HONE HEKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20538, 12 April 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

HONE HEKE.

CHALLENGING BRITISH RULE.

BV matanga.

Tt is well that tho ceremony on the hill above Russell has helped to set forth more clearly tho part played by J Tone lleke in tho war in the north." Nowhere else than at. tho base of the historic flagstaff could it. havo been more fittingly emphasised that, this conflict was not, in any full sense, " lleke's war," however habitual has becomo the practice of calling it so. To what has been said of tho staff itself, and of Ileko's hostility to it, there is need to add some explanation in detail of the man and his methods.

Heke—Hone Heko Pokai, to give him his rightful name—was a chief of high standing, who traced his descent from Rahiri, reputed to have coirie from far Hawaiki in one of the original canoes. 110 was a tino Ngapuhi—a Ngapuhi of the Ngapuhi. He was doubly related to Hongi, " the Napoleon of the North," being a nephew of Ilongi, and by his second marriage a son-in-law. Overbearing and turbulent in youth, when ho grew to man's estate ho gained notoriety bv levying tribute on all travellers passing through his land, Puketona, which was on the highroad from the Bay of Islands to the interior. 110 roughly handled and stripped nil who attempted to pass free. Ilis right to levy tho tax was seldom questioned, as ho was of high birth. Beside, he was accounted " he uri na Kauteawha," a worthy descendant of Kauteawha, a man renowned for energy and prowess. 110 first distinguished himself as a bravo in the battle of Kororareka in 1830. Three years later ho enhanced his reputation when tho Ngapuhi, under Titore, made a raid on Tauranga. In tho attack on Oturnoetni he was wounded, and was sent back to tho Bay lest his boldness should get the better of his discretion. Soon after this ho came under the influence of tho missionaries, becoming a Christian and living in tho family of Henry Williams for some years. Henry Williams gave him John ("Hone") as a baptismal name. Afterwards, when the men of the* 96th were brought to fight him—the British soldier is ever a humorist —they turned his name into Johnny Ilickey and talked of him as an Irishman opposing the Government in order to avenge tho wrongs of his distressful country. At the mission school he was very diligent, and in duo courso was made a lay reader of the Church. His first wife .was also under mission influence, being baptised I.vdin. During Lydia's lifetime, lleko remained quiet and studious, but when she (tied he threw off all restraint and was prominent when the Ngapuhi were fighting Pomare in 1837. Retiring to Kaikohe, he kept tho neighbourhood in turmoil. His marriage with Hariata, Hongi's handsome and capable daughter, increased his prestige; and when Hobson arrived Heko was a man of authority, widely feared and respected. Origin of the Flagstaff,

Not far from the big tent in which the treaty was arranged, stood that day a flagpole bearing the Union Jack. Already it had a, history. When the confederation of northern chief-, organised by Busby, the British Resident, to defeat Baron' de Thierry's plans, was recognised as independent in King William's reign, a national flag of special design was given to them. It was agreed that it should bo down from the cliff in front of Busby's house. A pole was needed. It was made from a kauri tree grown 011 Hone Heke's land, and given by him to Mr. Busby for that purpose. Later, in the troublous days, lleke wrote to Governor Fitzroy a truculent letter in which he said—" The pole that was cut down belonged to me; I made it for the native Mac, and it was never paid for by tho Europeans."

When British sovereignty was declared, this staff was taken down and removed to (he opposite side of the Bay. There, above Kororareka, whence the open sea could be descried and where the st aft could be seen almost all round the Bay, it served a double purpose. Primarily, it was used to signal entering ships, and a signalman was placed there on duty. When! not in such use, at its peak there flew the Lnion Jack. The significance of this was not wholly lost upon the Maori, and there were not wanting those — Europeans and Americans—so resentful at the coming of British law that they diligently poisoned the Maori mind with regard to that significance. In Mailing's account of (lie war in the north, written from the Maori point of view, there is something particularly interesting about this. Conflicting Stories. After telling of the diminishing number of traders coming to the north, because of the founding of Auckland and other towns to tho south, and ot the consequent lack of buyers of native produce and particularly' the scarcity of tobacco for Maori pipes, .Mailing's Ngapuhi chief says:

We inquired the reason of this, but the few pakeha traders left amongst its told us different stories. Some said that the reasou tobacco was scarce and dear was because the Governor would not let it be brought on shore until lie was paid a large price lor it. besides what was paid to the people of the ship, who were the right owners of it. This we nt first did not believe. because you all said you were not slaves, not one of you, but all free men. Others said that the reason ships did not coine iis frequently us formerly was because the Governor made them pay for coniiug to anchor m the ports. Some said all the evil was by reason of the flagstaff which the (iovernor had caused to be erected at Maiki, at Kororareka, as a rahui— that is, a reserving sign, to warn of! all strangers and intruders —and that as long as it remained there things would be no better; others again told us the flagstaff was put there to show the Hhips the way into the harbour; others that, it was intended to keep them out; and others said that it was put up as a sign that this island had been taken by the Queen of England, and* that the nobility and independence of the Maori was no more. Hut this one thing at least wiis true, we had less tobacco and fewer blankets and other European goods than formerly, and we saw that the first. Governor hn<] not spoken tho truth, for he told us we should have a great deal more. 1 lie hearts of the Maori were sad, and our old pakeha friends looked melancholy, because so few ships entile to tiring them goods to trade with. At. last, we began to think the. flagstaff must have something to do with it, and so ileke went and cut it down. Confused Thinking. That gives fairly a description of the of tiie Maori mind as some 111,I es raised by tho treaty were, dashed, and of the gradual acceptance ol iho idea that the flagstaff was "the root of all the evil." By Hoke the flagstaff was viewed as a challenge to his iuaiia. It stood for law that threatened to become irksome. Even its signals were irritating, for tliey reminded him of the imposition of customs duties ami the suppression.of smuggling—checks on profitanlo traffic. 110 hail shared with a cousin an anchor duty of l! 5 per vessel, levied on all ships coming into the I!av up to 1840; now the whalers, ing tlio fiscal restrictions, woro going elsewhere, where the Queen's writ did not, as \et run, or was administered less rigorously Early in 1844 two American u balers were seized for smuggling, heavy fines following. This brought Ilcke's anger to boiling point. It, stung into rebellious action the Acting American Consul, Captain Mayhew--tho Maoris called him To ITu—who told Pomare, bis particular trading chief, who collected an anchoi <oil from vessels in the Bay's inner waters, at the entranco to the Ivawakawa and Waikare rivers, that if such things went on the whalers would not come, and that bo himself would leave. As a matter of fact, bo did leave—not many weeks later. Mayliew told I'omare also that the flagstaff was the cause of all the trouble. This statement duly reached Heke's ears, already itching for promptings to rebellion. So it came about, that the first Maori chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi was tho first to set himself against British rule..