AN HISTORICAL GREENSTONE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14153, 12 March 1910, Page 7

AN HISTORICAL GREENSTONE.

QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP. An interesting incident occurred at the Native Land Court at Te Kuiti 1 on Raturdnv morning last. Judge Rawson stated that a few weeks before the na-

tives had informed him that soma two or three hundred years ago Paruparu, a descendant of the ancestor Maniapoto had buried in Wai Waiteti, near Te Kuiti, a greenstone axe celebrated in the history of the tribe, and that ho had afterwards been killed in battle without divulging the exact locality of tia hiding place. Since that time careful search had many times been made with the hope of discovering the axe, hut without result. As showing the value placed upon it by the tribe, on ! one occasion two hundred men armed with spears had traversed Waiteti probing the ground in every direction, and recently one of the leading men of the tribe was said to have offered a reward of £2OO to anyone who should succeed in finding the axe. Time passed on, and the block was leased to a pakeha who drained and ploughed the land. As a result of this the greenstone was brought to the surface where it was found by the lessee. He did not at first think it anything more than a peculiarly shaped piece of limestone, for the weapon during its long burial had become coated with silicate, but some time afterwards on cleaning it with oil it was seen to be greenstone, and when shown to the natives they I all agreed that it was the axe of Mania- I poto that Paruparu had buried. Many j requests were made that the green- | stone should be handed over to the j tribes, but the natives had stated that ' the lessee refused to give up his find, ! and they had eventually asked the court to assist them in obtaining its return. The Judge said that he had talked the matter over with Mr Hardv, the lessee, when he found that Mr Hardy recocnised that tho tribe wove | entitled to the axe, and was quite will- | ing to hand it over to the judge, and j leave the latter to settle to whom it • should ultimately go. The judge wish- i ed to make it clear to the natives that ; Mr Hardv had always been willing to do this, but had refused to himself decide who was the proper person to tike the axe from him as representative of the tribe, and it was now in the court's possession, and would be delivered up to such person as the assembled natives should nominate to reecive it. The natives thanked the court for the trouble taken, and expressed their gratitude to Mr Hardv, and their appreciation of his conduct, and nominated one of their number to receive the axe. Tho greenstone, which was alrmt 15 inches in lenet.h by about five wide was then banded over to tho representative of the people, and it was stated that a great catheriner would later cn be held to celebrate its recovery.