Centenary Of The Tuturau Fight

Southland Times, Issue 23374, 4 December 1937, Page 6

Centenary Of The Tuturau Fight

The gathering at Tuturau today will introduce a series of centenary celebrations which should stimulate keen interest in the early days of Southland’s history. Today the famous fight at Tuturau between the North and the South Island Maoris will be commemorated by the unveiling of a monument, the dedication of a Maori house, and the handing over to the Mataura Borough Council of a “centenary reserve” of 32 acres. At the end of the month more ambitious celebrations will take place at Riverton; and later it will be Bluff’s turn. If the centenary of the Tuturau fight is perhaps the least of the three occasions, it is none the less an event of importance for the South. We print this morning a concise and authentic account of the fight by Mr H. Beattie, whose researches into early Southland history are already well known to our readers. The smallness of the two forces which took part in it must surprise those accustomed to armies on a European scale, but a mobile party of 100 Maori raiders could do much damage in those days. It is the daring conception of the attack rather than the magnitude of the forces that will excite the interest of presentday people. The brevity of the fight is another astonishing feature. Many have believed that only one man was killed in it; but this is a misconception arising from the Maoris’ habit of enumerating in their casualty lists only chiefs and men of consequence. No notice was taken of the common men or slaves who were killed. In any case, the loss of life was not confined to the engagement at Tuturau. Some of the raiders left their bones in Westland and in the mountains of Otago, two girls were killed and eaten at Wanaka, three warriors were killed at Mimihau, two more at Richardson’s Flat, and others were put to death on Ruapuke. Altogether it is probable that at least 30 of the raiders lost their lives on this audacious venture. Northern accounts say there were only four survivors from the party, but in the South the deathroll has been put at a very much more modest figure. On matters of this kind there will always be difference of opinion, but the fight itself will remain one of the boldest and most dramatic in the annals of Maori warfare.