Gr.—6b
8 The evidence tendered to this Court was extremely voluminous, and lengthy addresses were delivered by counsel and conductors. Much that was essentially the general history of the albed tribes that came South under the leadership of Te Rauparaha was traversed, and, in all probability rightly so too, as the Whakapuaka case viewed from any angle stands m bold relief against a background of general Maori and early New Zealand history. In this report, therefore, while every endeavour will be made to confine the history to that of the Whakapuaka Block, digressions are necessary to show causes for certain acts and reasons for certain doings, as these acts and doings m themselves are Te-Puoho-ki-te-Rangi called by his enemies Te Mann (on account of his melodious voice). He was also known as Ngarau. In this report he wi e referred to as Te Puoho. „ . .. . 10. The Ngatitama Tribe, to which Te Puoho belonged, was one famous for its fighting qualities. It was allied to Ngati Awa and Ngati Toa, and was the focus of a whole-hearted enmity on the part of the Waikato Tribes, which was not lessened when Ivaeaea (or Tannga Run, as he was later known in the Wellington District) crucified Taiporutu in the gateway of a pa which Waikato were attacking. Taiporutu was the father of Waharoa, whose name commemorated the manner of Taiporutu s death. Kaeaea and Te Puoho were closely related. . 11 Te Puoho as one of the foremost and acknowledged leaders of Ngati Tama, worthily upheld the tribal prestige' by the unparalleled feat of fighting his way against natural obstacles and hostile peoples in a series of raids, forays, and wars from his home at Poutama, near Kawhia, m the North to his death at Tuturau, near the Village of Mataura, in the South He was also a high priest, and through acting in that capacity to Rauparaha, as well as being his ally m the field., was bound by close ties to that distinguished conqueror. t> . jt.--u4.-u 12. About the year 1818 (sometimes given as 1817 and 1819) Patuone and his brother Nene (afterwards Tamati Waka Nene) joined with Tuwhare and Rori in a raid to tlw South. At or near Kawhia these people (Ngapuhi and Ngatiwhatua) were joined by the Ngati Toa under Rauparaha and Rangihaeata. The following quotation from "Old Wanganm (T. W. Downes) gives an idea of Te Puoho's interest in this raid : — It so happened just about this time that the Ngati Tama Tribe of Taranaki had a grievance against the Whanganui Tribes, which arose as follows : Te Puoho, one of the principal chiefs of Ngati Tama, then living at Pukearuhe, near the White Cliffs married his daughter to a son ofTakarangi of Whanganui. On one occasion, in an assemblage of men, the husband said that when he embraced his wife her skin felt like that of a potato. When the wife heard of this she felt deeply insulted, and, leaving her husband, returned to her father at Pukearuhe and laid her grievance before him. Te Puoho looked on this as a curse, and determined to have revenge for the insult; so he sent messengers to Kawhia and right alon» the coast as far north as the Waikato Heads. No doubt other causes tended to incite the northern Natives to this raid, but this affair, known as Te Kin-parareka, or potato-peel, certainly assisted. 13 The party which was reputed to be 1,400 strong, and which was under the leadership of Tuwhare, passed through Taranaki and along the coast to Whanganui. This expedition is credited with having at the outset an armament of four muskets (or it may have been ten), and probably the first seen in many parts of the district traversed, " which made their task of invasion an easy one. An attack was made on the Puma Pa (at Durie Vale, Wanganui) after which the party proceeded to Whangaehu and Rangitikei, thence along the coast to beyond Otaki-to Ponrua and Wellington. On the way Rauparaha called in at Kapiti Island. From Wellington it went to Tauwharemkau and Kawakawa in the Wairarapa and up to Porangahau. This trip was attended throughout with considerable slaughter. While the expedition was m the Palliser Bay district, a party was cut oft by a skilful ambush and Rori was killed. . , . 14. Upon the return journey a stop was again made at Whanganui for the purpose of attacking Purua and Patupo pas. Both, however, withstood the attack, so Tuwhare (and the Ngapuhi apparently) decided to pursue the fugitives who had fled from other pas at his approach. He thereupon proceeded up the Whanganui River, and in the face of stubborn resistance achieved a point some fifty miles above Pipiriki. The defenders had made good use of facilities to hand, and had hurled og and stones from the cliffs into the canoes while the occupants were held to the arduous task of poling up the narrow confines of the river. By the time that Tuwhare found his progress arrested the party had lost some canoes, so that numbers of the warriors were forced to trave overland Upon turning back, his return was definitely barred at Kaiwhakaukauka Pa about a mile below the Retaruke junction. Here the issue was joined and a long and bitter fight took place. The Ngapuhi succeeded m getting into the pa but the defenders (which included contingents specially requisitioned from as far away as Taupo) succeeded in clearing it. In the course of the fight, whilst Tuwhare was in the pa he encountered a Whanganui chief and shot him in the shoulder, but before he could reload the wounded adversary had split Tuwhare's skull with a cut from his taiaha. The wound was not immediately fatal, and Tuwhare taunted his assailant with a reference to the proverbial weakness of a food-raiser s arm as contrasted with that of a warrior. After darkness had stopped the fight, a parley ensued, when Tuwhare recovered a relative who had been captured in the fight. _ Next morning the invaders were permitted to leave, and they rejoined the remainder of the expedition at the mouth of the river. It passed on to Patea, where a division took place, some going by canoe to Waitara and.some going overland carrying the wounded leader on a stretcher. At Ketemarae Tuwhare succumbed to his injury. 15 It was during the return of this expedition, while at Omere (the look-out point at Ohariu Bay, from which weather conditions in Cook's Strait were generally observed), that Tuwhare (some say
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