EARLY HISTORY OF THE HOROWHENUA

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6953, 5 July 1929, Page 4

EARLY HISTORY OF THE HOROWHENUA

“Te Hekenga”

SUPREMELY INTERESTING AND VALUABLE RECORD

“Old men forget, and all shall be forgot, Yet he’ll remember. . . ” In the traditions of tho Maori—fast becoming tenuous as rahiclouds 'hurried on, divided and swept from sight by the winds of circumstance, leaving the blue void of speculation, controversy and doubt —one finds here .and there chapters that bear the. stamp of a clear brain, as of. a ready pen, that enable us not only in the telling of tho

tacts, but in the manner of thedr tell- ' ing, to secure a true picture of the times. We and the whole world owe j much to these painstaking chroniclers, and we arc glad to acknowledge a particular debt to Messrs. R. A. McDonald of Levin, the narrator, and E. O'Donnell, the author, of a book of reminiscences of early Horowhenua. The title of the volume, Te Hokcnga,* is

well cliosen. It means “the drifting,” or “passing away,” for, as Mr McDonald explains: “Frequently I liavo visited pas, once populous, hut now sadly depleted and inquired for the pcoplo I had known. The answer returned by somo elders epitomised all the pathos of a dying race. ‘They have I all drifted to the Spirit Land’, he would say sadly, ‘Kua heke katoa ki te Rcinga! ’ ” This history seems to tho reviewer to

be of particular value, because it not only describes the earlier land dealings with the pakeha, but explains very fully the position concerning native ownerships and throws a very clear light on the interminable land squabbles which formed the basis of nearly all the legal fortunes in this country. Communal tribal lands were cut up and individualised, with disastrous results in most cases, while the winning of a land caso often meant tho soiling of the greater part of the property to pay the fees. The tale describes the long and peaceful possession of the 'Garden of Eden’ by the Muaupokos, tho coming of To Bauparaha and his. friends, the arrival of tho narrator’s father, Hector McDonald, the first white settler of the, coast, who on landing in 1832 was greeted by the Maori Napoleon himself and tho wild, free, dramatic days that ended when and where the surveyor placed his peg. Settlement meant more for tho Horo-whenua-than the erecting of boundary fences and the felling of the heavy bush - it wrought a complote change in tho topography of tho district, for whereas the early settlers’ outlook was seawards and confined to a narrow strip of coast, nowadays tho rich area is orientated to the ranges, of which the Maoris themselves knew hardly anything, so impenetrable was tho bush that covered them.

Massacre on the Lake.

Ono of the most dramatic incidents related in the took is tbe massacre of the Muaupokos on their artificial islands oa Lake Horowhenua. There were six islands altogether, tut two at the lower end, Waikickie and Bika-a-ti-Kawau wero the scene of one of tho greatest slaughters in Maori history. Upon these islands, built up with infinite labour a hundred yards or so from the lake side, and moreover, protected from marauding canoes by stakes just below the level of the water, the Muaupokos imagined themselves impregnable, as they were by all the rales of native warfare. But they were to learn at ono dreadful dawning, the tactical skill and energy of Te Bauparaha in bringing his great war canoes up a narrow creek to the lalco and the carrying the power of the rakau-pakcha with which all the Ngati-Toas wore armed. A few only of tho 300 souls on the island escaped. One of tho few was To Bangi Burupuni, a well-known chief of later days, who swam a long way under water and escaped to the bush. “Up and down the 'old coach road flowed tho tide of pakcha life, growing steadily always, so that even in the TO’s such clear-headed Maoris as Tamahana te Bauparaha and Mateno te Whiwhi recognised its menace to the Maori rnanu and oven possession and commenced tho well-designed but foredoomed “king” movement. As yet, however, it was merely a menace; it took ■‘the Taranaki, Waikato, and Hawke’s Bay wars and subsequent confiscations and the more effective but even less scrupulous operations of the land sharks in the following 30 years, finally to reverse the relative positions of the two races and reduce the Maori to the status of an alien in his own land.” Here is a glimpse of tho beginning of tho crashing of the aboriginal between government and missionary on the one hand and settler and land court on the other.

Hero again is a pregnant paragraph, that sums up succinctly the effect of this superimposition of a white civilisation on his own, and particularly the ravages of ‘ waipiro ’ the Maori’s greatest curse. To blame tho Maori for his present-day shortcomings is to .admit one's own lack of knowledgo of primary psychology. Had the Maori been of the same mentality as the negro, able to accept a position of inferiority without resentment, ono could have more hope for tho race—and less respect. But when a people, to whom “mana” meant nearly as much as does caste to the Brahmin, suddenly find shattered tho whole structure on which their social system is built, the loss of their self-respect is inevitable. From a position of the proud possessore of tho soil, warriors, turbulent, recognising little restraint save superior might, independent, yielding to their chiefs only a limited obedience, they wctc hurled'in one dizzy flight from the Stone Ago into that of Iron and with their Stone Age psychology disguised, but only disguised, by quick mentality, left to grapple with tho problems of a bewildering civilisation. . . . and over all, deadening every effort, cramping even- aspiration towards advanceniojit, is tho knowledge that ho is not

wanted. The Roho Potae (King Country) was denied him and in the old. life there is no promise; with the pakeha, the bar of colour prevents his mixing on terms of more than a superficial equality—less than his self-respect demands; nowhere is there a solid foothold. Had the Maori been less intelligent, ho would have been protected from himself and the colossal blunders of which the various governments of New Zealand have been guilty, would never have been perpetrated.” Between the phase of which the lake massacre is a sample and that in which is shown as a ‘ 1 pakcha-Maori” without hope, is a period of a hundred years, which is a longer timo than can be spanned by the white man in most other parts of the country, and it is tcmarkable that it should come within the purview of two lives —of Hector McDonald pere, and of the narrator of this story. The “King”. Movement.

There are important chapters devoted to tho “King” movement, which was first mooted by Tamihana te Eauparaha, son of tho old Ngati-Toa conqueror. It was after his return to Otaki from a trip to England that ho astonished a relative by soliciting his assistance to make himself king of the Maoris. His kinsman was contemptuous of tho other’s ambition, but embraced with enthusiasm tho idea of a movement which promised to unite tho Maori race. Katatorc, a Taranaki chief, in 184 S, was the first to organise a no-selling policy, and as the result of this, the first Taranaki war was fought. The participation of the Waikato and King Country tribes in the second Taranaki war left the Maori with a predisposition to confederation. Tho imagination of the Maoris was captured by the proposal. A mooting of chiefs was held at

Otakl at which, it was decided to obtain the services of two of the most renowned local authorities on genealogy to decide who of all tho chiefs in New Zealand was best fitted by birth to be king. The two men chosen for this college of heralds were Hukiki, a Ngati-Raukana and Whioi, of another branch of the tribe, resident at I'oxton, It is mentioned that tho Waikato chieftain, Potatau to Wherowhcrp, was chosen as the first Maori Xing and the Waikato w r ar followed, when the fairest part of tho country, according to Maori values, was seized for white occupation. Prom the rankling sense of defeat and injury rose the Haukau movement. When Te Ua sought converts on the Otaki coast, however, where the tribes had little to avenge, ho found his task difficult: ‘■'The Hauhaus wish to kill all the pakehas, but we have here some pakethas we do not desire to have killed.” Tihe decision of tho Manawatu tribes was of importance only in that it kept the war out of tho district, but other events wero considerably to affect the destinies of tho local tribes. Kepa Rangiihiwimui (Major Kemp), of Wanganui, threw in his lot with tho pakehas against the Hauhaus and called upon the Muaupokos, of whom, as of the Wanganui tribe, he was chief, to join him. It is interesting to trace the casus belli in this ease. Tangaru, 1 Kemp’s father, had been an exile in 1 Wanganui from his ancestral lands in ’ tho Horowhenua for 40 years. Hero < was tho chance to reconquer the lost < lends, and also to retaliate on the * Taranaki Ngati-Awas, who had been ' awarded a conquering share of the < Muaupoko lands at Waikanae, and who, < at To . Rauparahe’s instigation, had < been responsible for tho treacherous < slaughter of his people,, in an incident ( known as tire “Battle of tho Pump- < kins.” With tho aid of pakeha rifles, ( a two-fold object might bo attained, ( and about 100 men, practically all the able-bodied members of the tribe, join- J ed Kemp. Later a second contingent of about 20 followed. *

Then in 1871 or ’72, Kemp came to Horowhenua with his braves and built a strong fort, and after tho burning of some wharcs, war appeared inevitable. ‘ ‘ However, the Hon. D. McLean came up to Otaki and sent for my father,” says Mr McDonald. “ ‘This matter cannot bo allowed to go any further. Can you prevail on Kemp to come down to sec mef’ ” It was arranged that tho dispute be submitted to the Land Court, but Kemp bolstered up a hopeless legal case by a threat of hostilities and won it. Tho descendants of the conquered Muaupokos received something like 52,000 acres instead of tho 20,000 acres originally allotted them. If tho Court had avoided trouble on tho part of ono side, however, it had invited it from tho other and tho despoiled natives took up arms iu defcnco of their traditional rights in January 1874. A fow shots were fired, bullets coming dangerously close to tho McDonald homestead but bettor counsels prevailed before tho parties came to close quarters.

This was the last incident that disturbed the even trend of settlement life in the Horowhenua and from then on tho Maoris lived more or less at amity among themselves and with tho pakeha. Ono other incident is worth mentioning here. Tho then young McDonald camo upon a clearing, that is now Levin, and found two women, mother and daughter, preparing literally to cut out of tho thick bush a home for themselves, and it is stated that they succeeded to a greater degree than many farmers who had plenty of man-power. They wore tho mother and sister of Mr Justice Ostler.

In a book largely composed of personal reminiscences, such as tho one under review the difficulty is ever to eliminate details that themselves may bo interesting, but which cumber the narrative. It is pleasing indeed that our historians in this instance have had over before them the effect of tho printed word and every reader will agree that they have added a notable contribution to our history and language. The writer’s pen is terse, vivid, and _ freo from affectations of style. This is a story that tho New Zealand bibliophile will buy, road, reread, troasuro and hand on to liis children.

f*“Te Hekcnga,” G-. H. Bennett, Ltd., publishers, Palmerston North. Price 12s 6d. (limited edition.) ]