TAUPO-NUI-A-TIA

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 55, 4 February 1953, Page 1

TAUPO-NUI-A-TIA

TALES OF THE TAUPO COUNTRY

(By

R,H,

W.)

Sir George Grey's visit to the Taupo Country in January of 1850 had a sequel fifteen years later. Foifo.wing the Governcyr's visit trcrublous times had come to the Waikato, culminating in the Waikato *War of the sixties, the final and decisive action of which was the Battle of Orakau, April 1st and 2nd, 1864. It' was S, time of trial for the Maori people of the V Waikato and Taupo, torn fietween differing views as to the wisdopi and outcome of war with the pakelia. : The Mading ,chief at the northern mid of the Lake was Te Poihipi Tukairangi, a man ^ of considerable influence, whose headquarters were at Tapuae-harruru, Taupo, and who had throughout .the war remained a staunch "Queenite." At the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 the chief Tukairangi, of Tapuae, harrurd, had been ill and his son had* signed on his behalf, and had then assumed the name of Mr Busby, the British Resident, usiiig it in its Maori form of "Poihipi." During the war no Europeans had visited the Taupo Country, and Te Poihipi *had complained tq the Governor of havmg been deserted by the Government. Sir George Grey accordingly had decided to snow his confidence by sending' a i^presentative to visit thev T&upo Cquntry, and chose a young navai 4 lieutenant, the Hon. Herbert Meade, 23 years of age, for the purpose. With Meade was Mr William Mair, who had been present at the Battle of Orakau, and a well-known traveller named Benchley. Te Poihipi, and several other leading Maoris, accompanied the party from Auckland. Having been taken to Tauranga on the Government warsteamer "Sandfly," they proceeded on horseback to Maketu and Rotorua, and after some days there continued by Maori tracks by wa y of Waiotapu and Otrakei-Korako to Puketarata, Oruanui and Tapuae-haruru. which was reached on January 16th, 1865. There was no pakeha settlement at Taupo until some time after the engagement with Te Kooti's men ■at Opepe in June 1869, so Meade's stay of neai'ly a month at Nukuhau, Taupo, over 4 years earlier than Opepe, is of considerable interest. Despite the recent hostilities, and the perplexities and divisions among the Macri people resulting from it, ihe party found evidenee of a desire for the advantages of the pakeha system of law and order. A curious instance of this occurred at Orakei -kor ako. Two Maories ** there owned some turkeys, and one of these was a pet that had been named after a eelebrated ancestor. During the absence of the owners two travellers, a man and his wife/had stopped ae their whare and killed and eaten one of the turkeys, unfortunately that bearing the honoured ancestral name. By the time the owners returned, the man had dled, and his widow, having few possessicns wherewith to make payment they seized a horse which she had previously sold to a third person. This Maori now appealed to Mr Mair, as a representative of the Government, to adjudicate on the matter. It appeared that the offending widow had offered the owners of the turkey a large piece of greenstone, an heirlcom of some value, but this had been refused, on the grounds that the value of the bird was of no moment. The trouble was the in-

\ ^ sult suffered by having had their great ancestor cooked and eaten. Having heard all parties, Mr Mar gave judgement that the horse be returned to the purchaser immediately, and that those who gave honouired names to their poultry must suffer the consequences. They should therefore * have the greenstone or nothing,.* and to this they at iast i consented, on eondition that they ( should be alfowed to throw tbe greenstone . into the river. At Puke-tarata, the now deserted village on the east side of the present Oruanui-Maroa main road, the party 'spent a day to'rest their hoirses, and were visited by Dr Hooper, the Government surgeon for the Maoris, who had then lived in the district for two years tending friends and foes alike throughout the troublous times. Meade has commented that the post was an unenviable one, for in addition to the isolation there was difficulty in those days in pirocuring the bare necessities of life. Hooper's name is worthy record as that of the first doctor to reside in the Taupo Country.