REWI'S PART AT ORAKAU.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15563, 21 March 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

REWI'S PART AT ORAKAU.

K GILBERT MAIR. The near approach of the Orakau celebrations render, more or less inevitable a recrudescence of the debate over the part played in the fight by Rewi Maniapoto, and particularly over the ' never-to-be-forgotten words of defiance flung proudly back in answer to the suggestion that the pa should be surrendered. Rewi has a determined champion in Mr. J. W. Ellis, but it shall be my- endeavour to show that there are two sides to the question of the part played by Rewi on that memorable Occasion. To make my arguments clear, I should first explain that when the West Taupo tribe, the Ngatitekohera, under Te Taerata, and a section of the Urewera or Tuhoe, under Piripite-Heuheu, Te Rangikaitupuake, Ngakorau Te Whenuanui, Ahikaiata, Makarini Tamawhatu, Horotiu and Reihana-te-Waru, arrived at Orakau to join Rewi Maniapoto ( they found the pa, then under construction, too small to contain -more men, so began an extension on the north side, and this was the objective of the sap carried out by Lieutenant Hurst, R.E. After the large force under Brigadier General Carey had completely invested the position, and when General Cameron arrived on the third, day, the sap had approached to within sixteen yards of Te Paerata's rifle pits, which contained 50 or 60 men. Demi parallels had been dug from the main sap and filled with riflemen to smother the fire of the garrison, and an Armstrong gun placed in the head of the sap. This was the position when Major Mair conveyed the general's summons to surrender, and received that never-to-be-for-gotten reply.

%. Ellis writes:—"lt is evident that he (Major Mair) did not see the men who i Tioi£e," but in the only published account given by my .brother that I have seen, he says: " I stood up at the head of the sap and delivered the general's message, which was to this effect: ' The general is filled with admiration for your- bravery, but you are surrounded and cannot escape, therefore he urges you to surrender that your lives may be spared.' I could see them laying their heads together, evidently discussing the situation, but only for a few minutes, then one of them (Hauraki Tonganui), a West Taupo man, rose out of the trenches and made answer: ' E hoa, ko te tikanga tenei, ka whawhai tonu ahau ki akoe, ake, ake, ake!' (Friend, This is the understanding: I— we— will fight you- for ever and ever and ever). All this time I was watching the long line of fierce, dust-begrimed faces, and one of them (Wereta) had me covered with his gun. Then I replied: ' That is well for the men, but let the women and children come out. Why should they die. too?' Then someone asked: 'Sow do you know there are women and children?' And I replied: ' Last night I was close up to the works and I heard the women and children crying over the dead.' There was another pause and then a very tall woman (Ahumai, daughter of Te Paerata 1 ) stood up on the edge of the ditch and answered: ' The women and children can die with the men.' I shouted in Teply: 'It is well,' and as I dropped' back into the sap Wereta fired, and his'taullfet grazed my rjght shoulder, cutting my revolver strap almost in half. The troops in the 4 sap cheered when the ' korero' was explained to them." it" is true Major Mjfir had riot met Rewi or Hauraki previously. I.was with him

many years afterwards when suddenly we came face to face with the latter, and were about to pass him unnoticed, but he barred the way with his spear, exclaiming reproachfully: "Friend, do you not know me ? But, ah! we were younger men' when we confronted one another on the ramparts of Orakau." In all the accounts of this splendid episode, the oftquoted words may differ slightly, but their meaning was absolutely clear and represented the spirit then animating our Maori foemen, and there is no justification whatever for assuming that Rewi monopolised that sentiment or originated the proud refrain. Only a few days ago I had the privilege, in company with Mr. Ellis and Mr. Smith, the energetic chairman of the Orakau Celebration Committee, of meeting with several survivors, at their respective settlements near the battlefield, and their accounts differed widely, though all were near kinsmen of Rewi. One old man stated emphatically that it was his father who called out the words at Rewi's instructions. This was confirmed by another aged man, while a third person at another place told us the manifestly improbable story that it was Hineiturama, an Arawa woman (one time wife of the famous old Danish pakeha-Maori, Philip Tapsell), who was directed by Rewi to reply on his behalf. And when I inquired why Rewi himself did not maka answer on so fateful an occasion, another old man explained at great length that' Rewi and a noted tohunga, who was fortunate in having the patronage of a very powerful atua or war god, had come to an understanding as to the fighting and the tohunga had told Rewi, " me noho koe ki raro, i roto i nga parepare. Kaua etu ki runga." (You are to sit down in the ditches, you are not to stand up.) Truly an ignoble role to be filled by such a fireeater as Rewi was supposed to have been. According to Maori custom, in war time

©very subdivision of a fortification would be alloted to a separate section, hapu or tribe, such section being responsible for the defence of its respective portions, and as we knew that only the Ngatitekohera works were threatened there is nothing improbable in my brother's claim that the general's message was replied to by members of that tribe. Certainly not by Rewi—as hitherto claimed by Mr. Ellis— who, one of his kinsmen informed us, had been "ordered below." This kinsman also told us that Rewi detached himself from the main body in the flight to avoid observation, taking only two men with him, one to lead and the other to be rearguard, to report if he fell. * This certainly shows he had his wits about him, and contradicts a statement published many years ago by old Rutene Uamairangi, of Arowhena, that Rewi took no part in the defence, merely taking shelter in a deep ditch, being overwhelmed with despair at the losses and at the hopeless outlook, and that he (Rutene) assisted him out of the pa. When Hitiri Te Paerata, one of the few surviving Ngatitekohera, visited Wellington in 1885 or 1886, the late Major Jackson, after much entreaty, induced him to gi\e an account of Orakau in the presence of the members of both Houses, their wives and families. This narrative, exactly as taken from Hitiri's lips by Hansard reporters, was printed as a Parliamentary paper. Hitiri speaks very clearly as to Hauraki and Ahumai having replied to Major Mair. When, not very long after Orakau, we visited Waihaha, on the shores of Lake Taupo, and met the half-dozen persons, j the sole survivors of. Te Paerata's forces, we were much impressed by the noble ■presence' and' commanding statu™ of

Ahumai, standing over six feet, though even then she was suffering from several severe wounds in her body. She volunteered the statement that her husband, Wereta, deserved death which so soon overtooK him, for his treachery in firing upon the messenger of peace. We were also informed that there were only two subjects for discussion at Orakau. One at an early stage, was over the proposal to display a white flag, and when the troops approached carelessly to fire sudden volleys upon them and escape during the confusion created thereby. This proposal was denounced as unthinkable. The second proposal was only discussed after the episode in the sap, when the outlook appeared desperate. It was to ask the general for a truce. This . also was overruled as impossible, " because the messenger of peace had been treacherously filed upon."

There can be no doubt that it was Ahumai, "the very tall woman," says Major Mair, "who stood on the edge of the ditch and answered: ' The woman and children can die with the men!' " Knowing the esprit de corps that binds a tribe together, I should not be,, surprised if every member of Ngatimaniapoto upholds Mr. Ellis's contention, but personally I rely upon the testimony of more disinterested witnesses—our informants among the Urewera natives as to Eewi's attitude on the historic occasion. There is also on record a statement made by a reputable European that Rewi had assured him he was not the author of .those words now attributed to him.

Before concluding, I should like to rescue from oblivion the name of the chief Aporo, who evidently played a man's part during the siege. Major Mair states that his voice resounded high above the rattle of musketry during the first days, directing the garrison, exhorting them to be of good cheer and to emulate the deeds of their warrior ancestors, till a stray bullet found its billet and his voice was stilled for ever.