The Star. [Published Daily.] MONDAY, JUNE 7, 1897.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3563, 7 June 1897, Page 2

The Star. [Published Daily.]

MONDAY, JUNE 7, 1897.

PRESERVATION OF LOCAL, RECORDS AND TRADITtONS. Recognizing that Maori carving i.sbecoming every day more and more a lost art, and that the remnants of those who knew itp principles are fast dying from our midst, the i Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute are devoting their accumulated funds to the publication of a handsome quarto volume, written by Augustus Hamilton, Registrar of the University of Otago. The first part is. now out and deals with the artistic ornaments of native canoes. The succeeding • parts will treat respectively of dwellings, weapons, dress and decoration, and social life. The production does credit to all concerned, and the -photo process block illustrations' are specially excellent. Our intention in this article is to put forth a plea for th« rescue from' oblivion of the many historical incidents and traditionary associations which attach to many localities in' bur district. Probably no similar . ipace is richer in the heart-stirring stories which tell of war and battle with the savage, not even the bloody • convincing ground of the "Waikatd, and in no -portion of New • Zealand are so, many of our bravest buriud beneath the sod— to our shame and disgrace, be it said, Tlith no stock nor stone to record the spot where our warriors have fallen. A monument at Manaia records the names of men* and officers which fell' at Te Rua-ruruor Te, Ngutu-o-te Manu in defence of the homes of the settlers, themselves Eettlers called to a military career by th&exigencies of the time 3, but it is possible that not one E-uropean in the neighborhood can point- to the spot where they are buried and few to the place where they fell. Knowledge on both these points still lingers among the older natives. It is thirty years next year since the dreadful disaster at Te Ngutu, and the almost equal failure at Muturoa, near Waverloy. In 3874 the *>pot could be" shown at Te Ngutii where the fallen officars were buried, and the tree, from which many were shot. Cameron's redoubts and Chute's earthworks and bush roads are dotted over the whole district, and yet what record is kept. of the one, rapidly being levelled, or who .remembers the other when passing along them ? A' small reserve of a few acres we believe exists at Turuturu-Mokai, but it is apparently disregarded and unfenced, and the ditch may in time be quite filled up by the wall- which circled the' camp, and the angle so bravely defended by three gallant settler soldiers, yet in our midst, be entirely unrecognisable. A splendid 1 example of the; earthwork which defended the military camps of the times, exists or existed at Werewere arid another at Rangitoto, near the moiith of the Waingongoro, in which locality soldiers of the Imperial army lie in their bloody graves, with not even a lowly mound to mark the identity of their lone home. In respect to Maori .fighting pahs they abound, Araukuku, at Tawhiti on the Mountain Road, Whenuku on Mr Inkster's land near Normanby, Qhangai on Mr Lysaght's property, the three sister pahs of Waimate, Orangitaapeka and Wharawharanui on the coast near Manaia, and countless others. In an interesting letter from Rukumoana in the' Star some time back it was mentioned that Kimble' Bent' o s camp was there. New Kirable Bent never owne3 a camp, he was a slave of slavey and the settlement at Rukumoana was the property of Tamatua, his master. Enquiry , concerning these pahs^and settlements will bring •to light many interesting facts in the history of the colony, and obviate error. Would . it not be a very appropriate way to mark tne Record Reign by the formation of\. a local society;. which should have\for its aim the collection of suchr facts and their record. What splendid' additions could' be made to the history of the colony and the troubles which tho?e who made the colony had to contend with. We recommend . the idea to those who advocated the establishment of a museum to mark the Diamond Jubilee. ' The museum would most certainly grow "with the giowth of the society. " Possibly the society would not s deal with matters of sufficiently hoary antiquity to warrant the name- of archaeological, but native traditions 600 years old are to be gathered. The name does not matter, just something to' indicate its objects and fix the date of its initiation.. Periodical meetings could he held, papers read and correspondence undertaken with the New Zea- . land Institute and kindred societies. In . the summer' pleasant trips" could be taken to one or more sites of historical ■or traditional ' association. Now. as many are learning the • Maori language, the expert tongue to question the lore laden native should not.be long wanting, and if the linguistic amateur be not forthcoming' native interpreters are ever ready to lend their abilities in the way of researches which have not lucre for their end and aim. We appeal to testhetical and the literary inclined, as also to those .who cherish the memory of the dead who battled that we may enjoy the fruits of the splendid oountry we are. living in. This thing will cost nothing and as a permanent mark of the Record ! Reign what can be so appropriate as the establishment of a society having for its object the collection of records of events, the most stirring of which eventuated during that reign. The written results of "the societies research would be imperishable, once a discovery is made substantiatedland recorded, the facts would be. indissblubly bound up with the locality, the scene of the event. Go no further than Hawera town itself, anil is it not interesting to known that the real Hawera, the locality which was named by the Maoris Hawera, is not the site of the township but a spot to southward which was called the Round Bush by early settlers, and that the site of Hawera was by the nativeß called Tatzpatate, which was a clearing near the Reading Room.

An error of later growth is the name of Okaiawa, which should be called Ngapara if Maori nomenclature is adhered to, as Okaiawa is a mile or more distant. We do not favor the indiscriminate use of Maori names, simply -because Europeans as a rule do not know how to pronounce them, and they -became ridiculous in, their mouths. The township of Rotorua has many streets with Maori names and Tutanekai street in the pronunciation of the tourist becomes Tutunonyky. The history of the conquest oi the Waimate Plains by the tribes now living there, is most interesting and so far as we know has never been printed, and the history of the lights of the European with the i natives in the same vicinity, though it has been printed scantily, leaves much to be desired in the way of accuracy and detail. In future generations the interest attaching to ,the sites of the old -battles, and the ■graves of the Maoris who fought there, will be^as of absorbing a kind as that which in England brings visitors from all parts of the country to view an Anglo-Saxon harrow or a buried Roman city. We do not ad■vocate the initiation of such a society in place of any other object proposed for the celebration of the Jubilee, but in addition to whatever is chosen! !