Eels Were a Livelihood

Te Ao Hou, August 1957, Page 25

Eels Were a Livelihood Before the Wairarapa was settled by Europeans, the Maori people, whose main affiliation was with Ngati Kahungunus, lived on several kinds of roots, birds, rats and fish. Fish, however, was the most important food and consequently while the most valuable lands in European opinion, were frequently neglected, the areas such as the Wairarapa Lake were of great importance. The lakes, Lake Wairarapa and Lake Onoke, covered an area of 24,590 acres when low, but extended over 52,590 acres when at their highest normal level. The natural outlet from Lake Onoke to Palliser Bay lay through a spit of sand. Great drifts of sand were piled against the spit by the sea, while the waters of the lake, fed by numerous streams constantly strove to sweep the sand away. During the months of the year when the rainfall was heaviest, the fresh water kept the lake open, but during summer and autumn, the current and volume of water in the lake was not sufficient to keep the drifts of ocean-sand from closing the outlet, which was rapidly strengthened by further sand deposits. While the lake was closed the water gradually covered large tracks of low lying land. This was a considerable threat to the pakeha farmers. Eels which were the staple diet of the Maoris abounded in the lake, as did flounders and other fresh-water fish. These fish were obtainable all the year round in the lake, and along the margins of the lagoons and streams. But the main fishing season was in April and May, when the Maoris caught eels by the hundred, along the sandspit, where the fish were waiting to escape into the sea, via the natural opening of the lake. With the advent of the pakeha to the Wairarapa, many settlers, including Duncan McMaster, Donald Sinclair and Peter Hume, whose farmlands were being flooded, agitated for artificial opening of the lake. The Maori people, led by such chiefs as Piripi Te Maari, Hiko, Hemi te Miha, Raniera Te Iho, Wi Tamihana and Te Whatahoro (J. A. Jury) disagreed, for it meant that hundreds of eels would be allowed to escape into the sea before the fishing season closed. Attempts were even made by the pakehas to

open the lake with spades. On one occasion, a day was arranged for cutting an opening. Many people including police representatives, lawyers, members of the Featherston River Board and large numbers of Maoris gathered at the edge of the lake. The Maoris had erected a wire fence to prove their rights to the spit. The pakeha men were directed to start opening the lake and almost immediately Maoris (obviously well coached by their lawyers) walked up to each shoveller and caught hold of the handle. Trying to prevent the Maoris from obstructing the workers, the pakehas joined hands in a circle around the men in the trench. Immediately a number of Maori women dived under the men's hands and plunged into the drain, kicking and scratching furiously, and bringing down large quantities of sand. The project was abandoned.