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The Ancient History of the Maori, His Mythology and Traditions. Nga-Puhi [Vol. X, English]

Upoko XII

page (5)(1)

Upoko XII

Kupa, Kupa rangi
ka unuhia ai
e popu te makau
ki te ata o te rangi
kore e hoki mai
ka iri ki te ahu
ka hua te ngawha
i takina ai koe
ka anu ra e
taku ika moe rua
tena ka tere ki
roto o Hokianga
pau te whakawaha
ki runga o Hukanui
a tangi te ngongoro
ki te rae o te Tiki
he ngongoro aha ra e
ko tama na Horo
kia whaka e aina
wai o te kauri
tohu to hinu ki
page (2) te ahi paoa roa
kia rere te kakara
ki runga o Maukoro
e te hoa i au
tiria atu na
a Puke-kai-hau
i runga o Tua-wera
a whakamau koe
te puia ka tu
i runga o Torea
a hari ra, e mau
hara i te Tui
a papa ra e te puke
i Hou-hora i a
tama na Tu.
taku manu pokai tu
ki te ao te uru
rokohanga atu nga wai
korero roto Wai—mamaku
E tama na Tau
Koai na iho ra
aku Tamariki hoki"

Te Wananga.

He Panuitanga Tena Kia Kite Koutou

"Tihe Mauri-Ora"

Nama 22 Nepia, Hatarei, Hune 1, 1878.

Pukapuka 5.

Panuitanga. Panuitanga.

Kia Kite ! Kia Kite !

I A Reneti Ma,

Kua Hoki Mai A Reneti Ki Nepia Nei,

A he tini noa atu aana

Koti, Tarautete, Wekete

Potae, Kiapa,

Kaone, Paraikete, Raka,

Me nga tini mea katoa e paingia e te Maori.

Haere Mai Kia Kite

I te whare Hoko a

Reneti Ma

Kei tawahi ake o te Kooti Whakawa Tawhito

i Nepia,

I Te Hekipia Rori.

page 62

Panuitanga ki nga iwi katoa! katoa!

Katoa! o Aotearoa, o Wairarapa, Taranaki, Ahuriri, Taupo, me Turanga katoa.

He mea atu tenei kia rongo koutou, kaua te mea kotahi e koutou e tuhituhi i a koutou ingoa, ki te pukapuka hoko whenua ranei, ki te Rihi whanau ranei, ki te mokete whenua ranei, ki etahi tikanga ranei e pa ana ki te whenua. Maatua haere mai koutou ki au, a kia mohio koutou, hei muri te matau e puta ai mo anu mahi. Naku na

Te Ruhi

Roia i Nepia.

58

Panuitanga
Raraka Raua Ko Parahi,
Kai Hoko Rino,
(Na Pairani I Mua).

Kua Tae Mai I Ingarangi-

39 Pu tupara
30 Hakimana
14 Tupara puru, puru atu i te kake
3 Hakimana puru atu i te kake
20 Pouaka paura pupuhi manu
2 Tana Hota.

He Paraihe Paura, he Paraihe Hota, he Okaoka Pu, he Okaoka Horoi Pu, he Whakawiri Nipa Pu, he Pounamu Hinu, Pu, he Pouaka Takotonga Kiapa Pu, he Takawe Pu, he Kuku Mata Pu, he Whakapura mo te Pu ana purua, me nga tini mea atu mo te Pu.

He tino mea pai aua mea nei, a e hara i te mea tino nui te utu.

page 73

Panuitanga

Ko au ko Takuta Tera ka ki atu nei ki nga iwi katoa o Turanga, puta noa ki Waiapu, ki te takiwa ki nga iwi, o taua takiwa, kei Kihipene nei ahau e noho ana hei mahi i nga mate katoa o Nga Turoro Maori.

Takuta Tera

page 66

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

(Saturday, June 1, 1878)

page (275) (166A)

Death of Te Hapuku Ngaruhe
Te Ika-Nui O Te Moana.

In the present issue of Te Wananga we have to record the death of the aged chief Te Hapuku, which took place at his own house at Te Hauke, near Te Aute, in the Provincial District of Hawke's Bay, on the 23rd of May, 1878.

For some weeks Te Hapuku has been suffering from a severe swelling on his neck, which was the ultimate cause of his death. In all his sufferings not one murmur of pain escaped the old chief's lips, and up to the time of his death he conversed freely with those who went to condole with him in his illness. He was a man of muscular power, and great determination of mind, though of a kindly disposition, but being of the old Maori school, he could not bear to be dictated to by those of inferior rank to his own. He was very independent, and never could be induced to accept any present from other tribes for which he did not make a return gift of much more value than the present received by him. He was very impulsive in his acts when thwarted by the acts of his own people, and at times overstepped the line of right and wrong, and in some instances took the law into his own hands, and chastised those with whom he quarrelled, but for which, in his cooler moments, he invariably made ample retribution. He was a most hospitable chief, and never spared his own purse when the presence of visitors asked for his consideration at his pa. As a man his good-tempered and hearty laugh invariably led to a joke, or caused a fund of anecdote from the history of the past to be related for the amusement of those with whom he conversed. He was often known to relate some of the acts with which he first became acquainted with the Europeans of Ahuriri, and he would with much glee state that the people of those days thought he was a most dreadful fellow, whereas (the old Hapuku would say) I knew if I did not make them tremble by my putting on an air of savage defiance, I could not procure the coveted article I wished, and for which I was willing to pay the best price. One or two of these acts will show the disposition of the old chief. He had heard that a European had come to reside near the Ahuriri river, who had five large blankets in his possession. These blankets Te Hapuku wished to obtain, and as his first visit to the European could not procure them, as he naturally required them for himself, Hapuku, with four other young chiefs, went a second time with a horse pistol in his hand, early one morning, rushed up to the hut in which the stranger lived, and with a defiant war-cry, he

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

page (276) (166B)

fired his pistol off, rushed into the European's hut, and taking hold of the blankets gave them to his four companions and went away. In the evening of the same day, Hapuku took fifteen pigs to the hut of the European, and with a laugh, said, "There is the payment for the five blankets I took from you. I knew that you would not sell them, and I would have them, and for payment for my act I give you this lot of pigs." For years the European in question was the best of friends with the old chief. Hapuku was allowed to dictate to his people in all their acts of barter with the Europeans who came in small vessels to trade with the Natives in Hawke's Bay previous to 1840, and on one occasion he himself was taken away in one of these vessels. A schooner was anchored off the bar of the Ahuriri river, and some Natives, with pigs and flax, had gone off to barter. Hapuku arrived when some of the latter were putting off. He joined them, and for his assistance he demanded from the captain two blankets and a musket. As the altercation was a protracted one, Hapuku had gone down into the cabin of the schooner unasked to see what goods were there, and on his return on deck all the canoes and Maoris had left for the shore. The captain made sail, and went southwards, and landed Hapuku at Porangahau. The old chief has often said, when relating this story, "If I had not been alone, if I had been on board with a few more of my people, I would have taken charge of the vessel, and would have gone across Cook's Straits and made Taiaroa load my ship with greenstone, which would have been a good joke as payment for my being taken away by the captain."

The old chief, in the prime of life, was much addicted to the use of Maori curses, and on one occasion, while on a passage from Auckland to Napier, with a Government officer, on board of a schooner which had been bought by the Government for Te Hapuku, the old chief called this officer names, such as dog's food, cooked head, &c. The cause of the quarrel was that the Government officer had ordered the vessel to put to sea all night and come in again in the morning for old Hapuku, who had gone ashore at Te Mahia. On the arrival of Hapuku in the morning on board, he again called the officer these names. The officer took a line and hung it over the stern of the vessel, and caught a fish, and cooked the fish, and then took it and laid it on the bed of Te Hapuku, and while laid there, eat part of the fish. This was a superlative curse on Te Hapuku, but after a great rage on the part of Te Hapuku, at which the Government officer did not take the least heed, Hapuku shook hands, and promised never to call names to that officer again, and to the day of his death he had the greatest feeling of respect for the officer in question.

Te Hapuku was not like most of the old chiefs. He never fostered an ill-feeling to anyone. He was an outspoken man, and what more than any other matter caused him to fret was that the laws of the

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

page (276) (166C)

present day did not allow him to make those of his tribe act as they had done to his dictates in years gone by. On more than one occasion when he has broken the law by acts of personal authority, and he has been taken into the Law Courts by some of the young chiefs of his people, he has been heard to say, "it was time that men should go from this world where poor people could dictate to the head chiefs." Considering the school in which he was taught (the school of the old Maori), Hapuku showed a most forbearing disposition to his people when he had to submit to the new rule. He was a most loyal subject of the Queen of England, and ever spoke of Her Majesty as "our Queen." His signature being attached in 1840 to the Treaty of Waitangi was considered of great importance by Governor Hobson. When the line of railway was projected from Napier to Waipukurau the line had to pass close in front of his settlement, and thereby cut off the ancient line of road from his home to his much-prized eel depot, the Poukawa Lake. A public road being that thing of all which according to his former ideas of possession and right, could not be allowed to come between him and the far-famed eel fisheries of his ancestors he demurred to the line of railway as detrimental to his ownership of the lake, but on being told it was the road of the Queen, old Hapuku at once consented, saying, "if it is for the Queen, I will by her retain my right to the lake, and allow it to pass." The old chief was much respected by all classes of society, and must have been in his 70th year at the time of his death. He was about 16 years old at the time of the attack on the Pa Te Pakake, on the Maori island in the Ahuriri harbor, which stood on the site now occupied by the railway terminus at Port Ahuriri, but then an island surrounded by the tide at high water. The Taupo and other tribes attacked and took that Pa about the year 1824, when Hapuku was taken by the attacking force, and after he had gone with them as far as Te Wairoa, some of the Ahuriri chiefs sent a messenger to ask for the release of Hapuku. This was granted, and a few musket balls were given as a present to the Taupo chiefs, and Hapuku came back to those who longed for his return, and who, in those days of his youth, valued him greatly as a chief of high rank. The fact of any of his tribe risking their lives to rescue him is alone a proof of his position with the tribe. The record of the fight of the musket balls was kept in remembrance by the name of Hoko-Mata (purchased for musket balls) being given to a foster-daughter of Te Hapuku some years afterwards. The one night of his being with the war party has been the subject and the source of more than one amusing description by old Hapuku in relating what he saw in the camp and what he said to his enemies in those days of his youthful vigour. Although dignified in his general deportment, his delight in a joke never left him even in his old age,

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

page (277) (166D)

and to perpetuate certain acts of his life it was his custom to give names to members of his tribe. Having in late years been the subject of rheumatic pains, on the birth of a granddaughter he ordered the child to be called Rheumatism, and being told in a joke by one of the old chiefs that he (Hapuku) when a young man, was a very noisy fellow, to carry the fun to its extreme, he called one of his tribe "Pukututu" (angry stomach). Though of the old Maori school, he was very particular in his manner to chiefs, and resented any breach of Maori etiquette, if even offered to those with whom he might be in company. One matter above all others in regard to Europeans was a point for his wit to expand its sharpest sneer on, and this was the easy mode by which (as he said) money can make a gentleman with the Europeans, and the want of it sink a man of good heart and cultivated mind into the ranks of the tutua (unknown). As he often stated, a Maori chief is a chief by birth, and he does not need the external world to bolster him up, his bones are red, which is the birthright of all chiefs, but the European has only the red gold in his pocket, which does duty for red bones to give him the right to be of noble birth, and to have the power to command. Though possessed of a yearly income from his own property, he was never idle; he admired the old proverb of his fathers, which says, "Short finger nails show the rank of a man of power," so that he invariably joined with his people to plant, and it was a favorite amusement of his to make the eel pots for use in the lake he so much prized. Not even in the days of his tapu as a chief would he resist the demands of his household requisites; he has been seen even to mend the pots in which cooked birds are kept, an act which he might well have escaped under the plea of contamination, according to ancient custom, if he had been an idle man. There was not any being which he had such contempt for as a man or woman who had to acknowledge that they could not do any work which was given them to do. The last great act of his life was to build two large houses in which he had the desire to be able in his old age and declining years to invite the tribes every year to meet him and his people in an annual feast, as he has often said, the young people of these days do not act like the noble beings of old times. The young people now do not show the heart of chiefs; all they obtain they consume by themselves. Old chiefs held great feasts, and called all the people; in those days men were generous; though determined in war, they were kind in noble acts of feast-giving, and all the people looked to the chiefs as the heads of their tribes. In the death of old Hapuku we have seen nearly the last of those who had seen Maori life in all its savage vigor, and a few years will pass when it will be said "we have seen the last of the true old Maori chiefs."

Note: Refer J. White's manuscript (Te Wananga (277), Te Wananga (278) and Te Wananga (274) - Maori). These have not been included.

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

page (274) (183A)

Te Hapuku Ngaruhe Te Ika Nui o te Moana

Kua mate a Te Hapuku. No te 23 o Mei 1878 i mate ai, a ko te wahi i mate ai a Te Hauke, i te Aute, i Ahuriri.

He nui nga wiki ona i takoto turoro ai, a he mate penei me te whewhe i tana kaki aia i mate ai, kahore kau he kupu mea ake ona ki te mamae o tana mate i a ia e takoto ana, otiia i korero tonu ake aia ki nga iwi haere atu kia kite i aia e takoto turoro ana. He tangata nui a Te Hapuku, he tangata tu maroro, he tangata kaha ki te kawe i tana i mohio ai. He tangata oha ki te iwi, he nui tana mea ki te iwi manuhiri haere atu ki tona kainga. He tangata aia e tuku nui ana i te taonga tuku noa ma te tini o nga rangatira o etahi iwi ke atu i aia, a ki te mea ka tae mai he taonga tuku mai a nga iwi ki aia, ka ea ano i aia ki te taonga tuku atu eia hei utu mo aua taonga. E kore aia e pai i aia e ora ana kia kiia aia e te tangata, a he mea ano ka puta tana riri ki te tangata whakatete atu ki aia, otiia e hara a Te Hapuku i te tangata mau noa tona riri. A he tangata ngahau aia ki te korero whakahoa atu a te tangata ki aia, whai hoki he tangata aia, e kore e noho kupu amuamu atu ki ana hoa. I nga ra o mua

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

page (274) (183B)

i aia e taitamariki ana, he tangata kakama aia ki te mahi ma te iwi, a i nga wa o te Pakeha kua u mataati mai ki Ahuriri, he tangata a Te Hapuku i kiia i aua ra he tangata rongo kore aia ki te ako a nga pakeke, koia etahi o te Pakeha i ki ai, he tangata wehi a Te Hapuku i te mea e kore e hangahanga ana kupu riri ana kiia atu e te tangata, otiia e hara i te riri, he korenga no tana mea kia riro ai i a ia ana mea i pai atu ai i te Pakeha, i te mea hoki i aua ra, he iti te taonga a te Pakeha, a e kore e homai te taonga pai, na reira a Te Hapuku i oho riri atu ai ki te Pakeha kia hohoro ai te whakaae a te Pakeha ki ana taonga kia riro ia Te Hapuku te hoko. I te wa e ora ana a Te Hapuku i kata ano aia i te korerotanga ona i tetahi haerenga o ratou ko ona hoa ki te tiki i nga paraikete a te tetahi Pakeha. He mea hoki kihai taua Pakeha i whakaae kia homai aua paraikete kia hokona e Te Hapuku, a he mea tiki Maori atu aua paraikete a taua Pakeha e Te Hapuku, a he mea tuku atu e Te Hapuku nga tini poaka ma taua Pakeha, i mea hoki a Te Hapuku he mea tango a taua eia aua paraikete, whai hoki me nui he utu ana ki taua Pakeha. A i muri ka ki taua Pakeha heoi ano te tino tangata ko Te Hapuku. A he haerenga no nga Maori o Ahuriri ki te hoko i a ratou poaka ki te kaipuke i u mai ki waho ake o te awa pu o Ahuriri tu ai, a hoe ai aua waka ki te kawe i a ratou poaka ki nga Pakeha o taua kaipuke hoko ai, a eke atu ai ano hoki a Te Hapuku ki aua waka, a i kii hoki a Te Hapuku mana e korero nga utu mo nga poaka a aua Maori, a no te korerotanga e Te Hapuku ka riri te Pakeha, tena e heke a Te Hapuku ki te Kapene o te kaipuke ki te titiro i nga taonga, hoki rawa ake ki runga kua riro nga waka me ana hoa Maori ki utu, a rere ana te kaipuke, kawhakina ana a Te Hapuku, a Rongohau, ka tukua a Te Hapuku ki uta, ka kata a Te Hapuku ki taua kawenga ona e te Pakeha, a ka mea aia, mei tini ona hoa Maori i taua kaipuke, penei, kua riro i aia taua kaipuke, a kua rere aia kia Taiaroa i te Waipounamu, ki te uta pounamu mai ma te iwi o enei wahi. He tangata ngahau a Te Hapuku ki te korero, a kotahi te mea i wawata ai te whakaaro a Te Hapuku ko te rongo a nga iwi ki nga tino tangata o mua, a i kii a Te Hapuku, kua he te tu o te tangata i enei ra, i te mea kua whakahi te tutua ki te tino tangata o te iwi. A i nga wa e tino riri ai a Te Hapuku ki etahi o tana iwi, a he ai etahi o te iwi i aia, he mea utu pai eia tana he kia ratou. A i nga wa e whakawa ai etahi o te iwi i aia, ka mea a Te Hapuku, kua he nga ahua o te mana tangata i enei ra, i te mea kua ki rawa ano te tutua kia whakawa te tutua i te tino tangata, otiia he tangata pai a Te Hapuku ki te mahi i nga mahi hou o te Ture, a he tino tangata aia i pai kia Te Kuini, a i whakaae aia ki te tikanga o nga Ture kia mahia eia. I te wa i kiia ai te Rerewe kia haere i tana kainga i te Hauke, a na taua Rerewe i he ai te ara atu o ratou ko tana iwi ki te mahi tuna i te roto i Poukaawa, i mea a Te Hapuku e he ana te Rerewe kia haere i runga i te ara a tona iwi i haere ai o mua iho, otiia na te mea na

(Extract from "Te Wananga")

page (275) (183C)

Te Kuini nga Rerewe, koia a Te Hapuku i whakaae ai kia haere te Rerewe i taua wahi. He tangata a Te Hapuku e manaakitia ana e te iwi katoa o te Pakeha, kahore he Pakeha o nga motu nei, a o etahi wahi o nga whenua o Tawahi, e kuare ana ki te ingoa o Te Hapuku, i te mea kua tae te rongo o tona ingoa ki nga wahi katoa. A e ki ana matou kua tae nga tau o Te Hapuku ki te 70, i te mea hoki e ki ana matou 16 ona tau i te wa i taea ai te pa i te Pakake e Waikato, e Taupo, i Ahururi. A no te tau 1824 i tauna ai taua pa e aua iwi. A i riro a Te Hapuku i aua iwi, a ka ………. a Te Hapuku ki te Wairoa, ka whaia atu e etahi ano o tana iwi, a ka hoki mai a Te Hapuku. Na te iwi i haere atu ra kia hoki mai a Te Hapuku i a ratou, i hoatu nga mataa pu ki te taua, a koia a Hokomata i tapaa ai ki te kotiro whangai a Te Hapuku. He mea hoki i oho ai te aroha o te iwi ki a ia, kia hoki mai he uri rangatira aia, a na te aroha a te iwi ratou i kawe, ki te tiki ano i a ia, kahore a ratou wehi kei patua ratou e te taua, i te nui o te aroha ki te uri rangatira kia riro mai ano ki te kainga noho ai. I nga wa o Te Hapuku e korero ai i te mahi a taua iwi ki te Pakake, he kata te hanga i aia te whakakata i nga mahi Maori o aua ra. He tangata a Te Hapuku i pai atu ki ana hoa rangatira Maori, a kihai aia i pai kia he te mana o te rangatira Maori. He tangata a Te Hapuku i kata ki te Pakeha, take e kiia ai te Pakeha he rangatira, ara i mea a Te Hapuku he moni te mea e kiia ai te Pakeha he tino tangata, tena ko te Maori, he rangatira aia i ona tupuna ake, a e kore e rongo te uri rangatira, i te mea e ura ana te kiri, me te koiwi katoa o te tino momo tangata, a na te moni i ura ai te pakete a te Pakeha i tu ai te Pakeha hei tangata, ano ka kore he ura moni, kua tutua rawa atu te Pakeha. He tangata whai taonga a Te Hapuku otiia e hara a ia i te tangata mangere. He nui noa atu tana ahuwhenua, a i nga wa e ngaki ai te iwi, ka haere tahi ano hoki a Te Hapuku, ka mahi tahi ratou ko te iwi ki te ngaki kai. A koia ano hei whatu i nga punga tuna, no tana roto no Poukaawa. A nana ano i mahi nga tahaa mo nga huahua manu e takoto ai, nei koa, mehemea he tangata mangere a Te Hapuku e kore aia e mahi i era. He nui noa atu tana ahua whakahe atu ki te tangata kuare ki te mahi. A ko te mahi nui ana i mahi ai i nga ra ona ka tata ki te mate, ko ana whare nui mo ana manuhiri, he tangata hoki aia e pai tonu ana kia tu te hui kai ana ki nga iwi i nga tau katoa, a koia aua whare i mahia ai eia. I mea hoki a Te Hapuku, kua heke te tupu o te iwi, a i enei ra, kua kore te uri momo rangatira e karanga i te iwi kia huihui ki te kai i nga hakari, tena i nga ra o mua, i maia te tangata, a i puta te oha a te tino tangata ki te iwi, a hua noa ai te kai ma te iwi, e ora ai, e ngahau ai. Haere atu ra e koro i te ara o o tupuna, haere atu ra e Ruhe, e kore to nui e heke i muri i a koe, nou te ingoa ka kiia tonutia i te marae o te tini. Haere atu ra e koro, he rongo tou e kore e ngaro i te rongo o te tini, o te mano. Haere ra, haere ra.

page (167)

Refuting the charges
made against Tu-kare-aho

(Nga-puhi)

This is in answer to the assertion that Tu-kare-aho (god of war of trembling light) was the cause of the murder of Te-ra-tau (setting sun) who was father of Ihaka Whanga (wait)

Now hearken o Europeans and Maori, that assertion is false, now listen, it was not Tu-kare-aho who committed that crime by leading a war party to kill him, but it was done by Te-aitanga-a-mahaki and Whakatohea tribes, who wished to proceed to the Mahia (quest) with a war party to attack Te-ratau, and the reason for this war party being called together was the murder of Te-ra-ka-to (the sun will set) of Rere-kahika (ancester migrating) and cooked him at Whanga-wehi (harbour of fear) in the Nuku-taurua (double canoe to carry the fishing net) and Te-ra-ka-to eat him, and the eaten man was related to the murderer, and soon after this murder Rongo-i-waho (news far off) went with a war party to seek revenge for this murder of Rere-kahika, and killed those of the tribe of Oro-pipi (sharpen the pipe by rubbing) and caught Wai-ranga-iho (water to run in a line) who was an ancestor of Ihaka Whanga, and also of Tu-kare-aho, who were taken to Turanga and there cooked and eaten, these were eaten in a time of rage of famine by Rongo-i-waho to appease his wrath, and the death of Rere-kahika was thus avenged.

After this Rongo-i-waho went to the Mahia to make peace with Te-ra-ka-to, but he was murdered by Te-ra-ka-to, whose death was not avenged till the time of his grandson called Te-ra-tau, and Aku-rangi was killed at To-paruparu in the Turanga district, who was a chief of the Aitanga-a-mahaki tribe, and this tribe also lost by death at the same time a chief called Rongo-i-waho, page (168)but Rongo-i-waho was killed first, and after that was Aku-rangi, and the people of Turanga had killed Aku-rangi whose body was cooked and put into calabashes, and was taken to Nu-haka as food for Te-ra-tau, who was father of Ihaka Whanga.

The calabashes in which were the cooked body of Aku-rangi were placed before Te-ra-tau, and then the calabashes were taken to Tama-wehi (timid son) who said to the man who carried the calabash to him "Carry that calabash back: do you all not look at the parent of my grandchild?" He spoke of Hine-i-koia (the daughter who was caused to be enraged) who was the parent of his grandchild, and she was the wife of Tu-kare-aho, and high in rank with the Aitanga-a-mahaki tribe, and the cooked man contained in the calabash was a parent to her (related).

When the calabash was brought into the house of Hine-i-koia, and it was said that the Aku-rangi was in the calabash she wept for her parent, and commanded that the calabash should be taken back to Te-ra-tau to the father of Ihaka Whanga.

The name of the man who had brought that calabash Tama-wheti was Takinga-kai.

Hine-i-koia went back to Turanga to her tribe to the Aitanga-a-mahaki, she went on this journey to collect a war party to avenge the death of Aku-rangi, then the death (murder) of Rongo-i-waho was again remembered, and thus there were two causes for this war party to go against Te-ra-tau, but Tu-kare-aho did not in any way lead this war party, but Hine-i-koia and her tribe Te-aitanga-a-mahaki led this war troop, and they went in this war to get revenge first for Rongo-i-waho, who was murdered by Te-ra-ka-to the ancestor of Te-ra-tau, and second page (169)for Aku-rangi who had been eaten by Te-ra-tau.

Friend you who wrote the charges made against Tu-kare-aho for the murder of Te-ra-tau, I would ask you to say by which of the laws of ancient Maori life was the acts of olden times condemned or forbidden, I ask this question, as all the Maori of these Islands acted in the same manner as did those who murdered Te-ra-tau.

It was only after that the word of God was preached that the evil of the deeds and life of olden times was seen, that is these were condemned, murdering, family quarrels, seduction, and cannibalism, but there were many and great evils committed in Ao-tea-roa (North Island) but the gospel being preached, caused the evils of the Maori to cease.

O sir it was not Tu-kare-aho was not the cause of the war party going to kill, but he did join in and went with the troop who killed Te-ra-to, he did go with the troop, but he did not know that they were going to kill Te-ra-to, had he known he would not have gone with them.

The murder of Te-ra-to, had been avenged by his sister Hine-i-tikina who got a war party to kill Tama-wheti and his tribe the Ra-kai-pukaa and Nga-i-te-ao-mate thus she avenged her wrong, it was she who sent the troop to kill Tama-wheti the father of Tu-kare-aho, and the place where Tama-whati and these two tribes were attacked and killed was at Hau-tu-whenua, in the Mahia district, but the Nga-i-te-ao-mate were passed by at the time and not molested by this war party, it was only his tribe and Tama-wheti and Ra-kai-paka who were attacked, some of whose tribes they killed and some escaped to the forest, and Tama-wheti and Ra-kai-paka also escaped to the bush, then the war party attacked the tribe Nga-i-te-ao-mate some of page (170)whom were killed, and some escaped to the forest.

Tama wheti collected all who had escaped death, and fostered them till he had a strong party, and then he rose in a war party to go and attack Turanga, where Ihaka Whanga heard of this intention of Tama wheti, he sent word to Tawheo and Turanga chief to the effect that Tama-wheti should kill Tawheo, in payment for the death of Te-ra-tau, and Matua-kore, so Tawheo rose with a war party and went to Turanga, and still went on in the open road, not knowing that a war party had come along in the same road and had laid in ambush for if they had, they would have gone in war array, that is in a body and not in the usual Maori style of travelling in single file in the path, thus they would not have been beaten and killed.

The coming people of Tama-weti came on, and as soon as they were opposite to where the ambush was laid, the ambush rose and had a war dance, and made a loud noise with their voices, and attacked the coming people, each body of ambush attacked those near to where they had been hid. The people who now attacked Tama wheti were the Rongo-whakaata tribe, and Tama-wheti and all his people were killed by the host who attacked them, but Tu-kare-aho escaped by dint of his power to run away, and some of these people were taken into slavery, and these slaves lived with the Rongo-whakaata in slavery till the days of the preaching of the word of God, when they were liberated and allowed to return to their homes. The great chiefs who were killed in this attack were Tama-wheti, Hika-wera, and Takapau, but most of this people were killed as they fled in the scrub, and hence the name of one family tribe of this people Nga-ti-parae (the descendants of the scrub) in remembrance of that attack on their tribe.

page (171)

After this the Ngati-kahu-ngunu went to war against the Itanga-mahaki at Turanga, and they laid siege to the Keke-paraoa Pa. The tribes who then occupied that Pa were Itanga-Mahaki, that is the young people of the tribe, and the tribe Whakatohea, and when those in the Pa were in want of food, they sallied out of the fort in search of food, who were caught by the war party who were besieging the fort, and cooked and eat them and the head chief of the Pa called Awa-riki was taken in this way, who was led alive into the presence of the war party in their camp, who was tapped by those who led him into their presence till he bleed, which blood the leaders caught and drank, the war party cut his head off and brought it to the Mahia, which was kept by the old man called Apa-tu, who had it even to the days when the Maori listened to the words of God, many people have seen that head, which was kept in revenge for the death of Te-ra-tau, for whose death Huhune was killed and also Ponui, who were killed for the murder of Te-ra-tau.

An answer to the charge of murder
committed on Te-ra-tau

(Kahu-nganu)

These words are in answer to those words which charge me with the murder of Te-ra-tau, it was not I who did that deed, but it was done by the tribes Te-whakatohea and the Aitanga-a-mahaki on account of the evils they had felt from others, all I had to do in the matter, I came with the war party who killed Te-ra-tau, but I did not know of the intentions of the war party when we left our home, as it had not been told to me, that they were going to attack Te-ra-tau, my relatives by marriage did wish me to stay at home, but I did not.