PONGA AND PUHIHUIA—

Te Ao Hou, March 1964, Page 43

PONGA AND PUHIHUIA— Continued from page 23 atua, na ena e tataia na e koutou. He matua ratou no koutou, a, ka tae tenei au ki te pakeke, he he ianei kia whai (aru) au i te ara a Kau-ataata i whai ai? Koia na hoki te take mai o koutou e noho tapu na, e noho atua na, a, moe ana a ia i tana i pai ai, i a Tiki; a ka puta na hoki ko koutou. He he toku, a he he to ta koutou tupuna matua wahine. Mei noho puku a ia, mei kore tana moe i a Tiki, e kore koutou e kitea mai ki te ao nei, a, mei kore koutou e kitea mai ki te ao nei, a, mei kore koutou te aro tau atu ki a koutou tane, e kore au e kitea mai ki konei. Ehara i a au te he; no koutou te he. Kite atu koutou i ta koutou i pai ai, rere tawhangawhanga atu, waihoki, na koutou te ara i waere, a, haere tonu atu au i a koutou tikanga waewae. Na koutou te he nei; ehara i a au. Kati ano koutou kia haere mai ki ta matou hakari. Ko tenei taku tane, taku tane ko Ponga.’ Ka mutu te hakari, noho ana te ope ra, a, ka po, ka tu te haka, te kanikani me nga takaro katoa o mua. Ao ake te ra, ka hoki te ope ra ki tana pa, ki Maungawhau, a, ka noho te iwi nei i Awhitu. Noho nei, noho nei, a, ka whanau te tamaiti a Puhihuia. Ka nui noa, ka haere, ka mau ki te patu, ka tata ka taia ki te moko: he tautahi te potiki ra, hore he muanga ona, hore he mea i muri ona, a, ka tae ki taua wa nei, ka puta te rongo o etahi o Ngati-Kahukoka kua kohurutia e tera ki Waitara. Haere atu te taua ope o Ngati-Kahukoka ki te hoko kakahu i aua iwi i Taranaki, hopukia mai e tera, patua iho, kainga ake. Ka rewa te ope taua a Ngati-Kahukoka ki te takitaki i te mate o era, haere ake i Waiuku nei, he kotahi rau, waiho ake hokorima i ma Waipa ki te tiki i etahi o te iwi i Waikato; ko tetahi hokorima i ma te tuauru, i ma te ara ki Karoro-uma-nui. Ko Ponga i haere i te hokorima i haere nei ma Waipa. Haere nei taua ope nei, a, ko tera i ma te tuauru, patu rawa ake i Pukearuhe, ka patu ra i reira, a, roa noa, ka hoki mai. Ko tera i ma Waipa, i haere ma roto o Waikato, a, Mokau, a, Marokopa, ka mutu atu te rongo o tera i reira. Hoki noa mai te ope i ma te tuauru: noho nei, noho nei, a, te hoki noa mai te ope i ma Waipa, a, ka nui noa te tama a Ponga, ka maranga raua ko te whaea, ka haere, ka whai (aru) i ta raua ariki. Ka haere nei raua, a, Waikato, a Mokau, ka noho. Ka hoki ano raua, a, Kawhia, ka my child—here is your property; and as you have left me I sorrow for you, I weep for you, but, O you who are most precious to me, as you must leave me, go, oh, go! If you had gone to death all would have been lost with you; but as this people is one canoe of our ancestors, and we another [as we are bound to them with the ties of blood], then go, yes, go!’ Then he sat down. Puhihuia rose, and stood where she had been sitting at the side of Ponga, and said, ‘O my elders, welcome! Come and see the one who ran away from you. Is the evil mine? Did I determine that Tiki should be a man, or did I determine that Kauataata should be a woman? No; this was done by the gods whom you have spoken of in your speeches. These gods are your ancestors, and now that I am of age is it wrong if I follow in the steps of Kauataata? She is your ancestor, and from her you take your sacredness, and receive the gods who preside over you. She took the one of her own choice, Tiki, as her husband; and hence you have life. I have done wrong, and your first mother did wrong also. If she had lived alone and had not married Tiki, none of you would have entered this world; and if you had not come into this world, and had not taken wives or husbands, I should not have been here. The fault is not mine; it is yours. When you saw the one you loved, you recklessly followed, and as you had opened the way, I followed on in your footprints. Yours is the fault, not mine. It is good that you come to take part in our feast. Now I say, my husband, yes, my husband is Ponga!’ When the feast was over the visiting party stayed on, and at night the haka and dancing began, and all the games of those ancient times. On the following morning the visitors returned to their pa at Maungawhau, and the Awhitu people settled down again. Later, Puhihuia had a son, an only child. When he was quite a big boy, nearly of the age when he could take part in war and be tattooed, the news was received that some of Ngati-Kahukoka had been murdered by the Waitara people. The Ngati-Kakukoka party had gone to barter garments with the Taranaki tribes and had been seized by them, killed and eaten. A war party of Ngati-Kahukoka was called together to go and revenge the murder of their friends. One hundred warriors left from Waiuku, leaving another hundred to go by way of Waipa to fetch some of the tribe from the Waikato;

noho, a, ka haere ano raua ma roto o Kawhia. Kitea rawatia ake raua i runga i te maunga, na te kaitahua kuku i kite i te kourutanga o Kawhia. Tono noa taua kaitahua kuku nei i a raua kia hoki ki te kainga. Kihai noa ake i rongo, a, ka ngaro nei a Puhihuia raua ko tana tama, a, e ngaro nei. Ko te tira haere a Ponga ma, ko te ngaronga ano i ngaro ai, a, kihai noa ake te mea kotahi i kitea mai ki te kainga, a, e ngaro nei. Nei te waiata a Puhihuia mo Ponga: Tera Pikihoro ka rewanga mai, Me ra whea atu au? Te mihi ki a Ponga ra, Me ra konei ake. He kino mate ra; Auahi pu ake, I roto taku moenga na, i. A, ka kiia reo noa iho enei kupu o tana waiata e ia: Ko te pari tenei e rere ai au, Koe, e Uru-harakeke, Ka wehea i a au Te matua. A ka mate atu a ia ki te Po. one party of a hundred went by the west coast, by way of Karoro-umanui. Pongo went with the party of a hundred that went by way of Waipa. The hundred who went by the west coast killed many people at Pukearuhe and, after killing more in that district, returned home a long time afterwards. The party that went by Waipa went through the Waikato to Mokau and then on to Marokopa, where all news of them was lost. After the west-coast party had been home for a considerable time, all hope was lost of the Waikato party. The son of Ponga was now a young man. He and his mother set out to search for their lord. They went up the Waikato River, then on to Mokau, where they stayed for some time. They then returned to Kawhia, where they stayed for some time, and then went up the Kawhia River. They were seen on the mountains of that district by a pigeon-spearing expedition, who tried in vain to persuade them to return with them to the settlement. The two would not be persuaded, and from that time to this nothing has been seen or heard of Puhihuia and her son. Ponga's party completely disappeared, and not one of them was ever seen again. This is the song of lament which Puhihuia sang for Ponga— The mountain Pikihoro rises above me— Which way shall I take To lament thee, Ponga? This is the way I shall go— Alas for such a death! Around me, in my widowed bed, A dark mist swirls! And she added as a recitative this portion of her lament— This is the cliff From which I shall throw myself— You, Uru-harakeke, must lose me now. Your parent. And so she died, and went to the world of the spirits.