PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 84

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

TE WHXTI/-THE MAORI PBOEHEr.' Last November > Te Wbiti, the Maori " Prophet, passed away, and with him there died the" great Maori movement for the reinstatement of the Maoris on the land^ of, their forefathers. Just after his deaths I gave three. Ch'ats^ on another Maori' leaaer, Te Kooti, -who; perpetrated =t&e Poverty. Bay and , other massacres, and who," after terrorising -the Europeans and frkndly Maoris over a large area, was driven to find sanctuary in the Waiwera Country, and after many years in , Maori fortresses and at Parihaka passed away some time ago. These /three Chats I ' intended to follow up with a couple on T© Whiti, but the Christmas holidays coming on, I gave a couple of Ghats on a book which gave me a good deal of pleasure, and provided you with material for light reading. Now that we axe over our gaieties I'll take up my self-imposed task. The New Zealand "Herald, in an historical outline of his life, says: — "Te Whiti, the great prophet and rangatira, was the son of John, Kakahi, the noted Ngatiawa chief, and " grandson of Te Whiti 'Orbngomai.' He was born at Ngamotu, near New / "~Plymoufch, three days after his father was killed at the Battle of Pukerangiora, in 1831. ' His mother, Haaigil, 'Kawau, ■was a daughter of Te'-Whetu, a Taranaki chief. After the Pukerangiora' incident, when horrible slaughter took place, owing to th© attempt of the famished - garrison to evacuate daring daylight, Te Whiti was taken by his mother to Waikanae, and returned to Taranaki with the Waikanae natives^. . . Hei__ paid a visit to Wellington, after ■ the war. It was principally his influence thafe iSa/v-ecl tit-e- passengers -of £Jxe - sliij> 3L*ot>cS Worsley, at- Te Nam«,--in_lß62. Te ' Whiti, with his late colleague, and latterly his rival Tohu, were pupils of the German missionary, Biemenschneider, andi were taught the principles of Christianity sA the Warea missionary station. V-ery soon they became too clever for their instructor, and announced' that they were capable of going out on their own account to preach the new, doctrine.". . In this extract, mention is made of the bloody raid in which his -father .wag killed, - and the following account from "a History of Taranaki gives an idea what these Maori raids were' like: "Early in the summer of 1831 ' a canoe with a party of Waikato Natives visited Ngamotu, neap Moturoa, professedly to secure a cargo of dried shark. These men were N spies, and during their stay in the Ngatiawa village ascertained the strength of the' hapu, and how they could be best conquered. In December — about a months after the visit — a tana (war) party, consisting of about 4000 Waikatos, came into the district, and th© chief, Te Wherowhero, divided his men into sections round about 'Waitara. At first, a few Ngatiawas_ were seized at Tikorangi, and these 'were sacrificed to the god of war . and Wiro, the evil spirit. Then an un- „ suspecting -party of 25 Natives, returning from a distant village, were taken, elain, and devoured* The Ngatiawas were frightened,- and made for their stronghold at Pukerangiora with such haste that they failed to store- it "with provisions for any lengthened siege: 'There were two or three wMte men > living with' the Ngatiawas at the time^and they gave confidence to the besieged. The enemy destroyed all the sacred places of the Ngatiawas, and in large numbers attacked the pa. For 12 successive days the enemy made repeated assaults'- but were as constantly repulsed, and they lost in these attacks 36 men. Famine and exhaustion had reduced the little garrison to a state of despondency, and in .a--panic they attempted to evacuate the pa. during daylight. The scene that ensued was of the most horrible nature. The enemy took advantage of the half-fam- ! ished wretches' -position to commit the most frightful atrocities, and m their despair mothers threw their children over Uhe precipice to be dashed to pieces, and they themselves leaped into the river in order to avoid the more dreadful fate afi the hands of their sanguinary foe. A fearful slaughter ensued, and cannibal banquets were kept up in" true pandemonium style. Te Wherowhero killed 50 of the best tattooed men himself, and,sitting alone upon the ground, with a stone weapon in his "right hand, smashed the heads of his- victims, the "whole ot the chiefs person being covered with! blood and brains. Children, and youths' - were roasted alive, arid were afterwards *&ten by the cannibals; and. so greedily did some of them feast that it w reportedl they died from the effects of their glut* - tcny. Altogether, 500 perished, said witH the -exception, of a few that escaped, th» remainder were carried away into sjayery.^ In this extract and in the account I of the Poverty Say massacre my yowg readers will jiee ihat th© early hfctorx of

the .occupation of New Zealand was full of thrilling incident, and th^t the Indian tales devoured by young folk can easily be paralleled in the early history of our Own Dominion. It was in such stirring and bloody times that Te Whiti was born, and, followed as it was by long wars between Maori and pakeha, Te Whiti's rule of life was in striking contrast to the atmosphere of carnage which surrounded Mm, for when he assumed the role of prophet his motto ■was : "No more bloodshed ! Peace to all mankind!" At his grave side Waitara saidi : "Te Whiti had only one word — Peace, and his" badge was the white feather, the sign of peace, unity, prosperity, and goodwill, for all nationalities were one." v The white feather jf peace — not of cf.wardice — was shown in connection with the wreck of the Worsley already spoken of. The following extract shows this in- j cident up in strong relief: — ' He has been a good man from, beginning to end. He has always been a man of peace. . . , x.He would have liked to bring all the Natives together as brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts, belonging to one family, and united. He jwould not lead any of the Natives, into wrong." The speaker was a Maori lady of the Taranaki tribe ; and as a young -girl &he witnessed the wreck of the Lord -Worsley at Te Namu in 1862. When the steamer was cast ashore a large body of Hauhauf. came down and fell upon the unfortunate passengers, intending to slay them. "Arama Karaka it was who threw his garment over the helpless pakehas in token of protection, "and turning round to the bloodthirsty Hauhaus, said : ' Take my ■ head off first before you dare to touch the Englishman.' Stood forth also Erueti and j Wiremu Kingi Matakatea, men of influence with Karata. Erueti, who was afterwards known to fame as Te Whiti "Orongomai, made a telling speech to the Hauhaus, declaring, that, as the Europeans bad been cast ashore by the will ol God, it was the duty of every Native to protect and "feed them. The three had their ■way, and proceeded to commandeer all the carts in the district to convey the shipwrecked people to New Plymouth. The work was carried out without bloodshed, and when the Government offered a reward to the Maoris for their assistance it was refused." These men and the Maoris they influenced took no part in the_ wars of the sixties and seventies. They took to themselves the names " Kupapa" (lying close, taking no part) and "Popokorua," anu these names are emblazoned o-n the flags, which the tribes west of the mountain keep in their pas. Their policy waa to fight neither for the Maori nor for the white, but to „ succour each with food if, required!. This was the religion which Te Whiti and Tohu had established from their study ,of the. Scriptures. . (To be continued.)