MAORI WAR CANOE RACE AND WAR DANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6549, 13 November 1882, Page 5

MAORI WAR CANOE RACE AND WAR DANCE.

♦ A Maori War Canoe Race, under the aus pices of the North Shore Regatta Club, took place in the harbour on Saturday afternoon, and was -witnessed by between 1000 or 5000 people. Of course, there would have been a large number of spectators at the North Shore to see the regatta, but no doubt the War Canoe Race and war dance were great attractions. There were three entries-for the race, viz., Omapere (Ngapuhi), Te Aparangi (Waikato), and Te Atairebia (Waikato). Te Aparangi is of kauri. The tree was felled at Titirangi, and the canoe was hollowed out about forty years ago, on the shores of Manakau harbour, during the residence of Te Wherowhero, the first Maori King, at Mangere. She was made a wakatiwai, or ordinary canoe, and it was not till after a lapse of many years that she was made a war canoe. Te Aparangi was used by Te Wherowhero for many years as a wakatiwai, and on the occasion of his going to Waikato to assume the Kingship she was taken up the Awaroa stream, and dragged over to the Waikato River,'anil paddled up to Ngaruawahia. At this place Te Wherowhero gave the order to make her into a wakataua, or war canoe. When the war came on Major Te Wheoro, being a near relative of the Maori King, took possession of the canoe, and had her made into a wakataua according to Potatau's order, doing all the carving himself. Major Te Wheoro has been in possession ever since, and has kept the canoe at Kohekohe, his settlement on Waikato.

Te Atairehia was made from a totara tree at Whangamarino (Waikato), and is a very old canoe. Te Atairehia is the name of a celebrated Waikato Maori ehieftainess, who is said to have lived about the 15th century. Te Atairehia was of such high rank that she never walked, but was carried about by attendants. All the old chiefs of J<ew Zealand are proud to trace their ancestry to Te Atairehia. Major Te Wheoro did all the carving about the canoo himself. Te Wheoro's ancestors are noted as •arvers, but it was not known thut he himself had this faculty until he had carved Te Aparangi, which was made into a war canoe after Te Atairehia. The Omapere is made from a kauri tree, and was only recently formed at Lake Omapere, in the Bay of Islands district. She is a wakatiwai or ordinary canoe, and for this reason was only allowed to run on the condition that if she won the race the second prize would be received by the Ngapuhi natives, who raced her. It may be remarked that the Ngapuhis complain that they did not receive proper notice of the race; that they were not informed in time, or that it was to be a war canoe race. The natives were in a great state of excitement for several hours before the race, and all three canoes were launched a full half hour before the time appointed for the race. The launching the canoes was accompanied by the usual ceremony. The crews were at the starting point—the flagship—in ample time. The Omnpere was manned by 58 men, Pabiknre and Wi Te Parihi being thekaihautu, or fuglemen, t:> urge the paddlers topallstrenuously. Te Aparangi was manned by 70 men ; Hori Te Whan; was the chief fugleman. The chiefs Tutawhiao and Major Te Wheoro were on board this canoe. Te Atairehia was manned by 40 men, and Tamati Wiremn acted as fugleman at the bow. The two Waikato canoes were very conspicuons, with their elaborately carved bow-posts and stern-posts, decked with plumes of kuku (pigeons), and coloured worsted in place of flax. We quote the following from Thompson's " Story o* New Zealand," in reference to the Maori war oanof, and its management: — "The cr«w ca board war canoes kneel two and two along the bottom, sit on their heels, and wield paddles from four to five feet

long; the steersman, sitting in the stern, has a paddle nine feet long. Over tempestuous seas, war canoes ride like sea fowls. Should a wave throw a canoe en its side and endangpr its upsetting, the paddlers to windward lein over tho gunwale, thrust their paddles deep into the wave, and by a curious action, force the water under the canoe. This makes the vessel regain her equilibrium, and gives her a rigorous impulse forward. Even when a canoe is upset, the crew can bale her out and put her right in tho water. Naval engagements were exceedingly rare, as they were alike dangerous to both parties. War canoes were chiefly useful in trausporting armies to the scene of action ; but when they did meet in strife, the combatants on board discharged their spears, drove their canoes against each other, and then a hand to hand fight ensued. The great object in canoe conflicts was to npset tho cauoe, and kill the warriors helplessly struggling in the water." The start was a good one, and was seen to great advantage by an immense crowd of people on the beach opposite the flagship, and on the hill near the Masonic Hotel. After about 100 yards had been traversed, the Omapere gradually forged ahead of the two Waik.to canoes, and increased her lead to the finish of tho race. She won by 150 yards from To Aparangi, Te Aturehia being last, and about 100 yerds behind To Aparangi. At the last moment the Maoris objected to the course which had been arranged for the canoe race, on the ground Of there being too many sharp turns in it, and it had to be altered to from the flagship, thence round the ship Margaret Galbraith, round the buoy off Calliope Point, and back to the flagship. The result of this alteration was, that a very large portion of the public who had assembled on the beach opposite the pilot boat-shed and its vicinity were debarred from seeing the race. Details of this kind should have been finally settled prior to tho day of the raoe, and not again altered. The canoes were followed by a number of steamers crowded with passengers anxious to seen the race. The course was over two miles in length, and the distance was done in very good time. Messrs. Kemp and Dufaur did their best to make the race go off smoothly, but a misunderstanding has arisen as to whether the Ngapuhi canoe should get the first or second prize, and whether she was disqualified altogether, but the fact of allowing her to start does away with the last objection, and it is to be hoped that a satisfactory settlement will be come to at the committee meeting which is to be held this morning. It is the general impression that the Ngapuhis should receive the second prize, because the committee had decided to award thorn the second prize in the event of their winning. WAR DANCE.

After the canoe race, there wa9 a war dance by the Ngapuhis aud Waikatoa in a paddock bohiud the Masonic Hotel. Owing to the liberality of Mr. J. B. Russell, who gave the committee valuable aid, a piece of ground was enclosed by a post and barbed wire fence, so that the dancers might not be hampered by the crowd. The first party to ariive on the ground were the Ngapuhis, numbering about 50, aud under the leadership of Wi Pirihonga. Mangonui, the well-known chief, was preset. The Ngapuhis, after a preliminary dance, assumed a kneeling attitude, and awaited the approach of the Waikatos, who shortly appeared at the entrance to the ona'.oiure, whereupon a swift-footed Ngapuhi rushed towards them, and gave the usual challenge, and he was immediately chased hy the Waikatos, who followed him up t> his party, Each of the Waikatos then fell on one knee, facing the Ngapuhis, and after a pause the former retired to some distance, and the latter began the war "dance, using paddles in place of weapons of war. We quote the following from the authority we have already used, which gives an excellent description of a war dance which preceded a fight between the Ngatiraukawas and Ngatitoaa : —"lt is impossible to describe this extraordinary dance. The whole army, after running about twenty yards, arranged itself in lines five, ten, twenty, or even forty feet deep, and then all squatted down in a sitting posture. Suddenly, at a signal given by the leader, all started to their feet, having weapons in their right hands. With the regularity of a regiment at drill each man elevated the right leg and right side of the body, then the left leg and left side, and then, like a flash of lightning, jumped two feet from the ground, brandishing and cleaving the air with his weapon, and yelling a loud chorus, which terminated with a long, deep expressive sigh, and was accompanied with gaping mouths, inflated nostrils, distorted faces, out hanging tongues, and fixed starting eyes, in which nothing was seen but the dark pupil surrounded with white. Every muicle quivered. Again and again these movements were enacted, and time was marked by striking their thighs with their open left hands, bo as to produce one sound, and by old naked women, daubed over with red ochre acting as fuglers in front of th 6 dancers. Songs were likewise chanted to preserve order in the host. The men in both armies, now excited to desperation, cast off every part of their apparel. Distinguished warriors rushed out and challenged others by name from the enemy's ranks. Abusive epithets and insulting attbudes were bandied between the combatants. The Ngatiraukawa and the Ngatitoa shouted on these occasions the following song to the enemy:— When will yonr valour begin to rage ? When will your Talour be strong? Ah ! whon the tide manners, Ah ! when the tide roars. Bid farewell To jour <-hildreo, For what eUe can ycu do r Ton pee how the brave. Like the lofty, exulting peaks erf the mountains Are coming on. They yield 1 they yield I O fame. Both parties, maddened with anger, hatred and malice, hurled their 'spears, and rushed madly with loud, screaming yells, to grapple in deadly oonfliet. Etch warrior selected his foeman,. and the battle consisted in a series of personal combats. These duels did not last » minute before ono party gaTe way, fled, and was pursued by the conquerors, howling like> hounds in sight. That army which killed the first man, or charged with most energy or with the loudest yells, ofte> proved victorious by producing a panic; and as the warriors poured their whole souls iato the onset, rallying was am impossible mancßuvre. Repulses were defeats, and deeats were geaerAlly destruction." After a war dance by both the Waikatos and Ngapuhis, a number of hakas were performed by the former. A heavy downpour o£ rain oooured at this stage, and the Maoris and the spectators speedily dispersed. The following was the principal chant during the war danoe ; — A—ko te purs. k» te pare, Ko • Tokatoka kU uene. Kia tangatanga a 1 te rtri Ekore to rlri e tae mal Ki Xalpara, ka pokawaotia ko A, A, A, teriril The following is a, translation of the above Ye shall bo obstructed—res, obstructed, O re warrior armies 1 sour power It broken. Te cannot tbake The rocky cones of Tokatoka. Hor erots Kaipara'i border UndiDexkuees will overtake you, then dismay. Oh, On, Oh, ye warrior amies! Mr. C. 0. Davis, who giTes the above translation, states that this war rehearsal was composed about the thirteenth, century by the immatce of two fortresses on the banks of the Walroa River, Kaipara. Tokatoka, mentioned in the song, is on the left proper baob of To Walroa, and is w«U kaown.