THE CHIEF TUHAWAIKI

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22520, 14 March 1935, Page 18

THE CHIEF TUHAWAIKI

TO THE EDITOR

Sir,— ln some correspondence in the Otago Daily Times reference has been made to the noted Maori chief Tuhawaiki and to the circumstances in which he obtained the nickname of “Bloody Jack.” Correspondents say that it was given to him because in his conversation he used the word “ bloody ” very frequently to emphasise what he was saying. That may be true, or it may not. There is another story which may also be true of untrue, and which I had first-hand from those that knew him, and which can be found in a short article, “ The Whalers Sing” (by M. G. T.), in the Otago Daily Times of March 30, 1912. -The following is an extract: — Tuhawaiki was a man of warlike propensities and a great fighter, but very friendly to the white people. He had been on a trip to Sydney, and of all the sights, he saw those that gave him most pleasure were seeing the convicts hanged and the soldieis drilling. On his return to Otago he at once set to work to endeavour to di .1. his Maoris in the same way as he had seen the soldiers drilled, using pieces of wood in lieu of guns. The sight tickled the humorous side of the whalers, who dubbed him “ Bloody Jack,” the name sticking to the chief as long as he lived. I am, etc., M. G. T.