IN SEARCH OF THE NORTH ISLAND

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 5, 7 January 1936, Page 3

IN SEARCH OF THE NORTH ISLAND

Turi’s Arrival in Aotea Roa (Lin.) (Copyright.) There are many variations in tho traditional accounts of Turi’s voyage to New Zealand and it is to bo regretted that it is now too late to establish which of the several stories is tho correct one. Tho late Percy Smith was definitely of the opinion that the Aotea canoe was not of tho fleet that formed the big migration which is reckoned to have arrived in New Zealand in 1850 and White, who compiled the “Ancient Maori History,’’ found many tribes in agreement that the Aotea was not of the fleet but sailed as a single unit in command of Turi. On the other hand later writers have unearthed stories which bring Potcru of tho Ririno canoe closer to Turi than is generally accepted as being the case and as an instance of this we have tho lament of Tu tvaukawa of Ngati Kuanui (vide John Houston) which contains the following linos:— Thou earnest on board To Ririno, The canoe that caused dissention in Turi’s fleet, And Potoru was cast ashoro in Raukawa current Landing on the bank at O Tama-i-ea. The first suggestion on reading the above lines :s that Potoiu actually arrived on the coast of New Zealand, for Eaukawa is the Maori name for Cook Strait and O-Tama-i-ea is the native name accorded tho boulder bank at Nelson. Remembering, however, that the Maori had tho habit of according to places in New Zealand names well known in his homeland, it is very likely that this lament referred to tho loss of Ririno canoe on the reef at Rangitahna wnieh was known as 'lapu-tapu-atea. That name is not far removed from O-Tama-i-ca which oiico may have been O-Tama-atea —a derivation of Tapu-tapu-atea. Down the centuries many words became mangled not alone through possibly failing memories but through tho changing pronunciations. This particular canoe does not, however, figure among tho names of those said to have formed part of the fleet nor does it appear among those wftich are reported to have arrived at Aotea Roa either before or immediately after the principal migration. Many investigators spent years oi melr lives in endeavouring to unravel tho truth concerning the different migrations and the little gathered concerning the Ririno canoe goes no further than describing her destruction on tho reef at Rangitahua.

The Aotea had an uneventful voyage from Ilangitahua to New Zealand and made land on the north-east coast and eventually made Aotea harbour just north of Kawhia on the west coast. Rev. Richard Taylor records that Turi landed at Whangaparaoa, aoout JO miles north of Auckland in the Hauraki gulf, where he planted the karaka, thence he sailed to the Aupouri, North Cape, thence to Aotea, and there ho left his canoe, which was turned into a rock, and is still to be seen. Some timfc was spent, at Aotea for ho and his people were not without encumbrances which called for attention. The traditoin speaks of Turi having brought with him the pukeko (swamp hen), the edible rat, the green paroquet, the liumara, the karaka and the native calabash. There remained to be fulfilled Kupe’s direction to proceed to a pb.ee on the west coast where Kupe had left evidence of his visit and so Turi and his people, having completely rested, and quite rejuvenated, set about their journey down the west coast and en route named the different points so well known to-day.

Sir George Grey recorded this place naming of Turi as follows: “When Turi reached the harbour of Kawhia, he gave it that name, or the awhinga of Turi, then he came to Marakopa ot

Marokopa, some miles south of Kawhia on the coast, or tho place that Turi wound round to another spot; then Mokau (named from his sleeping there); then Waitara, so named because of tho wido steps ho took in fording its mouth’’; and so on until he terminated his weary overland journey, along which was sown the seed of the karaka tree, until he finally reached Patea. At Patea Turi found people in possession of tho land of whom no mention had been made by Kupe and the tradition speaks of the voyager killing the ancient inhabitants of the district ami taking possession of their abodes. Taylor records that a few years prior to the advent of the missionaries there existed aocut tho p,t of Turi’s descendants at Patea several sculptured stones which marked the boundaries of the Mara or liumara ground of Turi. These were held to be sacred but on the arrival of Wesleyan missionaries, were regarded by them as idols and therefore destroyed. This destruction was a regrettable act since it deprived subsequent investigators of the opportunity of examining these stones and thereby winning' further knowledge of these descendants of the Polynesians. Patea was then the last resting place of Turi’s people —they arrived under the white cliffs and throwing down their burdens exclaimed “Ka patea tatau” —we are relieved of our loads. Of the people found in occupation tUere is no record and the tradition does not give any clue as to their identity. If of another and earlier eanoc they could not have been in any way conneclcd with the people of Rarotonga or Tahit; sinco there would have been some recognition and certainly no hasty slaughter, Some tribes do speak of a taugata whenua who were overcome by tho people arriving in one or the other of the canoes of tho migration of 1350 but not all were slain; the women were kept as wives for tho invaders.

Previous articles have mado reference to a taugata whenua, or original people, inhabiting these islands prior to the advent of the Polynesians and the speculation on the question has been productive of a conclusion among authorities that the Maori was not the first the colonise the country. Homo of the Maori traditions speak of a black race having been fouud in possession of the country when the earlier canoes arrived. Descendants of Mar.aia, chief of the Tolcomaru canoe, make mention in their traditions that when their ancestors arrived at Waitara river they found the country occupied by a strange race, who, unskilled in war, wero easily overcome; many toeing killed. Some escaped, the rest were reduced to slavery, and finally bee xmc incorporated with the tribe of their conquerors. Notes of this tradition were recorocd by Sir George Grey and are embodied in his account of the tradition concerning tho coming of Manaia. In his “To Ika a Maui,” Rev. Richard Taylor writes “That thero has been a portion of the human family in New Zealand in remote times, appears to be highly probable, from the fact of boues having been discovered in tho tributaries of tho Molineaus river, along with those of the dog and the moa; and that deposit has every appearance of being anterior to the arrival of the Polynesian race in these islands, consequently the natural conclusion will be, that such remains belong to tho black, or most ancient inhabitants of the land.” In a note to the tradition oi Kupe and Turi, Taylor writes: “That there were inhabitants of the land before the arrival of tue Maori race appears highly probable, since they not only state as much in their traditions,, but also record their having gradually driven away a race far inferior to themselves, and compelled it finally to take refugo in the Chatham Islands. This despised people, by way of reproach, were called Kiri wan a papa, which may be translated ‘bare sides,’ from its ignorance of clothing.” The nam# of the people Turi is said to have met on arrival at Patea was the Kohikohi.

In his “Story of Old Wairoa,” T Lambert dealing with the lamentable want of knowledge concerning Maori and pre-Maori history says: “Long before even the more vigorous Maori came, New Zealand was thickly populated and even to-day there may be seen on the hill-tops and in the valleys evidences that they carried a fairly dense though perhaps a primitive population.' ’

On the subject of former inhabitants of New Zealand Trcgear in his “Maori Knee” reminds us that the Maori used to pay great respect to the bones of the dead, yet here and there may be found among sandhills, etc., human remains uncovered by the wind, and of these no tradition remains, as there would certainly be if the relics were those of strangers. The legend of the Takitumu canoe speaks of two chiefs exploring the country soon after the arrival of the canoe. One of them, Ivahungunu, took to wife Euatai, the daughter of Wharepatari, and the two afterwards visited the chief Tarinulcu, on the Wlianganui river. The son of Kaliungunu destroyed the tribes Awa-nui-a-rangi and Whatu-mamoa, and his people inter-married with them. Hence the legend says: “In this way we became amalgamated with that people in the second generation after the arrival of Takitumu from Hawaiiki. ” Another legend, says Tregear, speaking of this period (that is not many years after the landing) relates the attack of Maungakahia pa by the tribe called Pane-nehu and alludes to the besiegers as “the innumerable host." Another point in the legend is that the newcomers were already dwelling in a strongly fortified settlement, an unnecessary precaution if the country had been uninhabited, or with a weak and sparse population. . Discussing this question further an

interesting point arises. Gudgeon in his “History and Tradition of the Maoris” speaks of tribes who do not claim descent from the canoes of the migration and these, Tregear considers, are almost certain to do descendants of the ancient tribes. The writer has often heard Maoris speak in scorn of those who had no canoe; they were the descendants of slaves—yet no slaves were brought over in the canoes of the historic fleet and so people without a canoo could only be descendants of those tangata whenua of whom little is known but who figure in skeleton form as the Moururi, in many of the traditions. It seems fairly certain that the ancestors of the maori were moving about the Pacific at the commencement of the Christian era and it is highly probable therefore that the country was settled hundreds of years before the arrival of the historic fleet. (To be continued.)