Generous Gift

Te Ao Hou, July 1956, Page 32

Generous Gift Early in the ninteenth century the original Maori inhabitants of Kennedys Bay disappeared. Many were killed during an unfortunate fight with the brigs Trial and Brothers in 1815, many more during the Ngapuhi invasion coinciding with the invasion of Port Jackson. The survivors left the Bay. Later, little yachts belonging to the Ngati Porou visited the place on their way to Auckland to sell their wheat and maize. The Hauraki chief, Paora te Putu of the Ngati Tamatera, treated them with noble generosity. When Ngati Porou asked him for permission to land in the Bay during rough weather, he answered ‘this land is given to you’ and as he spoke his outstretched hand traced the area between the Harataunga River. Piripirika Hill, and the main range, extending to the far point where the bay ended. It was one of the most generous gifts that ever passed between one tribe and another. When timberfelling started, it obtained great monetary value and the land was partitioned among the settler families by the Maori Land Court.

View of Kennedys Bay with the old milling town site in the foreground. Only the church and the Hovell homestead are still standing. The present population of the Bay is partly Maori, partly pakeha, and many have some Maori blood. We were welcomed by a large Maori audience at a meeting during which we found little interest in the revival of the Maori tribal committee and the building of a hall, but definite interest in the idea of an Adult Education course and a library. The one remaining pillar of Maoritanga is Ben Ngapo, the acknowledged expert on local history, a fine orator, who has experienced the most difficult years at Kennedys Bay.