The Parihaka Meeting.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 661, 27 March 1879, Page 2

The Parihaka Meeting.

; Pari^aka, Monday. £\ A large meeting of natives congregated to welcome Mr. Sheehan, SShe " Tahipa," to the Kaiiiga. It rained almost from the time he left Opunake until Jus arrival. AH his followers and the j ■^Native Ministerhimself got thoronghly drenched. Hedroveniito- the 'centre of .the village and gave the people a general greeting. Mr. Sheehan then* crossed : the creek! and came: to a whare provided for the Government by Te Whiti, Major -Brown, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Williamß, your agent, and several others were present. Te Whiti was much pleased at Mr. Sheehan's arrival. He considered it a concession to his mana, while the Native Minister states that he makes his concession to increase the power of the peace party on the coast, lest Te Whiti and his confreres should throw their influence into the scale of the recalcitrant, on the West Coast faction. At half-past nine the Native Minister and a large party of natives assembled, but not quite so large as on the previous Monday, though nearly as numerous. The tidings of ilia being expected, kept the people together. Te Whiti had told all his people that Hiroki's bravado could not give him safety and those men who were bloodguilty, and ran to the city of refuge, should a-emain hidden, and be content with the protection they claimed. There 7 were a few white men present, but only a few. The native Minister and: his followers sat in the midst of the Marae.: Some delay of expectation took place as on the previous meeting. After a short interval " Tohu" arose and said the 18th day of the month was the ordinary time for their meetings, but the 18th had passed and this was only a supplementary meeting, After a short interval Major Brown, arose, and with a fluent tongue and happy manner, spoke as follows : " Te Whiti and your people, greetings. The Native Minister has conie to see you, hear what you have to say, and correct any wrong impression that; you may hav : e.^arrived at from reports,; which are often wrong/ that may have reached .you. Such reports travelto and fro until what was originally no bigger than a man's head becomes as large as Mount Egmont, which is now looking down upon us. . The Native Minister therefore says : Do not believe anything imputed to hun unless you hear it from his lips ; and he will believe nothing as coming from you that you do not tell him yourself. Then Te Whiti arose and stated that he had spoken all he had to say at the present meeting, and would say nothing more until after the feeding. Then another delay took place awaiting the production of food, during which we sat (sqatted) on the ground, waiting with I the multitude in accordance with Maori etiquette. :' r Then the Native Minister and his party were shifted further back in the marae, fern leaves were spread on the i ground, and a huge mound of food piled thereupon with huge pots to eat from, strings, bags, ahd panhikans, sufficient in number for all the people, . . Turi of Ngatiruauuij stepped up anddeclared that food for the meeting was prepared and placed. Then the distribution took place., „ A pot of tea, a kit of bread, accompanied by sufficient pork to have lasted us a week were placed before us, and five or six stalwart men provided with kniyes commenced cutting up the meat and a general distribution took place. There were 3000 pannikins produced for . the guests and residents. The people as at the first meeting were tribally located, the Taranaki at the head of the Marea, with the Ngatiruanui immediately below, and around the side of the Marea the Wanganui and Waikato, and Ngaruaru, the Ngatiwa and other representatives scattered according to relationship ■ The Native Minister gave the food presented to us to the wife of Kaukere, our hostess, her husband and cousin of Te Whiti and a man of higher rank than the prophet himself. He is and has been a zealous servant of the Government, but like many others holding a position under^ payed for his services, : which- are almost unknown and unrecognised. It was half-past eleven whenthe food was distributed and the impartiality of distribution was all that could be desired. After, the meal, and the place where the food had been were cleared the people drew nearer together, but the middle portioji of the square was kept clear. . ■ -. -. . Te Whiti then arose and said : "If you, the Native Minister, have any special reason for coming here state it, as the greeting is over. ;. ; t -• Then the Native Minister went into the clear place, and after greeting all the people said what majr be thus summarised,: " Salutations toyou, Te. Whiti, and to your people and ypui? guests from all parts of this island. You have asked me whether I have come merely to greet you and to discuss any questions of importance. I will tell you my reasonsonly my respest for yourself as the man who has for years guided his people in the paths of peace, and that I might show to Europeans that the stories published in the newspapers about the unfriendly attitude of the people under your direction, were without foundation. These are' my reasons for coming. -As I am here, I am quite willing to talk with you and your people about any matter in which you take any interest. If these matters are mentioned, I will talk about them with you, so that we may discover a moans of removing any evils that may exist and converse together to promote the happiness of both races. Te' Whiti then stood up and said the meeting held oml the : lßth was the proper time for such discussion. • He thought that the Minister had something to say ; that he was not responsible for the reports that were put in circulation, and then sat down. v The Native Minister aaked. Te Whiti to repeat what he had said : on the 18th for his information. The reply was that the 18th had gone, and what he had said had become public property. He should not again state what he then uttered. The Native Minister replied that this was a Maori Parliament, Te Whiti's own in fact, and he having the power of its conduct should regulate its proceedings.; :... • - ■;. Te Whiti replied that the Parliament was shut. Other people might be ignorant of what he had said on the 18th ; but Mr. Sheehan certainly; was not. ; < The Native Minister said he wanted a distinct answer aa to what he had said.

If Te Whiti had anything more to say he would fix any time to-morrow. to hea? <}; The remainder of the day an<j night ■will be deyoted to amusement ijjid to idle talk. \ -% It "teas a trial of skill in fencing throughout, the prophet apparently wishing to show his followers that he could hold^iisWn fcgaifist an educated pakeha. Amongst sotnirsections of the people dissatisfaction was expressed that the pVesence" of Hie" Native Minister was noT taken advantage of to discuss the questions that are of interest to the people. There will probably-be further talk tomorrow. — Auckland , Bta\\ ■, .