Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
E wehi katoa ana te hunga takahi haere i ngā whenua o Pukekahu ki te atamai o ngā rangatira ki te whakatakoto rautaki engari anō ki te whānuitanga o te whenua i omangia e rātau.
Ehara i te whenua e taea na e te tangata ware me pakeke ngā whakaaro me pakeke hoki te tinana.He whakamihi nāku ki ngā toa horopū i heke iho i te kohu o Maungapōhatu ko ngā uri o Te Urewera ngā rangatira i mā raro mai ki ngā mānia o Rerewhakaaitu e whia kē rau kiromita te rahi, me te tuku kōnihi atu ai ngā pūniho ki ngā whenua o ngā hapū o Te Arawa kare kau rātau i kitea e ngā manu tūtei o Ngai Tuhourangi otia ngā manu ao o Ngāti Rangitihi, ki te torotoro haere ai i ngā kāinga o te iwi nō rātau te whenua.
Hai whakaarotanga ake anō mā tātau ko te kaha hoki o te ngohi tāua a Ruatahuna ki te oma tawhiti ki te wahatieke o Te Ariki ki reira whakahahani atu ai ki ngā rangatira o te pā whakairo kia whāia rātau e ngā toa horopū o te pā ki Pukekahu.
Oma atu, hoki mai he tata ki te whā tekau kiromita te rahi o te omanga a ngā toa o Te Urewera. Wehi nā.
Ki te tongahuruhuru o Rerewhakaaitu moana ko Pukekahu.
Ko te raruraru e ware ana tātau ki te wāhi tūturu i tutū ai te pakanga o nehe. Kai te tokerau pea o te moana? Kai te whiti, kai te taha tonga rānei? Kua kōrerongia kētia e tātau te rahi o te ara mai i Pukekahu ki Te Ariki, ā, hoki rawa mai ki Pukekahu kai te takiwā o te āhua 30/40 kiromita te rahi.
He āhua kotahi ngāhuru mā rima te rahi - huarahi atu,huarahi mai. I te korenga o ngā rākau nunui i enei rā e pūare kau ana ngā whakaaro ki te waihanga whakaahua o ngā rā o mua.
Hai tā Ken Raureti he kaumatua nō Ngāti Rangitihi, i tū te riri ki ngā riu o ngā taukaka o taua whenua.
He wāhi rangatira tēnei ki te patu tangata.
He kaha nō ngā pīnaki o tēnei whenua e tere pirorehe ai ngā waewae o ngā toa e ai hoki ki a Ken, me e tika ana te rautaki ka whakawhāitingia ngā toa ki te wāhi tika e kore e tae te ringaringa te neke, te waewae te oma.
Nā Uhia te wāhi tapu i whakatika. Ka poua e ia tana tokotoko ka whakairingia tona kakahu ki te pou, nā reira i mōhiohio ai ngā toa ki te wāhi tika ki te patu tangata.
Nā tēnei parekura nui e kite ai tātau te manawa mārohirohi o ngā mumu nō Te Urewera me ngā whenua o Tarawera. He ūpoko mārō ētehi, he kakī mārō ētehi, ā, he taringa kowhatu hoki ētehi. Kai wareware hoki i a tātau ko āhua pakekengia a Tionga me ētehi atu o ngā toa.Kai te takiwā o te hokorua pea te rahi nō reira anō te mihi ki o tātau kaumātua rangatira.
Ko te kawa o te riri e kawea tonutia ana e ngā rangatira.
He rāwāho ētehi, he noa ngangare ko uru poka noa ki ngā whenua, nō reira e ai ki te Māori, patua te hoa ngangare kia mate.Tērā hoki he wāhanga o te pakanga e kaha kōrerongia tonungia ana e tātau, kai te whāia te ika tere e Tionga ka tata pā atu tana mere ki te kohamo o te hoa riri, ka huri mai te ika ki a Tionga me tana kupu whakatūpato i a ia, ' Tionga – taka mua, taka muri!’.
Nā Te Tōkai te whakaohiti he tapeha tata nōna, kāore a Tionga i aro ki te kupu kōrero, ka whiua e ia tana tāwai, ‘ko tō ūpoko hai poito mō taku kupenga’. Tāria te roanga atu o ngā kōrero.
Anyone who has attempted to walk the old battle site of Pukekahu, the scale and strategy utilized by these past masters of combat are genuinely astounding.
The Urewera and their travel by foot from the depths of Te Urewera alone is a superhuman undertaking.
But when we also consider that they managed to enter the grounds of Ngāti Rangitihi and Tūhourangi, maneuvering their forces into critical areas, setting up camp, and cooking presumably with an open fire without being detected seems unbelievable.
Also, when we look at how the 100 warriors of Te Urewera were selected to entice Te Rangikatukua and Te Arero from the pā of Te Ariki is a testament to the stamina of the past warriors.
The southwestern end of Rerewhakaitu is presumably the battle site of Pukekahu the next problem is locating the actual site, whether it was on the North, East or Southern side of the lake.
The distance from this site to Te Ariki and back must be nearly 30 km. At least 15 km or less each way. Today the long-ago native forests no longer exist, allowing the mind to re-imagine the desperation that faced the fleeing invaders as their Tūhourangi, Ngāti Rangitihi pursuers bared down upon them; the grand native forests that once clothed the area now give way to open farmlands. But the place itself continues to confound people.
Kaumatua Ken Raureti has speculated that the battlefield may have taken place in one of the valleys that run the length of the hill, again, one idea of many.
It serves as a significant strategic advantage, whereby to fully empty the tank of those in pursuit of those attempting to flee is to run up and over this incredible hill landscape to attack the pursuers on the opposite side, or simply as pointed out by Ken Raureti entice them into a bottle neck where the home advantage of high ground is given to the remainder of the war party. Fresh legs, eager lungs and conserved energy waiting to unleash on an exhausted pack of ego-driven fighters.
We know that the Urewera warriors made their way to Te Ariki and forced an attack whereby they were chased back across the path they originally travelled to the site marked by Uhia as the proposed battle site. This entire battle, from both sides, alone shows the greatness of the old Māori warriors.
From a Urewera point of view – superhuman ability from a Rangitihi /Tūhourangi point of view, stubbornness. The length of the pursuit was imperative as the invading party needed to be expelled from Tūhourangi and Rangitihi controlled lands.
We must also consider that Tionga and possibly a few of his fellow chiefs would have been at least in their late forties, perhaps even a bit older. So, this also must be acknowledged with great admiration when we consider the distance covered. Etiquette also comes forward in the chase by the Rangitihi and Tūhourangi warriors of their prey, the men of the Urewera.
Somewhere in the hunt, it was recorded that a relation of Tionga from the Urewera noticed that Tionga was gaining on the fleeing pack too quickly; he called back to Tionga, Tionga – taka mua, taka muri! Tionga, you are too far forward; I implore you to fall back! To which the reply was pigheadedness – Te Tokai, your head shall serve as a float for my fishing net!
To be continued
'[We are] just as staunch and ferocious in saying we hold sovereignty over our own.'