A MAORI MAGAZINE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7102, 2 September 1949, Page 6

A MAORI MAGAZINE

“ TE KOTUKU KAIWHAKAATA ” (THE WHITE HERON) (By E.H.S.) For some time there has been considerable social and civic activity among the Maori people of the Dominion to take advantage of the provisions set out in the MJaori Social and Economic Advancement Act. 1945, and in conformity therewith several hundred committees and executive councils have been created, more particularly in the North Island. The main objectives are for disseminating reports of proceedings concerning activities in various parts of New Zealand relating to the welfare of the race. These include all matters of interest regarding the advancement of the people, with special reference to the younger generation, by inculcating and fostering their mother tongue and preserving their ancient customs and craftsmanship. It was quickly realised that there could be no general or cohesive policy without an adequate means of interchanging ideas amongst the various committees and councils, which have already reached a total of considerably over eight hundred. It was also deemed essential that a central bureau to receive and consider reports should be appointed, and Mr Rangi Royal was appointed general administrator, with headquarters in Auckland. Then arose the problem of distributing such

information among the different tribes and to this end it has been decided to print and publish a monthly magazine, of which Mr T. T. Wfetere has been appointed editor.

Naturally, preliminary arrangements have necessitated considerable thought and organisation, but it is understood that matters have already so far advanced that the inaugural publication will be launched either next or the following month. In addition to the publication of reports it is proposed to add articles of historical interest relating to the Maori people, collected from various sources, together with contributions of educational and economic value, in an endeavour to bring the young Maori mind up to the standard necessary for him, to take his full share in the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. In this connection, it is proposed to print a portion of the magazine in parallel columns of English and Maori, which will prove of educational value to students of both languages in comparing idiomatic construction, etc. This will also provide a test for the intelligence of in J terpreters in the choice of words to reproduce the literal or figurative sense of the original. In this connection writers will have an excellent i precedent in a book published in 1860 by the Southern Cross, wherein the speeches of over a hundred Maori chiefs are printed in parallel columns during the Kohimarania conference of that year. 'Both English and Maori may be accepted as models alike for language and printing. The title of the new magazine introduces the name of a bird which has special significance for the Maori mind. The White Heron is frequently referred to in speeches welcoming distinguished personalities, and is there referred to as Kotuku Rerengatahi, or the Heron of a Single Flight, being truly a rara avis and seen only in the North Island and only at long intervals. The figure is always employed when referring to outstanding personalities whose visits may be expected at long periods, such as the Governor-General. The attribute Kaiwhakaata is , difficult to translate as it literally means gazing at one’s own reflection and refers to the habit of the heron standing on one leg for hours at the estuary of small streams peering pensively into still water, where its own reflection is visible. Anyone who has watched a blue heron

(matuku) standing on the harbour foreshore at Kawhia in this attitude will appreciate its significance, although it is probable that the bird is only awaiting the arrival of an unwary fish for luncheon. Some time ago a very fine specimen of the white heron family (kotuku) made its appearance in the upper reaches of the Kawhia harbour, and was the object of much interest on the part of both Maori and pakeha observers. Unlike its relative, the blue heron (matukutuku), or “blue crane,” as it is popularly designated, which may be observed almost any day fishing on the foreshores of our harbours, the kotuku is a bird of extreme rarity in the North Island. Mr W- S. Sutherland, of Oparau, who was the first to report the presence of the strange visitor, states that during the whole of -his experience in Wairarapa and on the East Coast he had never seen a single specimen, while this is the first he has noticed since his residence in Kawhia.

Strangely enough, Sir Walter Buller makes no reference to this bird in his work on the birds of New Zealand, merely describing its habits and favourite nesting-place as Lake Kanieri, on the west coast of the South Island. And yet Maori lore and the experienced observers indicate that the periodical arrivals of this bird and its handsome appearance gave rise to expressions directly derived from these circumstances. This conforms with the practice of addiiig some distinguishing characteristic to the actual name of the bird describing its habits. Thus the gannet (takupu) is frequently described as the Takupu Horohau (“Wind Devourer”) so named from its custom of poising absolutely motionless several hundred feet above the sea, facing the wind and remaining stationary until it suddenly darts to the surface to capture its prey. It is also described as, Takapu Miatai Awa (“ the gannet which searches tidal waters ”), from its habit of frequenting the flowing tide in pursuit of fish and food. The position of the kotuku in the underworld of Maori mythology has formed the subject matter of many writers, but as a symbol of chieftainship and rarity it holds a unique position in native bird life. In this respect it is comparable to the black swan in the quotation “ Rara avis nigroque simillima cygno,” although the suggestion is that the black swan was practically an impossibility. Previous Publications In selecting the name of a bird as the title for a new magazine the Committee has followed at least two historical examples, both of which are associated with the early life of the district. The one most frequently referred to is the Pihoihoi, a journal edited by the late Sir John Gorst near Te Awamutu, the name being that of the ground lark or New Zealand, pipit. The story of Gofst’s connection with the publication and the destruction of the printing press at the outbreak of the Waikato war is so well known that it need not be repeated here, except to state that- the Maoris moulded the type into bullets while the press disappeared. On the othei’ hand, the history of the Hokioi is not so familiar to the public, and refers to a distinct chapter in the relationship between pakeha and M'aori at the same period. The story commences with the arrival of Dr von Hochstetter, the distinguished geologist, to New Zealand, who was associated with a scientific group, including Charles Darwin and Joseph Banks, in a world-wide scientific exploration. Dr von Hochstetter was lent to the New Zealand Government to undertake a geological survey of New Zealand, and the fact that he completed this task, with all its associated difficulties in those early times, in nine months, and that his investigations still constitute a text book for students, speaks volumes for his natural gifts and scientific knowledge. He remained for some weeks in Kawhia, which is a storehouse for geological research, combining as it does areas of the “red sandstone age” with the very first primitive specimens of marine life (such as ammonites and beleminites) on the one hand and fossils of a later period in the limestone deposits throughout the district. Samples of the teeth of the tuatini shark, which frequented these waters some thirty millions years ago, are so numerous when limestone deposits have been broken up for road making or crushing, that one highranking rangatira had a perfect necklace of beautifully preserved teeth which had been discovered in the process ; and other fossils are so* plentiful that the district has been a happy hunting frounds for students. It was only natural, therefore, that Dr von Hochstetter became deeply interested, and took advantage of the hospitality freely offered at the Ahuahu Mission Station to pursue his studies. In his work he became friendly and attached to many of the young Maoris of the district, and on his return to Vienna in 1861 took with him two of the young members of his party. These were introduced to the Archduke Maximilian (brother of the Emperor Franz Josef), himself a highly qualified scientist, who had financed Dr von Hochstetter’s movements. The Maoris were loaded with presents, and the Archduke was so impressed with the intelligence of one, named Rerehau, a young NgatiManiapoto chief, that on leaving he asked whether there was anything else the Maoris would like. Rerehau expressed a desire to own a printing press, and was at cnce presented with a small plant, together with a plentiful supply of type. Fortified with this means of distributing propaganda in favour of the King movement, Rerehau set up his plant at Ngaruawahia, and published a journal which he called Hokioi, a mythical bird of immense proportions, but identified by Sir Walter Buller as a frigate bird. When war broke out the plant was removed to the King Country, but in crossing the Wai pa River the canoe capsized, and the press was lost. In later years it was recovered, and is now in the possession of the Te Awamutu Historical Society. In his book, “ Yesterdays in Maoriland,” the author, Andreas Reischek, the famous ornithologist, who sought out Rerehau in his retirement at Mokau, claims that he recovered three copies of Hokioi, one of which is still in the Vienna Museum. It should be returned te Te Awamutu.