NET OF DEATH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 18, 31 May 1939, Page 6

NET OF DEATH

—O HOW IT CAUGHT RONGO TALES FROM OHIWA'S SHORES Maori history is more or less a i > counting of battles and ambushes and sieges much as our pakcha history books used to be before the teaching was concentrated on. the onl inarv every day life of the people of far-off times, and the economic factors underlying the more spectacular events of history. However, the benighted Maori, though sunk in, barbarism, seems to have come through his centuries of existence as a face without too many depressions, famines or Black Deaths. Thus his history is more or less a glorious chronicle of throat-cutting and head bashing. There was a very interesting series of local fights about the year 1550 which deserve recalling. BLIGHTED ROMANCE About the time when Henry VHHh was chopping and changing, a New Zealand gentleman, who had nevei heard of Henryand probably wouldn't have liked him much if he had met him, also had a spot of wife trouble. Rongo.whakaata was his name, and when his wife Uc.tupuke left their home near Gisborne and, came to Opotiki he went after her to persuade her to come home, all to be forgiven. The motion for restitution of conjugal rights failed, however, Ue being very rude to her husband. She seem* to have been a, lady or frank habits of speech and declined forcefully when he asked her to return. Sh? would soon obtain another husband, she said. Nor did the fact that she was expecting a child weigh with her. So the deserted husband, convinced of the nselessness of further argument, bade farewell to her saying: "Should your child be a female, name her after the flowing waters of the Waio.eka if it be a male then name it after the cartilage of my ears (te popoia o oku taringa)."' HURRICANE WOOING After the deserted husband had returned home to mother, Tane-mo.?-ahi, brother of Tuhoe.potiki, found, er and ancestor of the Tuhoc tribe, heard of the winsome Ue and resolved to marry her. He was then living at Ohiwa, and he went to the Karakn, p;> at Opotiki, asked where Ue was, and when she was pointed out to him went over to her, took her hand , placed her in his canoe and paddled homewards with her, merrily or otherwise. Tane's technique evident] y left little to be desired. At Ohiwa Ue's child was born, and, "being male, it was named Rongo-popoia. Rongo grew up, and in course of time married two sisters, *onc 01 whom was named Rangi-paroro. It fell upon a passing fine day that certain children of the Onekawa fort where Rongo.popoia lived with his people, went down to the mudflats near the mouth of Ohiwa harbour to fly a kite made of the bark of the autc shrub. The kite mounted high n the air and hovered over the neigh boiiring Te Mawhai pa, then the cord broke and released the kite whic;i came to earth towards Wai.o-tahe while the cord became entangled in tiie palisades of Te Mawhai. Then the children ascended to recover the cord, winding it up as they proceeded but on arriving at Te Mawhai they Avere seized and slain by the people of that place who were apparently not fond of children. BODIES FOUND The folks of One.knwa missed the children aaid went in search of them. Rongo-popoia picking up their track? and finding their dead bodies. When the murderers heard that the bodiesof the children had been discovered 'they realised thiit trouble was brew, ing, and left their home and moved to Wai-o-tahe, so that when Rongo and his braves arrived at the fort of Te Mawhai 1 hey found it empty s.iv; for one aged man. Repanga, son of Muiiwai one of the people who had migrated to Whakatane p generation ir two earlier in tlie Mat;:,tua canoe. Repansia was at once slain. Now Tuamutu, his son, was chief of Te Mawhai, and when he heard that his father hat! been slain he i 'olved to make things interesting for 1 ?ongo and his people. To this end. he patched up peace with tVnn. Ik ' old many of his men lo con.-truet a huge net for sea, fishing. It was not made of narrow strins of (lax in th■ usual manner, but I he flax leav> were merely split down the middle tlu> half leaf being us \1 for mak'n.. the mesh. When this ve v v i-trong mi was finished it w."s proposed to t ;k it down, to the beach ain I there ni)k<

the first cast. This was an important function in the old and it was accompanied by a considerable mount of ritual. "COVER THEM!" Tua-mutu invited Kongo and his lads to take part in the hauling of the new net, ami the guileless Rongo accepted. The lower rope of the net was not properly weighed with stones for sinkers, and Kongo and hi s men : were assigned to the task of keeping it in position while Tua's people attended to the upper rope.- Kongo's party were at their posts when suddenly Tua cried out to his men "Hipokinap (Cover them) and at once they cast the net over Kongo and his men, and no sooner had the net fallen over them than Tua and his warriors attacked the helpless fish they had caught and mercilessly sle- k v them. A few were spared, including RangLpa,rioro, for she was a near relative of Tua-mutu. At this time Rangi was expecting, and soon afterwards she gave birth to a son Kahuki. Tua heard of the birth, and visited the mother to find out the sexjf the child for lie thought that if it were a male it might give him trouble when it grew up, on account of Tua's murder of its father. But Rangi told him to was a female and since Tua was too tapu to approach her in her unclean state, he was forced for the moment to accept this. MAGIC SPELLS The time approached when it was necessary to celebrate a ritual feast to take the tapu off the mother and child, and Tua-mutu went to White Island to catch sea birds for the banquet. The mother realised that wher Tua. returned the secret of the child's sex must be found out, so with magical charms and spells she called upon the winds to ari;e and tear the surface of the waters. Even so a storm, came, and Tua was tempest-bound on the dreary island. In the days of grace, while yet the -torm raged. Rangi took her babv and with a faithful slave fled inland to the pa of some relatives. There she married again presenting her new husband with twin daughters, and there the young Kahuki was trained a .3 a fighting man. (To b" continued) .