Post by Kiwi Frontline on Mar 15, 2016 18:04:25 GMT 12
Northland Age 15/3/16
BRUTAL CONQUEST
In the "Nelson Mail" for 2nd March, John and Hillary Mitchell discuss tribal interests in Awaroa dating back to 1853 but human occupation of the area dates back to a long time before that, so just who may have "interests" does need further examination.
In "Song of Waitaha" Barry Brailsford speaks of three groups of immigrants: Uru Kehu, with pale or freckled skin, blue eyes and fair or red hair, who came from the East; Maoriori, tall, dark-skinned, big-boned with dark eyes and black hair who came from the west; and, Kiritea, small, fair-skinned, with dark hair and green eyes. These descriptions from very old sources are as accurate as we are likely to get about the indigenous people of New Zealand yet not inconsistent with other accounts.
In their two canoes, "Uru Ao" and "Arai Te Uru", after a wide sweep through the Tasman Sea, they travelled eastwards through the swirling tidal streams ("the octopus") near Whakarerea, now Separation Point, to land on the sands of Tahunanui. The people of "Arai Te Uru", henceforth calling themselves the Waitaha, planted gardens with the seeds and kumara tubers they had brought in their canoes. The Boulder Bank was named "Te Taurapa o Te Uru Ao" - the sacred sternpost of Uru Ao and the Wakapuaka dunes named likewise for Arai Te Uru. Information obtained by WJ Elvy, who collected Maori lore in Marlborough extensively about 100 years ago, substantiate this account.
The crew of "Uru Ao", now the Rapuwai, travelled north towards Whakarerea, beached their canoe and decided that they were home. Surprised by the changing seasons of our higher latitudes, they hastened to build their first village - Waitapu - looking out on golden sands and clear blue water - and undoubtedly Awaroa. Soon snow left a cloak of white upon the distant hills.
As Elvy reported: "Rapu-wai [coming in] the Uruao canoe ... were giants eight feet tall, big powerful men but clumsy withal ... no match for the agile Maori ... being unskilled in the use of arms. ... Myth or not, many skeletons of abnormal size have been uncovered in the sand dune burials in the district." - clearly consistent with Brailsford's account of Maoriori.
Sixty-seven generations ago these events are said to have happened - around 850AD, said Elvy.
Leaving aside the much-embellished story of Kupe who didn't stay, the next to arrive were Toi and Whatonga, about 1100. With no women in their canoes, they took wives from the "tangata whenua" from whom North Island tribes, Ngatiapa and Rangitane and also Ngatikuia have claimed descent.
The arrival of the "Great Fleet" canoes with their culture of aggressive warfare was devastating for the peaceful Waitaha and Rapuwai. The former, generously sending food over the Strait to Ngatimamoe, were repaid when the letter crossed the Strait, slaughtered them, helped themselves to the food supplies and proceeded to conquer the rest of the South Island. They, in turn, were conquered by the Ngai Tahu, by-passing the Nelson area. It was another North Island tribe, Tumatakokori, who conquered the lands of Golden and Tasman Bay and it was they who confronted Tasman in 1642.
Long dominant in the area, Tumatakokori were assaulted by Ngai Tahu, Ngati Kuia and Ngati Apa, being finally exterminated as a tribe by Ngai Tahu and Ngati Apa in a battle in the Paparoa Ranges about 1810, with Ngati Apa assuming control in north-west Nelson. The brief dominance of Ngati Apa ceased when they were almost destroyed around 1830 by the amalgam of tribes led by Te Rauparaha - Ngati Toa, Ngati Tama, Ngati Koata, Ngati Rarua and Te Atiawa.
In the next twist to this tale, Te Rauparaha sold the whole of the South Island north of 43º latitude to the New Zealand Company, the deed of 25th October 1839 specifically including the Nelson district. By the great benevolence of the Crown after the chiefs had ceded sovereignty in 1840, nearly all of this was returned to the tribes.
With the establishment of Pax Britannica after the Wairau Massacre on 17th June 1843, the Lands Commissioners systematically purchased from the Natives of Motueka and Whakapuaka and the Ngaitawa Natives, excepting their pas, cultivations and burial places, their lands at Whakatu (Nelson) Waimea, Moutere, Riwaka. and Taitapu (Massacre Bay), now Golden Bay, in deeds dated 14th and 15th August 1844.
It must be quite clear from the outline above that, in common with most of New Zealand, the Nelson area was subjected to continual and brutal conquest of the weaker by more powerful tribes right up to a few years before 1840. It is the most recent of these, the allies of Te Rauparaha, whom Mitchell and Mitchell now assert have not received their entitlements from the Crown. From the very extensive records collated by Jackson, it is quite evident that government officials made strenuous efforts to deal honourably with tribal claimants, often faced with conflicting or very dubious claims. As Commissioner Alexander Mackay reported on 15th May 1871, Native reserves in the province of Nelson amounted to 226¾ acres for each of them.
If a Royal Commission with extraordinary powers (and certainly not the corrupt Waitangi Tribunal) were to go thoroughly through all the records, it would probably find similar numbers of "unders and overs" and little else. It would be far, far better, for the past to be let lie, yet this very day, 7th March 2016, we have Marama Fox, claiming in the "Wairarapa Times Age" "Over the past 160 years ... 95% of our land was lost either by force or stealth." This blatant lie by a Member of Parliament serves only to create racial hatred, and illustrates the dire peril which we face in New Zealand today.
BRUCE MOON
Nelson
BRUTAL CONQUEST
In the "Nelson Mail" for 2nd March, John and Hillary Mitchell discuss tribal interests in Awaroa dating back to 1853 but human occupation of the area dates back to a long time before that, so just who may have "interests" does need further examination.
In "Song of Waitaha" Barry Brailsford speaks of three groups of immigrants: Uru Kehu, with pale or freckled skin, blue eyes and fair or red hair, who came from the East; Maoriori, tall, dark-skinned, big-boned with dark eyes and black hair who came from the west; and, Kiritea, small, fair-skinned, with dark hair and green eyes. These descriptions from very old sources are as accurate as we are likely to get about the indigenous people of New Zealand yet not inconsistent with other accounts.
In their two canoes, "Uru Ao" and "Arai Te Uru", after a wide sweep through the Tasman Sea, they travelled eastwards through the swirling tidal streams ("the octopus") near Whakarerea, now Separation Point, to land on the sands of Tahunanui. The people of "Arai Te Uru", henceforth calling themselves the Waitaha, planted gardens with the seeds and kumara tubers they had brought in their canoes. The Boulder Bank was named "Te Taurapa o Te Uru Ao" - the sacred sternpost of Uru Ao and the Wakapuaka dunes named likewise for Arai Te Uru. Information obtained by WJ Elvy, who collected Maori lore in Marlborough extensively about 100 years ago, substantiate this account.
The crew of "Uru Ao", now the Rapuwai, travelled north towards Whakarerea, beached their canoe and decided that they were home. Surprised by the changing seasons of our higher latitudes, they hastened to build their first village - Waitapu - looking out on golden sands and clear blue water - and undoubtedly Awaroa. Soon snow left a cloak of white upon the distant hills.
As Elvy reported: "Rapu-wai [coming in] the Uruao canoe ... were giants eight feet tall, big powerful men but clumsy withal ... no match for the agile Maori ... being unskilled in the use of arms. ... Myth or not, many skeletons of abnormal size have been uncovered in the sand dune burials in the district." - clearly consistent with Brailsford's account of Maoriori.
Sixty-seven generations ago these events are said to have happened - around 850AD, said Elvy.
Leaving aside the much-embellished story of Kupe who didn't stay, the next to arrive were Toi and Whatonga, about 1100. With no women in their canoes, they took wives from the "tangata whenua" from whom North Island tribes, Ngatiapa and Rangitane and also Ngatikuia have claimed descent.
The arrival of the "Great Fleet" canoes with their culture of aggressive warfare was devastating for the peaceful Waitaha and Rapuwai. The former, generously sending food over the Strait to Ngatimamoe, were repaid when the letter crossed the Strait, slaughtered them, helped themselves to the food supplies and proceeded to conquer the rest of the South Island. They, in turn, were conquered by the Ngai Tahu, by-passing the Nelson area. It was another North Island tribe, Tumatakokori, who conquered the lands of Golden and Tasman Bay and it was they who confronted Tasman in 1642.
Long dominant in the area, Tumatakokori were assaulted by Ngai Tahu, Ngati Kuia and Ngati Apa, being finally exterminated as a tribe by Ngai Tahu and Ngati Apa in a battle in the Paparoa Ranges about 1810, with Ngati Apa assuming control in north-west Nelson. The brief dominance of Ngati Apa ceased when they were almost destroyed around 1830 by the amalgam of tribes led by Te Rauparaha - Ngati Toa, Ngati Tama, Ngati Koata, Ngati Rarua and Te Atiawa.
In the next twist to this tale, Te Rauparaha sold the whole of the South Island north of 43º latitude to the New Zealand Company, the deed of 25th October 1839 specifically including the Nelson district. By the great benevolence of the Crown after the chiefs had ceded sovereignty in 1840, nearly all of this was returned to the tribes.
With the establishment of Pax Britannica after the Wairau Massacre on 17th June 1843, the Lands Commissioners systematically purchased from the Natives of Motueka and Whakapuaka and the Ngaitawa Natives, excepting their pas, cultivations and burial places, their lands at Whakatu (Nelson) Waimea, Moutere, Riwaka. and Taitapu (Massacre Bay), now Golden Bay, in deeds dated 14th and 15th August 1844.
It must be quite clear from the outline above that, in common with most of New Zealand, the Nelson area was subjected to continual and brutal conquest of the weaker by more powerful tribes right up to a few years before 1840. It is the most recent of these, the allies of Te Rauparaha, whom Mitchell and Mitchell now assert have not received their entitlements from the Crown. From the very extensive records collated by Jackson, it is quite evident that government officials made strenuous efforts to deal honourably with tribal claimants, often faced with conflicting or very dubious claims. As Commissioner Alexander Mackay reported on 15th May 1871, Native reserves in the province of Nelson amounted to 226¾ acres for each of them.
If a Royal Commission with extraordinary powers (and certainly not the corrupt Waitangi Tribunal) were to go thoroughly through all the records, it would probably find similar numbers of "unders and overs" and little else. It would be far, far better, for the past to be let lie, yet this very day, 7th March 2016, we have Marama Fox, claiming in the "Wairarapa Times Age" "Over the past 160 years ... 95% of our land was lost either by force or stealth." This blatant lie by a Member of Parliament serves only to create racial hatred, and illustrates the dire peril which we face in New Zealand today.
BRUCE MOON
Nelson