TONGARIRO CENTENNIAL

Forest and Bird, Volume 19, Issue 1, 1 February 1988, Page 12

TONGARIRO CENTENNIAL

by

Jocelyn Syme

A D A Y T 0 R E M E M B E R

I was a day which blended past, present and future; Maori and Pakeha; young and old. A day which surely Te Heuheu Tukino IV, who gave his people's sacred peaks to New Zealand, would have been proud of. September 23, 1987 marked the centennial of Te Heuheu’s gift, which became New Zealand's first national park. Tongariro has been followed by 11 more national parks and three maritime parks. Reinforcing those links with the past, Prime Minister David Lange gave the great grandson of Te Heuheu, Sir Hepi Te Heuheu, a framed copy of the original deed of gift signed 100 years ago. And the world’s first national park, Yellowstone, sent a commemorative plaque to the world’s first national park given by the indigenous people. But it was a day which above all else belonged to the thousands of people celebrating their park — particularly the tangata whenua, the Ngati Tuwharetoa. The day itself dawned brilliantly clear after heavy rain. The mountains glistened with new snow and intensely black clouds scudded across the sky.

For Huri Maniapoto, master of ceremonies for the day, the good weather was the answer to his prayers. ‘We had that break in the weather just long enough for the celebrations — it poured down again at lunchtime. It was as if someone up there was controlling a switch on the weather. ‘Certainly lots of our elders felt as if something or someone was around", he

said. The celebrations started with a dawn ceremony organised by the Ngati Tuwharetoa to pay homage to Mount Tongariro, to pay their respects to their ancestors and to lift the tapu on the park visitor centre extensions. Time for the older people to remember the past, and time for everyone to ponder why ‘‘the old man" gave the mountains to the people of New Zealand. It was a ceremony which moved many people to tears. For Sir Patrick O'Dea, the chairman of the National Parks Centennial Commission, the success of the celebrations depended on the bringing together of today’s successors to the original parties which signed the deed of gift: Sir Hepi Te Heuheu and the Tuwharetoa people, and Government officials. ‘I felt the past and present came together very strongly under the shadow of the mountain. One of the things that impressed most people was the sight of Sir Hepi leading the haka party himself using his ancestral mere which belonged to his great grandfather Te Heuheu Tukino IV."

That haka is performed by the Tuwharetoa only on very special formal occasions, such as welcoming the Queen to Rotorua. It is a haka which can only be performed by the young and fit, as Huri Maniapoto explained. "That haka soon eliminates those who cannot jump high! So some of us older people had to bow out to make way for the younger people. "Those who were performing for the first time in front of nearly 5,000 people had a great sense of pride about what they were doing. For me, the stance of the Tuwharetoa haka group was most impressive and an important part of the ceremony," he said. The Chateau Tongariro’s bowling green was designated as a marae for the occasion, so all the rules of Maori marae protocol

were observed during the formal, hour-long ceremony: complete with karanga, wero (challenge) to the Governor General and Prime Minister, powhiri, waiata and the official speeches. Then came the grand finale: performances by nearly 1200 school children from six local primary and secondary schools. The head boy at Tongariro High School, Greg King, was particularly impressed by the performance of children from the National Park Primary School. They mimed the creation story, with the separation of Rangi and Papa and how the world began from nothing. ‘It was really good to see Maori and Pakeha joining in as one people. They all got a great sense of pride from participating. You see them mucking around at school, and

then performing the haka. It was an incredible transformation!"’ Greg exclaimed. Taumarunui High School pupils enacted a protest against the exploitation of the mountains, telling the people of the Tongariro National Park today and how people are abusing it. Their performance included the erection of a ski tow with skiers tossing away giant-sized rubbish as they went. Cheerleaders scolded them, and told them to take their rubbish away with them. The formal part of the ceremony ended with everyone singing the Centennial song, reminding everyone that Parks are for People, and that people have a duty to look after their parks. ¥ This article has been reproduced from Centennial Contact, No 8, October-Novem-ber, 1987.