[659]
TE TOA TAKITINI
Number 74
Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper
Hastings
October, 1927
THE SUPPLEMENT
This is to inform you that Sir Apirana Ngata and his group are starting again to print the waiata of our forbears and ancestors.
The first section will appear during October. There will be more in November and December. Do study these waiata. If you have any corrections, send them to Sir Apirana Ngata or to Te Toa Takitini.
Published by the Reverend F A Bennett and printed at the Herald Office,
Tennyson Street, Napier, HB.
[660]
Te Toa Takitini
Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper.
The price of the paper is 10/- a year.
Address letters to ‘Te Toa Takitini,’ Box 300, Hastings.
Te Toa Takitini
October, 1927
THE GROUP OBSERVING THE PEOPLES OF THE PACIFIC.
(INSTITUTE OF PACIFIC RELATIONS)
Number 2.
By Profssor Condliffe
The explanations given by this scholar, Professor Condliffe, are good and clear. He teaches the y0ung people studying for degrees in the universities. These are deep articles and it is right that we pay attention to them. Such people increase our knowledge and our standing as well as the status of the English.
The way the Maori People and the Pakeha live together in these islands is a cause of wonder to the great nations of the world. In recent times I have heard words of praise for the good way we live together. An eminent visitor from America came to the Dominion and I escorted him to all parts of our Dominion. He is a man who has studied the peoples of the world and he hasd seen the troubles that arise between different races who live together. Among all the peoples of the world he had not seen anything comparable to the way Maori and Pakeha live well together, sharing their thinking and their work.
For fifteen years he lived in Japan. Afterwards he was appointed Director of the Race Relations Survey on the Pacific Coast of America. This was where the Americans and Japanese were at loggerheads. His task was to find out why this was the case, to determine the number of Japanese and Chinese living in California and their occupations, to find out the ways in which they were being ill-treated by the Americans, and to find the causes for the bad relationships in this area. The good outcomes of his work led to this man, Mr J Merle Davis, being made Director of the Institute of Pacific Relations. This body was set up to investigate the causes of relationship difficulties between peoples of the East and the West.
[661]
There are great and ancient peoples living in the lands around the North Pacific. For many centuries the Chinese and the Japanese lived apart from the nations of the world and did not know what was changing in the world. When the first Pakeha arrived in New Zealand they brought with them their commercial practices and their other strange ways. The same things happened when the Chinese and the Japanese encountered the acquisitive ways of the Pakeha. When *buying and selling started it was also the beginning of many difficulties between the races. The present problems of the Northern Pacific have their origins in commerce and the preaching of the faith.
I am not able to summarize all the troubles of those nations, but all of you who read the newspapers will be aware of the problems of the Chinese empire which are like an earthquake dividing that land. Very few people know the importance and the extent of what is happening under the new regime in Japan. The total area of the islands of Japan is half that of New Zealand. But the poor quality of the land means that only one acre in six is suitable for growing food. The population of those islands is sixty million. That of New Zealand, including Maori and Pakeha, is one-and-a-half million. The population of Japan increases by eight hundred thousand a year, that is, the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths. In twenty-one months the population of Japan grows by the total population of New Zealand.
This is a difficult situation and it is monitored by the world’s concerned people. How is this nation to be sustained? Are they to seize China’s coal and steel to manufacture things to sell back to the Chinese? If China is suffering will it close the door to goods from Japan, And if the world opens its doors to purchasing their goods will it not endanger the industries of England and America and some other nations of the world? It is difficult to answer these questions. If things go wrong it could start a conflict and there will be a war even greater than the recent one. Should such a war occur, no matter who wins, the wh0le world would be bogged down and all the nations of the world would suffer.
The object of the Institute of Pacific Relations is to identify places where there are problems and to point out ways in which those problems can be solved peacefully so that nations do not resort to fighting. I left New Zealand, the land I love, because I was appointed to run the group looking into these matters. Although there are people who have a superior knowledge of th0se peoples there were many reasons why I sh0uld take up that task. The Director of that body, Mr Davis, said that someone from New Zealand would be an outsider observing any conflict and would have a clear perception of what was happening. For another thing, the Universities of Canterbury and of Cambridge in England are highly regarded for their learning and the great powers like to use people from those institutions.
But the main reason why I was selected to take that position, as Mr Davis explained to me, was that the world admires greatly the way Maori and Pakeha live together in these islands. Mr Davis said that this was the remarkable thing he had observed in New Zealand. There are no peoples in the word wh0 live together so harmoniously as the Maori and the Pakeha. He saw Maori in important positions in Parliament. He met young Maori in the country’s universities. He met leading Pakeha who proudly spoke of having a little Maori blood in their veins. He did not hear any disparaging talk about Maori, rather he heard much from Pakeha promoting their Maori. And he said a lot about h0w impressed he was and about how he h0ped that other people in the world would learn from this situation.
This is something that the Maori and Pakeha of New Zealand should demonstrate to the whole world.
When Governor Hobson first came to New Zealand, had he wished, he could have brought soldiers and warships, but he shunned thoughts of war and decided instead upon the noble route of a Treaty, the Treaty of Waitangi. The person who supported him in this was Henry Williams, a minister, and it was concluded in the just way, the Christian way. Subsequently there were troubles but they were caused by foolishness and misunderstanding. The cause of the troubles was land and since the court has been set up to enquire into land issues there has been no talk of fighting between the two peoples.
Similarly, this body that I am going to manage is committed to settling the disputes
[662]
between the peoples of the world according to Christian teaching and the way of justice. It aims to prevent them from fighting.
It is like the Maori Land Court. They will enquire into the reasons for conflict between peoples. However, unlike the Maori Land Court, they do not have the power to impose a decision. They are there to investigate and to clarify what is going on. It is for the peoples who are listening to agree or n0t.
We, the people of New Zealand, do not know the customs of China and Japan, but we do know how to live together in peace with justice. If we set about studying these things in depth we can teach the world.
I plead with the learned people amongst the Maori to study the paths being taken by the Maori people in these days. Some of the scholars such as Te Rangihiroa and Elsdon Best and others are gathering together the ancient stories of the Maori which are a cause of wonder in the world.
And I plead with the young educated Maori to devote their abilities to seeking the advancement of the Maori People at this time and to seek ways by which the Maori People will reach the heights that are open to them in these days.
This Institute is giving much th0ught to the matters mentioned above, and they are aware that New Zealand is much concerned with observing the situation of the Maori of Rarotonga and other islands of the Pacific, and so they have made Sir Maui Pomare Vice-President of the body. This is a sign to the Maori People that they are not forgotten by that Institute and that Maori have a place in its work, and particularly with the peoples living throughout the Pacific. There has been no people comparable in strength with the Polynesians who crossed this ocean from Hawaii to the cold lands of the South.
Perhaps your descendants in these days will receive the spirit of your ancestors who paddled across the great ocean in their canoes. Our hope is that you, their descendants, will be seen to take a leading and noble role amongst the peoples spread throughout the Pacific.
[663]
HONOLULU IN HAWAIKI
People of these two islands, greetings. Here I am, your pet for many years, whom you have left behind. The canoe has landed on this island in the Pacific called Hawaii in the language of this people. In our language it is Hawaiki. This is not the Hawaiki from which the canoes left to set sail for Aotearoa, but a name brought here by the [?unclear – Papara…] Hawaiki and given to this land. The closer Hawaiki of our ancestors is Tahiti and Rangiatea. Likewise these people also came from that Hawaiki. Our ancestors lived with the ancestors of these people on Tahiti and Rangiatea. As the population increased the land discovered by Kupe became too small and the people split up and set out to find a home for themselves in this part of the Deep-Green Ocean of Whiro. The islands they settled on here were Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Nihau.
The largest of these islands is Hawaii. There is a mountain there 15,000 feet high. The height of this mountain is different from that of the mountains of Te Waipounamu. The people at the foot of this mountain are burned by the heat of the sun while the peak of the mountain is covered in snow. The island with most people is Oahu. On Oahu is the main town, Honolulu, Honoruru in our language. This town is full of Europeans, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Philippinos, Portuguese, as well as the indigenous people and their donkeys. It is a land in which the indigenous Maori are honoured. There is no disapproval of all kinds of half-castes. The saying used by Pakeha in these days is that it is a ‘melting-pot,’ a cooking vessel in which all kinds of food are mixed together’ A child born here is a citizen of America, and so if they are abused by the Pakeha they abuse them in return. The Americans rule this land and they highly regard this people. Most of them don’t want to admit being descended from the English.
HONOLULU IN HAWAIKI
People of these two islands, greetings. Here I am, your pet for many years, who has been left behind. The canoe has landed on this island in the Pacific called Hawaii in the language of this people. In our language it is Hawaiki. This is not the Hawaiki from which the canoes left to set sail for Aotearoa, but a name brought here by the [?unclear – Papara…] Hawaiki and given to this land. The closer Hawaiki of our ancestors is Tahiti and Rangiatea. Likewise these people also came from that Hawaiki. Our ancestors lived with the ancestors of these people on Tahiti and Rangiatea. As the population increased the land discovered by Kupe became too small and the people split up and set out to find a home for themselves in this part of the Deep-Green Ocean of Whiro.
[664]
The islands they settled on here were Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Nihau.
The largest of these islands is Hawaii. There is a mountain there 15,000 feet high. The height of this mountain is different from that of the mountains of Te Waipounamu. The people at the foot of this mountain are burned by the heat of the sun while the peak of the mountain is covered in snow. The island with most people is Oahu. On Oahu is the main town, Honolulu, Honoruru in our language. This town is full of Europeans, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Portuguese, as well as the indigenous people and mixed-race people. It is a land in which the indigenous Maori are honoured. There is no disapproval of all kinds of half-castes. The saying used by Pakeha in these days is that it is a ‘melting-pot,’ a cooking vessel in which all kinds of food are mixed together’ A child born here is a citizen of America, and so if they are abused by the Pakeha they abuse them in return. The Americans rule this land and they highly regard this people. Most of them don’t want to admit being descended from the English.
I have visited some of the villages of the local Maori but they are Pakeha villages. This end of the island has become ‘pakehafied’ but the nearby islands retain their ‘Maoritanga.’ But I have not yet gone there. By and by I will carefully look into what Maori practices they retain. The number of indigenous Maori people of these islands is 21,271. The number of people of mixed-race is 20,950. It will be obvious to you that pure-blooded people are disappearing. Amongst the people of mixed-race 12,134 have American or English blood. The remaining 7,816 have Chinese or Japanese blood. The brightest children of mixed race in the schools are those with Chinese blood. It is advantageous to have Maori blood to get important positions here. There is only one member from these islands in the American Parliament. It was very soon after the closing of the voting that the new member, a person with Maori blood, was appointed. The Head of the Police Department has Maori blood, as does one of the judges. Most of th0se of Maori descent head to the towns for work, They are not attracted to farming.
The Americans are full of praise for their Maori people but, as I see it, most of what they say is mere talk. At last they began to look for ways to settle their indigenous people on their own land to work it. Then they started to discuss ways to implement that thinking, such as ways to make money available to young people so that they can go to schools which teach farming. It is something they want but they have not yet been able to bring about their dreams. Therefore, people, be strong and take heart to fulfil our desires. But we have already set our hands to the plough and to milking cows.
My work has separated me from the land of our ancestors. That work is the collecting of the stories and practices and customs of the dispersed Polynesian groups that migrated to the various islands.
[665]
Four of us are engaged in this particular work and an amazing number of others are following other lines of study such as the nature of the land and the kinds of trees, fish, birds and people. In our work-place are objects gathered from the islands of Oceania. People go to the ch0sen island where they go about collecting their stories and the surviving explanations of the ancient learning of the indigenous people, and when their basket is full they return here. When they return here the stories are written up, printed in a book, and presented to the world to be woven into the learning which determines where each group came from. The trees tell a story as do the stones. Understanding ears pay attention and hear what the trees and stones are saying. When the story of the trees and the story of the stones is added to the human stories we are reconstructing the ancient story-telling house.
Tomorrow I am going to Samoa to see those relatives of ours. After five months there I return here. After that I go to Rarotonga, Mangaia, Atiu, Mauke, Aitutaki, Manihiki, Rakahanga, Pukapuka and Tongarewa. But I have written these few words out of love for my own home. My going to those other islands is to show what those relations of ours are like. Meanwhile, stay well on the marae of Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu. I have disappeared but I’m still alive. By and by I will see you again.
Te Rangi Hiroa.
Honolulu, 30th August, 1927.
We are very grateful to Te Rangihiroa for sharing with us what he has written to his many hapu he left here at home. We hope that you will send a report each month. It is good for your Maori people to read your fine reports because you are the first Maori amongst all the Polynesian peoples of the Pacific to have followed the path of profound scholarship. Best wishes, my friend, and thank you for your kind thoughts for the people you have left behind. - The Editor.
THE WORDS OF HAARE TAAWHA
An Extraordinary Minister.
R[eweti] T K[ohere]
Haare Taawha was one of the first and one of the famous ministers of Ngati Porou: but he was famous not for his works but for his words. Although he has died his words are still treasured, and repeated when people are sitting together to make them laugh. It will be good to have them written down so that they are not lost or forgotten. In these days we wonder that some of these words could drop from the lips of a minister, but in his days people were not surprised but delighted by them. It is said that an English saying was written as the motto of the King: Honi soit qui mal y pense. Evil to him that evil thinks. May evil happen to the person who thinks evil. Many of the th0ughts of people are evil.
So we have the sayings of Haare Taawha:
[666]
1. ‘He lives on sugar.’
People who shovel sugar into their tea are descendants of Haare Taawha. Haare Taawha was spoken about for the great quantity of sugar he put in his tea. It was said, ‘Sugar is his food.’ One day he was given only sugar to eat – no tea or bread. When he asked where the tea and the bread were, he was told, ‘You said that sugar is food, and so we have given you sugar only.’ Haare Taawha laughed and said, ‘My own words have come back [to bite me].’
A man had a meal at Haare Taawha’s home and perhaps it was his cheeky disposition that led him to ladle sugar into his tea. Seeing this, Haare called out, ‘Tut, tut, tut! You’re using up all the sugar.’ His guest replied, ‘It was you who said, “Sugar is the food.” To which Haare responded, “I was speaking for myself.”’
2. Whareponga was Haare Taawha’s first parish. One Sunday he went to Akuaku. He had just arrived there when Te Kopa and others arrived at Paritutata in his canoe from hauling up crayfish pots. When they saw Haare Taawha they knew they were in for a scolding – that elder was also a scold – so they cowed and hauled their canoe. When Haare drew near he asked, ‘Perhaps I am mistaken?’ No-one spoke. ‘My lads, perhaps it was I wh0 spoke? Lads, perhaps it was I wh0 was mistaken and you are the ones who are right?’ At this point, at last, Kopa spoke. ‘You, sir, are in the right and we are in the wrong. It was because we were afraid that our crayfish pots would be smashed by the storm that we fetched them.’ Haare Taawha said, ‘Ha ha! Your crayfish pots will survive. Isn’t it you who will be smashed?’
3. Haare Taawha left the people who were breaking the sabbath and arrived at Akuaku. After the service a meal was provided for him, new potatoes with two paua as relish. Because the potatoes were hot he scraped together the paua. Haare’s heart was [whakahopu - ?made aware] that those paua had been gathered that very day, whereupon he thrust away the plate of food, saying, ‘Hey, hey! Which tide did you two come in on? Paua, which tide did you two come in on?’
Haare Taawha had forgotten the instructions of the Apostle Paul when he said that one should not question the paua. Paul said, ‘Eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the grounds of conscience.’ (1 Corinthians 10.27) Had Haare Taawha eaten the paua which he had surmised had been gathered on the sabbath he would have sinned because he had questioned the paua about when they were gathered. In such instances when you are undecided, don’t ask questions lest your conscience is distressed. The Pakeha says, ‘Ignorance is bliss.’
4. Ihimaera was Haare Taawha’s son. He was a man who did not on occasions listen to his father. (Children will not always listen to such a severe person.) Ihimaera was in a group of young lads. He was their leader, And it was a Sunday. When his father saw him he called out – he had a loud voice – for him to return. But the lad turned a deaf ear and urged his friends to hurry on.
[667]
1. His father’s anger was ignited and he shouted and called out, ‘You in front, you’ll be strung up, y0u’ll be strung up.’ Perhaps one would be strung up even for just getting on a horse on a Sunday. There are churches that condemn eating sugar on a Sunday or other things that are not condemned by Scripture. People commit many sins. Don’t seek to invent new sins. [? As if the old sins are not sufficient, people launch new sins. They need to take a breath.]
Haare Taawha was moved to be minister for Gisborne. He died there and is buried at Kaiti. Here are some of the things that Haare Taawha said while in Gisborne.
2. When Karauria, the son of Hirini Te Kani, died, he was taken to the church. After the service, Haare Taawha spoke to the deceased. ‘You, you, who are you? What have you come here for? Where were you when my bell rang? I rang my bell – ding, dong, ding – but you did not come. When you are enclosed in wood you come to me. Where were you when you were alive? Does the wood have ears to listen to my service?’ Whereupon Haare Taawha kicked the coffin!
3. Haare Taawha’s wife died and for a time he was alone. When he arrived amongst Ngati Porou he said that he would like to marry Amiria te Ahi-parareka [Potato Fire], his cousin. He asked Raniera Kawhia to conduct their wedding before he went to Gisborne. Because Haare Taawha was a minister, Raniera declined to marry them but told Haare to go to Gisborne so that the Bishop could marry them there. Haare Taawha responded to Raniera Kawhia:
‘I don’t like to take uncooked food with me to eat on the road lest I be followed by flies, but I cook it a little. When it is cooked I take it and when I reach the top of the hill I eat it. I eat it on top of the hill.’ Raniera agreed with Haare.
4. After the wedding he and Te Ahi-parareka went to Gisborne – to Turanga-makau-rau [Turanga of many lovers. Cf Nga Pepeha 2580] – as the proverb has it. At the important hotels with their entertainment Te Ahi-parareka took to drinking and returned home drunk. When Haare Taawha saw that the woman, Te Ahi-parareka, was drunk, he complained, ‘I am disappointed in this woman; I thought she was a real potato but she is only a tiny potato [not worth eating].’ [cf Williams p.67 – hukahuka 6]
5. Te Houkamau did not approve if people ate paua with disrespect, particularly if they crushed the roe. Haare Taawha was aware of this prejudice of Te Houkamau and so, when he came upon the paua which was serving as relish, while Te Houkamau was watching, he took the paua and mashed the roe. Then he said, ‘What a surprise! I’m disembowelling mine.’ Te Houkamau knew that the words were aimed at him and so he said, ‘Who is talking about this man’s food?’
6. When Haare Taawha was at Wharekahika Te Houkamau placed two jars of cordial in front of him. The jars were of stone. Haare Taawha thought that he was being presented with two jars of beer. He thrust those jars away. He went to one side and said,
[668]
‘What are the two of you doing? Both of you, what are you up to?’ When he stopped speaking one of the jars exploded; it split down the middle. It was said to be an omen of a tragedy. It was not long afterwards – so the story goes – that Te Houkamau died at Wharekahika and Haare Taawha died at Gisborne. Their deaths were not far apart.
(Paratene Ngata told me most of the stories I have related.)
‘SHOULD WE PUT A STOP TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PROPHETS?
’Arara Watene
To the one who sails the canoe of the Toa Takitini [Many Warriors] 0f the country, greetings to you, the Fugleman who explains things and commands the people to paddle in peace and righteousness and faith. I do not want to argue with you and your crew who sail this treasure for the people because I did not go to the Pakeha schools of the time. Rather, I was child with a great inclination to the ways of the ancestors, to their learning, and a desire to look into every aspect of their lives from this part and that part of the many roads that they observed, that they travelled, and thought about, whether in the heavens or between or on the earth or below the earth, on land and sea. Consequesntly I did not [?moata mai]. But I looked in vain and did not find out what they were like. Had they spoken, a person like me might have understood. As it is, you speak an unintelligible language which I don’t understand, and I think: ‘If I had gone to school and had learnt to read Pakeha books I would have learnt to understand scholarly speeches and I would be a different person from the one writing this article.’ But what of that, my friend, since I still mumble. Solomon says, according to the Hauhau: ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.’ [Proverbs 1.7]
But that is enough about me, because I listen to the preachers of the faith leading worship and praying for me and I am grateful. I am happy and thankful that such things are done for me and for the blessings experienced by my body. And I wonder at the breadth and clarity of your explanations of aspects of the time which y0u share with us, such as accounts of storms and rough seas and similar occurrences in various places. You also continue to set before us and to explain the good way and to give us comforting words for us to share freely with others. Although you give freely of your understanding and the time you bestow on us, you still have the stout-heartedness to urge the people to make every effort to seek and find the ways that will benefit them. Now we have come to the appropriate time for me to speak to you, expressing gratitude and sharing these few thoughts. The question being asked is: ‘What was entrusted to people like Rua who, I have heard, prophesied about the Last Day when the heavens will be destroyed?’ Also one of his sayings was a complaint against Ratana. It was said in the Pakeha newspapers that are read by the young people that he said, ‘What Ratana is doing is wrong.’ Such, perhaps, was his back-biting comment to his
[669]
people, for his friends and whoever would listen. Is it right to permit this kind of person to speak in this fashion? I don’t think it is right. We do well to remember the time when there were troubles in that area as a result of Rua’s attitude. I think it is a wicked thing for a tohunga to publish prophesies. For another thing, people who believe that tohunga take such things to heart. Therefore, although the thought may weigh heavily on that prophet, the person wh0 believes in him will obey a command or a challenge which will have bad results leading to the transgression of the law because that person believes and trusts that tohunga or prophet and those commandments concerning heaven and what is given voice to in such statements. Moreover they bind the people of that group, of that church, of that association, of that federation, and seek to give authority to such things. In this situation many troubles arise and the bad outcomes of such doings are hidden from most of us.
Therefore, I am surprised at you who have the power to preach to the people.
Concerning Maori Tohunga: Perhaps the knowledge of Maori healing has been lost? Since the days of cannibalism they knew about this section or that part of the bones and joints and entrails but they lacked knowledge of everything, and so it was right that they should not give mistaken guidance to the people of the time. It is right that those wishing to work on or massage the sick should have a doctor’s licence. This is the present law from the Health Department, that you have made known. And should not the same apply to those who provide medicines, that is, should they n0t be licensed under the law? Should we n0t think about this is Maori fashion?
As I see it: If, as we have seen and heard, since cannibal times these people have been schooled in the Whare Wananga [Schools of Lore] and the schools, should not such people be licensed now and remain as Important Tohunga. In this way the yearning of the heart would be fulfilled and there would be no longing in vain, one would not be dazzled by the mirror. But we should seek the best and we should take our grandchildren to the Whare Wananga of our days that they might bite on the beams of the privy. So much for these few words and I hope my narrow paddle will not disturb the water as I take up my call:
Paddle to Justice.
Paddle to Truth.
Paddle to Unity.
Paddle to the Landing Place.
Paddle to that land!
TO MARY IN HEAVEN
R[eweti] T K[ohere]
The following verses are a lament by Robert Burns to his beloved Mary Campbell. Some may think that it is childish, somewhat silly, but it is a love song.
[670]
The love song speaks of the love of two people for each other. It is not silly; rather it is sacred; it is not about a furtive relationship carried out in secrecy.
Robert Burns and Mary Campbell were betrothed to each other. They last met on a Sunday on the banks of the River Ayr where they exchanged their Bibles. Mary left her work and returned to her home to prepare for her wedding. However, she became ill and died without Robert seeing her. A year later, on the anniversary of Mary’s death, Robert was lying in bed and grieving when he saw outside his window in the dawn sky a vanishing star, and he wrote this lament.
,
Thou ling’ring star, with less’ning ray,
That lov’st to greet the early morn,
Again thou usher’st in the day
My Mary from my soul was torn.
O Mary! dear departed shade!
Where is thy place of blissful rest?
See’st thou thy lover lowly laid?
Hear’st thou the groans that rend his breast?
That sacred hour can I forget,
Can I forget the hallowed grove,
Where, by the winding Ayr we met,
To live one day of parting love!
Eternity can not efface
Those records dear of transports past,
Thy image at our last embrace,
Ah! Little thought we ’twas our last!
Ayr, gurgling, kiss’d his pebbled shore,
O’erhung with wild-woods, thickening green;
The fragrant birch and hawthorn hoar,
‘Twin’d amorous round the raptur’d scene;
The flowers sprang wanton to be prest,
The birds sprang love on every spray;
Till too, too soon the glowing west,
Proclaim’d the speed of wingèd day.
Still o’er these scenes my mem’ry wakes,
And fondly broods with miser-care;
Time but th’impression stronger makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear.
My Mary! dear departed shade!
Where is thy place of blissful rest?
See’st thou thy lover lowly laid?
Hear’st thou the groans that rend his breast?
Fine writers, that is, poets, are experts at dreaming up fantastic stories. They get ideas for their writings from the flowers of the field, the birds, the clouds, the water, the sea – from all places. Look carefully at the third verse of Burns’s poem. He calls in the river, the woods, the trees, the flowers, and the birds to illustrate the love they have for each other: the river gurgles, the flowers look to be pressed, the birds sing of love. Only one thing is wrong;
[671]
the sun is setting too quickly, setting the west aglow as it swoops. Although Mary has been in the earth for a year or in heaven, Burns’s love though different is still deepening as the waters of the river ‘wear their channels deeper.’ For the Pakeha this is one of Burns’s best poems. Therefore, I have set it down for the children to see. They can look at it carefully and appreciate the sweetness of the English words.
THE GISBORNE JUBILEE.
T Wi Repa
On 11th May the people of the town of Gisborne and the Turanga area began a celebration of fifty years since the founding of the town of Gisborne and Cook County. The remnant of the elders of the Turanga area were celebrated. We Maori of the Tai Rawhiti know what this land of Turanga is like. It is beautiful country. Its plains are beautiful, its mountains are beautiful. The undulating country of Turanga is a single area from Maraetaha in the south to Omana in the north to Kaiti in the east. But the named places in that area are many. This plain covers nearly 1oo,000 acres. It is a fertile land producing milk , butter, wool, and it is covered with corn. If a stranger arrives in Turanga he cannot but praise the beauty of this country. All grasses grow and have been cut in the paddocks that have been made. It has been crossed by the roadmakers everywhere so that it fulfils the proverb,
Ko Turanga ara rau.
Turanga of many paths. [cf Nga Pepeha 2579 and below.]
That is what Turanga is like at this time. But let us look back to the time before this area of Turanga was settled by the Pakeha, before the year 1877.
Looking Back: Turanga of Many Paths.
In 1865 the Hauhau invaded this area. That was the year Volkner was murdered at Opotiki. In the year 1868 Te Kooti landed from the Chatham Islands. In that year Te Kooti killed eleven Pakeha at Matawhero, Piripi Taketake and Harata and their five children, also at Matawhero, and Paratene Turangi and Ihimaera and others at Oweta, In 1869 Court of the Commission of Enquiry sat to look into land cases in Turanga. But let us think back to those years.
At that time bush covered the now improved land at Pakowhai, Karaua, Puketapu, Okirua, Te Roa-o-Taua, Te Rua-o-Hinetu, Oweta, Manutuke,Pipiwhakao, Te Ahipakura, Ohinekura, Waitaria, Patutahi, Toanga, Te Kairourou, Matawhero, GTe Kaiparo, Taumata-o-Te-Rakato, Pouparae, Waerenga-a-Hika, Toroa, Makauri, Repongaere, Te Muhunga, Wairerehua, Te Ruangarehu, Tikeke, Whataupoko and Kaiti. They were all swamps growing brushwood, spear-grass, flax, toetoe, rushes, tuukaauki [Libertia ixioides], and all sorts of noxious weeds. This was Turanga of many paths. Each person had to search for his own path.
[672]
Pipiwhakao was a kiekie [Freycinetia banksii] swamp. A person could get lost in the swamp at a time when there were prohibitions [rahui]. The path from Gisborne to Te Muriwai went by way of Whakawhitira so that one kept dry on a gravel path and crossed on the ferry at Pakirikiri. One travels the path from Makaraka to Waerenga-a-Hika by road now but then one arrived through water, mud and flax. But the glory of Turanga at that time was its food, sea food, food from the rivers, food from the lakes, food from the bush, food from the open country. Taharakau’s evaluation was not right:
He ahi kouka noa ki te awatea.
Only roasted kouka during the day. [cf Nga Pepeha 347]
But one cannot set a value on the food produced by Turanga. What is the value of the tons of the flower bracts of the kiekie from Pipiwhakao each year? And what of the rats caught during the year in Kui’s traps? And what is the value of the crayfish of Taumata-o-te-Aringa, of the paua of Orongo at Taikawakawa, of the eels of Rapanui and Repongaere, of the kahawai and the flounders of Kopututea, of the pipi of Whakautu and Taruwheru, of the seafoods of Tawararo, Tuamotu, Papawhariki, Otipi, Whangaiariki, Makorori, Tatapouri, Pouawa, and as far as Pokotakina, and of the mussels of Poka-i-Taiau, of the tarakihi of Whareongaonga, of the moki of Takapuhekai, of the groper of Toka-a-huru, of the fruits and the oils of the bush, and of the paewai eels and the matamoe eels of Waipawa, and of the whitebait and the mataka eels of Kuraua? These treasures cannot be valued in today’s money. But one can place a value on the commitment of those who seek these foods and who guard the places where they are found lest they be stolen. So we know that Turanga was highly valued by Maori in those days. However, with the arrival of a different people, a people with more learning than us, things were evaluated differently, the viewpoints jostled one another, accepted ways of thinking were meddled with and were replaced by those of the Pakeha.
Turanga Tangata Rite : Turanga Tangata Ngaro
Turanga tangata rite.
Turanga people are all equal. [cf Nga Pepeha 2582]
Turanga tangata ngaro.
?The disappearing people of Turanga.
Three different tribes make up Turanga – Rongowhakaata, Ngai-Tamanuhiri, and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki. These tribes have their own boundaries. Ngati-Maru and Ngai-Tawhiri are linked with Rongowhakaata. From 1863 to 1877 there were very few Pakeha and the land belonged to the Maori. There were many famous names at that time. At that time one could meet Te Kani-a-Takirau, Te Eketu-o-te-rangi, Kahutia, Paratene Tutangi, Wiremu Kingi Paia, Te Waaka Mahuika, Te Waaka Mangere, Raharuhi Rukupo, Te Meihana Hohoro, Te Matenga Tama-i-oria, Hine-i-koia, Paora Pomare, Te Matenga Tukareaho, Te Waaka Perohuka, Rangiwhaitiri, Tamati Te Rangituawaru, Henare Ruru, Ihaia Te Noti, Te Poihipi Rangiwhakamoea, Te Rangiwhakataetaea, Kaumoana, Tawheo, Wi Te Honotapu and others. In the years that followed, that is, after 1869, as we draw closer to ourselves, we have a selection of their children and grandchildren. This is the time of the Land Court. We have Riparata, Wi Pere, Te Otene Pitau, Hirini Te Kani, Keita Waere, Pimia Aata,
[673]
Tamihana Ruatapu, Anaru Matete, Hoani Ruru, Rapata Whakapuhia, Paora Haupa, Te Wherakaraka, Petera Te Hiwirori, Henare Kakapango, Panapa Waihopi, Hori Hiko, Te Peka Kerekere, Anaru Ratapu, Karaitiana Taro, Raniera Turoa, Te Matenga Taihuka, Hape Kiniha, Hirini Haereone, Wi Paraone, Tiopira Tawhiao, Karaitiana Ruru, Pa Ruru, Hapeta Kuare, Hoera Kapuaroa, Ruka Te Aratapu, Rawiri Karaha, and countless others. Te Matenga and Taihuka are the only ones still alive.
At this time, within the last fifty years during the Pakeha settlement there has been no restraint on the occupation of Turanga by the Pakeha who have taken all the land. Very little remains in the possession of the descendants of those mentioned above. The man who still owns a few acres sells them to the Pakeha for a lot of money! The land is lost; and so are the people and their mana. Think deeply about this. In just fifty years Turanga has passed into the hands of hundreds of people. Turanga, the gathering-place of the Tai Rawhiti, the nest of the people, is now owned by the ‘Pakeha.’
These people made up their own tribe. With their land having been taken their descendants are without mana [without power, without standing]. Rongowhakaata, Ngai Tamanuhiri, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, and Ngati Konohi possessed perhaps one million acres of Turanga. In the recent election fewer than 300 adults voted in the Turanga Polling Stations. Some hapu have completely disappeared. We only hear their names mentioned. Rongowhakaata Tuturu [the Original], that is Ngati Kaipoho, has completely disappeared – the hapu has gone, the people are gone, the mana has gone! Pakirikiri and Manatuke are their only marae that we hear of. Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki are close to disappearing. We find ourselves asking, ‘Why do we not have the strength to grow along with the Pakeha?’ The past fifty years have been years of peace; we have not been at war with the Pakeha. We have lived in peace. But in these lost years the Pakeha of Turanga have done well. During these years 23,220 Pakeha have settled in Turanga; 13,675 of these are in Gisborne itself. At this time the sayings hang over us:
‘Ka tere Raua; ka tere Pipiwhakao.’
Raua and Pipiwhakao are afloat. [cf Nga Pepeha 1146]
‘Tini whetu ki te rangi ko Ngati Maru ki raro nei.’
As the myriad stars in the sky, so are Ngati Maru on earth. [cf Nga Pepeha 2513]
These proverbs show that there were large populations in days of old.
‘Turanga Makau-rau.’
Turanga of many lovers. [cf Nga Pepeha 2580]
No area compares with Turanga here for development. During the past fifty years it has been adorned with new clothes. Over it are [?takareti - ?spread] people of all sorts – Black people, Chinese, and people from the many nations of the earth. It is appropriate to use of it this proverb, ‘Turanga of many lovers!’
During the years from 1860 to 1877, the brushwood, the spear-grass, the bush and the bog had possession of the land. From Ruapahi to Te Kani-a-Takirau, for twenty generations, for five hundred years, the land was unchanged, not improved by human hands.
[674]
In just fifty years all the land has been transformed for the better. The prestige of Turanga now comes from Pakeha tools and oats and corn.
I have written above of how Maori valued Turanga. Let us look at the value of Turanga now. It is said that before 1865 the Pakeha offered Te Kani-a-Takirau one thousand pounds for all of Turanga. No boundaries were stipulated. However, Te Kani did not take the money for Turanga. But that was what the Pakeha valued Turanga at in those days. However, [we can say] that the value of Turanga during the five hundred years it was in the hands of Ruapani and his descendants was one thousand pounds. In 1868 the vale of Kaimoa, an area of 3000 acres, was sold for £1500. The value of Kaimoa today is close to £300,000.
In 1925, 109,008 tons of cargo passed over the Turanga wharf. Of that, 22,172 tons were sent to England. In the days of Lady Kara, whaling-boats were used to transport goods to land. Her brother, Rangi, was killed doing that work. In 1925, 537 arrived in the bay off Turanga. Seventy-three of those ships were from England. The amount paid to the Turanga Harbour Board that year was £282,137. In 1926 Turanga as far as Uawa was valued at £18,266,013.
The area of land set apart for a town was 2219 acres. It was mostly gravel in 1877. Today its unimproved value is £2,249,205. The purchase price would be £5,095,430. These valuations are for 1926.
In 1926 the improved area of Cook County was 436,745 acres; that of Waikohu County was 420,642 acres; and that of Uawa County, 135,645 acres.
In that year, 1926, the numbers of livestock carried on those lands were:
Cook: 715,685 sheep; 5632 horses; 91,092 cattle; 4252 pigs.
Waikohu: 666,404 sheep; 3031 horses; 74,597 cattle; 2105 pigs.
Uawa: 230,155 sheep; 902 horses; 20,484 cattle; 576 pigs.
The number of cars, lorries and motor-bikes was 2160.
It is right that we think about the changes in the land over the last fifty years compared with what is was like during the five centuries of Ruapani and his descendants.
Who brought about the new appearance of Turanga? Not the Maori. It was the Pakeha. Did the Maori contribute anything to the improvement of Turanga during the past 50 years? Yes, they did, but through the mana of the money of the Pakeha. I want this to point us to the New World. Only through the New World will the remnant thrive. We still have the remnant of the extreme end of the Old World – Heni Materoa, Te Matenga Taihuka, Harete Taihuka, Pita and Paora Kohu, Tiera Tapunga and Matene Kaipau. The lands of your ancestors are in different hands.
These thoughts were dragged from my heart as Turanga was celebrating its Jubilee. Best wishes to the remnant.
