Page image
Page image

G.—l

6

Ngatikoata then fled to Kawhia, and joined Te Rauparaha and the Ngatitoa Tribe. In 1817 they were again attacked by the Waikato Tribes, and Te Rauparaha, with the people of Ngatitoa and Ngatikoata, occupied the Arawi and Whenuapo Pas, south of Kawhia. Te Wherowhero (afterwards known as King Potatau) sent some of his Waikato chiefs to induce the Ngatikoata to leave the pas before the attack, and come to Waikato. One portion did so, but about onehalf elected to remain with Te Rauparaha. The Arawi Pa was assaulted and taken by the Waikato Tribes. Te Rauparaha, with the survivors of the Ngatitoa and Ngatikoata Tribes, then proceeded to the southern part of this Island, where they acquired lands by conquest on both sides of Cook Strait. The portion of the Ngatikoata who were led away by the Waikato chiefs went to Matakitaki, near Alexandra, at Waipa, Waikato, where they remained until Hongi and his people of Ngapuhi in 1822, assaulted the Matakitaki Pa, and slaughtered hundreds of its defenders, among whom were several of che Ngatikoata Tribe. On the withdrawal of Te Rauparaha, the Ngatitahinga Tribe went to Kaipara, from which place they were brought back by some of the Waikato chiefs. The Ngatimahanga Tribe, under the warrior chief Wiremu Neera Te Awaitaia, occupied the lands on the south side of Raglan Harbour, extending to the Aotea Block. Te Wherowhero (Potatau) and some of his tribe Ngatimahuta took possession of Kawhia, and Paratene Maioha (father of Honana Maioha) and others of his people of Ngatimahuta occupied Horea, on the north side of Raglan Harbour. Riki, the father of Te Wetini Mahikai, and Kiwi Huatahi were allowed to live on land in the neighbourhood of Horea. Hami Kereopa, of Tainui, in his evidence before the Commissioners, said, " Riki and Kiwi Huatahi were spared by the Waikato because of their connection with Waikato and Ngatitoa. Had it not been so, they would have been killed. If they had been killed, Waikato would have taken possession of the land " [page 92 of evidence before the Commission]. The above was the position of affairs in 1840, when the Queen's sovereignty was proclaimed over New Zealand. Honana Maioha, and some of his relations, and a few of the Ngatikoata (Tainui) were then living in the neighbourhood of Horea.' Honana Maioha says the Tainui were there in the capacity of vassals to Ngatimahuta. The Tainui, on the other hand, assert that they were living there in their own right, and as the owners of the land. After the establishment of the Government at Auckland, Tainui, then being protected by law, set up their claims to Horea, and quarrelled with the Ngatimahuta. In 1849 both sides erected pas near Horea, and prepared to fight. The Government deputed Mr. Ligar, the Surveyor-General, to proceed to Raglan (then Whaingaroa) and arrange the dispute. He then made a payment to the Ngatimahuta, which, Honana Maioha says, "was to stop the fighting." The Tainui people, on the other hand, maintain it was a purchase by the Crown of the Ngatimahuta claims. As far as this Commission can ascertain, the Government have never claimed to have purchased any part of Te Akau Block; and in the Compensation Court which was held at Port Waikato in 1866, the Crown Agent was not instructed to make any demand or claim in respect of any Government purchase in connection with Te Akau Block, which he invariably was requested to do in other cases where the Government was interested. Honana Maioha admits having left Te Akau after Mr. Ligar had concluded his mission. He, however, asserts that he left representatives there in the shape of Vassals. The occupation by some of the Tainui Tribe of a portion of the southern end of Te Akau Block is not disputed; but it is an established fact that the majority of the people of that tribe reside on and cultivate lands to the southward of Raglan Harbour. After the fighting, Wiremu Neera Te Awataia fixed a boundary between his people of the Ngatimahanga Tribe and the Tainui at Opouturu Creek, in the Raglan district. The same chief also subsequently sold to the Government large areas of land in that neighbourhood. With reference to the occupation of the southern part of Te Akau Block by Ngatimahuta, Te Wetini Mahikai, the principal chief of Tainui, in his evidence given before the Native Land Court in 1891 [vide Book 1, pages 238 and 239, Native Land Court Records], said, " Honana has no interest in Horea. What Paekau has said I agree with, that Honana has graves at Wharepuna and Waoku. Honana has graves at Marotaka. I agree as to the gift of the land by the Ngatitahinga to Ngatikoata. I don't know of the gift by Ngatikoata to Waikato." " I saw Honana on the land before the Maori fight at Horea. Honana is right in saying that the dead people at Horea were taken to Oreureu. I took the whole of Honana's dead to Oreureu for burial." [This means he reinterred the remains at Oreureu after exhuming them at Horea.] Remana Nutana, who conducted the Tainui case before the Commission, said, in reference to Te Hiakai, a chief of the Ngatimahuta, who was killed at Taranaki in 1831, "I omitted to state that previous to Te Hiakai's death he carved a stone at Te Kaha. This was done to mark his boundary. The marks represented tatooing on a human face. Kiwi Huatahi (of Tainui) and his people were living at Te Uruika, about two miles to the north of this stone. When Kiwi saw this carving he was angry with Te Hiakai. They had a dispute, and Te Hiakai promised to go away and never return. Each sang a song, but I do not remember it." In Mr. Mackay's notes, the last sentence reads, "Te Hiakai said, ' I will go away and not return. Each recited a waiata (song), but I do not remember it.' " Further on, Remana Nutana says, "Te Tuhi and two other brothers of Honana died, and were buried at Marotaka. Paratene Maioha (Honana Maioha's father) was scraping flax there for three or four years, and then went to Kawhia." Speaking of the Raglan side, this witness said, " W T iremu Neera's right to this land was derived from conquest. They took it from the Ngatikoata (Tainui) and other hapus. Huripopo was the name of the fight. It was Wiremu Neera who, after the peace was made, fixed the boundary of the land conquered by him at Opoturu Creek." [Vide page 120 of evidence.] "It is true Te Kanawa, Muri Whenua, and Taiawa were sent by Te Wherowhero (Potatau) to Whenuapo Pa to get their relations out before the fighting. I think it was Te Hiakai who went to the pa at Te Arawi for that purpose. Te Rauparaha had gone away before Whenuapo was attacked." [Vide page 112 of evidence.]

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert