MAORI UNITY IN THE WAIKATO

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20956, 8 November 1939, Page 10

MAORI UNITY IN THE WAIKATO

Origin of King Movement : Headquarters at Ngaruawahia

On the eastern bank of the Waikato River, at Ngaruawahia, are the headquarters of the Maori King. Adroitly constructed in true native fashion, his palatial residence has been the object of admiration from visitors the world over, but few, perhaps, have stopped to think what romance and intrigue lie behind the ancient symbols so dextrously interwoven with that maze of native carving. Here is the symbol of Maori unity, the sincerity and purpose of which threatened to drive the white man from the Waikato in the perilous sixties. Potatau Te Wherowhero was the first of the line of Kings. He was the chosen leader of the mighty Waikatos, hereditary fighters and silent witnesses of European incursion upon .the tribal lands of New Zealand. The northern people had been forced into submission and the tribes of Taranaki had bowed before the invaders. Not so the Waikatos. They would unite and drive the white man into the rea.

They had seen the strength which lay behind the British throne and it was with the idea oi providing the Maoris with the same sense of duty that the King Movement was inaugurated. The North Island tribes were approached by influential Maori patriots but few sympathised with the project. Finally Wiremu Tamehana, a Waikato chieftain, interested himself in the idea, not through any feeling of hostility towards the white Queen but through his determination to introduce self-government for nis people. There was no time to be lost for already the surveyors had entered the Waikato to lay the foundations for European settlements. The wily Ngati Maniapoto elder, Wahanui Reihana to Huatara, had observed the actions of the newcomers with suspicion and his challenge laid down in the early sixties kindled the sparks of war in the Waikato. “The survey of land, the letting of land and the sale of land must cease, must cease, must cease,” he said. Crowning of Potatau In 1857 Potatau was elected King of Federated Tribes of the Central North Island. His reign was short and it fell to the lot of his son, Tawhiao, to lead his people in the approaching battles with the British and colonial forces. Tawhiao was crowned by Tamehana at Ngaruawahia in 1860, and three years later led his warriors against Cameron’s men at Rangiriri. He also took part in that memorable fight at Orakau, when the chivalry of the Maori was demonstrated to such a marked degree. After the last stand of the Waikatos under Rewi Maniapoto, Tawhiao took refuge in the King Country, where he remained until the establishment of peace in 1880. For many years after their famous retreat from Orakau the Waikatos refused to abandon their claims to the land and it was not until 1875 that a Government representative ventured into the wilds of the King Country, home of the warlike Maniapotos. Sir Donald McLean visited Tawhiao at Waitomo with the object of reaching an understanding with the Kingites Major William Mair, whose understanding of

the natives was well known, was stationed at Pirongia (then Alexandra) at that time and arranged a meeting between the King and McLean. On February 1, 1875, the delegation reacned the King Country border after a journey of two days from Auckland and were escorted up the Waipa River in two large canoes manned by Maori paddlers. The trip from Otorohanga to Waitomo was made on horse-back. At Waitomo Tawhiao and his people welcomed the party with all due ceremony and a basis for successful negotiation was reached. No peace with the Pakeha was possible, however, unless the Waikato lands, confiscated after Orakau, were returned to their owners. Such action was impossible from the Government viewpoint as the territory was already heavily populated with white settlers enjoying the protection of the Crown. Tentative proposals were made to Tawhiao by McLean and the King expressed his approval of them as a basis for establishing friendly relationships between the two peoples and it was with the feeling that his time had net been altogether wasted that McLean left the King Country, while Tawhiao looked foiward to the day when he would once more rule the lands of which he was the recognised head. Unfortunately Sir Donald McLean died in 1877 ana his plans for securing the positions of the white settlers in the Waikato and settling the claims of the natives came to nothing. Laying Down of Arms Chances of an organised peace were gone, in the opinion of Tawhiao, and in 1880 he and his men marched to Alexandra and laid down their arms at Major Mair’s feet. With the words, “Mair, this is the result of Waitomo,” Tawhiao ushered in a period of progress in the Waikato to be enjoyed by Maori and Pakeha alike, Tawhiao retired with his band of supporters to live at Whatawhatahoe, near Alexandra, and later at Parawera, close to the scene of hostilities between the native and European forces. A year before his death, in 1894, Tawhiao addressed a meeting of natives near Cambridge and an incident occurred which might have precipitated another war in the Waikato. Acting on the advice of his chiefs he gave the following indication that the King Movement was by no means dead:— “The Government and all the Government officers must leave New Zealand. The island is mine. The bakers, carpenters and storekeepers may remain. I will protect them.” It was unlikely that a further rising by the Waikatos would have been any more successful than that which took place in the sixties. Tawhiao was a very old man and there were few chiefs left capable of shouldering the responsibility for the campaign. On August 26, 1894, the King died and with him went the romance and adventure of old New Zealand.

Today Koroki Mahuta is the nominal hedd of the remaining Kingites. It is to him the Maoris of the Waikato look for leadership in these days of industry and progress in the young Dominion.