[2045]
TE
TOA TAKITINI
Registered
at the GPO as a Newspaper
Number
104
Hastings
1st
May, 1930
THE BISHOP’S HUI
AT KARIOI
Henare Keremeneta
Saturday, 19th
April, was the day on which the Bishop of Aotearoa set out for the Hui that had
been arranged at Karioi amongst Ngati Rangi. The Bishop headed from Paeroa towards
Hauraki on that day. At the Ohakune Station they were joined by Canon Williams
of Putiki. Rev Henare Keremeneta of Pipiriki, and Takarangi Mete Kingi.
After travelling
ten miles by car they arrived at Karioi. There were crowds of people on the
marae.
As
the party moved onto the marae the Ngati Rangi Kapa Haka stood. These were the
words of their haka.
You die, you die; we live we
live.
You die, you die; we live, we live.
This is the Bishop of Aotearoa.
He it is who summons the Sun
And makes it shine!
Ride now! Ride now!
Take the first step!
Let
the sun shine in!
After the lament
came the speeches. When they finished there was food. And after the meal came
the service. The Meeting House was full of people. Ngati Rangi’s behaviour was
exemplary during the service; there was no talking or wriggling. The people
were devout.
Published by Rev P Hakiwai and P H Tomoana and printed at
Cliff Press, Queen Street, Hastings, HB.
[2046]
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.
1st
May, 1930.
That night the
Bishop and Mr Williams stayed with Pita McDonnell and his wife. Pita is one of
the young Maori who are prominent farmers in the Whanganui area. He is an Old
Boy of Te Aute.
On Easter Day the
local people were up to greet the Bishop and his companions.
The service took
place at 11 a.m. It was Morning Prayer and was held outside. Many Pakeha
attended with their Maori friends. Immediately afterwards people moved into the
Meeting House for the Communion Service.
The food that day
was a veritable feast.
After the meal
Puti Karauria Materoa stood to lead the singing of their ancestral songs.
Then she came in
with a taniko cloak which she laid before the Bishop. After that Ngati Rangi’s
monetary gift was presented to the Bishop.
After his waiata,
Pita Makitonore addressed the marae, the visitors and the Bishop, conveying to
the Bishop the love of Ngati Rangi. In his speech Pita explained that Ngati
Rangi valued and were keen to show their love for the Bishop and their appreciation
of his coming here to Karioi.
People wondered
greatly at this hui. Although many different religious groups were present,
Ngati Rangi were united for the visit of the Bishop. This hui will be
remembered for the unity of thinking and for the peace that prevailed in all
the activities.
At the end of all
the proceedings there was a service on the marae. Then the Bishop and his party
departed for Raetihi which was seventeen miles away. At night there was a large
service in the town church. That night it rained heavily, the first since the
Bishop set out on his travels on 1st April.
Mr Williams led
the service in English and Maori. Henare Keremeneta read the second lesson.
Half the congregation was Pakeha and half Maori.
[2047]
Although it was raining
the church was full. The Bishop’s text was from the second reading for Easter
Day: ‘Go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God.”’ [John 20.17]
The Bishop pointed out the greatness of the
blessings that have come to the Maori People through the Faith, the number of
people being confirmed, and the number of young men offering themselves to go
to theological college.
The Bishop pointed
out to the Pakeha people that God had chosen the Jewish people as his people
who were to spread the faith. However, because they went astray God abandoned
them. God has said to many people, ‘Go to my brothers,’ but they have been deaf
to the voice of God and have turned away.
Today it is the
Pakeha who have heard the command of God to preach the Gospel. If they do not
respond they will be put aside, and God
will choose the people he wants.
The great task for
us is to grow the kingdom of our Lord.
God is looking to
us in these days. Let us not be deaf to his command, ‘Go and preach the Good
News.’
STANDING COMMITTEE
OF THE ARCHDEACONRY OF TAURANGA.
The Standing
Committee Meeting and the Mission will be held at Ruatoki on Wednesday, 21st
May. The Bishop of Aotearoa will be Chairman of the Hui. He will have with him those
helping with the Mission.
The Ministers, the
Lay Readers, and the Members of the Archdeaonry Standing Committee, are all to
arrive on the Wednesday evening. Bring with you your tragedies and your dead
for us to mourn.
Paora
Rangiaho Hori Aterea
Wiremu
Tereina Whetu Paerata
Te
Ihi Paerata Tui
Tawera
Ropere Tahuriorangi
(Minister)
E M E Te Tikao (Overseer)
of the
Archdeaconry of Tauranga.
[2048]
NOTICE OF A
FRIENDLY HUI
1.
Unveiling
of a memorial at Waimarama on 1st June, 1930.
2.
Friday,
30th May. Arrive at Waimarama on this day. Welcome.
3.
Friday
night, 30th May. A meeting about hockey.
4.
Saturday,
31st May. A day for playing hockey.
Chairman.
Secretary of the
Hui,
M Thomas
Waimarama,
` 1st May, 1930.
CONSUMPTION
I am grateful to
the organisers of the Hui for adding Consumption to the important matters to be
discussed by the Hui.
This is the right
time to launch an attack on this matter, It is of equal importance to the other
great matters on the agenda. Although the issues may be familiar to individuals
or small groups, they will not be grasped by all unless they are brought to the
fore at this time. But if they are explained to many there will be benefits.
‘A Maori
Sickness.’ This is the Maori sickness. Maori themselves say that it is
their illness, and so it is called ‘the Maori Sickness.’ This is how the pessimists
among us think. The convention behind their thinking, perhaps, is that only
Maori get Consumption. One idea common to such people is that their illness,
called ‘Maori sickness,’ cannot be cured by Pakeha doctors. Therefore, it is
not right to put the person suffering from this illness into the hands of a
Pakeha doctor. However, the truth, for those of the people who are knowledgeable,
is that such a person can heal the illness. Or people will try to get healing
by another means, by the tohunga. But it is not widely thought in our Maori
world that Maori tohunga can cure the ‘Maori sickness.’ But, people, if by their
activities Maori tohunga can cure the ‘Maori sickness,’ Consumption, where is
the wonder, the honour and the benefit we swhoul have received? If it is the
case then that tohunga or those tohunga should get licences to treat
Consumption and should rceive from the King the highest honours. Our groups in
this new world are not slack when it comes to petitioning the Government for an
honour, or to proclaim to the whole world that the spring of healing for Consumption
is in the hands of Maori tohunga. But. people, what we understand and what we
hear is, ‘So-and- s0 has died;
[2049]
he had the ‘Maori
sickness.’ In every place this message resounds. We are like the prophet who
wrote: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is
weeping for her children she refuses to be comforted for her children because
they are no more.’ (Matthew 2.18)
This is the
illness that is doing away with the Maori People. The people are not being
destroyed by fighting, or the guns of Ngapuhi, or the epidemics of Pakeha days,
even though there are many such afflictions being caught. It is Consumption
that is sweeping us away to the afterlife. Take careful note of these figures.
The Matakaoa County covers 205,600 acres. In the past census there were 1300
Maori in the County. From the time of Tuwhakairiora to the present day there
are fourteen generations. If that elder had two children and each of their descendants
had two children in each of the fourteen generations then the number of Maori
in the Matakaoa County should be 16,384.
If Tuwhakairiora
had three children and each of those three themselves had three, and the same
happened in eah of the fourteen generations, then the current number of
descendants of Tuwhakairiora would be
1,594,323. We should be startled by these figures.
So, where are the
missing people? Admittedly, some have gone to other places, some have had no
children, and some have died in epidemics. But that would still leave perhaps around
50,000 on our land today.
If we look
carefully at our hapu, the situation is the same. Te Whanau-a-Kauaetangohia of
Whangaparaoa has a lot of land, but no people. Te Whanau-a-Pararaki has a lot
of land, but no people. Te Whanau-a-Maru of Raukokore is in the same position,
and it is the same with Te Whanau-a-Kahu and Te Whanau-a-Kaiaio. The area of
land is large while the people have vanished. The proverb is true:
Whatu ngarongaro he tangata;
toitu he kainga.
People disappear; the home remains.
[cf Nga
Pepeha 2665]
A World-wide
Illness.
I have pointed out
that Consumption does not only afflict Maori. It is found spread throughout the
world. Osler (the late Professor of Medicine at Oxford University) said, ‘Geographical
position has very little influence.’ It is a serious illness for the
‘White-people’ of the world. Its name in proverbial sayings is ‘The White
Plague.’ Another of the proverbs calls it ‘The Captain of the Men of Death.’
Yet another ancient name is ‘The King’s Evil.’ At that time Consumption was an
intractable illness and it was brought to the King for him to cast it out. This
was one of the erroneous ideas during that time of human ignorance. Because of
the power of the illness to emaciate the bodies of the sick it was called by
the experts ‘Consumption,’ that is, ‘Food to be consumed.’ Since knowledge of
the illness has increased greatly, that is, after 1882, it has been known as ‘Tuberculosis.’
[2050]
New Zealand
doctors realised that Tuberculosis is the same as the illness Maori call
‘Wasting Sickness’ or ‘the Maori Sickness.’ The Maori names came from the way
the person suffering the illness became emaciated; the English name derives
from the way small nodules appear on the flesh. Only two of these names are
correct.
This is one of the
world’s worst diseases. There is a large Association of the British Empire’s
doctors, with a branch in New Zealand. At the meeting of the parent body in
England it was agreed that each branch was independent. The specialists in the various
disciplines within medicine meet separately. There is a separate group for
Tuberculosis. In an effort to overcome the disease this group was set up
involving doctors working on it.
In England there
is a large and prestigious group of mature doctors which was set up to fight
Tuberulosis. In this group are leading specialists, wealthy people, who are
highly respected. The Chairman of the Group is the Prince of Wales, the eldest
son of the King of England. This is the group that stirred up the Department of
Health in England so that it appointed separate people to deal with this
illness.
A map of
Tuberculosis has been made in England. This map shows the areas of England,
Scotland, and Ireland allocated to each branch fighting Tuberculosis, its
doctors and nurses.
I saw in a recent
newspaper that the Minister of Health has given instructions to set up here in
New Zealand a group committed to fighting Tuberculosis.
In each place in
the developed world there are specialist hospitals for Tuberculosis. In our
country there are four – two in Te Ika-a-Maui and two in Te Waipounamu.
Every third year
the world’s specialists meet somewhere to share their thoughts about combatting
this illness. Sometimes they meet in England, sometimes in America, and
sometimes in Europe.
This shows that
Tuberculosis is an illness affecting all the nations of the world, and that
doctors and the people of each nation are looking for weapons to combat it. But
it is not the doctor only who are on the look-out; if the people too are aware
then that is good.
Tuberculosis and
its Battle.
There are also
illnesses which afflict people for a short time; when these come they may
spread throughout an area. When the Great World War ended, 20,000,000 people
died in a short time of Influenza. Pneumonia, Cholera, and Plague are some of
the powerful infections that kill people.
Although we have
seen the impact of these illnesses, they are not nearly as powerful as Tuberculosis.
Those illnesses are with us for time, but people with Tuberculosis are not just
amongst us for a time.
[2051]
Tuberculosis is
always with us, like the poor. They feed, but feed silently like the huhu in
the kahikatea [white pine]. If someone gets tuberculosis, it does not stop
feeding off him until it has killed him.
In 1928, 727
corpses were carried off by Tuberculosis here in Aotearoa; 533 of them were
under the age of forty-five, the age at which most people are at their fittest.
In that year the number reported to the Department of Health was 1318. Today
that figure is 6000 (Bernstein). Bernstein, who is a specialist in Tuberculosis
in Morrinsville, says that one person in ten in the world is suffering from
Tuberculosis each year. The population of the world is 1,600,000,000. The
number of people who have Tuberculosis in every year is 160,000,000.
Of children under
the age of 5, 3000 die of Tuberculosis each year, out of the 1,000,000 children
in England.
During the past
three years I have been collecting the genealogies of families in my area of
the Tai Rawhiti where one or more of them have Tuberculosis. I have been
surprised by those family histories. They support the saying that it is a
disease passed down to one’s descendants – it is a ‘Maori Sickness.’ One
insight that has emerged from those genealogies is this: There is no family in
this area of the Tai Rawhiti that is free from Tuberculosis.
Preventing Deaths
from Tuberculosis.
I shan’t dwell
long on this aspect. We speak of two kinds of Tuberculosis (TB). (1) The TB
that infects people (Human Tuberculosis). (2) The TB that infects cows (Bovine
Tuberculosis). There is a third affecting birds (Avian Tuberculosis).
I say just a few
words about Bovine TB associated with four-footed animals eaten by people.
In the Waiapu area
people milk cows so it is right that I comment on this. We consume the meat and
the milk of cows. This is a way in which people get Tuberculosis. If a cattle
beast has Tuberulosis those who eat it may get Tuberculosis. It is the same
with the milk. This is also one of the main sources of the illness – milk from
an infected cow. Therefore we need to take care with the milk we and our
children are drinking. So boil the milk before drinking it. And thoroughly cook
beef and pork, too.
One outcome of
this investigation into this matter is that we should move that a Government
Vet be sent to inspect all the cows in the area of Waiapu as far as Te Kaha.
[2052]
The Ways
Tuberculosis Spreads.
The cause of
tuberculosis is a small bacillus, invisible to the human eye. It only becomes
visible to the human eye through a microscope. That germ is strong and does not
soon die. It will only die after being boiled for fifteen minutes. If it lies
in the dust in a corner of a house where it cannot see the rays of the sun it
may live for three weeks. It is present in the phegm and the coughed-up blood
of the person with Tuberculosis. That is enough about this aspect. One can find
in Te Toa Takitini my articles about this.
Avoiding the
Illness.
Let me speak now
about the prevention of this illness. This is the aspect to be discussed by the
Hui. My hope and my prayer to the Minister and to the spokesmen of the tribes
who have come onto the marae, is that their discussion may bring good results.
To eradicate this illness the people must adopt the following practices:
(1)
Information
about this illness must be spread widely among the people.
(2)
That
all of us here are aware that this is an infectious disease.
(3)
There
is an early diagnosis of the illness when someone get it.
(4)
That
instruction about the illness be given in Maori Schools.
(5)
That
people be taught the rules of health: that they breathe fresh air; that they
are careful about spitting and phlegm; that they drink milk from cows that do
not have Bovine TB.
(6)
That
people ar
(7)
e
taught the benefits of sleeping in a room which is open to fresh air.
(8)
That
those who are involved with milking cows take measures to prevent their dairies
from being contaminated by cows with Bovine TB.
The people do not
already know about these rules. However they are aware that they must carefully
take notice of those observing these rules to guide the people.
T W Wi Repa MB,
ChB.
This was one of
the seven matters dealt with by the Waiomatatini Hui. Dr Wi Repa led the
discussions with Dr Ellison to support him. He laid out the deep research being
done into the eradication of Tuberculosis.
We thank Dr Wi
Repa who is devoting his abilities to helping the people. People!This is a
feast that has been laid before you. Eat it!
- The Editors.
[2053]
LETTERS RECEIVED.
Be aware that letters
containing offensive words will not be printed in Te Toa Takitini. – The
Editors.
To Te Toa,
Greetings to you,
the bird who knows where he is to land, and lands on the country’s many marae.
So much for the greetings.
Please send out the
news, to be heard by her many relatives, that Koneke has died. On 26th
March she lay down for the long sleep. She was 48. This woman was descended
from the many ancestors of Nga-Puhi at Taiamai, including Ngati-Toa and Ngati
Raukawa. This is her Nga-Puhi genealogy:
Kaitara
_______________ |____________
| | |
Kohukohu Tukarawa Te Wera Hauraki
|
| |
Ngaure Hera
Riunga
| |
Kawahe Wiremu Katene
|
Hori Ngawati = Ruiha
|
Koneke
|
Hongi Hika II
Ngaure : Died in
the vicinity of Mahia in Wera Hauraki’s war party.
Wiremu Katene: The
second Member of Parliament for the Tai-Tokerau.
Te Wera Hauraki: Every
tribe in the country knows of this chief. His body lies at Taiamai today.
Matene
|
Ruiha = Hori Ngawati
|
Koneke
|
Hongi Hika
II
Matene is the
chief who brought the great treasure of the Faith from Waimate to Taiamai. He
spread it among his great tribes.
[2054]
Her
line of descent: Ngati Toa, Ngati Huia,
Ngati Raukawa
Toko
___________|________
|
|
Moewaka Hapai
| |
Te Ru
= Rewa Titore = Te Akiri
____________|
| |
Toha Potatau Mangonui =
Kawahe
| |
Parengaope Hori Ngawati =
Ruiha
| |
Te Paea Koneke
|
Hongi Hika II
Rewa:
He is a Ngapuhi warrior. He is lamented in Number 189.
Toha:
She is a chiefly woman from Ngapuhi. She was given by her brother, Mangonui, to
Waikato as a peace-offering between Ngapuhi and Waikato. As a result the coming
of Ngapuhi against Waikato was at an end and there was peace.
Titore:
This man visited England. It was his war cloak that was presented by Mangonui
to Te Wherowhero (or Werowero).
Farewell,
Mother! Go to you many elders, men and women. Go to your brothers and sisters. Go
to th great tribe who have gone before you. Go to your undisturbed rest.
Takutai
Kaire,
Te
Ahuahu,
Taiamai,
4th
April, 1930.
To the lordly Kaka
which travels around wrapped up in the dawn, and is known as Te Toa Takitini,
greetings. Here is some cargo for you to carry to the marae of the country’s
tribes on the two islands, Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu.
About what is
being spoken of in Te Arawa – the subject of the death of Eru Tumatara, the
Ringatu Bishop. He carried out the rituals of Te Arawa at Ngaruawahia. When
Mahinerangi was dedicated the ceremonies were allocated to Matatua and Te Arawa.
Now we hear this news.
My lads! There is
something wrong about having to write this kind of account. One thinks that the
pure rite would remove the tapu
from the house; but no, the ritual led to the death of the man. He fell
ill after that Hui. That was the last ceremonial dedication of that house by
Waikato.
Subsequently, two or
three tribes have given up dedicating houses. Powers are unleashed which turn
and kill people.
Te Arawa say that Matatua’s
ritual is one for the removal of tapu from kumara. On 22nd
March, Te Arawa dedicated
[2055]
the
Ngati-Manawa House called Apa Hapai Taketake. The tohunga of Te Arawa began
with the incantation:
‘kotia
te pu waiho i konei, kotia te uru waiho i konei’
[cf
Grey, Moteatea 355]
?break
the gun, leave it here, break the head, leave it here.’ This was the chant, the
rite, which the builders sang from when they worked in ‘The Great Sacred Forest
of Taane’ until the building was erected. The second incantation was:
‘rukutia
rukutia - ? dive, dive.’
This was an
incantation to prevent the canoe from capsizing.
From the erection
of the upright [Tautiaki] slabs under the facing-boards of the house and
the placing of the Great Threshold of Taane [Te Paepaetapunui-a-Taane]
right up to the clambering over that threshold by the chosen woman, and the
opening of the door, and the crossing of the lesser threshold by the woman, the
incantations relating to the crossing of the two thresholds and the opening of
the door were not used. Neither should the [?aniwaniwa ? pou
aniwaniwa – post on the back wall of the house supporting the ridge-pole]
be struck; it is the Talisman.
At the dedication
of Te Poho-a-Rawiri, the ceremony was assigned to Matatua and Te Arawa. There
was no Te Arawa tohunga at that hui. Taupopoki, Te Naera, and Mokonuiarangi
were there but they were not able to undertake that kind of work. It fell to
Matatua to perform the right ceremony. They were descended from Taanenuiarangi down to Toroa and the rest, as far as the
Matatua people. Tupapakurau was chosen. The ceremony of the Sacred Dedication
of Taane was performed as it would be carried out for Matatua Meeting House,
and also appropriately covered Te Poho-o-Rawiri.
The purpose of
this thing, the [Kawa] Dedication, is to remove the Tapu of Taane.
Because Hine Te Iwaiwa was the one who was to enter the house and spread the
floor mat, she was the woman who performed the ceremonies associated with
crossing the lesser threshold.
I am not
criticising or despising the customs of a tribe, but only pointing out the
right procedure.
Greetings to the
Editors.
Tuhitaare
Heemi
Ruatoki
11th
April, 1930
THE TREATY OF
WAITANGI
The Petitions
To the Editors.
I am hearing only the
noise and the hullabaloo about the petition being circulated by Ratana’s people
but I have not seen it. The subject of the petition according to accounts is
the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty is still alive, however, what has gone is
the land. It is not the Treaty that is responsible for its demise but the Maori
with their desire for the Pakeha’s money and their possessions. The main clause
of the Treaty of Waitangi is that which says that Maori have the right to their
land, that is, Maori have the right to sell or retain their land. If Maori land
is wrongly sold to the Pakeha or to the Government that is their choice. It is
no good picking a quarrel with the Pakeha in these days, there are more of them
than there are Maori.
[2056]
The Pakeha are not
going to kill us; it is more likely that we will die if we fight. The right
path for us to follow is that taken by the people of the Tai Rawhiti which
means taking up farming and engaging in Pakeha business. Tomorrow Taihauauru
folk will occupy themselves with their petition and with setting up the
prophet, rather than with the land that has been taken or is overgrown.
Had they used the
thousands of pounds that have been piled into Ratana’s money-bag, or have been
used to send his emissaries around the world, or have financed visits to
America, or been spent on many journeys around our country, or been used to put
on huge Hui at Ratana, or been used to pay for the meanderings and for the
dwellings at Ratana (building a place there), of for running elections and
condemning votes – had they used this money to purchase land from the Pakeha in
this fashion there would be no limits to the amount of land. The amount of this
money is not comparable to that of those Pakeha who have acquired the land.
Land is money and money is land. What land is it that you are seeking and
petitioning about? Through their meandering to Ratana some people have had
their land taken from them. By the pleasantries of their preaching about a pot
of gold, the few Ratana collectors on the Tai Rawhiti were able to persuade
some to go down and fetch gold, but when they returned it was with only husks. Indeed,
the only pit of gold is the very land that we have sold. What is a petition?
Is it authority [mana]
that is being sought? If so, who is to embody that authority? If we are to set
up a king, who of us is it to be? A Maori King, Potatau, has already been put
in place. If Potatau is the desired King does he represent the joining up of
the many lines of chieftainship of the Maori People?
This petition about
the Treaty of Waitangi is a waste of ink, a waste of parchment, a waste of
time, a waste of breath. There is no short way to well-being; there is only one
way and that is by the sweat of your brow.
Editors, don’t be
in two minds abut publishing this article, whether you are Ratana, Hauhau,
Bolsheviks, or what-have you; but load onto my shoulders the troubles caused by
my article. Feel free, both of you. Best wishes to the people, including the
Ratana.
R[eweti] T
K[ohere]
THE NAME AOTEAROA.
To the Editors.
Greetings to the
two of you who spread the taste 0f salt throughout the country. ‘If salt has
lost its taste how can its saltiness be restored.’ [Matthew 5.13] It is the
case with Te Toa which spreads and makes known the rights and wrongs of people
and their stories: Te Toa correctly handles the things sent in by each person,
[2057]
it does not meddle
with what a person sends in, it is only concerned to spread it so that all can
read it. God sees when a person is wrong at this time. One sees evidence of
what is right and what is wrong. Everyone is capable of critical observation.
Wi Kaiapo, best
wishes to you, all five of y0u. You are one in thinking as follows: Let us be
strong in raising impediments lest they blithely say that the country gets its
name from their canoe. Thank you for your words which put a different slant on
things. Your teaching is very new. You will not find this version, AWATEAROA,
in the proverbs or songs or prayers of the elders. This is your own
pronunciation.
My friend, Wi
Kaipo! What you say turns everything upside-down. Did someone say to you that
the name Te Ika-roa-a-Maui appliesn only to this island? Did you hear from
someone that this island was hauled up separately from the others? This work is
of no account, the result of learning. The ancestors had no stories like this.
This
rather is what the elders said about the saying
‘Te ra roa o te waru, te ra roa o te wha’
The long days of sunshine in the eighth month;
The long days of sunshine in the
fourth month.
[cf Nga Pepeha 2415]
Ka ‘kumu mo te raumati,
Ko te paki o matiti kaiwai.’
There is [?anxiety] for the summer,
Given the fine weather in summer [matiti
kawai].
All these names
emerged from within Wharekura. When they settled in this country they separated.
They remembered the stories that proliferated in Wharekura, and they quoted
them in their waiata. As a result this name ‘Aotearoa’ was the original one
that was split up, as in ‘a heart [ao-te roa - ?cloud-the-long].’ But
consider this; in the beginning it was called ‘Aotea’ then Toto added the [‘roa.
- ? long].’ This thing is ‘a good
heart.’ It stuck, and descended down the generations. So the [‘roa. - ? long]
is right insofar as it has come down to us. By realising that it is a compound
word we can understand it in a different way.
But understand, my
friends, with regard to this subject, I have not said that Turi gave this name
to this country.
Kia
ora to us all.
Kaua
Rangataua Keepa
Purangi
31st
March, 1930.
NGAPUHI-KAIARIKI,
MOANA-ARIKI, TANIWHA-RAU
To Te Toa, greetings.
Greetings to the
bird that carries information to these islands of Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu.
Please publish my explanation of this name, Nga-Puhi. This is my effort to stop
people from saying that I am a carved figure on their canoe.
[2058]
Nga-Puhi: Nga-Puhi is the name of a man, and not of
a carved face on a canoe. Arikitapu married, she married Tamakitera. This
woman, Arikitapu was a puhi, a virgin betrothed to Koreroaitu. Tamakitera
arrived and took the woman, Arikitapu, for himself. Arikitapu conceived. She said to the man, ‘I am pregnant. Our
child shall be called ‘Puhi’ since I was betrothed to Koreroaitu.
Arikitapu was
hungry. Tamakitera asked what food she wanted. She said she wanted human flesh.
There was a chief, a girl called Rangiuruhina. She was killed and brought as
food for Arikitapu. Arikitapu said, ‘Cook the heart for me.’ Tamakitera asked, ‘What
about the body?’ Arikitapu said to take it to Moana-rua, to the lair of several
taniwha. That place is still known as Moana-ariki.
The time came when
the child was born. It was taken to Moana-ariki for the tohi rite. It
was given the name Puhi-Moana-Ariki. When they were returning to land it was
seized by the taniwha and carried there. Thereafter it was known as Puhi-Taniwha-Rau.
The child had four names. These were
given at Hawaiki. They were Puhi, Puhi-kai-ariki, Puhi-moana- ariki, and
Puhi-taniwha-rau. Hence, today it is sufficient to use the name Nga-Puhi.
This is the
genealogy brought from Hawaiki. I set it out for the reader to see. It is for each of you to pass down. The canoes
which brought this name from Hawaiki were Ngatokimatawhaorua and Mamari, The
chiefs on board were Ruanui and Nukutawhiti.
Arikitapu =
Tamakitera
|
Puhi --
Kaiariki -- Moanaariki
| -- Taniwharau
Atua
Oha
Waikapu
Tukuora
Tukitenganahau
___________________|
| |
Taimurauhu Maninikura
Whekake Tangitekura
Mumuteawha Tokaakuku
Raparapateuira Houterangi
Nukutawhiti Ruanui I
Moerewa == Korakonuiarua
|__________
|
Matiti
Wawenga
Hakumanu
[2059]
Tuputa
Taiwawe
Papa
Ruanui II
Tarauaua
Tauaterenanga
Teina
Waiho
Haumu
Hikuroa
Wairama
Maihi
Te Huhu
Ahipara
28th
March, 1930
‘THE DISCUSSIONS
CONCERNING THE TREATY OF WAITANGI’
(The Hui at
Ratana)
We were invited to
and arrived at Ratana Pa last Easter. The main purpose of going was the
consultation on the day that had been arranged for the return of the petition
which was designed to unite the Maori People in a request for the revival of
the Treaty of Waitangi.
On Easter Day at 1
p.m. the great hui on that subject was convened.
Tuiti Makatanara,
Member for Te Waipounamu, was Chairman, and Te Moko the Secretary, and the two
of them sat at the table. The Speaker was Wiremu T Ratana. After the prayer he greeted
the people who had gathered and those who had carried around the petition aimed
at uniting the people under the Treaty of Waitangi, adding that it was up to [?piriwiriua-
sic] to undertake the furtherance of those thoughts under the shade of the management
of the Ratana Church.
He also spoke words
of greeting to Tomoana and Nireaha (Niki Paewai) on their coming to the marae
because he had longed for Tomoana and his friends to come and share his
thoughts as there were widespread ideas that he and his friends objected to
people signing the petition which sought to unite people in upholding the
Treaty of Waitangi in the face of the afflictions of the Maori People through
the land confiscations, the taxes, the rates, the plundering of the seas, the
fishing, the snaring of birds, the ice fields – and other powers given to the
Maori for them to retain, that is, to be under their sovereignty as negotiated
by our ancestors from their days, to our fathers’ times, and down to the
present day. He said,
‘You are the
secretary of that federation. And so you have come on this day, welcome. Don’t
be bashful when it comes to speaking. And don’t speak to please people.
[2060]
Whatever you are
thinking do share it, because when we know the ideas of all the folk of the
country, if we find that we think the same we will not be under any constraints
when we explain before the New Zealand Parliament these pains heaped up on the
many marae of the people. Ngata has said, ‘The Treaty of Waitangi has rotted.’ Some
say that they will not sign the petitions because the headings are not laid out
as they would wish.
But what are those
thoughts when the issue is the important one affecting the people? However this
day is free for us to hear what you have to say. Now, since you have come to
this, the marae of our parents, welcome and grasp the country’s treasures.
Don’t be afraid of to tell us what is on your heart. We are happy, and our
hearts rejoice at your coming today. Welcome, welcome, welcome!
You people who
have gathered, greetings. Be strong in the Lord, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and their
faithful Angels, their spokesman, your spokesman, the one who is [?piriwiritua
- ?privileged] to be a guide to
human laws now and for ever. Amen.’
After him, Te Tuiti
Makatanara, MP for Te Waipounamu stood to greet the people and mentioned the
successful return of the Petitions. He also greeted Tomoana and Nireaha. He
explained the beginnings of the Federation in 1835; Maori gathered to set up Kotahitanga
– a single united voice. In 1840 came the Treaty. In subsequent years there
came the Constitution of New Zealand.
Therefore, he
said, that Parliament should be welcomed. It was the fulfilment of the work of the
years 1835 and 1840 and the Constitution up to today.
Tomoana stood.
These were his words:
‘You have invited
us here, Spokesman, you who have become famous over the past years and up to
the present. Greetings to you, the one who is uniting and bringing into one the
country’s hapu. It is not a new voice that called us to meet on your marae to
discuss together these important matters which it is thought will bring
benefits to the whole people.
And so you have
brought to our notice the treasure of our ancestors and forebears, the Treaty
of Waitangi, that it may be revived in these days when we and our lands are
suffering. We thank the voice that has called us to gather today.
It is the fact
that my heart weeps on the marae that I have left behind, along with others,
over the matter that you have taken up. Today we are without Mohi Te Ahikoia
our father, my younger brother Taranaki, my elder brother Iraia Karauria, my
mother Amiria Apatu, and most of our close friends and our family, therefore I
weep with you and the people who are gathered here.
[2061]
Greetings to our
friends who stand on this marae and our best th0ughts go out to each one who is
not here today, those who have departed before us.
Thank you, Ratana,
for y0ur words of welcome and guidance.
People gathered
here, I have been asked by your Spokesman to speak to you ‘not favouring one
thing over another,’ and I say, “Alright.” But since this is your wish that I
speak freely, I ask you to have his thought among you, that I may be given good
spirits, or good angels to bless such clear words I may utter on the marae and
to throw away any bad things to where they belong.
It is only me, but
I salute you and give thanks that this opportunity to meet you has come so soon,
and we can look beyond ourselves at what you are doing and be critical.
The Spokesman is
right in saying that the Treaty of Waitangi is a precious gift from our
ancestors. But remember that the people who thought of it and promoted it were
the first Missionaries. If you look at the history of those days you will see
that it was love which sprang from the principles of the faith that led them to
the idea of the Treaty so that Maori could live well, protected from the hands
of wicked men who had come over from Port Jackson. So it was the Missionaries
working together who bore the burden of the Treaty. And we say that it was ‘the
precious gift of our ancestors!’ That treaty would provide for taxes and rates
as the laws of England became the laws for the Maori.
Yes, I am the
Secretary of the Kotahitanga sert up by our fathers. In 1892-3 the Maori
Parliament met at Te Waipatu. Our father, Ratana, was a member of ‘the House of
Lords.’ They had important ideas! They had high ambitions! But because of their
many different understandings they split apart; one part was the Partial Self
Government group, the other was the Total Self Government group!
Our fathers, along
with Taitoko and Te Kakakura, were on the ‘Partial’ side; others were on the
shrill side of Te Teira and Tamahau. That was the end of that.
Today you are
asking us to sign Petitions under the heading: Praise the Lords, Father, Son,
Holy Spirit, and their faithful Angels, their Spokesman, and our Spokesman, now
and for ever. Amen. Below it is said that [?piriwiriatua] will be
promoting it in other places to be announced by the Spokesman, W T Ratana. At
this point
[2062]
we decline to
sign. Who is this [piriwiriatua] mentioned above? What is being done? Perhaps
you will explain? [Applause]
There are two
things for which a man may die – land and women! [cf Nga Pepeha 818] But in the understanding
of the branches of the Faith there are three things for which a man may die.
(1) A Faith. (2) Women. (3) Land. [Applause]
Consequently,
because of our faith in the Holy Trinity we abstain from signing. We recall the
command of Christ to his Apostles when he said to them to go and preach the
Gospel to the whole world and to baptise those who believe in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [Matthew 28.19]
We do not agree;
we do not believe in that part. (Applause)
But you all
believe in that teaching, and you have acted on it and promoted your Petitions
on the basis of it. So, as I see the number of people who subscribe to this
religion, I feel very much alone here. However, I have my own faith and I should be
prepared to suffer for that faith. But I want to leave that faith to one side
because this matter affects everyone. So let us not mix the things of God with
the doings of Caesar. (Applause)
It is said that,
by associating the works of the faith with what people in general were doing,
kingdoms were brought down – like Rome.
As for saying that
the Treaty should be revived, one must ask, ‘Whence and wither?’ It is wrong to
say that Ngata has said that the Treaty is rotten. If the Spokesman is able to
show a gathering or a press statement in which Ngata has said that the Treaty
is rotten, I and all of us will admit defeat.
But I am sad that
the Spokesman has chosen to say that Ngata has said that the Treaty is rotten.
Had the Apostles
or the People said this I would have punched them in the stomach. However, it
was the Spokesman, and I call on him to withdraw the statement. It may be that
the Angels gave it to him, but I ask him to withdraw the statement because it
is incorrect. (Ratana - Hear, hear!)
[2063]
The Treaty is not
rotten, nor has it been supplanted, nor is it lying there petitioning to be
revived, but it has been seized upon in a way that is incompatible with the
law. This is a fundamental plank of the law and it is the law which will awaken
it, as was the case with other infringements that were obvious.
Consider the
answer given by Te Ahera to Te Koohi’s question about Tawhiao’s Petition in 1885.
Consider the
answer given by Te Ahera, and the sad and affectionate words of Queen Victoria
in the Jubilee Year, 1897, about the Petition of the combined Chiefs of the two
islands concerning the Treaty of Waitangi, delivered by the hands of Wi Pere,
Hone Heke, and the Governor in 1897.
Consider the
response of the King’s advisers in 1924 respecting the Treaty of Waitangi, to
the Petition presented by W Ratana and others.
Consider the loyal
greetings offered by the Chiefs of the Country’s two islands to the Duke of
York by leaders of the tribes of the Country’s two islands at Rotorua in 1901,
by Timi Kara, Wi Pere, Hone Heke, Tame Parata, and Taiaroa.
Consider the
explanations by the Member for the Tai Rawhiti carried by Te Toa Takitini, 1927.
There are to be found in-depth explanations of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Consider the
responses to Te Kakakura’s Petition concerning Whitireia School Land.
Consider the
statements in Te Arawa’s case to the Crown about the Rotorua Lakes.
Consider the
statements in Nireaha Tamaki’s case concerning the Crown, and the decision of
the King’s Advisors relating to the Treaty of Waitangi in that and other cases.
You will see that the Treaty of Waitangi stands firm still. (Applause)
Therefore the
articles in Te Whetu Marama last September and in February are wrong. The
thought was that if the country was united then it would make way for the Church’s
activities and it could go about its petitioning and other efforts for everyone
which would benefit everyone. The denial of your hopes proved unconstitutional.
If all the principles
in the Treaty were put in place then our taxes and rates would be the same as
those of the Pakeha. The Crown would have authority over the rivers on which
ferries or ships sail, and over the roads which are designated Main Highways. The
laws relating to Pakeha would have precedence over Maori authority under the
Treaty of Waitangi.
It is not right that
wrongs under the Treaty should be spread abroad because it will be asked, ‘What
is the problem?’ Now, it has been impossible to
[2064]
answer because
those problems have not been carefully assessed in each area, and therefore
there are no answers to those questions. The problems of each district need to
be clarified.
However it is
important that we do address the things that are clear.
The law under the
Treaty of Waitangi is still open to us, from that time up to today.
It is right that
we should be optimistic about seeing the day when all the Maori tribes will be
united, whether under the Treaty of Waitangi or the Churches, in matters to do
with the management of the land or wider matters. It is also right that, if we
are considering bringing together the people, we select a group of perhaps ten
people along with the Spokesman from the wise men of the Federation (the Ratana
Church), along with a group of ten outsiders and Ngata to look at the broader
issues which will bring together the Country to take up the tools which will bring
about improvements or clarify or simplify those things required by the times
and which will advance everything which will further the growth of the Maori
People. But such a gathering should take place somewhere outside the pa. This
would be a place for important and wide-ranging thinking. (Applause)
Such thinking is
not to be found in old beliefs or angry hearts or hatred – not in the least –
but on the peaks where love dwells and where both material and spiritual are
paramount. The things you are proposing are wrong.
It is similar to
the ignorance shown during the forty years when Horomona, Tanguru, and Ihaia
Hutana were negotiating over the Aorangi Block. As I understand it, it took
only three weeks to find a way to release part of that block, more than
fourteen thousand acres at Ruataniwha. Such are all negotiations.
An informed body
is being set up. May we be resolute in running it. May our hands seize the
opportunities. And may we be fortunate enough to see our Maori People united in
our time. (Enthusiastic applause, and Ratana, Tuiti, some of the Apostles, and
the elderly women and men touched noses.)
Ratana and many of
the people expressed their gratitude. And one has to say that there was much
praise for the way the people listened to what was said.
My friends, we
express heartfelt thanks for the hospitality shown to us by Ratana and his
people in the pa and beyond.
[2065]
TAKING UP THE WORK
OF THE FEDERATION
At the special hui
called by Te Tuiti Makatanara and Paikea, Ratana’s secretary, the discussion
was about the wording of the Petition to be presented to the coming Parliament.
This followed Te Tuiti’s introductory words in which he told how petitions were
to be presented according to the law, and how they were set down in line with
the Constitution.
He thought that
the wording needed to be different from that on the petitions signed by
twenty-nine thousand people, because that signing was a bringing together of
the people.
Nireaha Paewai
also explained the principles behind the first, second and third clauses of the
Treaty as explained in Ngata’s booklet on the Treaty of Waitangi. He also said
that those Petitions should conform to the Treaty and the New Zealand
Constitution Act and should also explain the matters raised in those Petitions.
Te Tuiti also
explained the situations of the Members of Parliament and that they should
remember that the member for each electorate had a duty to make known to
Parliament the needs of his constituents. This was a sacred responsibility and
in accordance with political etiquette. It is also right that each electorate
should make known its problems by sending petitions to the Lower House by way
of its member. Were his colleague, Pomare, to be ill then he thought that it
would be permissible for him, Tuiti, to take responsibility for the business
and the needs of Te Taihauauru.
Te Reweti, the
Chairman of the Marae Committee, an important policy committee, explained that
he would bring that matter before the committee that organised petitions.
Tomoana said that
it was not possible to change the wording of those Petitions because they had
been signed by twenty-nine thousand people and it would be wrong to change them
after people had signed them. As he saw it, since they had signed it, that was
what they thought, and the words of those who wrote and promoted the Petition
must also be respected along with the Spokesman and his advisors. As for those
who did not sign, they were right.
[2066]
What was clear to
him was that a submission should be drawn up and presented to the ‘Federation,’
which could ask outsiders from each electorate to bring together their
grievances under the Treaty of Waitangi. These could be swiftly brought to the
New Zealand Parliament for careful scrutiny. Should the time come when it was
clear that the New Zealand Government would not do anything, then it would be
easy to take the matters to the English Government under the Treaty of Waitangi
and the New Zealand Constitution. Those requests and those petitions from every
electorate would be dealt with in the New Zealand Parliament. There was
considerable wonder at what this committee had achieved.
A report on this
matter was completed and sent to the Main Committee which dealt with Marae petitions
for the members and the Spokesman to discuss. And so the grappling with the
issues at Ratana Pa concluded. Before people left there were expressions of
gratitude for the hospitality to the Spokesman and his large group of two
thousand seven hundred who gathered to welcome the many petitions which had
been sent throughout the country to unite people under their proposals.
Makimirana of
Poroutawhao also stood to support the proposal to organise petitions about the
country’s grievances according to legal requirements. He also explained that
the Treaty of Waitangi was still alive, but what one must grasp is that it is
not taken notice of, and some in their actions are straying outside the New
Zealand Constitution, they just swim in the sea, so there can be no case. The
case of Nireaha senior and Nireaha junior went on for a long time and was
deliberately brought under the Treaty. It failed in the New Zealand Supreme
Court. In the Appeal Court in England his case was upheld. And the same will
happen in the case of the grievances when they are heard. The decisions of
Parliament or the Supreme Court may be issues to taken to England where things
can be set right. He supports this
statement. We can attach the name of the Spokesman and his Group to this
understanding of the Treaty, but if we do so, we ask, besides what has been
said above by Tomoana, that a motion be sent throughout the country that people
view their grievances in the light of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Veitch explained
while at this pa that the Treaty is still alive despite people saying that it
is rotten or dead. Therefore, using the word ‘revive’ in the notices is wrong.
We are very
grateful to Paikea, the secretary of the Federation, and Reweti, the Chairman
of the Committees, for running this ‘special’ hui which they worked at before
returning from holiday.
Best wishes to the
Country.
Nireaha Paewai and
Tomoana.
[2067]
ODD ITEMS
News has arrived
that Col. Allen, (Supervisor of Samoa) is resigning from his position. We hear
that it is because he is disheartened by the confusion there and by opposition
arising from the practices and the customs of Samoa, that he is fed up!
Three of our young
Maori have reached the lofty heights of the Pakeha this year: The Rev Wanoa in
Hastings, Dr Potaka in Whangarei and Tiaki Karaitiana, a lawyer in the
Department of Maori Affairs in Wanganui.
Sir Apirana Ngati
said: Now we Maori are ahead of the Pakeha when it comes to farming. (1)
Because we are receiving Government money. (2) Because of the Maori custom of
working together in groups. (3) Because the Maori are able to live off their
traditional foods – eels, pipi, wild pork, puha, and potatoes. (4) Because
Maori are content to live in raupo huts.
The Waiomatatini
Hui passed the following motion: That Sir Apirana Ngata asks the Government to
provide £75,000 to help Maori farming this year. Pakeha are receiving
£5,000,000 to help them with settling [breaking-in] and farming.
A Maori said, ‘I
have yet to see a Maori hui at which the fruit [outcome] exceeds the fruit
consumed.’
During visits to marae
one sees many people going about scratching themselves, and one realises that skin-disease
is widespread.
It will be very
beneficial if a person bathes two or three times a week in hot water containing
two tablespoons of Jeye’s Fluid. Do this for several weeks. It will not be
healed until the itching stops. Make every effort to wash clothes every day. We
have received information showing that the infection thrives in clothing. Use
ointments generously. Eat very little meat; eat instead puha and fish.
Meet frequently to
sing together, for entertainments, and to chat. The nights are cold and long,
and there are benefits from such activities.
The Bishop of
Aotearoa said how hospitable the people of Wharekauri [the Chatham Islands] are.
Although people belonged to their own Churches, while he was there it was as if
there was just one Church as all were concerned to entertain and to welcome him.
Therefore, he saluted the leaders of those Churches – the Mormons, the
Catholics, the Ratana, and many others. ‘May the Creator’s blessings rest upon
you.’
The Bishop of
Aotearoa was also very grateful for the support shown for his projects when he
visited the people of Taranaki and Waikato. He praised the Maori King, Te Rata,
for his words of welcome and for encouraging his people to adopt the Faith.
We have heard that
the Maori Minister is including a group of Maori Chiefs as his companions on
his visits to the [Maori Islands - ? Polynesian Islands]. This is good news. He
will take leading speakers, those who excel at haka and waiata, and who can
relate to other people.
It is right that
the ministers of the Church of all denominations should write to us with their
thoughts to the people, for the people and from the people. This is a good
place for you to share your sermon with the country, indeed with other countries,
for your paper goes to all parts of the world. It is also right that all of you
should send articles to this paper because the Church gives considerable
support to this treasure. But we are trying to find out why some of you
ministers are lazy about about sending in articles. Perhaps this is an outward
indication of one’s spiritual state, like looking gloomy or slacking.
[2068]
It would not be
proper to be always asking you for articles. It is for you to write, so that Eruwini
of Rotorua and Kaipo of Ngapuhi will not have occasion to say that the names of
Church of England ministers are not seen attached to articles. My ‘Many
Warriors,’ make every effort to send in articles. You are not being seen or
heard! People, [tu-tama-tane – be men!]. Send us your thoughts, your
ideas, you hopes; we are waiting fo them. We want many Maori articles like
those of Wairama and others that we have received.
Encourage your
young men to play rugby so that we will have a strong team to play the English
team that arrives on 14th May. On 9th July they play the
Maori team in Wellington. That night there is to be a reception for the team in
the Wellington Town Hall. This will be the official Maori welcome on behalf of
all Maori. All you marae, bring out your warriors to haka, to sing, to provide
Maori entertainment for our English Rugby visitors. It is up to you to contact
Kingi Tahiwi, the Organising Secretary, in Wellington.
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