my. knowledge this U a latuU Jess tribei This is another <>wdrd: of 'mine. We saw the papers of the Kohimararaarcbriferehce, and in those papers we saw a law laid down which says' that;; if any man shall remain in the undisturbed possession of a piece of land fori twenty-one years, the : land shall become his. We say, therefore, that otir land shall not go. P,ituwaitetang »tahaware, of Te Hira's side, handed in a p.apertolie read. Speech read : by Patuwai Te Tango-taha-ware. Listen all this Runanga to this about Takutaikura, the ancestor mentioned by Tipene* It (what he says) is incorrect. According to our thought that ancestor should be sent back to Maun?anui, WaiHop .i, and Kaihu. As ior what you say. O Tipene, about his having coine from Ngaitahuhii, it is incorrect. Hearken,; ■ this is the right according to us; : .;■ '■< Commencing from Riiaweke. From Ruaweke came Pinea, froth Pinea came'Takawau and Maheu, from Maheu came Tarawhamoe, Takutaikura, and Tuohi ; from Tarawhara>e came Rangikimihia; fronn Rangikimihin came : Ngararigi, a male, hn.l Taiaoya female; from Ngarangi came Katupu, from Katupu came Te Nihi, from Te Nihi came Te Anga, from Te Anga came Horomona. ;This . eenealogy ends here.- And I now commence tronV - Takutaikura. ' . This, is an ancestor of the Ngatiwhatua and the Taou, the second .'of..'their, ancestors was Tuohu, from :Tuohu came Rakq, from Rako came Tukupenga and Wharewhare,. from Wharewhare came Whakaoho and Kikokiko Te Otene, from Whakaoho came Tar.ain. These were descendants of Ruawheke. ( .This , ends. . .. .. i , • I now commence with Te Paku*s,gettin;g jup to speak. , It was wrong in him.to get.up. • Did he ever hear that a word about setting him aside ? No.; but only as regards Te lirarau and Matiu.' 'We say shat your

claim upon the land, OTe Paku, isijnsfci You hare heard, O Te Paku, of my going, to Toukirikiri and of my dispute with Wetekia. Wetekia said that those places, Wairua.aod Mangakahia r were his, inheritel from. his ancestor, Rangiraumarie r ITe Patuwai said to Wetekia,- You are wrong. Your Ancestor had no claim to Mangakahia and Walnut* these places belonged to Te Kotahi, and were given by Te Kotahi to Moetangl. Hence it wip that Patera asked Rako Who it -war that'Tatuwai heard it from. Patuwai replied, from Te Puku. Patara, asked whose o ion is that Te Puku? Patuwai replied, Tara'g. I said, therefore, to Wetekia, when I heard of it fronvMatiui Wetekia has no claim upon the land, but Te Puku has. This ends. Hearken, 0 Runanga, to the trua, word in regard Jip this subject. This is' not an arbitfatfon'about the children of the 1-md (the owners) but about those*who arte taking the land for ,Te Tirarau and Hon Tahuft, also for those who...dispute it for-Te Hira, Hare Poti, and Matiu, You claim (or right), -0 Te. Puku has. never been disputed by us. Neither Maraio's, nor any of those who have a just title to the. land. These are not denied, bat Te Tirarau and Hori Tahua have no claim to this, tend,, Tbejoot of this land was with Matiu's ancestors, and hasdescendedto Matiu and to Taupuhi. ; Friends, this land belongs to us. all. \ Enough. He aUo said, listen, my. sister Mnraea Te Hoia. This is my word, hearken. If Te Kotahi was your ancestor- who owned , the land, it would, be rij»ht. The second of your ancestors was Kavya. If these were; your ancestors whp claimed the land it would be righti Listeja; Kawa's claim is right, and Tamataiata*s*j 'from hira came Ngaoho, and., from, him, Maraea Te Hoia. The tribe to which "those persons belonged was the Ngatingiro. This'iVall that I have to say upon that. t)uring the time that 1 was stayiug at the Wairoa, a feud broke out between Te Tirarau and Te Aitu. 'Tirftrau said that Te Aitu had ho place on the Wairoa. Te Aitu said, N either has Te Tirarau any .placeion the Wairoa." He has no place there; the Wairoa belongs to the IXriohau and the Ngatimauku, including Tahgihua and all the Tand lying here. Your world is correct, O Tirarau, that I have no place here; neither hiefve you, it all helongs to the Uriohau. ; Enough. That talk of mine is ended. MareaTe Hoia (of TeTirarau's side).: "I know nothing of what he has fatten talking about, for I do not know the ancestors named by him; I do hot know te Kotahi; /he has his knowledge all to himself in this matterj he persists in trying to draw me on to that side;' ]L know nothing of my relationshhV'to ! • tliem; Patu is the only one that I kuowof.-^.l&JSu-

itriiftotd my genealogy I should acknowledge, it to be correct; for, i am, residitig ray pfcvonte. Let what he has aaid be :void; it will adt<be right -for them to set me aside or ignore a?; Had -my parents ignored me, I should noibei -with them.- This will prove what. 1 have audi Off the subject for ever. Neither can it be denied. This is all. Te. Hir» here handed in a written speech,' which was read by Sydney TauwharigaJ as follows >-- ■ Hearken, arbitrators. The grounds of objection on that side to this side are these:— •

. Ist. On the first-day they claimed the land now hv dispute on account of the dogskin mat with which Tompaure waß covered. ; 2nd. The slaughter of Jthe Ngaitahuhu by Tewha..tlie mania of the land behig obtained by Te Kahore, who gave away Whatitiri and Kawanui; that is a portion of the land belonging tothelSgatimoeroa, Ngaciwairtw, Ngatirangiwhakaparahi, that id of Wgatirangitaumainaho, who drove the men outside of it. 3rd. On the second day they placed the ancestors of Ngaitehuhuaitd their heirs, upon the hind of the Ngatimoeroa, of the tribe above mentioned.