FAMOUS MAORI

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1071, 8 September 1930, Page 10

FAMOUS MAORI

OFFERED REWARD FOR GOVERNOR'S HEAD ; DIED, SEPTEMBER 6, 1850 Mention in The Sun last Friday of tho date of the anniversary, this week, of the death of Governor Hobson, the first ruler of New Zealand, recalls that Saturday, September 6, was the anniversary of the death of another man who left a big impression on the colony J —Hone Heke. the war promoter and native patriot. Heke was a thorn in the flesh, so far as the early European occupation of the northern end of this province was concerned, and there is little doubt now that, after he had visited the white ,'aces in their homes, he was a wiser and sadder man, and that he visualised the fate of his own race: so much so that he was determined to ! salvage it from its threatened future. He died in 1858, while under the care of missionaries, from a bullet wound received in the clash with white forces near Lake Omapere. He did not have any active part in the subsequent operations ending with Ruapekapeka and its aftermath. Heke was acquainted with Hobson but his real cla3h of wits came with Fitzroy and Grey—particularly the latter. OFFERED REWARD A price was set on Heke’s head by the Governor. He resented this display of civilisation so much that he did what no other Maori warrior had done; he offered a reward for the head of his enemy. The reward was a big piece of land. Heke felt that, if the white governor bad to treat him as a pig and offer money for killing him, he could at least return the compliment. Heke met OrCy once at the table of the Rev. Mr. Burrows at Waimate, but beyond that he never condescended to have any direct deal- ! ings with the man who had lowered t military dignity to the extent of offer- I ing money for an enemy’s head. All Grey's negotiations with Heke | were carried out through intermedia- j rles. Heke had a long lineage and \ stood on his dignity. The intermediaries were confidential chiefs and. when ; occasion suited, Hariata, his hand- ■ home wife, daughter of Hongi Ika. I However, before he died, he sent a | much-worn and very old greenstone i tiki to Grey as a symbol of amity. It was known as Wakatere Kohukohu “the fast canoe of Kohukohu.’’ and was eight inches long by three and ahalf inches in width. Grey is said to have passed it on to the British Museum, but some effort might now be made to get it back to the Dominion. It is as much a memorial to Heke as the statue In Albert Park is to Grey, i his one-time opponent.