G.-5.

8

[h. te whiwhi.

Mr. Stafford: It matters not where it is ; they will not send their children to the Wairarapa. They say, " Look at our wants on this Coast; the property belonged to our ancestors ;we donated this land at Otaki; we, Ngatiraukawa, alone gave it." Then, as to the Porirua land, they say, " The Ngatiraukawa and Ngatitoa donated the land there. Why should we, seeing our wants are such as they are, not have the land for this purpose ? The first consideration is to be given to our children ; that is what we want." The course I suggest to the Commission, in order to shorten the matter and to get it clear before the Commissioners, is this: I have two principal witnesses—the daughter of Matene te Whiwhi, a Ngatiraukawa, one of the donors of the Porirua land, sixty-nine years of age. Her statement goes into the whole story and expresses her desires, and relates the circumstances under which the donation was given, and so on. I think this is better got at by allowing a statement which has been prepared by me to be put into the hands of the interpreter to be read to her, and that she should be asked whether it is her statement, and then signed by her ; and the Commissioners can cross-examine her upon the statement. I think this will very much shorten the proceedings. The Chairman : We think that course will be the best. Heni te Whiwhi examined. Witness (to Mr. Stafford) : My age is sixty-nine years ; I was born at the time of the Battle of Haowhenua, which was, I think, between Te Rauparaha and his tribes against the Ngatiawa. Te Rauparaha was Ngatiraukawa and Ngatitoa. lam not very sure as to the locality of Haowhenua ; it is perhaps near Waikanae, but it may be in the South Island. I was born at Cloudy Bay in the other Island. My father was Matene te Whiwhi; he was one of the givers of the land at Porirua and of the land at Otaki. He was Ngatihuia, a sub-hapu of the Ngatiraukawa ; he was also Ngatitoa. Before the Battle of Te Kuititanga, Matene te Whiwhi and Tamihana te Rauparaha decided to get a minister of the Church of England to come to reside in the midst of Ngatiraukawa. They told the people of their intention, and said they were going to Paihia, Bay of Islands, to ask for one. The people endeavoured to dissuade them from going, fearing that Ngapuhi might do them harm for some early acts of Ngatiraukawa against Ngapuhi. They, however, did not heed their people's warning, as the desire to have a minister in their midst to preach and teach the gospel of Christianity to their people was great. They left for Paihia, and saw the head of the mission there and told him of their wish. Mr. Hadfield was sent here, and he set up at Waikanae and at Rangiuru (Otaki). A place was built for him alongside of Rangiuru Pa. Ngatiraukawa were then living at Rangiuru Pa and Pakakutu Pa. I think Mr. Hadfield arrived here in 1846. Apart from his house of residence, a church was built and also a school building. Mr. Hadfield was here two years when Bishop Selwyn arrived. Bishop Selwyn saw that Rangiuru was not a good place to live in, and, after looking over the land in the vicinity of the Otaki Township, he suggested to Ngatiraukawa to leave Rangiuru and come and make their home in this locality. The Bishop next asked Ngatiraukawa to give land in this locality to other hapus of the Ngatiraukawa people who were living in other parts, so that they could be near the church and the school. This Ngatiraukawa agreed to. The outside hapus of Ngatiraukawa then came to live here. The Bishop then asked Ngatiraukawa for land for the endowment of a school here. This Ngatiraukawa agreed to, and this land was given. I did not hear from my father that the Bishop gave cattle to Ngatiraukawa as payment for this land. I think Ngatiraukawa left Rangiuru Pa for this place in 1845. I think it was in 1851 that a building for the accommodation of boys for a boarding-school on a portion of this reserve was built, and I think the building was completed in 1853. The land was given to the Bishop because he told Ngatiraukawa that it would be the means of enabling their children to be taught all the learning that was taught to European children. In 1853, I think, the Rev. Samuel Williams opened the boarding-school. I think the Rev. S. Williams arrived here in 1845. The children who came to this school came from Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Manawatu, Rangitikei, and the Ngatitoa and Ngatiawa settlements at Waikanae, Wainui, and Porirua. The boarding-school was made to board the children from kaingas away from this locality. The Ngatiraukawa children who lived here lived with their parents and attended the day-school. I think there were about 150 boys boarded here, and about fifty girls boarded with the Rev. S. Williams. At the boarding-school the Rev. S. Williams always conducted a short service, morning and evening, The elders in the place used to go to these services. After morning services the Rev. S. Williams used to teach the elders, after dismissing the boys and girls, the lessons of the Church. The boys and girls were taught, religious lessons in the Church of England only on Sundays, when Sunday-schools were held. During Mr. Hadfield's time the Ngatiraukawa always attended services, in the Rangiatea Church in very large numbers. The church, on almost all occasions, not being able to hold the people. The same was the case in the Rev. S. Williams's time. When the Rev. S. Williams left Otaki the Rev. Mr. Hadfield again took charge. After the Rev. Mr. Hadfield left, the charge of the church was left to the Rev. Mr. McWilliam. Since the Rev. Mr. McWilliam's time, the attendance has fallen away to almost five to seven persons each Sunday, and that is the state now. Before, and on the occasion of my marriage to my husband Te Reii, my father told us at his home how Bishop Selwyn approached him and Tamihana te Rauparaha, and asked them for a piece of land in Porirua—Whitiriea. Tamihana te Rauparaha agreed to give the land to the Bishop, but I did not. Tamihana went to see Ngatitoa in Porirua, and told them of the Bishop's request, and said he had agreed to give the land to the Bishop. The Ngatitoa people told Tamihana that the land was not his to give and that the land belonged to Te Rangihaeata. Tamihana came back to Otaki. The Bishop persistently asked Matene to let him have the land for a school, so that their children could be taught all the knowledge of the pakeha children, and, after many efforts on the part of the Bishop, Matene te Whiwhi agreed. He knew that his uncle, Te Rangihaeata, and te Rauparaha would not override him in the matter. From that day to this nothing has been done by the Bishop's successors to carry out the words he spoke to Matene te Whiwhi and Tamihana te Rauparaha as far as Whitereia is concerned, until the Whitereia trustees applied to the Supreme Court,