MAORI HISTORY

Opunake Times, 26 August 1947, Page 3

MAORI HISTORY

TE NAMU PA NOTABLE LANDMARK by John Houston, LL.B. (all rights reserved) Mr. J. Houston, Hawera, has kindly consented to the publication of the following excellent recording of early Taranaki Maori history and his description of historic Te Namu Pa should be of great interest to readers : Arise, arise, 0 soldiers of the fort! Of this pa and of that, Lest ye go down to death. High "up, high up, the thundering surf On Harihari's cliffs resounds, And loud the wailing sea Beats on the Mokau coast, And here am I, on guard, Seeking, searching, peering, As on those rocky crags Th-e sea-hawk sits And watches for his prey. 0! dauntless be. Soon will the sun Rine Flaming o'er the world! if A whakaaraara-pa, night sentinel's song, of Te Rauparaha's Ngati-Toa warriors.—Translated by Mr. James Cowan.)

About a mile from Opunake, Iho traveller proceeding towards New Plymouth crosses the Otahi Stream. A short distance further on, he crosses the Heunama Stream. The land bounded by these two rivers, and lying between the Opunake-New Plymouth road and the sea, is of great historic interest. Events took place here in June, 1833, over a century ago, which may well be remembered with pride in Taranaki. At Te Namu Pa, a small band of warriors of # the Taranaki tribe, armed principally with native weapons, rakau spears, successfully repulsed a much stronger force of Waikato raiders, who had the advantage of being armed with muskets. •When one approaches the Otalii Stream from the end of the Cemetery Road, a fine view is obtained of steep- cliffs characteristic of so much of the Taranaki coast. Te Namu Pa stands out boldly, & position of considerable natural strength on the northern bank of the stream. The stronghold is on an isolated rock, presenting an almost vertical face,on the landward side. Towards the sea, the pa is protected bv a steep cliff, and the side towards the Otahi Stream is equally steep. On the landward side, some thirty feet below the summit, tihi, of the pa, there is an area of flat land on which some of the wliares stood over a century ago. The fortress was difficult of access. Dr. W. B. Marshall, _ of H.M.S. Alligator, in describing the pa as he saw it in 1834, says the entrance was facilitated by a notched stake resting upon the perpendicular cliff facing the Otahi Stream. A second entrance he states was barely perceptible from outside the pa. It was an opening in the stockade, and was commanded bv a sort of guard house. Today access is a very easy matter, for the tribesmen have constructed a flight of concrete steps up the centre of the landward face of the pa. The visitor immediately recognises the area at the head of these steps as sacred ground—it is a tribal burial place, urupa. For its notable history, and for its honoured dead, Te Namu is for ever entitled to respect. On the flat land in front of the main pa are still to be seen several rua kumara, food storage pits, of the underground cave variety. On the summit, which is nearly an acre in extent, there are numerous examples of these old raa, giving unmistakable testimony of the. elaborate preparations made for the historic defence over a hundred years ago. Many of the rua are in an excellent ;>tate of preservation. The charaol eristic small entrance in each case leads to a wide circular cavity beneath. In some there is undergvound communication with neighbouring rua. _ The waterproof trapdoors which protected the contents have long since disappeared. The surrounding country is more or less level, but near Te Namui is a low hill, named Kaiaia. Less than a quarter of a mile along the coast may be seen another stronghold, Te Namuiti Pa. This small pa is situated on a narrow peninsula of high land with precipitous sides. At the landward end there is a trench averaging some twenty feet m depth, which presented a formidable barrier to any attacking party. Large rua are To be seen on the summit of this pa, while some interesting specimens are on the steep northern side. Te Namu-iti Pa was not garrisoned at the time of the siege of Tc Namu. (To be Continued.)