A MAORI KIANGA.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 October 1921, Page 5

A MAORI KIANGA.

OLD SITIE AT MOTUROA. APPLICATION FOR THE LAND. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter). Wellington, Oct. 27. Representatives of the Ngati-te-Whiti hapu have petitioned Parliament thit a piece of land be granted to them at Moturoa, New Plymouth, for i. fishing place and boat-landing. They ask for an acre and a-half of land bounded by the Tutu stream, the Hongihongi stream, the railway line and the ocean “This was a kainga of our ancestors •and remains so to this day,” said the petitioners. “Our houses are stilt standing and our fishing boats still at their moorings, and have never been disturbed by any person. This was a kainga which was occupied, it being a fishing and landing place. The names of the fishing places are: Tokatapu, Te Kopua, Te Tokaroa, Te Kawa. Pourangi, Te Moturoa, Ngatoka, Mapuna and Motumahinga, where hapuka, koura, pakirikiri, and many other kinds of fish were taken. The Maori people and the European people know these fishing places. Our mana to these fishing places still exist, and we have worked these Ashing places every year. We are the living remnant of this hapu Ngati-te-Whiti, and it was our ancestors and parents who befriended the first Europeans who settled in this district—viz., Ngamotu, and the Europeans here know that this was the firet hapu which they found residing here.” The petition is signed by Neha Kigia and Tonga Auhikau.