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TE TOA TAKITINI
Registered at the
GPO as a Newspaper.
Number 109
Hastings, 1st October, 1930
A
NEW CHURCH AT PUTIKI
A Great Day in
Whanganui.
W G Williams
On 16th
December, 1839, Williams Four-eyes [Henry] arrived at Putiki on his journey on
foot from Otaki to Tauranga. He observed that the Maori hgad begun to gather on
Sunday to worship God even though no Pakeha preacher had arrived among them. A
Maori believer from Taupo, Wiremu Te Tauri, had taught them the principles of
the Christian religion.
In 1841 the Rev
John Mason was settled at Putiki to minister to Whanganui. He built the first
church at Putiki. It was a brick. The consecration was on 19th June,
1842. On 5th January, 1843, that minister was drowned in the
Turakina River and in the same year his church was destroyed in an earthquake.
On 30th
April, 1843, the Rev Richard Taylor was sgtaioned at Putiki. He was to be
minister to the Maori and Pakeha of Whanganui for 33 years. He built the second
church at Putiki. It was a large brick building and was consecrated in 1844.
After standing for forty years it was seen to be close to falling down. During
1888 the present building was erected. Before the arrival of the Rev A O
Williams as minister to Whanganui it was completed. Now this building has begun
to deteriorate and fall apart.
In the past May we gathered at my home,
Pakeha and Maori, to seek a way to raise
Published by the Rev P Hakiwai and P H Tomoana and printed at
Cliff Press, Queen Street, Hastings, HB.
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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.
money to build a
new church for us. It was decided to hold a bazaar. We have also had
instructions from the Bishop of Aotearoa to build a new, beautiful brick church
to be the main church for the whole Whanganui district, then the concerns of
most people would be satisfied.
From May until
September we heaped up the goods we thought we needed for the sale. On 17th
the Governor-General and his wife arrived. It was arranged that the
Governor-General would open our sale in the Whanganui Town Hall. The hall was
filled to overflowing with people. There was also a great number of gifts –
Pakeha goods and Maori goods. Our Pakeha friends gave us wonderful help. At
last we were seeing an event the like of which had not been seen in Whanganui
before. How well Pakeha and Maori worked together on a project which was only
to benefit Maori. Perhaps their eagerness to help was their recollection that
the first church built at Putiki-Wharanui was the Mother Church for the whole
district.
Our event ran for
two days and two nights. At night there was excellent entertainment provided by
the young people of 2YA Group – waiata, haka and poi.
In the Governor’s
speech he said that they had come here directly from Wellington for this
occasion. Although he is very busy they wanted to come to help this project. He
spoke about three matters. (1) The King wanted him and his wife to support
everything that will make life better for Maori. (2) Likewise, they have a
desire to help with things that will grow the Kingdom of God among the Maori.
(3) They remember how warmly the Maori welcomed them on their first visit to
the town. Then the Governor instructed the people not just to work
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for the building
of the church but to revive a deep faith in the hearts of each of them.
At the end of the
two days the profit from our work stood at £225/ The Trustees of the H & W
Williams Trust had agreed to give us a pound for every pound we raised. So the
amount in hand for the new church was nearly £800. Whanganui thought that when
the amount reached £1000 they would be able to start building the new church.
But if we can see a way of reaching £2000 then we can decorate the church with
carving and ornamental reed work. Therefore, Whanganui, be strong and
stout-hearted as you complete this great work of renewing the gift of your
parents and ancestors. And we are very grateful to the Governor-General and his
wife and the Bishop of Aotearoa for coming to help us on our way.
THE SLOW SINKING
OF THE CANOE OF THE MAORI PEOPLE
C. B. (Te Aute
College) [Probably Charles Bennett]
Although we have
not yet lived in the shadow of the Pakeha for a hundred years, our activities
and our thinking are as if that century has been relegated to the distant past.
The Maori of today is not the Maori of past days; our work, our ideas and our whole
way of life is very different. Maori and Pakeha ways clashed and aspects of our
own life lost out. But let us think of the thousands of years before us and, if
we have changed so much from our ancestors in the course of this one hundred
years, what will Maori be like in the many centuries to come? Perhaps in these
coming days there will be few of us who
will be willing to call ourselves Maori and although we have brown skins we
will mistakenly think we are Pakeha. Although we are Maori on the outside,
inside we will have become a different people; our activities and our ideas
will be those of a different people. We will rapidly forget the treasures of
our ancestors because of the pull of the Pakeha side. And it may be that many
of us Maori will not know a single Maori word.
There are some of
us who don’t want to do a haka in case we dirty our collars, or in case we look
bad when we stick out our tongues. Does a real Maori think in this way?
There are many
among us who are embarrassed to do a haka or to hongi [touch noses]. Were our
ancestors embarrassed?
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Others think of
themselves as being the most important person in a haka and of the others as
counting for nothing. Isn’t this a beastly way of thinking? All these things
come from the Pakeha and the Maori People are being powerfully drawn into them.
We know well the
truth of the words written above but are we not promoting these wrongs? It is
true that it is our children who are being powerfully drawn to Pakeha ways, but
it is also the case with many adults. And since it is our children who will carry
[the traditions] of the Maori People after us, it is right that we teach them
the ways of our ancestors lest they be left with only a Maori skin and no Maori
mind.
There are perhaps
some of us who are thinking, ‘What is the point of the Maori race?’ Isn’t it
good that I choose to live as a Pakeha, after all I’m still a man? My friend,
if this is how you think are you really a man? It is good that our children are
taught Pakeha things but do not let them forget Maori ways. Who among our
children know the derisive Maori songs and dances [pao me patere] of our
ancestors?
I don’t think
there are many.
But, people, they
are not at fault; they are ignorant of them because the adults are lazy about
teaching them.
This negative
thinking is striking at the Maori People, and they are not the only negative
ideas we have. Is it good for the Maori People if our daughters marry Chinese
and Africans? This is wrong. Who is at fault? It is the parents who failed to
teach their children what is right and what is wrong.
People, wake up!
While you are sleeping your canoe is slowly sinking. Don’t let the canoe
paddled by our ancestors sink. Use the paddles and teach our children how to
use those paddles.
NGATI-POROU Part IV
R[eweti] T
K[ohere]
When I was small,
if a Pakeha arrived in Te Araroa the news spread: ‘A Pakeha has arrived!’ The
elders came out to see and we children to stare. Pakeha were invisible in those
days. One of Ngati-Porou’s strategies for
survival in those days was to avoid being quickly swallowed up by the Pakeha
and not to adopt the Pakeha’s bad ways. It was clear that those hapu close to
towns were falling into the many temptations of
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the world –
laziness, beer-drinking, playing cards, billiards, horse-racing and driving
cars. It is true that such things brought people much pleasure but they are not
compatible with farming. Many Maori had suffered as a result of betting on
horses or through coveting cars. Playing cards and billiards teach people to be
lazy. The closest town to Ngati-Porou and it was only important business that
took people there.
When Maori were
given the power to vote on the issue of the prohibition of the sale of beer,
Ngati-Porou voted against the provision of alcohol to Maori within the Horouta
area but the public houses selling alcohol remained open. Although Ngati-Porou
overthrew their first vote the tribe’s hand was still against this drink which
so misled people.
In these days when
the roads have been improved and metalled, and bridges have been built over the
rivers, it has become very easy for Ngati-Porou to go to the towns.
Totalisators have been approved for Ruatoria and Uawa and Ngati-Pourou are
following the practices of other tribes that are mad about horse-racing.
According to the Pakeha, Ngati-Porou is coming out of its shell and is facing
up to the New World – the unsettled world, the mad world.
The main reason
why Ngati-Porou became so good at farming is the reason why others have done it
– Pakeha, Chinese, Africans and others; it provided a living as did their
sheep-farming and wheat growing before the Hauhua incursion in 1865. They went
south to cut grass in Turanga in spite of the fertility of their own land which
they had retained, and they had instructors. After the loss of the Ngati-Porou
ships the Pakeha owned boats that carried the Maori produce to Auckland –
cattle, pigs, corn and fungi, When Hone Hiki Kohere and Reihana Maori went to
Auckland they met the Pakeha captain of a vessel; his name was [?John Keen].
That Pakeha took them back to the Tai-Rawhiti on his boat. This was the
beginning of Ngati-Porou’s corn-growing. The most successful places where corn
was grown were Wharekahika, Te Araroa and Horoera beyond Waiapu. John Keen sold
the corn in Auckland and he it was who brought here foodstuffs and clothing and
other things that were wanted. Because the corn production did so well John Keen
increased the number of his ships. Two of them he called ‘Awanui’ and ‘Waiapu.’
Growing corn was hard work in those times. In those days Ngati-Porou had not
yet acquired draught horses, or steel ploughs, or harrows, or scarifiers, or
carts. Oxen were the only working animals then. When the corn was dry and ripe,
it was broken off, and scaped and heaped up. Then it was carried to the
platform and
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thrown to the man
on the platform. The platforms may have been specially built but the easiest
ones were set on trees that had the top branches lopped off. The corn was
suspended on the [?whiro o Whangamaihi] and it is beautiful to look at.
If people’s platforms were overflowing they were happy and they sneered
at others like a many today who has a large cheque-book. The machines that
milled the corn were powered by people. When the corn was in clean bags it
would be carried by people to the boats. The Maori boats were not like today’s
boats; they were certainly not designed for such work. Ngati-Porou at Waiapu
would load a bag in front of the saddle on the horse’s neck and it would be
taken five or more miles to Te Awanui.
One can appreciate
the hard and heavy work involved in growing corn in those days, but it provided
people with food and clothing. In the days of corn growing most of the people
of Te Araroa got timber houses and some of those houses are still standing today.
When more Pakeha settled in the Ngati-Porou area, Maori got sheep which
required a lot of work and they abandoned the hard work of corn growing. Te
Whanau-a-Apanui took over that work so that Ngati-Porou called Te
Whanau-a-Apanui ‘The Corn Eaters.’
The Example of
the Pakeha
I have written
earlier of how, when James Williams settled at Waipiro, he provided work for
Ngati-Porou and they stopped going to Turanga to cut grass. In those days the
prices received for wool and mutton were not high. Many years later Sidney
Williams settled at Tuparoa, Ken Williams at Matahiia, and relatives and
friends of the Williams Tribe in other places. Pakeha settled throughout the
Tai-Rawhiti. The Williams Tribe had money and were skilled at raising this
valuable item – sheep. They were also keen to have Maori working with them. It
is only foolish Pakeha who say that it was Pakeha only who improved the land, and not Maori. What they are saying
is that it was Pakeha who provided the money to pay the Maori for their sweat.
The Tai-Rawhiti bush has almost gone because Ngati-Porou bent their shoulders
to clearing it to provide pastures for sheep and cattle. It was Maori who
felled the bush, not Pakeha. It was Maori who sheared the sheep, who erected
the fences, who sowed the grass, who dug the ditches to [?whiu] the
saddle-bags, and did the many other jobs involved in rearing sheep. There were
many Pakeha who were bosses as the Maori shed their sweat. Without the Maori as
workers the Pakeha could not have developed their land. Maori men and women cut
down the
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manuka leaves and
the tauhinu shrubs for six shillings a day, while providing their own food. To
say that it was the Pakeha alone that developed the Tai-Rawhiti is wrong and
foolish.
By the settling
among them of the Williams Tribe – the descendants of Williams Four-eyes
[Henry] and Williams the Brother [William] – Ngati-Porou got work and money.
The Parent of
the People
Previously I have
carefully described Ngati-Porou’s involvement in sheep farming for which they
are well-known, but I have said little about farming in general. Farming is the
strength and the sustenance of the country. For every £100 that the country
receives more than £90 comes from the land. Without the products of the land,
the sheep, thee cattle, the fruit and other things, the country would be
bankrupt. Maori are very right to say that Papatuanuku is the Parent of the
People.
(To be
continued.)
AOTEAROA
Kapua Rangataua
Keepa
At last I am free
to answer the articles by my friends. In last June’s paper there was an article
by Tuhitaare in which he said that Kurahaupo landed in this country. That
statement is wrong. That canoe broke up at sea.
You also said that it is not right for someone to take upon himself the
naming of another person’s possessions. In response I ask, ‘How was it that
Matene Te Whiwhi named a King for Waikato?’ The whole country agreed and a King
of Waikato was established – Potatau. The fault is in y0ur genealogy. Who was
Noah? Who was Rata [? Lot, but Rota in Paipera Tapu]? These are Bible names.
Noah belongs with the ancestors. Rata belongs with Kupe. He has three names.
Shem does not belong with Rata, nor do Tawhaki and Tuwhakarae. These accounts
are extraneous, from a different place. It ia also erroneous to associate these
with the Bible. We mustn’t let them corrupt the correct accounts of the
descendants. Nor is Murirangawhenua a descendant of Maui and Hinauri was not
Maui’s sister. These assertions are wrong.
As for the
genealogy of Maihi Te Huhu, it is as Heemi says. Hinauri is not a descendant of
Kupe. Wi Kaipo, Moretekorotunga did not exist. I did not know about the
convergence of your genealogy with that of Turi. Did it not happen later? You
alone know. As for your statement about Caesar, yes, Caesar knew that he was
speaking the truth. No-one can criticize that. He knew that all Israel’s doings
sprang from envy. Hence his
[2160]
words. But, Wi,
what you wrote was not right and it has been criticized and found to be at
fault. If it were not faulty it would be alright. Do not be critical of
Wharekura [buildings where occult lore was taught] for the accounts given by
these Whare-wananga [places where tohunga taught lore] came from other Wharekura, and some ancestors
brought correct accounts while others brought incorrect accounts. Some forgot
things. At last, in these days they are collecting the accounts, therefore,
these accounts are called in question, and some information is withheld and
some learning is lost in the past.
As for your saying
that if a court were to hear your case you would be seen to be right. Friend,
the court’s judgements are not always as clear as you might like as we seek a
decision on whether our stories are true. The stories presented there are about
getting money with which to pay the lawyers. If you arrive there with no money
with which to pay the lawyer your unanswerable case will not be heard. It has
been known that a person with money and a story full of lies has brought his
false case to court. This is a problem for you.
You say that these
are thee accounts given by your elders, and their wise utterances. Very well! I
also have the ccounts given by my elders. But you must also be aware that their
manner of speaking was sacred and circumspect lest the ‘knots in the timber’
should be perceived. Others saw them and remembered them as wise sayings. One
has to be careful in setting down the wisdom or the errors of another.
As for the Treaty
of Waitangi, I ask, Is the Treaty your property or the property of you
ancestors? Do you know that the Treaty conveys authority when it speaks of
people and land? Indeed, whence came the problems that are afflicting us Maori
people? Was the Queen given an authority to deceive us? Think back to the time
of Selwyn who said, “The authority of the Queen over-rides that of Potatau.”
But it is not right to place such sayings above those we are contending for.
Let us consider carefully the saying, ‘Ka Ao! Ka Ao!’ – ‘The day dawns!
The day dawns!’ You can see that it is not in the form, ‘Ka Ao! Ka Ao! Ka
Awatea-roa’ – ‘The day dawns! The day dawns! The long-awaited dawn has
come!’
See, does this
conform to what attracts you?
Let me lay out
clearly the basis of our discussion.
I set out what is
in dispute as follows. There is a saying about Taane – ‘The heart of a bird.’
Toto likens the good heart of a bird to the good heart of a person. And I also
see the good heart descending on the generations as you do in your comparison. But
my comparison sees it as love descending. So do not afterwards delight in
criticising this ‘heart of a bird.’ How are we to reach a concusion?
[2161]
Will we come to
blows? Perhaps not. Although the faith meant little before we now know that so
long as anger blazes we will not attain the ‘good heart.’ Wi, you must know
that it took more than one hundred years for [?patoka] to spread. And
when the faith had spread widely, Mr Maunsell went to Taupo to preach the
Gospel [?te whawhatanga ka mate]. Make your criticisms there.
As for your words
about the naming, I have written about that. Yes, who were Kupe and
Kuramarotini? They were not ancestors. And di they not arrive here in a canoe?
When they returned to their distant homeland Kupe spoke about naming this land.
When they came they gave an account of the new land they had found. Why should
it be that the name of this canoe, ‘Aotea,’ was given to the land they had
discovered? It becomes clear if we look closely at how people’s names are
pronounced. Wi! Wi! W H Kaipo doesn’t hear and doesn’t respond. It is the same
with group supporting ‘Aotea,’ who answer that it is ‘Aotearoa.’ Kia ora to
Tuhitaare and the others.
TOKA-A-KUKU
Angiangi Te Hau
My friends, I am
writing down what I heard from some of our old folk about the arrival of
Kakatarau here in Nukutaurua. The story
that reached Waiapu was that all the people of Wairarapa, of Heretaunga, of Te
Wairoa were brought here to Nukutaurua by Kakatarau of Waiapu. He also gathered
in Te Wera and all of Ngati Kahungunu who liked at Kaiuku.
These are the
chiefs who spoke to us who lived there.
From
Wairarapa From
Nuhaka
Tu-te-pakihirangi Ihaka
Whaanga
Kaweka-irangi Toroiwhiti
Kai-a-te-kokopu Tamkihana
Taruke
From
Heretaunga Te
Mahia
Pareihe Te
Kauru-o-te-rangi
Te Hapuku Tangihaere
Tiakitai Hone Maru
Tareha Te
Whareumu
Waikopiro Aperahama
From
Te Wairoa From
Ngapuhi
Raihania Te Wera
Hauraki
Hamana Tiakiwai Tarapipipi
Te Waru Peketahi
Henare Apatari Mangungu
From
Mohaka
Paora Rerepu
Te Wainohu
Wi Repa says that
Kaiuku was defeated by Waikato. This is wrong. But the tribe that suffered was
Rongowhakaata who were defeated on the beach at Te Pukenui. Kaiuku was saved by
the eighty guns of Ngapuhi.
[2162]
The first
expedition by Ngati Kahungunu and Ngapuhi, that is, with Te Wera Hauraki, was
at the request of kaumona and Tawheo over the seizure by Whakatohea of the land
at Taanga-a-mahaki. The pa at Kekeparaoa had been completed. It fell in 1833.
Te Awariki and the remnant in the pa died there. Secondly, Pareihe asked Ihaka
Whaanga and Te Whareumu to attack Ngati Tuwharetoa and Ngati Raukawa to
liberate his home in Heretaunga. Te Whareumu told him to speak to his chief, Te
Wera, and in 1834 Te Roto-a-tara was defeated by Ngati Kahungunu and Ngapuhi.
Te Momom died here.
In 1835 Tuwharetoa
were defeated at Omakukura and Te Wera Hauraki avenged the Ngati Kahungunu
deaths.
As for the coming
of Kakatarau, there were two objectives. (1) Making peace with Ngati Kahungunu
of Heretaunga. (2) To ask them to go to avenge the death of his father,
Pakura-Hoia, and that of Te Pori-o-te-Rangi. The first request was to Ihaka
Whaanga, then he asked Te Whareumu, and then Te Wera Hauraki. When they agreed,
the Nukutaurua war party set out in 1936. This was to Toka-a-Kuku.
I agree with some
of what RTK has written. When Tuteranginoti’s party, the tribes from outside,
charged they were pursued by Ihaka Whaanga and Marine, the son of Te Wera.
Ihaka ran and the lad was seized, whereupon all the hapu of Ngati Kahungunu,
Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, and Ngapuhi charged the army of the pa,
Toka-a-Kuku, which was outside the pa. Then the Ngapuhi guns fired and many men
died. These dead were suspended on a platform. Those who stayed in the pa
survived. Hence the burden of Eraihia’s waiata at the opening of the Te
Aitanga-a-Hauiti meeting house, Te Mihaia, when he said: ‘To Hikataurewa, who
guarded my platform of dried kumara at Toka-a-Kuku.’
Wi Repa’s account
is also wrong when he says that only five men died and were displayed on the
platform following that foray.
But I criticize
you, RTK, for saying, ‘Te Wera was not the General.’ I am not from Ngapuhi; I
belong to Ngati Kahungunu, in case you think
I am biassed in saying this. But in these days our knowledge of these
stories is somewhat fragmentary, nevertheless we must make every effort to
correct Wi Repa’s accounts. There are faults there. Wi Repa, when you say,
‘Hongi did not overthrow Te Toka-a-Kuku but he went on to defeat Matakitaki Pa
and Mokoia Pa. My friend, who was Te Wera?
[2163]
Do you think he
was of the same lineage as Hongi who defeated Waikato, Matakitaki, and fought
the battle of Mokoia? You say that Kaiuku was defeated by Waikato. This is
wrong; it was not defeated. But
Rongowhakaata was defeated at Pukenui.
The battle you
speak of and your statement that Kahu lived there – my friend, that battle was
in 1837. As for the statement that the people were not eaten, yes, it is true
that no-one was eaten because the influence and the teachings of the faith had
reached the tribes by those times. Fighting and the words of the faith were
mixed up in those days. There had been 23 years of the sowing of the faith.
Don’t think that it was Taumata-a-Kura who introduced it. No. If the teachings
of the elders of those days is followed we shall see the power of the word that
came to them and to others of each hapu. ‘I have abandoned what I was formerly;
I have turned to the faith for life.’
From the
Editors: My friend, there is and extraordinary haka
that has been performed by the elders of Heretaunga right up to the present
day.
Leader: News has come from afar that Paraihe
Kai-a-te-kokopu is coming.
All: Ah, my heart is disquieted! Ah, my
heart is disquieted!
Leader: I have heard that people are being sniffed
out.
All: Ah, my deep feelings are discovered!
Ah, my deep feelings are discovered!
Leader: Who has come to this land from afar?
All: Ah, to batter people! Ah, to batter people!
Leader: Where is everyone going, pursued by Hongi?
All: He comes here. That’s clear. Moving
onwards!
All: He comes here. That’s clear. He
moves onwards and strikes.
All: Hei! hei! hei-ha!
A Correction
In RTK’s article
about Ngati-Porou in the June edition it said: ‘The Pakeha says, “Let the
calabash be plain so that it may safely stand in the light.”’
It should have
read: ‘E ki ana ko nga pakeke, “Kia kino te tahā kia tu noa ai i te
marae.”’ ‘Mature people say, “Let
the calabash be plain so that it may safely stand out on the marae.”’ [cf Nga
Pepeha 1291]
Typos Happen
Tiaki (guard) can
be confused with Tiaka (a dam – a cow that has given birth to a calf).
[2164]
WHO GETS THE
CREDIT?
Those of us who
were present on the day when the ashes of our friend Sir Maui were committed to
the belly of the land of his parents and ancestors in their vault at Manukorihi
saw and heard all Taranaki grieving and suffering, and mourning the end of
their hope that a leader would emerge from among them. Many of those who came
will not utter openly the words that were spoken there or tell of the works
that were done there. But it was the falling of the great totara, heard by
small and great – the deaf heard, the blind saw.
The appropriate things
that we and our friends should be recalling about your relative, about the elder
of this country, are his achievements, his character, his concern for the
people and the things he did during the time he was the captain of the many
canoes in which he stood in his many roles.
His journey began
with his seeking Pakeha learning on Te Waipounamu. He went to Te Aute College.
At this time there had developed a strong movement encompassing the law and the
promotion of the health of the Maori. The seniors behind this project were
Apirana Ngata (Sir A T Ngata, MA, LLB), Hector Hokena (a Pakeha, Archdeacon of
Waimate), Hone Teimana (Interpreter, Land and Commission Agent, New Plymouth), and
Anaru Tiwaka (Registrar of the Native Land Court, Rotorua). These were the senior pupils at that time who
first set up the programme for the improvement of physical and spiritual health;
that is, they laid out a programme base on the ideas of Mr Thornton, the
Headteacher of the School. When some of these finished college, it fell to
Hawkins, Haaka Tautuhi and Tomoana to promote these ideas. They were passed on
to Te Reweti Kohere, Maui, Teneti Tomoana, Wi Repa and Te Rangihiroa. This was
the time when the young men of Te Aute, with their packs on their backs, Began
to spread themselves around the marae of Heretaunga, Mohaka, Te Wairoa, as far
as Gisborne and Ngati-Porou. One of their messages was, ‘Make holes so that
fresh air can circulate in the meeting house.’
In his
school-work, Maui was outspoken in sharing his ideas. At that time a religious
group wanted to recruit Te Aute pupils. They chose Teneti and Maui. This was
when Maui went to America. It had become clear to him from the time he joined
up until he returned that he had to follow the path of medicine.
[2165]
He became Head of
the Department of Health’s Maori Section and Chairman for the Maori Councils
set up under the Councils Act 1900. During the Great War he was Mentioned in
Despatches for his loyalty and for the efforts of Maori in the fighting. He
returned home.
After this he
became Minister of Health for the whole country when Massey was Prime Minister.
This was an important position since he was responsible also for the health of
the Pakeha. When Coates became Prime Minister he gave that role to Young. There
was a lot of hostile criticism directed at Coates for his treatment of Maui.
As for Government
actions it was now at last that people saw the effectiveness of this man of
ours. The matter of land confiscations came to the fore.
To summarize our
thoughts, let us look at what Coates said when he was Prime Minister. This is
from the Gazette.
The Gazette and
his articles are fine. But at this time, when we have heard the wonderful
tributes from people when the ashes of our friend arrived at Manukorihi, we
were also aware that there were allegations that the ashes were those of an
animal and people said that cremation was wicked, and their tributes were
directed at Coates. The hand of the Forbes Government was forgotten. The Maori
|Minister and his secretaries, Sir A T Ngata and Te Raumoa [Balneavis], from
the government side were forgotten. The Tai Rawhiti wa forgotten, and the
mother-in-law of Maui, Meri (Mrs Woodbine Johnson) was forgotten, as were
Makuaiterangi Ellison (Ngati Kahungunu), Henare Ruru (Rongowhakaata|),
Tutepuaki (Rongowhakaata), and Wiremu Potae (Ngati-Porou), the Tai Rawhiti
chiefs who came to bring the ashes of their son-in-law and the tears of these
tribes. The tributes moved on to Coates.
The Taihauauru
were in error and diminished in this instance. Except for Te Kapinga, the last of those who
think more broadly, whose thoughts are those of Te Whiti and Te Tohu, who is
linked to Turi who is said to be of the Aotea canoe. Him we salute. Te Kapinga,
we greet you, the Amokura-tu-rae [the red-tailed tropic bird who stands on the
headland] of Rau-a-iwi [another people] gathered in the afterlife. Thankyou for
your words and your greetings.
Let us begin with
what was done in Parliament..
Who
was it who facilitated Maui’s becoming Chairman of the Maori Councils? Ngata.
Who
provided the information about ‘Confiscations’ to support Coates’ battle?
Ngata.
Who
raised the question of Maui being honoured in despatches? Ngata and the Tai
Rawhiti.
Who
facilitated the return of the ashes and their delivery to Manukorihi? Ngata and
his Government.
Who
accompanied Maui’s ashes to Manukorihi? Ngata and the Tai Rawhiti.
[2166]
Who
explaine3d the Taranaki Confiscations at Waitara on the day of the burial of
Maui’s ashes? Ngata.
How are we to keep
before the people and the Government issues relating to the Maori People? We
must share our thoughts with Ngata and his Government.
As for the Member
for the Taihauauru to take Maui’s place, it wojuld be right for Ngata to name
him. But as people are eager to stand as Member the matter will involve much
splashing about. That is alright because it will fall to Ngata to explain
things to the Member without glasses.
But at this point
we are troubled, at least those of us who have been to school, as we seek to
support the stupid and the dumb. There are perhaps some other viewpoints
supported by the boys - the lawyers,
office clerks, schoolteachers, and doctors. You of the ‘Young Maori Party,’ don’t
waste your intelligence by making a decision on the basis of affection or
family relationships. If you decide in this way who is to lead you, what is
right will not flourish and you will be troubled with problems. That would be
dreadful
One person who
aspires to be a Member has said, ‘If I defeat the Government I will also defeat
Ngata and the Maori People.’ The thing that led to this statement was the
advice Ngata gave when the English Rugby Team was in Wellington. He urged those
on the Taihauauru who were wanting the nominations to be closed to be patient.
It was an important decision. His idea was that it should be someone who could
assist him easily to find ways to complete those projects. In the event, no-one
listened to his pleas. Therefore the answer to the question in the Heading is,
‘Give the credit to Ngata and Te Raumoa.’
LETTERS RECEIVED
Be aware that
Te Toa Takitini will not publish abusive letters from contributors. – The
Editors.
To Te Toa
Takitini.
I salute you and
those who have passed on. At this time it is you who are alive. Therefore the
heart reaches out to you as the chief post in the meeting house, as the place
where people’s ideas come together before you. Kia ora to you, and be diligent
[2167]
in
spreading abroad the ideas, the greetings, and the griefs of the four corners
of the country. Since you are the parent of the Maori People be strong as you
carry our treasure. Don’t be afraid. Instruct your children to devise wings for
you so that you can fly to the many areas. Kia ora to you.
From
your servant,
Pinia Hami
Tepania. Kaitaia, 18/9/30
To the Editors.
Greetings to the
two of you who care for our great treasure, the voice of each tibe, that flies
to the whole country. Kia ora.
I
write to inform the Church that I and my fellow-leaders in Whanganui, Pakeha
and Maori, are preparing to build a new church for ourselves. Although these
are difficult times, with God’s blessing it will happen. We will tell you when
it will be completed and when it will be consecrated.
From
your fellow-worker,
W G Williams,
Whanganui. 22/9/30.
A RESPONSE TO
RATANA
To the Editors.
Greetings to you
both.
This is a response
to Ratana’s letter published in Number 197. This was Ratana’s first letter to
Te Toa Takitini but it stirred up the dust. Such words wer inappropriate coming
from a man who has promo0ted himself before the whole world as ‘the mouthpiece
of God’ and ‘Piri Wiri Tua,’ although I don’t know what language this is.
In the opening
words of Ratana’s article he called me his friend. But, as he went on, he
forgot his friend and I became ‘mad, mistaken, beside myself and very foolish.’
Ratana had discovered ‘the most foolish man in the world.’ He had forgotten
some of the words he used – silly, deranged, a sheep’s head, a fool. Ratana
presents as being irascible, irksome, and as needing care. People are wont to
project their own faults onto others. Such taunting, such vexation is not the
language of thoughtful people.
So I have set out
what Ratana alleged. I set it down without omission lest I misquote him.
First, Ratana says
that the Treaty of Waitangi is dead. This matter has been debated by the
leading lawyers, those qualified to grasp such matters, in the Supreme Court of
Appeal which declared that the Treaty is a living law. As a result, Te Arawa
retains its mana over its lakes. Only one man has said that the Treaty f
Waitangi is no longer valid and that was Timi Kara [Sir James Carroll]. He said
this when Massey said that his Bill for
[2168]
the Settlement of
Native Lands (Confiscation Act) would be invalidated by the Treaty of Waitangi.
Timi Kara was not a lawyer but Apirana Ngata was and he said that the Treaty of
Waitangi was still legally enforceable. If the Treaty has rotted, will Ratana make
it sweet again and revive it? In this way, by battering the Maori People will
our voice be strengthened and empowered? In the case of the rock-oysters, it is
the Maori custom to put an embargo on food so that it continues to produce.
In answer to
Ratana’s question as to whether I am a foreigner or a Maori, I say, ‘Yes, I am
a Maori-foreigner, and I don’t belong to the Jews, the people of the
circumcision.’
Secondly, Ratana
said, ‘You say that it is by farming that Maori will prosper.’ This saying was
intended for the whole Maori People and not for Ratana only, and I don’t think
I was wrong. I gave as an example the activities on the Tai Rawhiti. I am a
worker and I get my living by the exhaustion of body and mind by hard work.
While write this my hands are blistered.
Thirdly, Ratana
said, ‘You say that Ratana’s activities are directed at him being made king of
the country. Friend, what a mad thing to say!’ What I actually said was, ‘Were
a king to be set up, which would be the consequence, which of us would be
king?’ And Ratana said that if he were to become king he would have me arrested
and put in prison fo slander and I would not be let out until I have paid the
last farthing.’ These words indicate that Ratana wants to become king, albeit
like the kings of cannibal times since for a simple slander – in a case of
slander – I would rot in prison, me! the man without a farthing. At least we
know that for Ratana for anyone to speak badly of him is a very dreadful sin,
like blaspheming God.
Ratana should look
at Alice in Wonderland; there he’ll find his queen. Whatever a person said,
that monster would wave her hand and shout, ‘Off with his head!’ It is the same
with Ratana who wants to lop off my head for mocking him. Perhaps Ratana
doesn’t know that kings don’t make the laws these days.
Ratana also says, ‘Send
it to Ratana Station, Ratana Farm, Ratana Post Office, and to Ratana Money
Order Office, and to WIREMU RATANA.’ I don’t get the gist of these words. How
do these statements relate to my articles printed by Te Toa Takitini? However,
it just goes to show how keen Ratana is to smear his name everywhere, just as
the Pakeha gives the name of the Prince of Wales to a stallion. The noble names
of Maori are sacred; they are not smeared on notice boards, or on fences,
orgiven to animals.
Fourthly, it is
true that I said that much money has been expended on the many activities and
the many travels of Ratana, his money and that of many other people. I did not
say that it was my money. I said that if that money were used to buy land we
would have much land, and people would not be madly looking for coal and gold.
As for Ratana’s requests for receipts, it is not Maori practice to write
receipts. No, it is the crafty, who are not so stupid as to write receipts, so
that they don’t get caught out. Ratana knows that I don’t know if any money
received by him or his friends has receipts or not. I did not say that he took
money from his people; he it was who spoke of receipts. Ratana needs extra
care. He can be irksome like a horse that tosses its head until it is taken
firmly in hand. But note the accusation by Reweti Kingi: Ratana demanded that
he provide him with a receipt.
Ratana has called
me ‘mad,’ but what is the appropriate name for a man who calls himself ‘the
mouthpiece of God?’ It has been agreed that he is to be called ‘the Alpha and
the Omega – the Beginning and the End.’ He is the one who bestows ‘the Breath
of the Almighty.’ He is ‘Piri Wiri Tua.’ As I see it, the right place for this
sort of man is Porirua.
I ask, ‘What is
the meaning of these words, ‘Piri Wiri Tua,’ and what language do they come
from? They seem to be related to English words, ‘Billy, Willy, Tour.’ If this
is not the case then perhaps they come from Chinese. Some foolish people may
think that they are from the language of the angels and not from the English
like the Pai Marire prayer which the Hauhau used as a hymn.
Po-porini hoia tu
Ewhe era teihana
Ta te Munu tana niu
Ingike teihana.
This derisive song
goes on, but I translate this part into English as I did with the sacred name
of Ratana, so that the school children can see it and laugh. Here it is:
Fa – Fall in soldiers
Jew
F L Attention!
Munu’s own niu [a Hauhau
pole].
Ink Attention!
Ratana’s work is
to divide the Maori People – to make us different. Our strength, our mana,
depends on our being united, not on being divided.
R[eweti] T
K[ohere]
[2170]
MAORI GATHERINGS
FOR PLEASURE
One has heard it
said at gatherings of our young people for leisure activities over the past
three years that they are a great waste of time and money on the part of the
Maori People. In these days when people are experiencing hardship in many areas
of life – in the low prices being received not just for cream, wool, sheep,
cattle and tobacco, but for everything. Given this situation people are
conscious of the expense of going to hui and the cost to marae of hosting hui,
and one recalls the above statement.
The activities
spoken of are tennis tournaments, hockey tournaments, and perhaps some funerals
and bereavement visits and suchlike. Some Pakeha have asked Government Ministers
to intervene with Maori to reduce the amount of travel to such activities given
the difficulties of the times.
We have not
reduced our travelling in numbers to such functions. When people gather for a
hockey tournament as many people turn up as there are local people to do all
the work to accommodate them, provide a lot of food, and they do it as if it
was easy. But being united in heart, people are intent on being there with
their children and grandchildren at these gatherings of young people even if
there are no discussions or issues which have broad repercussions for the
people and the country. Those wanting instruction in the faith are desperate to
go to this kind of hui. People go for discussions and others go for the sports.
The time has come when we have the guidance of people who are aware of the difficulties
of the time and who are urging people to be thrifty with their possessions
during the next five or six years.
It is right that
people should think in this wa hy of their goods whatever the situation,
although this appears miserly and niggardly to Maori eyes who see it a right to
show hospitality to people in difficult times. From one point of view we hve
become deeply embedded in Pakeha ways and we should do as they do. Maybe we
should look at our scheduled hui to see whether they should be held at the same
time and place?
There are two main
sports gatherings scheduled for the coming year. They are the tennis tournament
in Auckland during the Easter Holiday and the hockey tournament in June here in
Hastings. Along with the Ratana gatherings at Christmas and April these are
some of the large hui attended by people from Te Rerenga Wairua to the far end
of Te Waipounamu. But among other hui that are being talked of there is one at
Tokomaru in Taranaki where carved meeting houses are to be opened.
[2171]
As we see it, that will involve great expense
for the decoration of those houses which will have been erected as important
memorials to things that have happened to the Maori People. It would also be
right to seek out other important activities which could take place at the same
time as the opening of those houses.
It is the case
that some tribes are increasingly drawn in these days to thinking that it would
be right for such occasions to be used as a platform where our leaders could
deal with important matters.
It is also right
that we should look carefully at our situation as separate Churches and ask if
we are not called to come together for our Church hui, to seek together ‘the
better part’ [Luke 10.41] for the Maori People who yearn for all hearts to be
united, to be of one mind, to be one Church, and that Maori be united. As we
see it, by such kind-heartedness, we can discuss and find the way easily to respond
to the urgings, whether they be right or wrong, about what path to take or how
to work on Maori issues (land, health [?tinana]). In this way we will
hasten the eime when we come to and agreement about whether to do this or that
as we are being urged.
There are two
possibilities before the Maori People, to adopt Pakeha ways or to cling to
Maoritanga. Perhaps this is why we continue to gather for our recreations, for
our Church hui, our hui for meeting houses, our funeral hui, our hui for discussions,
which we seek out in these days. We still go enthusiastically to hui – ‘a waste
of time,
But its would be good
were our heads, our leaders, to look into the advice we are being given: Try
out having smaller hui now!
THE DAIRYMAN
There are many
discussions about this matter which we refer to as milking cows; but I am
setting out below one aspect that the dairyman needs to read about.
I will put
together below these few words.
(1)
Before
engaging in the occupation first it is essential sow the right grass for the cows.
After that you can buy cows. This is obvious. This is not advice to the foolish
but to those with understanding. One doesn’t go hastily into milking, but first
one grows the food for the cows. Then it is easy.
[2172]
(2) It doesn’t matter how good the breed of cow
is if the grass is wrong.
(3)
New Zealand is said to be a very good place for dairy farming because of
the
warmth of the earth and the wind, but plant
food for the cows.
(4) The people of Mohaka are to be congratulated
on their commitment to the
work and also on getting some
thousands of pounds to help them. Be strong.
Be brave. But what is proving difficult
is feeding your cows: the grass is not
right.
There are at hand
those people who have the learning and the desire to spread their knowledge to
add to that of your elders who are helping you. Observe constantly the quantity
of grass and the right time for sowing and spreading it do that the grass is
available at the right time for feeding the animals, and so that they produce
much milk and excellent cream, and all is well, along with his livestock, for
the Dairyman.
GRACIOUS LORD
Tune:
‘I need Thee every hour.’
P[araire] H
T[omoana]
A lullaby for a
heart that longs for the closeness of the Saviour.
Gracious Lord,
I need you so much.
‘Come to me,’
You say in your great love.
Be close to
me
All the
time.
Remember me,
Lord.
Gracious Lord,
Be always near
And drive away
Temptations.
Be close …
Gracious Lord,
Love me always
And gently
Guide me.
Be close …
