HURIHIA'S RACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 141, 16 June 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

HURIHIA'S RACE.

A TALE OF THE TAUPO COAST

RAISING THE FIERY CROSS

A SURPRISE FOR THE INVADER

(By J.C.)

A party of lady harriers astonished Maid oldsters in a New Zealand citv Mihurb the other day. (Maybe they lui\e these female athletes even in c i.ristchurch now.) The muscular Mrters in shorts and singlets trotted swiltly with a grim determination that boded success in other endeavours of hie such as running down a husband. But I doubt whether any of the fleetfooted ones could have kept pace with a certain long-distance lady runner of lane j-Vn°. whose performance— not timed—L have turned up in one of my Maori-lore held notebooks.

The scene was the east shore of Lake Tiiupo; the heroine of the story was a young chief tain ess of the lakeside tribe, the -Ngat.-luwharetoa. Her name was Hunhia; she was the sister of the famous c uef Te Heuheu Tukino-the father .f c ,"' f w n ttV e the Crown the three s.H-red mountains, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe. and Kuapehu The tale was told me in those' Parts by her great-nephew, the late Te Heuheu, of Waihi, Tokaanu, and Tamaira ' ° ld *' arrior Waak *

Hurihia was a very high-born roan? woman, an • Ariki tapairu"- -duchess, or princess might be an English equivalent, with a touch of priestess added. Indeed she was a priestess in verity; she was trained in sacred and secret lore from, her childhood. She was the first-born ot her family, nnd as such had a right to instruction. Physically she grewVp a perfect tvpe of the rangatira woman tall find handsome and well-formed- a strong swimmer and canoe-paddler. In her prime she accompanied her father ami brothers on fighting expet itions. and she was as capable of hard marching as any of the warriors. I P time she came to perform certain ceremonies preliminary to battle. An Invasion of Lakeland. Th' s young Amazon, dedicated to the priesthood of Maoridom, was living a hundred years ago in the village of Motutere, on the eastern shore of Lake Taupo nearly opposite the cliffy wooded island Motu-Taiko. Motutere was on the old track around the lake, but the modern motor road runs a little distance inland of it at this point.

A war party from the Waikato descended suddenly on Taupo, invading the territory of the great Te Heuheu, whom few outside tribes cared to assail. Thev seized a number of war-canoes and made expeditions along the lake shores, illtreating the people in small and defence less 'villages, though they did not actually kill them. They acted the bully generally. Raiding Motutere when most of the able-bodied men and women were away, they badly used some of the old people, and then paddled across to Motu-Taiko, where they amused themselves by desecrating the sacred burial places. For generations the island had been a "wahi tapu" for the dead of Ngati-Tuwharetoa. They set fire to the carved memorials over the graves, and they fashioned fish-hooks out of the bones they disinterred. This insult to the lake tribe roused the few people in Motutere to grief and indignation. They saw the fires on Motu-Taiko, and they knew well what had happened, from the invaders' boasts before their departure for the island. The Runner. Hurihia, the young priestess, happened] to be the only member of the Heuheu family in Motutere at the time. Immediately she heard of Waikato's deeds on the island she rose and stripped for action. She cast off her woven flax garments, for it was her duty now to call her tribe to arms, and it was a race against time.

She took a small "kupenga," or fishingnet, and bound this about her middle. Then she set out to run along the beach southward to Waitahanui, the great stockaded pa in which her brother Te Heuheu and most of his r*-arriors lived, close to the mouth of the Tongariro River. There were several small villages on the way, but Hurihia made no halt at any of these. She ran right through th< i without turning to right or left, or speaking to any of the people. And instantly the people understood, just as the olden Highland clansmen understood the message of the fiery cross. The racing woman, the old fish-net, told the tale. Every man, every boy who was able to use a weapon, instantly left his occupation and, snatching up spar or taiaha, axe or mere, followed the chieftainess. Without any words they knew that Waitahanui was the rendezvous. Thither they ran, the armed company gradually swelling in numbers. At last, after a run of nearly ten miles, Hurihia reached the great beachside fortified camp, and there for the first time since starting from Motutere. she spoke. She told her story to Te Heuheu and the assembled people. Robed again, she paced quickly up and down on the marae, and narrated the tale of Waikato's invasion and desecration o? the tribal sacred places.

The Avenging. The fighting Heuheu, in a white heat of anger, immediately gave the order for attack. By this time the whole countryside had been roused, and warriors came pouring in. A column of several hundred of men was speedily ready for the expedition. The war canoes were launched, and the force paddled swiftly across the lake to Motu-taiko. Waikato by this time had gone; they had crossed Taupo Moana to the north-western side. In another day they would have been on the return march to their northern homes. But the Taupo men caught them. Paddling over the calm lake in the midnight hours, they cautiously landed in the early dawn near the camp of their sleeping enemies, at Rangatira Point—which you can see on your right-hand as you look southward from the cliff on Taupo township.. Silently, at peep of d«y, they stole upon the Waikato camp. With terrific yells thev fell upon the foe. The surprise was complete, A little later the foe would have been on the alert, as it was Te Heuheu and his men killed nearly all of them. Only a of that Waikato band lived to carry the news home. The heads of the slain soon decorated the stockade posts of NgatiTuwharetoa, and their bodies went to fill the food ovens. And loud and eloquent was the tribesmen's praise, in speech and song, of Hurihia'a great race for the honour of her tribe. A word to our artiste: Is there not a suggestion for a picture in this tale of Huribia, by way of relief from Rangitoto, the University tower, and uncomfortable nudes reclining on cold Blabs 2d the back-garden.