A Letter

Te Ao Hou, March 1968, Page 11

A Letter Anā he kōrero Māori atu ēnei nāku ki a koutou, ki ngā tāngata o Hawaiki, kia mōhio mai koutou ki ēnā kōrero. Whakarongo mai! Ki te mea e hē ana ētahi o ēnā kōrero o mua, whakatikaia mai ngā wāhi i hē, tā te mea kei a koutou te tikanga o ngā kōrero tika, kei te mea i mahue atu ki runga i te kāinga tupu. He aha mā te hunga i kawea mai te whakamataku o te whawhai? I hokia noatia atu, ka ca te mate, ko Ihumotomotokia. Anā, whakahētia mai hoki ēnā kupu e koutou. Engari, e hoa mā, ki te pai koutou ki te tuhituhi mai, tīkina atu ki te take haere mai ai tā koutou tuhituhi, ā, tae noa mai hoki ki te wehenga o te rangi, o te whenua, ki te tupunga hoki o te tangata ki te ao mārama. Me ngā mahi hoki a Māui mā, a Tūhuruhuru, a Tāwhaki, a Whakatauihu, a wai, a wai tangata o mua atu, tae noa mai ki a Toi mā, me te pokai tara a Manaia, me te pōporo whakamarumaru o Uenuku, me te hekenga mai ki tēnei motu. Whakaaturia anaketia mai e koutou te hēnga, te tikanga o āku kōrero. Otira, me i rokohanga mai e Māui ahau ki runga o Rotorua, e āta tika te kōrero atu ki a koutou, kei reira anō ngā tino mōhio e noho ana. Tēnā, i rokohanga mai au ki Ākarana, ki te kāinga i noho ai ngā Pākehā me te Kāwana. A, i puta atu ahau i te whare tuhituhi o te Kāwana, ka kite ahau i a Māui Tione, he tangata nō Hawaiki nā. Ka ui atu ahau ki This is an account written in Maori to you, the people of Hawaiki, to acquaint you with these matters. Pay heed to my words! If any of these his tories of former times are incorrect, you must inform me of the errors, for the true versions are with you who were left behind in our first home. For what reason did those people bring hither the fearfulness of war? When we consider the origin of the matter, [the first] revenge was gained at [the battle of] Ihumotomotokia. Be sure to tell me of any mistakes in what I say. But, friends, if you are willing to write to me, go back and begin your story with the origin of things, then go on to tell of the separation of the heaven and the earth, and of man's coming forth into the light of this world. Also of the deeds of Maui and his fellows, of Tuhuruhuru, Tawhaki, Whakatauihu and all those other men of former times, right down to the days of Toi and his companions; and of Manaia's host of warriors, the sheltering poporo tree of Uenuku, and the migration to this land. You must let me know which parts of my stories are correct, and which are mistaken. If Maui had chanced to meet me at Rotorua, the accounts given to you would have been quite correct, for that is where the real experts live. But he met me in Auckland, at the home of the Pakehas and of the Governor. I was coming out of the Governor's office when I saw Maui Tione, a man from Hawaiki. I questioned him, saying that with his dark

taua tangata, he titiro atu nōku ki te āhua pango mai, e kī ana ahau, he wāhu nō Marikena rānei. Ui rawa atu ahau, e mea mai ana, ‘Ehara ahau i te wāhu i Marikena. Nō Hawaiki kē ahau.’ Kātahi ahau ka ui atu ki a ia ki ngā tikanga o tēnā kāinga, o Hawaiki. Kātahi ia ka mea mai ki ahau, ‘E hiahia ana anō ahau ki te kōrero atu ki a koe, mehemea i haere kaumātua mai ahau. Tēnā hoki rā, i haere iti mai au ki runga ki te kaipuke Pākehā, a, e kore au e tino mōhio atu.’ He tīpokapoka tōku mōhio ki aua tikanga o mua, tā te mea i rongo ake au e kōrero ana tōku pāpā, a, e mea ana hoki kia rapua mai ngā tikanga o ngā tūpuna i haere mai i Hawaiki nā, kia kōrerotia atu e ō konei mōhio. Kātahi ahau ka kōrero atu, me te whakarongo mai anō taua korokē nei. A, mutu rawa, kātahi ka puta mai tāna kupu whakapai ki tōku mōhiotanga ki te whakahua atu i te ingoa o Toitehuatahi, o Māuipōtiki, o Tamateakaiariki, me te whaea o Māui mā, me te pāpā hoki. Kātahi ia ka mea mai ki ahau, ‘Ina nā, ko ngā kupu i rongo nei ahau, me tuhituhi katoa e koe ki tētahi pukapuka, a, māku e kawe atu ki Hawaiki ki tōku iwi, ki ōku mātua, ki ōku tuākana, ki tōku kāinga, kia rongo i āu kōrero, a, kia koa mai ai ō rātou nei ngākau ki āu kōrero, ē, ka kite rātou.’ Anā, koia ahau i rongo ai ki tana whakahaunga mai kia tuhituhia atu ēnā kupu, kia haria atu e ia ki a koutou; a, tuhituhia ana e au ngā pukapuka mā te Kāwana, me te mea ki a ia. Otirā, i ngā rā noho ai au i roto i tōku whare tuhituhi, ka hōmai e ia e whā ngā hereni, e toru tūpeka, kotahi te rōria, kotahi te paipa; a, mīharo ana ahau ki tōna atawhai ki te hōmai noa mai i āna mea māku. Kāore hoki te tangata Pākehā e pēnei, erangi ko māua nei, ko te Māori, i rite ki tēnei tangata te atawhai. A, mea atu ahau ki taua tangata nei, ‘Ki te tae koe ki tōu kāinga, ki Hawaiki, ina hoki i rongo atu nei au i tāu kōrero he kaipuke anō tō koutou: a, ki te tae koe ki reira, mea atu ki oū whanaunga kia hōmai tō koutou kaipuke hei uta kai mai māku, kia kai atu au i ngā kai o te kāinga i heke mai nei ō tātou tūpuna o mua. Erangi koutou e noho ana i runga i te oneone … skin, I imagined that he must be a black man from America. In reply to my question, he said, ‘No, I am not a black man from America. I come from Hawaiki.’ Then I asked him to tell me all about this place, Hawaiki. He said to me, ‘If I had come as an elder, I should certainly have wished to discuss these matters with you. But I came only a humble capacity, on board a Pakeha ship, and I don't know very much.’ I have a partial knowledge of those early times, for I heard my father speaking of them; he also said that we should seek further information about the ancestors who came from Hawaiki, so that this could be discussed by our learned men. I spoke of these matters, while the fellow listened. When I had finally finished he congratulated me, praising the knowledge with which I had recited the names of Toi-te-huatahi, Maui-potiki, Tamatea-kai-ariki, and the mother and father of Maui and his brothers. Then he said to me, ‘You must write an account of all these things that I have just heard, and I will take it to Hawaiki: to my people, my parents and elders, and my elder brothers and cousins—to my home; so that they will hear your traditions and their hearts will rejoice at them, and they will understand. So I heeded his urging that I should write these things so that they could be conveyed to you, and I also wrote a similar account for the Governor. During the time that I was at the office, he gave me four shillings, three figs of tobacco, a jew's harp and a pipe; I marvelled at the generosity with which he presented me with so many of his possessions. The Pakehas are not at all like this, though we, the Maori people, are as generous as this man. I said to him, ‘You have told me that you and your relatives own a ship. When you return home to Hawaiki, ask for your ship to be loaded with food for me, so that I may eat the food of the place from which our ancestors came in former times.’ You, on the other hand, dwell on the soil …