The Spirit of Mangatu
William L. Perry
Did I hear the faint call of a Weka at Te Apiti? Or was it the lazy flap of a trout’s tail in a crystal clear pool in the Motu? Maybe it was the rustle of wild pigs on Waitangirua. Could it have been the babble of grey water frothing over papa in the Waipaoa? No, it may have been a shepherd’s whistle on Komihana. Did we poach trout on Okaihau, Mr Daveron? And the tipuna in the sacred urupa on Mangamaia; is your sleep peaceful? Yes, the wind constantly bends the grassy swarthes of Wairere’s slopes. Ah! I smell pine resin and hear the burrr of a chainsaw. Have the scars on the Dome healed yet? We killed the Tamariki-O-Tane and paid the price. Yes, that is the sweet aroma of Hangi at Whatatutu assailing my sense of smell and causing the saliva to run. The day is fine. Why are my eyes wet as I stand at Tapuae-O-te-Rangi? Who rings the bell now? My heart races. It is Ngawari. I thought you too were baptised into Papatuanuku. The sound of voices. The Pa rang once with untold kids. The Peneha’s, Brown’s, Haronga’s, Tamanui’s, Wainui’s, Matenga’s, Smith’s, Waru’s, Tuapawa’s, Irwin’s, Morris’s, Henry's, and others. It is silent now. I turn and raise my head in saluation to that noble mother of ‘Ngariki Wahia’ adorned in her mantle of splendour. Maungahumi! Arowhana! Arowhana! Arowhana! Pawa knew you. Rawiri also, and Hirini Te Kani-a-Taki Rau. Like a shining pillar of marble you are majestic as you suckle ‘Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki’, your children. Oh mangatu you called. With pride we hold you aloft. The memories are treasured and sweet. You course through our veins and cause the pulse to race. You draw us to your bosom. Home, yes home again. We had to come home. Mangatu is the people. Mangatu is history. Mangatu is the land. Mangatu is religion. Mangatu is politics. Mangatu is the heart and soul. Mangatu the man. Mangatu the river. Mangatu the Marae! Tena Koutou. Tena Koutou. Tena Koutou Katoa.
Mangatu is shifting its wharepuni this year from its present site up to Whatatutu because of flooding. Ngawari, the original marae site has disappeared under many metres of silt and now the time has come to move again. Floods have become a regular event in the Mangatu river, Waipaoa river and adjacent streams, due largely to the soil erosion problem caused by the deafforestation programme. Rutene Irwin (Mangatu Carpentary Supervisor) with the aid of others shifted ‘Ngawari’ the Tipuna Whare from its original site to its present one. They set to and restored the many valuable ancestors’ photographs (all of which went under the floods on numerous occasions). A valuable and irreplaceable photo of Hori Puru, tohunga of Mangatu was too badly
damaged to be restored and was reproduced as a painting. Te ahutanga mai o tenei ingoa Te Ngawarii whakatakotoria mai i nga korero i homaitia ki a Te Aitanga-A-Mahaki e Te Kooti i roto o Te Kuiti. Hoki atu whakahautia Te Rongopai i runga iTe Ngawari mete aroha. Tena a whakahau e tu mai ra i rangatira, Te Rongopai e tu mai ra i roto o Te Whanau akai whai ake ko Te Tipuna e tu nei ate Ngawari, whakamutu atu kia te aroha e tu mai ra i roto o Tapu-I-Hikitia. Ko Maungahaumi Te Maunga Ko Mangatu Te Awa Ko Te Aitanga-A-Mahaki Te Iwi Ko Ngariki Wahia Te Hapu Ko Ngawari Te Tipuna e tu nei Ko Rawiri Te Tangata kei roto Ko Mangatu Te Marae.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TUTANG19830301.2.12
Bibliographic details
Tu Tangata, Issue 10, 1 March 1983, Page 7
Word Count
597The Spirit of Mangatu Tu Tangata, Issue 10, 1 March 1983, Page 7
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