WAIKATO OF A HUNDRED TANIWHAS

Te Ao Hou, December 1956, Page 15

In 1900 the late Sir Apirana Ngata made a tour of the Waikato district and as a result wrote a most fascinating and acute report of his thought and impressions for the magazine Pipiwharauroa. It is an invaluable document for those interested in the state of Waikato around the turn of the century, and also shows how highly Ngata's literary talent was developed at the age of twenty-five. We are reprinting the full report, accompanied by what we believe is the first English translation ever published. The first half appears in this issue; the second half, concentrating on the King Movement of the time, is to be printed in issue 18. WAIKATO OF A HUNDRED TANIWHAS by Sir Apirana Ngata “Koia nei te he o te manu rere noa. He topa mai kaore kau he tauranga e …!” He mama ia te manu ki te haaro haere i nga takiwa nei, ki te whakahou i nga tirohanga kanohi o nga ra ka huri nei, i miharo ai te nga-kau ki nga ahua o era wahi o era wahi. Ko tenei e Te Pipiwharauroa reia atu e koe i te Rohe Potae o Tuhoe ki Te Kuiti, ki Tarawera, ki Tauwhare, ki Waahi, mauria atu te aroha ki a Waikato, ki a Maniapoto, ki nga hoa kakari o ko tata ake nei. Tenei ka huri ake, e noho Waikato Tenei te ngakau mihi, tenei te tangi nei “Ah woe is the bird of passage, It just soars on high with nowhere to land”. With swift wings a bird flies over these lands to view again familiar landscape delighting the heart with its ever changing forms. You Te Pipiwharauroa will fly from the Domain of Tuhoe to Te Kuiti, to Tarawera, to Tauwhare, and to Waahi carrying with you esteem and regard for Waikato and Maniapoto foes of yesterday. “We are departing, farewell Waikato Our hearts are full of praise, tears of joy well up We are exceedingly grateful For all your kindnesses to us and others.”

Nui rawa ra te hari, o enei tangata Mo te pai o to tiaki i a matou ma. E rua aku marama i kopikopiko ai i roto o Waikato, i nga rohe o te kingitanga, e titiro ana ki ona mahara i roto i ona hui, e matakitaki ana ki te ahua o tona whenua. E reka ai te korero i te ahua o tera iwi me ata waiho marire mo tetahi po marangai, kia ki pohapoha te whare i te tangata, ka ata whakatu ai me te kapakapa ano te ringa: tera ano e pakiri o niho ki te kata. Tena ko te taonga nei ko te nupepa raua ko te korero tuhituhi, kaore e puta te nuinga o nga mahara i te kopiri o te marae hei koringa. Tera e takoto ra te riu o Waikato, e hahae tonu ana i te puku o te motu a tuakina rawatia atu kei Te Tai Hauauru. Ko Te Heuheu i Tongariro te matapuna, kei reira pea te toka i patukia e te taniwha i pipi mai ai ko Waikato, ka ngaki mai i waenganui o Taupo ka titaha mai i a Te Arawa, katahi ka kopikopiko ka whati ka maro ka whakawiri ka miri i te whenua, i te rakau me te kohikohi haere i nga awa ririki i nga awa nunui i nga rukenga o nga repo, tae rawa ake ki Ngaruawahia ka tomo mai a Waipa, na reira nei i whakahiato mai nga wairere o nga whawharua o Maniapoto, ka hui raua ka poka i Taupiri a ka maro te whai ki Tamaki—Tamaki Makaurau—Ehara! Ka whakahokia mai e te whenua, a pakaru ke atu ana ki nga one kirikiri o Te Ta Hauauru. Mo konei te kupu nei, “Waikato Taniwha-rau! he piko he taniwha, he piko he taniwha:” ara, tetahi aronga o taua kupu, kei nga mana tangata ia tona tino taunga. Ka pae i te taha o te awa nei go Ngatiraukawa tae atu ki Maungatautari: i kona ki te takiwa atu o Ngaruawahia ko Ngatitaua, te iwi o Te Waharoa: ka takoto atu i kona a te moana atu ana ko Waikato he maha nga wehewehenga i roto. Taihoa e korero ake ai mo Ngatimaniapoto, mo Ngatiraukawa. Ina ka takoto nga mania o Waikato, a waenganui tonu, me te mea nei i ata whakaturia ona pukepuke hei parepare, ko Maungakawa, ko Maungatautari, ko Kakepuku e titiro iho ana ki Puniu ki te rohe wehenga o Waikato o Maniapoto, ko Pirongia e toha ra ki nga hau e wha e kite atu ana i Kawhia, i Aotea, i Whaingaroa ko Taupiri ko te puke whakatauki a Waikato, e ki nei, “Ko Waikato te wai, ko Taupiri te maunga, ko Potatau te tangata.” Kei Taupiri ka whakanoti nga hiwi a puta uaua nga wai ki tera taha. Ka takoto atu i tua he maunga he wai he mania. E tika ana kia waiho te wai o Waikato hei mea pepehatanga, na reira nei a Waikato iwi i tupu ai i nui ai i kotahi ai i rangona ai e te motu. I ona ra e maru ana tetahi taha me tetahi taha o te awa i te tangata, inaianei kua tu takitahi nga pa, rokohanga ka whakauruuru ko nga pa o te pakeha i waenganui. Ko te whenua, he whenua ano mo nga kai me nga taonga e rite ana: he hua te parareka, te korau, ki etahi wahi he kumara, engari I spent two months wandering around the Waikato district, the domain of the king movement, to glean something of the inner thoughts of the people and to learn something of that district. To fully appreciate the Waikato people the narrator would need the setting provided by a rainy night with a really full meeting house; he should add to his story with lively gesture and grimaces and roars of laughter would surely result. The written word is totally inadequate to do justice to the subject, the marae as it were is too limited. There the Waikato river weads its way often splitting the very bowels of the earth to be disgorged into the West coast. Te Heuheu at Tongariro has the source, where legend has it a taniwha smote a rock and out of it gushed forth the river Waikato to make for itself a path through the lake of Taupo. Eschewing the Arawa domain, it wends its way gathering strength from its many tributaries until at Ngaruawahia it is joined by the Waipa which in its turn has gathered in all the Maniapoto tributaries and thus reinforced it flows by Taupiri and makes straight for the Tamaki river—Tamaki Makaurau. Alas it is diverted by the land formation and disgorges through the sandy wastes of the West Coast into the ocean. And so the name—“Waikato of a hundred chiefs (monsters), a chief (monster) at every bend” so named because of the people who live in the surrounding district. Inhabiting the area as far as Maungatautari are the Ngati Raukawa, thereafter as far as Ngaruawahia is Ngatihaua Te Waharoa's tribe, from there on to the mouth is the Waikato tribe with its many subdivisions. I'll say more about Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Raukawa later. Tamihana the Kingmaker. (Turnbull Library.)

ko te tarutaru hei kai ma te kararche kaore e tino ora ki reira i te kaha ake o te whenua, me whakawairakau ra ano ki nga mea a te pakeha ka tipu ai mo tetahi wa. Kaore e penei i o taua whenua o te Tai Rawhiti nei mo te tarutaru mo te otaota. Engari kei te kimihia e te matauranga o te pakeha he mahi pai mo taua whenu e puta nui mai ai nga hua, e puta ngawari mai ai. Otira hei aha kia korerotia, kei te pakeha ke hoki te whenua, ehara taua te motu i te tauhou ki to Waikato mate i te rau o te patu, mate tangata, mate whenua. He korero hou enei ki etahi takiwa o taua o nga iwi noho kainga, na reira i mea ake ai kia ata whakakaupapatia ahakoa e ki tetahi wahi nui o ta tatou nupepa i enei korero.