When Maori were losing their lands in the 1880s, Wairarapa leaderPaora
Te Potangaroa extended Te Kooti's 1871
moteatea that used the call of
the Matuhi "Tui, tui, tuitua" to remind iwi all over
the country to unite.
The Matuhi
The Matuhi or Bush Wren was a common
small insect-eating bird on the forest floor: cats
and stoats wiped out the last of them in the 1950s.
Paora Te Potangaroa
In
the 1870s, Pakeha land sharks had become
increasingly agressive. In 1879 Te Maiaharoa's
hapu were evicted from the the Waitaki basin, and
in 1880 Te Keepa, backed by 200 mounted gunmen,
forbade the sale of any more land between Wanganui
and Taumarunui. And in 1881 the British signed a
peace treaty with King Potatau, allowing them to
acquire even more Waikato land.
Soon afterwards, the Wairarapa leader Paora Te
Potangaroa experienced a prophetic dream. He
called his people together to interpret his vision
and presented them with a flag divided into
sections, each bordered in black. Within each
section were small stars. It was raised to
half-mast on the flagpole in front of the meeting
house.
"Titiro ki te
Haki e rere nei, ko te wahi pango katoa nei, he
taua no te motu nei; ko nga wahi kotingotingo e ki
te nei koutou." PAPERS
PAST
The black-bordered sections of
the flag represented the huge blocks of land
already alienated. The stars represented their
scattered reserves, the sole remainder of a once
great patrimony. He told them that in future they
should (1) neither sell nor lease land, (2) incur
no further debts, and (3) refuse to honour debts
already incurred.
He followed his prophesy with this moteatea, an
extended version of Te
Kooti's original 1871 moteatea, It warns iwi
all over the land about the falsehoods of the
British and the need to unite against the British
land sharks. The warning in his waiata was timely;
the British invaded Parihaka only eight months
later, continuing to steal Maori land and erode
Maori culture for decades.
AUDIO FILE
This is Te
Kooti's original moteatea, chanted by
Paora Temuera, an Anglican priest born in
Rotorua in 1887, It begins slightly
differently " Kaore hoki taku
manukanuka taku mahalahala ki a putini e
tu mana i pupu ake nei i roto i te
hinengaro..."
"Kaore hoki e taku manukanuka,*
ki aku tini mahara,
e pupuke ake nei i roto i te Hinengaro,*
e kore e taea te pehi iho ki roto ra,
me panui atu kia rongo mai
te tini, te mano,
ki te rau e pae nei.
E hoa ma e, katahi ano au,
a Tamairangi*,
ka akoako ake ki te tito,
ki te hangahanga rau e,
How great is my worry,
adding to my many anxieties
about what is rising up here in my mind
it can't be kept bottled up inside there
it must be communicated
to many, to thousands,
to the bounds of the horizon.
O friends, not long ago
Tamairangi
taught me to spot falsehoods,
by gathering and comparing
them.
Ka pere taku pere* ki te Tai Rawhiti,
ki a Hinematioro,* e kui e,
Tenei tonu au ki te kimikimi ake,
kei te wawae ake i roto
i te ururua*
kia ki te au i to hihi o te ra
kia pa mai te mahanatanga ki taku kiri,
kia kohakoha taku noho
kia tae te mahana ki te tau o toku ake,
ka papa piritia, ka haku turitia
i te awhitanga a to mataotao.
Ka pere taku pere
ki te tihi o Hikurangi,*
E mara ma e,
kia huri mai te taringa
ki te whakarongo ki te tangi a te Matuhi,*
A tangi nei, tui, tuia, tuituia
I will fling my dart towards the East
Coast,
towards Hinemaioro, ma'am,
Here I'll keep on checking the falsehoods
So as to reach "the dead
centre
of the undergrowth,"
so that I may behold the sun's rays
and have it bring warmth to my skin,
then, when I vacate my place here its warmth will reach my
friends
sticking flat, making you sweat
and curing your coldness. Yes, I will fling my dart
at the summit of Hikurangi
Good people
let your ear turn
and listen to the Bush Wren's cry,
crying here, "Unite, bond together"
"E, ka pere taku pere ki te Tai Tokerau,
ki te Tiriti o Waitangi,*
E mara ma e, kia huri mai te taringa
ki te whakarongo ki te tangi a te Matuhi,
A tangi nei, "tui, tuia, tuituia"
"Ehara i te Matuhi na ona tohu
ki te whakamohio,
me aha i te Pukenga,*
te pakoko tawhito a Te Riakiaki,*
nga punga mahara
o tua iho,
o tua whakarere rawa ei.
Next, I will
fling my dart towards the North,
towards the Treaty of Waitangi, Good people, let your ear
turn
to listen to the Bush Wren's cry,
crying here, "Unite, bond together"
"It isn't the Bush Wren warnings
that should be the notification
for the Bay of Plenty people, but
the ancient carving of Te Riaki and the
long-remembered
anchor stones
of yours down below then eventually abandoned,
"E, ka pare taku pere
ki te Tai Tuauru,
kia Mahinarangi,* e pa ma e,
ko te purapura* tenei a Potatau,
i whiua mai
ki te upoko o te motu nei,
Mahau e ui mai i te aha tonu i,
to matau roa nei,
ka whakahemo nei nga tangata
ki te po,
ka pau nei ki te Reinga,
Maku hoki ia e ki atu, e tai ma e,
he ururua, he titohea ao te oneone,*
i te roa hoki ki te whakatiputipu,
ki te rauhi i te taranata i mauria mai nei
e Rakai-hiku-roa*
ki te upoko o te motu nei.
I will fling my dart
towards the Kawhia coast
under Mahinaarangi's patronage;
this seed, by Potatau
has already been presented
to the head (government) of
this land.
Nevertheless it is for you to
untangle things
with your extensive knowledge,
on behalf of the people gone away
to the world of darkness
all fading away at Cape Reinga
I shall go back even further, oh friends,
scrubby and barren was the
soil
it was a long job to return it to fertility
with care and talent, brought about by
you East Coast people
to the government.
"E, ka pere taku pere
kl te tihi o Taranaki,
e Whiti ma e,*
tenei ano au kei te whakahou
i te ohaki* a te tangata
kua mate ki te po.
E hoa ma e, kia huri mai te taringa
ki te whakarongo ki te tangi a te Matuhi,
e tangi nei tui, tuia, taituia.
"E, ka pere taku pere
ki te nuku o te whenua
ki titia taka pere ki te tihi o Tongariro,
kia Hinana ki uta, kia Hinana ki tai.*
E hoa ma e,
kati hoki ra te Hinana ki tai ra,
Hinana iho ki uta ra.
Tirohia iho nga manu mohio e toru,*
e korero nei i runga i a Aotearoa,
e tangi nei hoki te Matuhi
"Tui, tua, tuituia"
Next, I'll
fling my dart
towards the summit of Taranaki
to Whiti and his followers
I am still revising
the final speech of that body
which is dying in the night.
My friends, let your ear turn
to listen to Bush Wren's cry,
to this cry, "Unite, bond together."
Then I will fling my dart
towards the remote part of the country
to stick my dart onto the summit of Tongariro
in order to "Fiercely search the land and sea."
Oh, friends,
blocked off now is our roving on the seas
and soon, our access to the hinterlands.
The three wise birds will soon be observed
speaking here all across New Zealand.
Cry this message
again Bush Wren "Unite, bond together."
"E, ka pere taka pere,
ka kau i te tuahiwi o Raukawa,
e ka titia, taku pere
ki te tihi o Tapuaenuku*
kia Taiaroa*
kia Tuhawaiki*
kia Tamaiharoa*
e tama ma kia huri mai te taringa
ki te whakarongo ki te tangi a te Matuhi,
e tangi nei, tui, tuia, tuituia.
"E rauna noa te Waipounamu,*
te wahi i takoto ai
te kuru-auhunga,
te kuru-tongare rewa,
te tiki pounamu,
te taramea*
te tikumu,
te rau o titapu,
nga taonga whakapaipai o mua.
"Now, fly my dart,
swim from the shallows of Cook Strait
and stick, oh my dart,
on the top of the Kaikoura ranges,
on the Otago Peninsula,
in Southland,
and Te Maiaharoa's Waitaki basin
lands.
O young men there,
you turn your ears
to listen to the cry of the Bush Wren.
to this cry, "Unite, bond together."
"Wander freely around the South Island
a bit futher to where there is
an abundance of pale green jade
large quantities of semi-transparent jade
the tiki-grade dark green jade
the scent-providing spear
grass
the mountain daisy
lots of kakapo chicks
the beautiful treasures of the old days.
Nga tohu rangatira o te iwi Maori,
titia ki runga te upoko o
o te piki-kotuku,
te piki-huia;
te raukura,
te tikumu,
whakaheitia ki te taringa,
te pohoi toroa.*
Te kuru-ahunga,
te kuru-tongarerewa,
heia ki te kaki
te hei taramea,
te tiki Pounamu, hei aha,
hei whakapaipai ra,
hei whakata kunekune.
The prestigious symbols of the Maori
people
stuck on the head of
the devotee of the white heron and the devotee of the huia;
the plume of feathers
the mountain daisy,
or the albatross-feather ornament
to be attached to the ear.
The far south is the
mother-lode of
the most precious things
hung around the neck;
the sachet of scent
the greenstone tiki etc, hanging there
hanging so beautifully
resting plumply.
Kia pai ai, kia huro ai,
kia mate mai ai
nga tamahine karea
roto o Aotearoa.
E tangi mai nei hoki te Matuhi "Tui, tuia, tuituia"
e whakakoia nei hoki te Huia
"Koia, koia"
e tangi mai nei hoki te Huia, "Hui, huihuia,"
e tangi mai ana te Pipi-Wharauroa,
whiti, whiti,
whitiwhiti ora,
na mo nga tau ohinawa." PAPERS
PAST
Such good times,
so happy
will soon be coming to an end
for our lovely young women
all around Aotearoa.
And once again the Bush Wren cries "Unite, bond together."
while the Huia bird agrees
"Indeed, indeed!"
and the Huia also cries out, "Gather to discuss problems"
while the shining cuckoo cries out "Beware, beware;
make changes in your lives,
to protect your long-term development."
te raukura,