LAST OF HIS LINE

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 3 June 1932, Page 9

LAST OF HIS LINE

DEATH OF MAORI WARRIOR. GATHERING AT WANGANUI. WANGANUI, June 1. Maoris from all parts of the West Coast and Wanganui River country have assembled at. Pungarehu, "Wanganui River, for a tangi, after the death of Hori Pukehika, last survivor of the Battle of Moutoa. It will he the biggest tangi that has been held on the river for some time. ;'. Duririg nis lifetime the late H.ori Pukehika, who died at Pungarehu, Wanganui River, this week, was an important inari in the affairs of the nganui natives and lie lived through an interesting age. Even his name, which was a nickname bestowed On his mother in peculiar circumstances, :s interesting in its derivation, and, to the Maoris of his generation, would have recalled an interesting tribal battle at Pipiriki some 85 years ago. When Hori Pukehika was born at Pipiriki in 1847 the up-river settlement was one -of the most important Maon villages on the Wanganui River, situated, as it was, between the lower river tribes down as far as Wanganui and between the thickly-populated areas from the Maunganui-o-te-ao up to Taumarunui. It was the junction of this great river road arid the main Maori highway from Rotorua, Taupo and the East Coast, and in its day was the site of many great meetings m peace and war. . It was only a few miles below his birthplace that the great battle .of Moutoa took place in May, 1864 At that time Hori was in the prime of his young manhood, for a Maori at seventeen years of age in those days, particularly a man of the great Rangitira stock of Pukehika, was a warrior to _be reckoned with in the field of battle. Hori was the last survivor of that epic struggle when a hundred loyal Maoris fought and vanquished 130 Haiihaus, mad with the fanaticism of their relfirion and convinced of their own invulnerability against the weapons ox their opponents. It was in this great battle that the growing settlement was saved from the invasion of the powerful rebel tribes, who received a serious setback after their defeat on the little shingle island on the Wanganui. For the 'first thirty-three years of Pukehika’s life no steamboat had travelled up the "Wanganui River, and it was not until some twelve years ■ after that that a regular service was run to Pipiriki, and it is only seventeen years since steamers ran right to Taumarunui, 140 miles from \\ anganui. At that time not a single white man lived in the 90 nines of wdd bush country between Pipiriki and iaumarunui. Old Ilori Pukehika had seen, during his lifetime, the , volume' pi canoe traffic up and down the rivei, when the Wanganui valley was the most thickly-populated Maori district in New Zealand, and when the river wa.s the greatest road pr highway oi any description in Aotea-roa. He saw the encroachment of the white man on the upper reaches of the river the forming of little settlements and the hewing of lonely farms from 'the virgin bush. He saw the coming .ot steam and all that it meant to the Maoris and the river settlers of the Wan"anui, and during the last years of ‘ his life lie saw a motor highway built along'the river highway, where before there had been - hut a faint track once known duly, to the Maoris themselves. Although Pukehika gave good service to the river, boat proprietors in their early attempts to establish a service on the Wanganui, this was not his real vocation. He was trained as a carver in the old school, in the days when such a training meant schooling and the learning of practise and rite as severe as any in the old nionastries of the Old World. was a craftsman and an artist. Some of his bestknown work was the beautiful set o t panels which he carved for the first Christchurch Exhibition, but some of his work is preserved in the W anganui Museum, notably a Maori mantelpiece, which is a marvel of technique and beauty. He was. the last of his lme of carvers, and.it is doubtful if any Maori remains in New Zealand with the skill of this old chief He took an interest in the European development of the Wanganui district and was a powerful man in the furtherance of this development by his influence among the river Maoris, ri f, whole life was spent an learning, such ais the study of the vagaries of the Wanganui River and the study of lus art. But he was well versed m othei matters, and was respected as nntiquarian—so much so that lie was elec - ed as a. life member of the Wanganui Museum Board of Trustees. . Hori Pukehika will lie missed m the Wanganui district by Maori and naveha alike and his death removes a strong and important link v ith the past.— “ Dominion” Service.