During the two years of exile without trial, before Te Kooti led them in a daring escape, it is not known how many perished — but 20 lie buried somewhere on the largest of the islands, known by the local Moriori as Rekohu or “Misty Sun”.
Rekohu is deeply significant to members of Ringatu for it was there that Te Kooti had prophetic visions and founded the Ringatu faith, becoming the spiritual leader of his fellow prisoners.
Te Kooti comandeered The RiflemanAfter two years on the island, Te Kooti commandeered the ship, the Rifleman, and escaped with an unknown number of others, making landfall at Whareongaonga just south of Muriwai on July 9, 1868.
Last month, descendants of the prisoners travelled to the Chathams in search of the resting place of their ancestors. Among them was Ringatu poutikanga (spiritual leader) and Mahaki kaumatua Wirangi “Charlie” Pera.
“We chartered an Air Chathams aircraft and did the 740km trip there and back in a day,” says Wirangi who conducted a service before they left to give thanks that they were finally on their way after two or three months of planning.
“There were 48 of us, young and old, from Rutene Irwin, aged 90, representing Mahaki, to Tapunga Nepe, in his mid-30s, from Rongowhakaata, and a teenager from Mangatu.
“The main reason we went to the Chathams was to decide how to commemorate the lives of those who died there in the 1860s and what sort of a memorial to erect to their memory — to give some sort of closure and reconciliation for the people of Turanga.
“We met with local people led by Hokotehi Moriori Trust chairman Maui Solomon and were taken to where Te Kooti and the other prisoners had lived. We travelled up to the north part of Rekohu to Wharekauri where there is a ponga hut built by the men.
Forced labour“They had to do forced labour so there are the remains of wells they helped dig, and roads and bridges.
“It’s all farmland now but it would have been covered in fern and bush back then. It’s a cold and exposed place and those who were sent there were inland people so they would have had to adapt quickly to coastal life and living off kaimoana from the sea.
“From what we were told, they were given seed potatoes and a plough but they had no horses so they had to pull the plough themselves,” says Wirangi.
“It was a moving experience to be in the place where Te Kooti and our ancestors once lived, and we had a commemorative service there to remember them.
“But we were disappointed that no one knew where our tipuna were buried,” he says.
“We expected some local people to have that knowledge but it seems there were no verbal accounts passed down through the generations.
“They lived there and some died there and that’s probably the most we will ever know.
“Long ago, I asked my grandmother, Waioeka Paraone, for information about what happened to my great grandfather, Tamihana Teketeke, one of the men exiled to the Chathams who probably sailed back to New Zealand on the Rifleman with Te Kooti.
“She said: ‘Tukunga ena korero kia mae’ — ‘Leave those talks to sleep’ or ‘Leave the things of the past in the past.’
“So the best we can do is erect a memorial on Rekohu to those who remain there.
“It will have to be finished before July 9, 2018, the 150th anniversary of the landing of the Rifleman at Whareongaonga.
“Another memorial will be erected at Whareongaonga to remember those who made the voyage safely back to New Zealand,” Wirangi says.
First Ringatu service“Te Kooti conducted the first Ringatu service in New Zealand on Whareongaonga beach on July 12, 1868, a very important date for all Ringatu followers in New Zealand.
“Now we need to sit down and talk collectively about what form such memorials should take and how we cover all the aspects of the story — from the siege at Waerenga-a-Hika, to the exile on the Chathams, the escape by Te Kooti and his followers, the landing of the Rifleman at Whareongaonga and the beginning of the Ringatu faith in New Zealand,” he says.
“It will be a real challenge for the people creating the art works. They will have to be made of stone, granite or concrete to withstand the rugged weather on the Chathams and at Whareongaonga.”
Wirangi says all the iwi involved support the concept and there will be some Crown funding to assist.
“We are currently engaged in talks with David Butt from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage who has also been wanting to do something to remember those buried on the Chathams.
“In addition, we hope to have an annual lecture series to commemorate the events at Waerenga-a-Hika and the birth of the Ringatu faith.
“The Chathams could become be a place of pilgrimage although distance and cost might be an inhibiting factor.”
Wirangi’s message is one of “kotahitanga”, the Maori philosophy of all working together for the common good.
“This can only be achieved with spiritual direction. Otherwise vested interests tend get in the way. People end up polarised, talking about their differences instead of their common goals and objectives, irrespective of race and creed.
“I believe we are all on the same page with this project.”
