OLD MANAIA HISTORY

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 25 May 1932, Page 6

OLD MANAIA HISTORY

(By Ria Ware Rei.) In March 16, 1884, I left Nelson for Taranaki, at which time I was 15 years old. On the 17th we arrived in Wanganui by boat. On the ] bill ve left Wanganui by train to Pa tea, where we were to abandon the tram and take the coach. This was became the railway line t-o New Plymouth had not been completed. Bill Stradley, the well-known coachman in those days, drove us through from Patea to Manaia on the came day. In Manaia I met McCarthy, Lewis and Jackson; all three of these men were publicans; Mr. Gilmore was a grocer. Mr. Lewis (directed us to Te Rongotewea which was the- residence of some of the Maoris. It was there that I first met Manaia Hulianui, Rangi Have Koiralto. Ngatu Kahuihui, Rongonuiarangi and Wereta. As time went on I met more and more elders of the Ngatitu tribe, one of the more prominent being Ruke Kato. • I stayed here for eight years before Manaia Hukanui died and I got to know a great deal of the old chief’s undertakings. As a reply to the recent correspondents, re Aotea and Manaia, I wish to say that the many wars of Waikato against Taranaki began in the year 1811, but the last war which resulted in such a massacre in Onangetuapeka ended in the year 1827. I happen to know this from the elders of Manaia Hukanui’s time.

And as for the .prisoner who was returned, I wish t-o state clearly that in the year 1867 Titokoruaru went to war in the Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu against the soldiers. It was at this time that the prisoner captive was caught and returned to the other side of Waingongoro, where the soldiers had their headquarters. As a furtherance to this episode I wish to state some facts about the great Te Ruaparaha: In the year 1817 Te Ruaparaha left Kawhia. He and Wire mu Temene, a noted warrior of Ngapuhi, with a selected group, travelled west through Taranaki and all down the west coast slaughtering and plundering his way through to Porongahau, the other side of Wellington. When they came to Omere, on his return to Wawhia, they sighted a boat at sea and Te Mene, his greatest friend, hinted to Te Rauparaha that he could get some guns and powder from off the boat if ho could get possession of the land around there. This Te Rauparaha did, for that was the most likely place of landing for the white man. When Te Rauparaha returned to Kawhia he wasvery unsettled, for he couldn’t get over Te Mcne’s hunting of the guns. So in the year 1819 he bade his people good-bye in Kawhia and took up the trail for. Kapiti with his family group and his followers, about three hundred strong, including the women and children. As a conclusion I wish to state that this same tribe, the bold descendants of Manaia Hukanui, will be taking part in the Manaia Jubilee. Their iems will be taken back to fifty yeans or more as a re-establisliment of the past and to instil into tlie hearts of the coming generations both Maori o.nd Europeans, the customs of bygone days. One of the olden time songs will he sung by the Ngatitu tribe, with their women doing the poi. This tsong will be found in Isiah 62. 1 : 6 verses. This will show that the Maoris were Christianised very early. There is also another they call the Manu. This is an old time lament of bygone days. P.S.—I would like the Editor, if possible, to get me the name of the person who answered my correspondence re Manaia Hukanui.