ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 234, 15 September 1939, Page 4

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

COLONEL WAKEFIELD BUYS '■ WELLINGTON MAORI CHIEFS EAGER TO ‘fSKiLL * *T / \ ' ’ THE “TORY” -AT ANCHOR IN ' THE HARBOURa: ■: j : ■' ■. V' ; ;' /' k ; ; ■ : : i Oh 20th. September one hundred years agy-,the New Zealand Company advance, ship ‘“Tory” glided in to her anchorage between Somes Island and Petonc Reach: The . principal chiefs. To Puni and Wharepouri, -• had come on board while tlie ship was moving up the liar,hour-, and they ..spent the night on board, reporting the visit of the Wesleyan mission ship which hacl called in July.- In 1835) the people of Port Nicholson were comparatively uncori tipted by- white contacts, except for the few who had been employed in the Cloudy Bay • whalers’ settlements across the water. They were not used to European trade goods, and were consequently eager to sell their laud for useful and ornamental objects. There was only one white man ..living - with them. Tliey looked fmward to more to raise their standard of living. Long Koreros Abaut the Sale of Land l The Port Nicholson chiefs did not agree to'sell their lands without due

consideration. The first discussion was held, on 21st. September.. U'n the same day Cblonei William Wakefield and the whaler-interpreter, Dicky Barrett,. were paddled up the Hutt River in. a Maori canoe, and- iorjned a very good opinion of the country in the valley. On ,23rd).• September the “Tory” party rowed down the harbour jtd Wharepouri’s honie at Ngaliau* .ranga, where the? chief himself was discovered working at-a sixty foot canoe. Two cancos came in from, the southern end of the .harbour. A korero was -held on the burning subject of land sales, for word of Colonel Wakefield’s intentions had ..gone round the harbour as if by invisible telegraph. The vigorous Puakawa opposed the sale. The aged Matangi; supported it. Next day the furious discussion was renewed! at. Petone, Puakawa still filling the part of devil’s advocate. His argument that the whites would come and-drive out the'Maoris was countered by a reference to the provision for native reserves, and by the end of the day the chief’s had virtually come to their decision? Dividing the Spoil On 2oth. September there was a display of the trade goods that would form the price of the sale on the deck of the “Tory,”, but so many natives crowded on board that the ship had to be cleared. Next day the chiefs and their sons came on board alone to inspect the goods. Puakawa took advantage of the occasion to urge again the folly of selling. “What will you

sav when you find that yen have parted with your land from the ltiinurapa to the Turakirae, and from the Tara-' rua 'to the sea?” lie asked. Un 27th. Septembqr however,, the chiefs came on board to divide the price among-their tribes, Wharepouri supervising > the whole operation.' The. goods wqre divided into six main portions. - Wi".Take', son of tho Pipitea chief, received the share of tlrnt hapu. Taraingtvkuri took charge of the Kaiwharawhara share, while the. venerable.To Puui received for Petone. Wharepouri distributed the Ngahaurnnga sliare ? and sent a sliare, purposely made sjnaller than the rest, to the slave tribe at ’J'e Arc. Puakawa, though he had so vehemently opposed the sale, condescended to take his portion; of goods. Those were the visual miscellaneous parcel of trade goods—lCO red blankets, ICO muskets, tobacco, 48 iron pots, gunpowder, cartridges, lead, shirts, trousers, CO red nightcaps, lengths of cloth, 2 dozen pocket handkerchiefs, 1 dozenhats, 2 lbs. beads, 100 yards of ribbon, 2 suits of superfine clothes, 1 dozen shaving boxes and brushes, 1 dozen sticks of sealing wax and numerous other useful or ornamental articles. A Dinner and z Feast Before they went ashore the chiefs signed a deed) of sale drawn up on the model of those used by missionaries buying land in the North. W liarepotiri and 'J'e Puni came to dinner on board rather self-conscious in their new European suits. Both, chiefs had been to Sydney and they were anxious to assume the civilisation of the white man at the earliest possible moment. However, they soon shed some of their European garments. On 30th. September the whole transaction was celebrated by a feast given by the “Tory” party on Petone beach. The British iiag was hoisted and salutedl with 21 guns. A large party of natives obliged with a ferocious pero-poro, or war dance, and then numbers of Maoris of both sexes gave a liaka accompanied, by appropriate song. Tlie recently distributed trade goods made an obvious contribution to the colour of the scene. M hile- thp Maoris sat down to roast pork, the white gentlemen pledged the chiefs and people of Port Nicholson in “bumpers of champagne,” taking formal possession of the land they had bought. The “Tory” stayed’ a. few days longer, the ship’s company fishing'in Lowry Bay or shooting pigeons on the hills behind Petone. Before they left they set up some boards here and there inscribed “New Zealand Land Company”, an act typical of the European’s sadly partieularist attitude towards land, which was still to cause trouble with the communal-minded Maori who had! so freely welcomed .the white man and his attractive trade goods.