“TE WAKA MAORI.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4884, 16 November 1876, Page 5

“TE WAKA MAORI.”

The following letter on the proposed discontinuance of Te Waka Maoi'i appears in the last issue of that journal ' Sir, —Please' put 'this letter of mine in the basket containing the wedges for securing the top sides of the Canoe ( Waka Moari), or lash> it to the afterpart of the bailer, so that when the Waka is broken-up it will be known, after the wreck, that it was broken by the descendants of Niau,' the . man destroyer. : Probably the basket, or the bailer, may be cast on shore and found by Rongotakutama, who will carefully preserve the letter. My Maori friends in both islands, our canoe, known as “ The Waka Maori of New-Zea-land,” and whose motto was ‘ ‘ Justice, truth; and love,” is to be broken up. The mental pabulum which it took on board for us was always characterised by principles of justice, truth, and love. But now it is being broken up, audits cargoes are disappearing into the throat of the Parata ; the descendants of Niau have knocked it to pieces—it has been destroyed by Tokitahi, te Patutahi, te Rakautahi, te Mototahi, Kukua-ihu, and Manawaherea. Our friends of the Opposition tell us that they are the persona to save us. Is this a sign of safety ? I have heard it said that the Wananga is to guide and teach us. Yes, it will teach us to disregard the advice of those who have been exalted by the Queen to be her representatives in our midst. But the Wananga declares they are persons of no consequence whatever—those gentlemen, some of whom have been honored by receiving knighthood from her Majesty. The Wananga tells us that we must “ beseech the Queen to give us other laws.” What other laws ? From whom came the existing laws? We are to ask for some good pakehas. Are these not pakehas which we have already ? Who are those good pakehas ? Why, they too are pakehas ! And we are to ask the Queen to confer honor upon them. Who was it that conferred honor upon them ? And we are to ask for honor to be again conferred! (i'.e., upon others). Consider the matter. My friends, the dishonesty and falsity of the conductors of the Wananga is not imperceptible. On the contrary, it lies open and exposed to view, clear and transparent as possible. They tell us they will teach us what is good. No, my friends ; they will teach us to be jealous, to slander, to speak evil of other men, to snatch the food from our friends’ mouths, to take back that which we have parted with to others, to repudiate what has been determinately fixed and . made sacred, and to despise all government and authorities. Do you, gentlemen, possessing intelligence and knowledge among our pakeha friends, consider this is teaching which will benefit and save us, the Maori* people? _ Its counsel was honest when it was first printed at Pakowhai, and its words were fair; but now its utterances are exactly similar to those of the Hohioi (King’s newspaper), which was opposed to the Pthoihoi (Gorst’s paper) in the days of Waikato. To my mind, it closely resembles that paper. Is it right that this should be so ? I have never seen anything wrong in the matter of the Walea. Possibly it was objected to because it was not given to publish groundless grumblings and complainings—that, no doubt, was the defect which gave dissatisfaction. But I think it was quite right not to do so. If it had been so conducted, many persons, devoid, in a great measure, of religious principles, and ignorant of man’s laws, would have been led by it, and they would have lost entirely what little knowledge they might have once possessed of such things. Is such teaching good ? I think, if the Waka is really to be broken up, it will be deeply regretted by all the tribes of the island. It has become, as it were, a sort of vested right with them, and it is greatly valued by them—it is, in a manner, a relic of departed friends. As people travel on the long and weary beaches of the coast during the sultry days of summer, the children, the women, and the feeble-kneed, overcome with weariness, exclaim, as they mark the deep bays and the oft - recurring points and bluffs,. “Alas! if our waka (canoe) had been saved, we could soon pass beyond those points and bluffs.” And, in like manner, when the people are deprived.of hearing the words of one side and of the other, when information from both ends of the island, and from other countries, which they received every month, is cut off from them, then the thinking men of the tribes will repine, and exclaim, “Alas ! if our Walea Maori of New Zealand had been saved; we should now be receiving information of what is going on in various parts.” I say, will the tribes not so, express their regret ? I say they will; their thoughts will he fixed continually: upon the treasure which they have lost. ■ ■

I must here give expression to a word of censure. It appears as if our pakeha friends in the Parliament were desirous of bandaging our eyes, that what they say in Parliament may not be translated to us—this, possibly, is the reason. why they have broken up the Waka. It is said, .however, that it was done for the purpose of saving the £4OO per year which has been expended in the publication of the Waka. That is not a valid reason. • The Waka, was a thing of the highest importance, and that money was well expended in its support. The Government money is being expended for many very useless purposes ; but the money expended on the Waka Maori was for the benefit of all, and it was partly supported by the Maoris themselves ; for instance, the subscriptions received from, that numerous tribe, the people of Whanganui, and various other tribes also. This is the third , time that information of, the sayings and doings. of our pakeha friends' has been conveyed to us by means of the Press. - First, there was the paper published at Auckland, which was called the Maori Messenger of New Zealand. No great length of time had elapsed when that Messenger ceased to make its appearance among us, and almost immediately afterwards troubles arose in the country., Subsequently another paper made its appearance, called the Pihoihoi (a bird, the ground lark). Its wings were not sufficiently grown to enable it to fly to all parts of the island, when a large bird named the Hokioi (the King’s paper) made its appearance. Issuing forth in all 'its pride and fierceness, it put .down the small bird, the Pihoihoi, and. went with open mouth about the island asking all men to obey it, and it would drive the pakehas into the sea, that they (the pakehas) might return to the place from whence they sprung; it (the Uokioi) was to be the king of the island, and to save the people: “Gather yourselves unto me, and I will be your King.” Many of the tribes of the island nestled beneath its wings, and those who did so were left Ij ing; in a helpless heap (i.e., dead). The causes which brought those misfortunes on the island are well known. It was said that a certain European, an officer of the Government at that time, had misbehaved himself and was in consequence expelled from the service, that he went and stirred up the Maoris against the Government—the Maoris believed him and thereby got into trouble. ,At a later period the Waka Maori made its appearance, and was paddled throughout the island with great skill and discretion. For thirteen years it has “ walked the waters,” and the Maoris were, beginning to advance in intelligence and knowledge under its teaching when it is suddenly broken up. 'Well; let it be broken) that this ephemeral people, the Maoris, this people of a mushroom growth and vermineating proclivities, may soon cease to exist. [Here follow a number of Native proverbs, the application of which would not be understood by our pakeha readers without lengthy explanation.] Let the above suffice. It remains for you yourselves to carefully consider this subject—- “ It belongs to Uekahia, and Rongotakutama will carefully cheiish it.” I have sent a letter to a pakeha newspaper, to make known to the Europeans my thoughts on the breaking up of bur Waka. , Mohi Turei.