WAIHEKE ISLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19781, 31 October 1927, Page 6

WAIHEKE ISLAND.

: ANCIENT MAOEI HISTORY. GOmHQ OF THE PAKEHA. last battle at rangiriri. No. n. On hb second article Mr. George Grahua oontinuei tie story of Waiheke Island from the year iT&O onward. 1 About the year 1750, A.1)., occurred the conquest of Tamaki by the Ngati Whatua, a conquest which had an in, portant effect on the fortunes cf all these tribes. Kiwi Tamaki, paramount chief of the Waiohua of Tamaki. had quarrelled with the Ngati-Whatua. As the result of murders committed by him against that people he brought vengeance upor. his tribe. Ngati-Whatua began succesi ful warfare. Invading Tamaki, they de stroyed Kiwi and his people and entered into occupation of the Tamaki Isthmus It was in 1769, during this warfare, that Captain Cook arrived in ths Haa. raki Gulf. It is related that Cook in tacking across the Guif passed close to Waiheke's outer shores. The Ngati Paoa war canoe fleet was at that time absent at Waitemata. When they re- '• turned to Putiki, Cook's ships had passed northward out of sight. It was decided to follow aad see the wonders that visitors from Hauraki reported to them This local inter-tribal warfare termin ated apparently as the direct result o! a prudent alliance betweea these warring factions to resist the common enemy from the north. For in 1793 came the first war party from NgapuhL The whole of the Hauraki shores was scoured by these northern Vikings and Waiheke had ifc share of attention. Te Botete (fathsi of the later famed Hongi Hika) unsuc cessfully besieged Putiki after capturing the headland pa at Okahuiti. Peace wamade by presenting to that- chief th* greenstone pendant* "Hina-o-te-Ata." Ngapuhi departed, and after attacking places at Tamaki and Waitemata thej returned northward. Peace seems to hav( been observed until about 1810. In thai year came the epidemic called "Rewha rewha," w».ich seriously depleted the ' population. Yet at about this time alsc i Ngati-Paoa appear to given theij attention to perfecting their fortifications i on the Tamaki River, and Putiki stil' I remained an important tribal centre. Koperu's Attack in 1820. In this year Marsden and Major Crms* visited these districts. » The yeai 1821 saw Hongi Hika in j Waiheke for the first time. He i came to avenge Koperu's death. Hongi systematically scourod the whole Waiheke Island and besieged the l Putiki pa, whose people for the first time rhad gum to defend themselves. After i capturing the pa, Hongi completely de I stroyed it. The remnant of its garrison ! met the usual fate of the Maori defeated ' —the cannibal oven or slavery. The S same campaign also saw the capture and ; destruction of the Ngati-Paoa villages at j Tamaki and their discomfiture was comj plete. The earliest European resident at | Waiheke was one Thomas Ma.xwell, who : settled there about 1825. He had married ) Ngeungeu, the daughter cf the Ngati-Ta* head chief Tara-te-Irirangi, who had ex tensive proprietary rights at Maraetai Waiheke and adjacent islands. Residing with his family at Matuku Bay, he buil» and launched the first sailing vessel con stract-ed here—the Matuku (the Crane) She was the first vessel to navigate th' Waitemata. Some years later Mr. "M.t well was lost at sea in his vessel. Naval and Land .Battle,

The intervening years seejn to o. marked with uncertainty as to the future and general tribal insecurity. Meat ot the Ngati-Paoa lived in inland refuges in Waikato and other places. In the ycai 1827, came another Ngapuhi visit. Bj this time, however, the local people were more efficiently armed with guns. An attack on Putiki, which appears to have been reoccupied by Ngati-Paoa, failed Ngapuhi then proceedad to Wajtemafe and at Tarn ere (Tamaki Hills! there oc curred a naval and land battle, in which Ngapuhi were decisively deieated This combined Waterloo-Trafalgar marked the local termination of these wars against Ngapuhi. The Ngapuhi chief, Patnone, made peace and married a Ngati-Paoa chieftainess, Riria. This distinguished couple took up their residence at Putiki (in tfc:s village near the headland near the wharf). Patuone's residence there for a period of years securely cemented tius peace-mak-ing by marriage. Pom are was dins&tisfied with these conditions, and desirous of obtaining still further satisfaction for past Ngapuhi i losses, he organised a war party in 1829. I Visiting Waineke, Patuone, the chief Tara I te-Irirangi, persuaded his. to leave NgatiPaoa alone, so he departed for Waikato via Tamaki. In the Waikato, after attacking a few isolated villages, he found , those people well armed and on guard. He returned homeward, hut was over j whelmed by the Waikatos in his retreat and lost- his life m this, the last Ngapuhi , raid on these districts. From now on Christianity began to roi finance the lives of the native people. They returned from their refuges in the /remote inland parts and began to live jin open villages, cultivating food and des voting themselves to* barterlig produce with the early traders. All '.he old hill ■ torts appeared to be then abandoned. A | demand arose for kauri spars, flax and jWaiheke became a busy place, being rich jin these things—as well as kauri gum. In 1840 Hobson selected Auckland as a settlement, and the Ngati-Paoa chiefs combined with Waikato and 1 Whatua in ensuring the security of the settlement and their goodwill. Hobson was also theEi able to definitely make peace between all those erstwhile enemies Kgati>Fao& "Invade"" Auckland.

From this time to the present daj peace was unbroken and settlement pro eeeded apace. In the year 1851, however, occurred an extraordinary incident. The occasion was the arrest of a Ngati-Paoa chieftain of Waiheke in Auckland by the native police. Hia release was ordered by the magistrate. But .Ngati-Paoa had become thoroughly aroused —for such treatment of a chief was unpardonable. Inviting the co-operation of all the Han raki tribes, they came to Auckland in their war canoes to demand reparation. The position was firmly handled by the authorities, and terminated peacefully by the withdrawal of the hostile war party to Kohimarama, and their final return to Waiheke. About this time the Maori "king" move ment took shape. Ngati-Paoa bec»m« divided politically over this, some sup porting the "king," others remaining loyal to the Grown. Dissatisfaction over land and other grievances tended .to accen tuate these troubles. In 1863 the Wai kato War broke out by the attack of the troops on the native settlements in Wai roa South and other places. Many Ngati Paoa then joined the "kingite" lorces, who took up a position at Rangirin. After the siege of that pa and its ultimate capture the Ngati-Paoa took no further part m those troubles, but to their homes. That year saw the final termination of Ngati-Paoa's long varhke career. Finale. Sinoe that time the European settlement of Waiheke has proceeded apace. Only a small area now remains in Maori ownership, and a mere handful of tm* formerly numerous people now reside oo the island at Huruhi (Western Waiheke). The greater number of Ngati-Paoa now have their homes on the adjacent man** land at various places, where they at* still, a numerous and prosperous Yet the memories and traditions of Maori Waiheke still linger round every bay ana headland. This history is intended to M maraty aa outline of the outstanding fact# of th® same.