NELSON IN THE FORTIES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 14 October 1922, Page 3

NELSON IN THE FORTIES

INTERESTING RECORD OF THE \ SETTLEMENT REPORT’ TO THE NEW ZEALAND COMP AN T

•(By Mr F. I). Bell.)

XII. Following is :i continuation of tiio report made in 1849 by Mr F, D. Beil, agent of the New Zealand Company, upon the Nelson Settlement:— NATIVES To return, however, to the Nelson . Natives particularly, I may mention that i the Ngaliawa. portion of them, though settled here for so many years, still re- , tain a lurkiiig affection for their original i country in the North Island, and that numbers of them have followed Wiremu Ivingi and his party to the Waitara disi trict, 1 should not. be surprised to see many more, especially of the Queen Charlotte’s Sound people, go there by and by, unless, indeed, (hey are retained by the formation of the new town. 'I he Waitohi people are Ngatiawas, and they j at least are fixed at the Waikawa by the village I lately laid out for them as reported in my official course at the time. The small number of Natives who inhabit the river mouth of the Wairau ait; [part of the'Wretched remnant of the Kangitane tribe, which was, as before said, all but exterminated by Te Rauparaha. They are distinct from the Ngatiawas, chiel'.y in their dialect, in wliieh the bard k is substituted for the softer . ing that obtains all over the North lsV land : for instance, they call themselves Rakitane, while wo pronounce .the word j Rangitano. Their dialect is in fact the same as thill of the Ngaitaim tribe at Fort Cooper, Alcaroa, and (I believe! . Otago. Owners as they once were of large tracts of land about Wairau, Queen Charlotte’s Sound, and adjacent districts, and formerly a populous tribe, they have suffered all the degradation of slavery, without rising out of if as the Ngatiawas themselves did who were conquered by the Waikato, but who after: being manumitted, have resumed a station of comparative independence among the tribes of New Zealand, though they i never can stand on equal ground with the Ngapulu, Waikato, or Taranaki, * which have not been in slavery. I may take this opportunity of mentioning that the Taranaki Natives are fre- [ quehtly confounded with the Natives of the Puketapu Manukohiri, and other ; families of the Ngatiawa who are - Jiving J between. New Plymouth and Waitara.' The Taranaki tribe is a distinct one, and I believe ranks among the highest, in the country according to Native precedence, t The Rangilauc appear to-have altogether’ forfeited their station, and are often snubbed in a most humiliating manner. | An instance o rtwo o fthis will, perhaps, ■ ' interest the Directors, and will gn-e au idea of the influence which their con- ( querors still possess over them; an infill- ( ence, by the by, which will wear out : and cease when the occupation of the Wairau by Europeans shall create an intercourse between the races and give j the poor Rangitane a feeling of safety i and protection. The first instance 1 at- 3 lude to is the fact of their voice not hav-, ing been even asked in the sale of their land by Puaha, young Rauparaha, and j the others who treated with Sir , George Grey in 1247, and who have received , all the purchase money; all that was ] dOne for the ancient owners of the soil, j those who had bled and been nearly destroyed in its defence, was to give them a reserve for their future support. The men who had invaded their district, and driven the few who escaped the dreadful slaughter that ensued, to wander in a state bordering upon starvation among the snowy mountain." and inaccessible precipices of the Kaikouras, sold the land they had conquered for £3OOO, which was in fact their reward for as abominable treachery and wickedness as was ever committed. Ido not say any other course could have been pursued: the Wairau Massacre remains a too fatal pledge that- to treat with the ( original owners of the district alone was , useless. But what a homily this (rue story is upon the “undisputed title for | thirty generations" which was set up by | the aforesaid reverend persons at Exeter Hall, to prove the wickedness of tiie white man in taking the Maori s land. The second instance I refer to was on the occasion of my recent visit to im* i Waiotahi. I was accompanied by Te Kanae, a Ngatitoa chief, well-known as having been one of the most active re- , hels in the year 1846, and as having been seized at the same time as Rauparaha and with him kept prisoner for a longtime on board II.MS. Calliope : and who is now living cm the HangiUum reserve. Among my party was also Kai- i koura. mm of the principal men left of the Ratigiiane, who lives (hero as well, j ! One day a letter arrived from (liejj Lieut Governor addressed to one of my* 1 Natives named Brown (a, Hfingiiane). I asking him to accompany Mr Eyre up the Kaikouras. Of course such ft fine cqv port unity for a korevn (d'lVwi W ? (v voru- i pieteljv nqvf* la ankjeef, w? s immediately ( taken jnlvaptpge of with the U*ual eager- • peps, aji(| mps( of the Natives prgseTitj j plunged at once into the thick of a di s . I

cussioii. 1 observed (hat Kanae was .si lent, and expected llmt something would come of it; lie waited quietly while the young men said their say, hut no sooner 1 inti Kaikoura in his meek quiet, way offered,some suggestion than Kanae sprang up, and addressing him and (he rest in terms of contempt ,desired that thorn should be an end of the matter; find poor Brown (much to his disgust) should instantly pack up his traps and he off to met t the Lieut .-Governor at Wairau Boulder Bank. Captain Collinson, of the Koval Engineers, who knows more about the Natives than most men in (he country, turned round to me and said he had never seen a ease in whirl) the court ueror and the slave were- more thoroughly exhibited. The third instance was as follows and has just occurred. About December last reports came up from the Wairau that Ihe Natives living on the, Deserve had fired some of the forest on our side of the river; and as this is very valuable from being the only timber in the district, 1 and other persons interested requested the Superintendent to take measures to check any further inroads. Major Richmond wrote to the Lieut.-Gover-nor about it- ,and the Executive. Council at once determined to withhold the instalment that was coming due on the Ist April from Pnaha and his people unless a stop was at once put- to any burning or other encroachment upon the European land. Young Bauparaha and a number of them at once charted a small craft at Bouria (?), and came, over to set the matte)' right, ‘which they did without difficulty. Now Kanae. who had been at the bottom of all the burning, turned upon the Rangitane and sided with his brethren of the Ngatitoa. and they also made Kaikoura do the same. They then wrote a letter to Major Richmond to say the. matter was settled, and Kaikoura signed it ; hut his name was scratched out afterwards for the Ngatitoa would not have their names stand together with that of a man (hey had enslaved.

The Native village laid out at Waikawa. as well as the others which have keen surveyed by the riovermnenl elsewhere, will result in manv benefits to ihe. Natives b yindneing them In give up their filthy pahs: and I hope to see the system gradually parried out where the population is numerous enough'to require it. (To be continued).