A Letter from Pipi Te Whiwhi to Lady Eliza Grey

Tu Tangata, Issue 22, 1 February 1985, Page 26

A Letter from Pipi Te Whiwhi to Lady Eliza Grey

Otaki. Hepetema 18, 1853. E hoa, e Rere Kerei,

Tena koe. Ka nui toku aroha atu ki a koe. E hoa, haere ra na, korua ko te Kawana ki Ingarangi. E hoa, haere! Kei te Atua te whakaaro kia tae ora atu koe ki Ingarangi. Haere i runga i te aroha, e hoa. Heoti pea tou arohatanga mai ki a matou i tou nohoanga i Nui Tireni nei. E hoa, kia rongo mai koe. Kaore pea a Waikanae e tukua e Mokau ki a Te Kawana. Otira, hei a Ngati Awa ano te ritenga mo tona kainga.

E hoa, e tae koe ki Ingarangi, kite pai koe, tuhia mai tetahi reta mau ki ahau. Otira kei a koe te whakaaro, e hoa. Haere ki tou kainga, ki ou matua, ki ou whanaunga. Haere ra. Ma te Atua koe e tiaki. He waiata tangi tenei naku ki a koe Kaore te aroha e huri nei kite whare. Kei whea te hoa i aropiri ra I nga rangi ra i te tuatahitanga? Ka haramai tenei, ka tauwehe; He hanga hua noa roimata i aku kamo, No te mea iara whamamao. Horahia te titiro whakawaho kite moana ra, Hau rerenga hipi ki Poihakena. Ka whaka-ao-kapua te ripa tauarai Ki Ingarangi, kite makau ra e moea iho E awhi Reinga ana i raro ra. Ka hew[h]a au, e, tenei kei te ao. Heoi ano ka mutu, Na Pipi Te Whiwhi.

Otaki. September 18, 1853. My friend, Lady Grey, Greetings to you. I have great affection for you. Go, you and the Governor, to England. Go, friend! God will see to it that you arrive safely in England. Go with love, friend. Perhaps the love you had for us during your stay in New Zealand has ended. Friend, listen to me. Waikanae will not be given away to the Governor by Mokau. 1 It is right that it be left with Ngati Awa as their rightful home. Friend, when you arrive in England, if you wish, write me a letter. I’ll leave it to you, my friend. Go to your home, to your parents your relations. Go! God will watch over you. Footnote: 1. Mokau was the name Te Rangihaeata chose for himself after his child drowned in the Mokau River, south of Kawhia, during Ngati Toa's migration south to Waikanae, in 1821-1822. During the 1840’s and up until his death in November 1855, Te Rangihaeata stood firm against pakeha attempts to gain land in the Otaki-Waikanae area. This is my lament for you What longing disturbs me here in my house. Where is the friend to whom I clung In those first early days? It has come to this, we are separated. The tears well up and gather in my eyes, For she is far away. Let my gaze go far out on the ocean, Where the wind sends ships flying to

Port Jackson. I gaze at the clouds on the horizon Which obscure the way to England And my loved one there, of whom I dream That we embrace below in the spirit world. Oh, I thought it was in this world! That is the end, Pipi Te Whiwhi. Notes about the songs Both these songs were sung in different parts of Aotearoa, being recorded by several early collectors. The first was a waiata tangi, the second a waiata aroha. Since both lament the loss of a loved one, they are appropriate for this occasion. The complex associations and emotional reverberations so obvious to Maori people of that, time would have been lost on l.nrlv Crew Ruta’s song Apirana Ngata (in Nga Moteatea, volume I, page 152) explains that the original version of this song was by the Atiawa chief, Te Wharepouri; he sang it at Nukutaurua for the Wairarapa chief Nukupewapewa, who had captured and returned Te Wharepouri’s wife and daughter. In the version adapted by Pipi Te Whiwhi, Lady Grey’s name replaces that of Nuku, and some passages are left out. In line 10, Morianuku is a name associated with Te Rerenga-wairua, the leaping place of spirits where the spirits bid farewell to the world. The reference to it has been retained from the original waiata tangi. Line 1. Tariao is a star in the Milky Way which

is said by some to have predicted death and disease. It is named as Jupiter by Eisdon Best in an article on maori star names. (See Journal of the Polynesian Society, volume 19, page 98). 2. In traditional imagery, people are sometimes said to be whakawhet u, acting like stars, because their eyes are glistening with tears. 3. It was believed that people's wairua left their bodies during sleep and sometimes met in Te Rein ga. Such meetings between separated people are often spoken of in waiata aroha. 6. Wharawhara is the shore astelia, a tussock-like plant with long narrow leaves. 7. It was thought that the spirits of recently dead relatives sometimes entered the bodies of birds and communicated with the living, reassuring them that all was well. This line has been retained from Te Wharepouri's waiata tangi. 9. The reference to Ingarangi, or England, is one of the modifications made by Ruta in her adaptation of the song. Pipi’s Song Apirana Ngata (in Nga Moteatea, volume I, page 100), explains that this song was composed by a Ngati Maniapoto woman, Hema, who lived in the Kawhia district. It was a waiata aroha for her pakeha husband who failed to return after a voyage to Port Jackson. (Sydney) Hema's song must have been felt by Pipi to be all the more appropriate because it laments the absence of someone who has gone to Europe. In her adapted version, Pipi refers to England rather than Europe.