I RANGONA ATU NGA PU

Te Ao Hou, September 1961, Page 9

I RANGONA ATU NGA PU Translated and edited by Barry Mitcalfe I rangona atu nga pu Kei Te Taniwha Kei a Huri-whenua I tangi ki taku hawenga i raro-e— Keua e ana pu— E! Ka whano Manguo— Kei oku tapa, Papatoa— He pu notinoti nga tapa! He kuru tumata tai haruru— E! Ka ngenengene! He mata aha, he koi pu, Ka tu ki runga ha, E! Ka roa ko te tapa Ka moho ki te whenua, E! Ka ngenengene! THE COMING OF THE MUSKET Guns came down To Te Taniwha To Huri—whenua— Calling out to the weak ones Driven here by the guns— Ha! Come to me, black death, Come to my thighs, conquering earth— They shiver at his breath He beats and burns and roars Ha! He is done. What a weapon of love A sharp bullet from above— Ha! I am caught in his cold fire There is no end to his desire— Ha! He is done! This was sung by some women of the Te Namu pa which had successfully withstood a siege from a taua (war-party) of Te Ati-Awa. The war-party was armed with two muskets. They made a great noise but killed nobody. The first muskets had a proper name, a reputation and a history like the old Maori weapons of honour. Although the old-time Maori knew of the Teka (dart) and had once known the throwing-spear, he seems to have refrained from their use, except on sporting or ceremonial occasions (for controversy on the subject, see “Transactions of the N.Z. Institute” Vol. 1, p. 15, Vol. 10, p. 97 and Vol. II, p. 106). But the musket proved too much for him. Within ten years, these people of the Taranaki tribe who had sung so lightly of the first muskets were to be killed or driven away by the guns from the North. With the musket, tribal warfare became a source of unendurable tension. When Christianity gave the Maori the chance of an honourable and enduring peace, tribal warfare disappeared—almost overnight.