SEARCH OF A FATHER

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1935, Page 13 (Supplement)

SEARCH OF A FATHER

DRAMA 400 YEARS OLD

(By

H.E.C.)

One of the pleasantest features of the celebrations at Okato this week has . been the happy commingling of Maori and pakeha. Near that district the two races once met in bitter conflict, a conflict, however, that left each with much respect for the other’s capabilities as a fighter. This week both have joined in celebrating 70 years of Western civilisation, and in no part of Taranaki has there been a more successful assimilation of that civlisation than among the Maori farmers “down the coast.” . In the days when the pakeha settlers were few in number and their relations with the Maori extremely precarious for the European, there were occasions when the authority and kindness of individual Maoris was all that prevented the banishment or even the death of the pakeha. Older ’ settlers in Okato still speak with respect of Porikapa, a Maori chief who showed much kindness to them and to their,forebears. Porikapa (drew authority from two sources. He was of high rank, and he was also a deacon of the Anglican church, having been trained at one Ox the missions. He’regarded the coming of the pakeha as a benefit to his own race, and-'it speaks well for the missions that such a belief should have been the outcome of their training. It can be understood that the authority of one who could claim chieftainship as well as knowledge of pakeha language and religion was not easily set aside, and in the days when ill-feeling between the two races was ready at any time to flare into open hostility Porikapa’s influence was of great value. I His interest in his own race was none the less keen because of his pakeha training. Mrs. Fred Kahui, Rahotu a descendant of Porikapa’s adopted child, has in her possession some Maori history and legends written by the old chief. She has kindly translated the following dramatic story. . . “Ngarue was a native of Waitara and a -son of Te Moungaroa, chief and priest ol the “Kurahoupo” canoe, and his wife Naiatorohanga. As a young man, Ngarue paid a visit to Kawhia, where he met Uru-te-kakara and married, her. Later, when Ngarue and his wife were spending some time at one of their cultivations, and living in a temporary shelter, some of the people of the place were °y er “ heard sneering at Ngarue as ‘a landless man, who had to cultivate other people s land to obtain crops.’ This so deeply offended Ngarue that he decided to return to his own home at Waitara, . . “Before leaving he said to his wife, If the child that you will shortly bear proves to be a son, call him Wharematangi (or windy house); if a daughter call her ‘Kaimatangi’,’ (to eat in the wind). These names alluded to the temporary shed in which they dwelt which was open to the wind. So Ngarue returned to his home at Waitara, leaving his wife amongst own people. In due course a male child was born to Uru-te-kakara, which, in accordance with his father’s wish, was named Wharematangi. “As the child grew up he became very expert at all kinds of games and was generally the victor over his young companions, On one occasion the game of niti, was being played. This consists in throwing a light dart usually made of toetoe reeds, or the stalk of the bracken, in such a manner that it strikes oh.a ; low ridge of earth and then flies upwards and onwards for a considerable distance. The dart is called a teka. The game is common to the Polynesian wherever found. On the occasion in question Wharematangi’s dart far exceeded all others in the distance to which it carried. This annoyed the other boys, and one of them /said in Wharematangi’s hearing, ‘this bastard throws his dart farther than any of us.’ The boy retained this in his heart, for he was much ashamed at being called a bastard, and on one occasion asked his mother where his father was. In answer, she took him to a high ridge near the coast, and pointing across the sea, said, ‘You see that white snow-clad mountain that projects above the horizon (like a bell tent)? That is Taranaki (Mt. Egrnont); below it lives your father.’ ‘I will go in search of my father,’ said the boy. ‘Not yet,’ said his mother. ‘First become accomplished in all the arts of the warrior.’ So the lad grew up, living with his mother until he was a young man and was tatooed. He became expert in all the accomplishments of a chief such as the use of the spear, the taiaha and other weapons; the knowledge of karakias and the rites of old, which were taught him by his mother’s brothers. “At last the time came when he deeided.to go in search of his father, and told his mother and other relations of his determination. They gave him directions where to find his father, together with a magic teka, | or dart, which flew ,in a southerly direction end stuck in the ground at Tirua point.” The distance is 16 miles, but it a magic dart! At all events the story reveals the sensitiveness of the Maori in regard to land, legitimacy, of birth, and to any form of ridicule. “Wharematangi followed along the coast until he found the dart. Again casting it, the dart flew on and landed at Mokau, a distance of 21 miles. Again the young man followed and found his dart. From Mokau he again hurled the teka, and after a flight of 15 miles it fell on Parininihi, or White Cliffs. The next flight carried it to Te Taniwha, a point distant about 13 miles, and at the end of the succeeding one—about five miles—it stuck into Ngarue’s house, which-was situated on the north bank of the Waitara River, just opposite where Wl Kingi’s pa, Te Hurirapa, stood in 1860, Ngarue’s home being about three-quar-ters of a mile seaward of the present town bridge at Waitara. “Ngarue was sitting in front of his house when the dart struck the ornamented maihi (barge board), and then fell close beside him. He at once divined that something out of the common was about to occur. Presently Wharematangi appeared coming over the sand hills from the seashore, and, as he drew near, saw his dart and an old man sitting beside it. He came to the conclusion that probably this was his father, so approached and sat down near the old man, who said to him, ‘Whence come you, and for what object?’ ‘I am in search of my father,’ said the young man. ‘What is your name?’ asked the elder man, >, I am Wharematangi, a name given me by my mother in accordance with the request of my father to that effect, if she should have a male child after his departure.’ Then said Ngarue, ‘Thou art my son!’ “After this, and the usual tangi on like occasions, Ngarue took Wharematangi to the waitapu, or sacred water of the village, where his father duly performed She was a woman of high rank and was in fact, the giving of his name to him, which, as a rule, must be done by the father. They then proceeded to the tuaahu or altar, where other karakias (incantations) were recited to take the

tapu off. Then they returned to the house where food was placed before the guest—he could not have eaten, according to Maori custom, until the tapu had been removed at the tuaahu.

“The people of the pa were all out at work during the day, so none of them saw the arrival of Wharematangj, Ths father now took his son down to the river to bathe, and on stripping, the father saw that his son was fully tatooed on the bins and legs in a very handsome manner. When the people returned the . news soon spread that Ngarue was entertaining a stranger, but he kept his son. in the house and would not let him be seen until the next morning, when he ' assembled the people and introduced Wharematangi to all his relatives.

“After a time a fine young woman named Uepohewa, a distant relative, was given to Wharematangi as a wife. She was a woman of high rank and was especially selected so that her offspring y . j might preserve the status of the family. - The grand-children of this couple were Moeahu and Taihawea, twin boy and girl from whom are descended most of ’ .• the'principal families of Taranaki. They also gave their names to the NgatiMoeahu and Nga-Mahanga tribes of Taranaki people. ; ; ; “The date of Wharematangi’s journey in search of his father is considered to : ~i have been somewhere about the year 1420. “The full name of the Waitara river is Waitara-nui-a-Ngarue, so called after and it has been suggested that the name Waitara originated through Wharematangi’s action in following up =!; his dart, and that the name is in reality, . Whaitara, not Waitara, which means, ‘follow the barb,’ as West Coast tribe* often omit the *h* where other tribes use it. The matter is, however doubtful.” The marvel of such stories is not the amount of fable that has become attached to the original facts, but the amazing accuracy with which the stories of oldtime love, hatred, shame, exploration and conflict have been preserved for centuries without a written language, A is no wonder that the Maori is proud his race and of its traditions. It wilt De noticed that in the story' of Wharema- y tangi’s search for his father there is no attempt to emphasise the perils and hardships of his journey. The record is as laconic as one taken from (say) Captain Cook’s logbook, and the tragedy of the conflict between Briton- and Maori, both holding in common so many fine characteristics, becomes the greater tae 4; more? it is studied. \ i: