An Historic Day in Horowhenua, 27 October 1839

An Historic Day in Horowhenua

October 27 1839, was a very significant day in the history of the Horowhenua district. On that day three major events took place - the last Maori inter-tribal battle in the southern North Island was fought near Waikanae between the Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa tribes; the New Zealand Company vessel, ‘Tory', carrying Colonel William Wakefield anchored off Kapiti Island to negotiate land purchases; and two prominent missionaries, Henry Williams and Octavius Hadfield recently arrived from the Bay of Islands, prepared to establish the first Christian mission in the Horowhenua.

These three inter-related events were to have far-reaching effects and alter forever the pattern of relationships among the Maori and Pakeha people of the Horowhenua coast. A century and a half later the Waitangi Tribunal is charged with the responsibility of attempting to unravel the complexities of tribal land claims which date back to this period, and earlier.

The last inter-tribal battle was known as the Battle of Te Kuititanga. For its origins we need to trace the pattern of the waves of Maori migrants from the north who settled these coastlands in the 1820s, largely displacing the Muaupoko, Rangitane and Ngati Apa people, the tangatawhenua, who had lived on the coastal fringe for centuries.

First of the new arrivals were the Ngati Toa from the Kawhia district under the great fighting chief Te Rauparaha in the migration known as te heke mai-i- raro (migration from the north) in 1821-22. Ngati Toa was a small, and not very powerful, tribe who were forced out of their ancestral lands by unrelenting pressure from their musket-armed neighbours, the Waikato and Ngati Maniopoto tribes.

During the migration southwards the Ngati Toa were joined by several small tribes from Taranaki, including perhaps 400 Te Ati Awa people from the Waitara area who were at risk from raids from the north. Between 1822 and 1828 several hundred more Taranaki people moved south to Horowhenua.

The Ngati Raukawa tribe from Maungatautari, near present-day Cambridge, had very close kinship ties with Ngati Toa, and Te Rauparaha himself was an important chief of Ngati Raukawa. Ngati Raukawa too were threatened by powerful Waikato tribes and were also seeking new lands to settle.

Several times Te Rauparaha had invited Ngati Raukawa to join his heke, but the tribe had first tried, unsuccessfully, to find a new home in Hawkes Bay. A small party of Ngati Raukawa did, however, make an exploratory visit to Horowhenua. During this visit Te Rauparaha's powerful sister Waitohi, a brilliant diplomat and peacemaker, finally persuaded her tribe to move south. The migration of Ngati Raukawa to Horowhenua followed in a series of heke between 1825 and 1830.

Keeping the Peace

Relationships were never going to be easy among the diverse peoples living in the Horowhenua by 1830. While Te Rauparaha pursued his own goals of feeding his tribe, trading with the increasing number of European ships visiting Cook Strait, unleashing a stunning series of raids on the Muaupoko at lakes Horowhenua and Papaitonga, and planning the conquest of the northen south island, it was Waitohi who kept the peace locally among the migrant tribes. Waitohi determined the boundaries of the tribal lands, defined cultivation grounds and ensured that there was sufficient land available to meet the burgeoning demand for cultivation rights.

A number of times in the late 1820s and 30s tensions between the immigrant people spilled over into open conflict only to be resolved by this remarkable woman.The most important and wide-ranging conflict was the Horowhenua war of 1834 which dragged many northern tribes into fighting along the Otaki River.

On their arrival in the Horowhenua the Ngati Raukawa had been granted access to all the land between the Rangitikei River and Otaki. Their southern boundary had been set by Waitohi as the Kukutauaki stream, about two kilometres north of Waikanae. South of the stream as far as Paraparaumu was allotted to Te Ati Awa and other Taranaki tribes. While Waitohi was alive the uneasy balance was maintained, but she died in 1839 and reports indicate that there were tensions among Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa at her tangi held on Kapiti in August 1839.

A New Force on the Coast

By this time there was evidence that a new force was beginning to influence young Maori leaders tired of the constant warfare of the past, warfare made more deadly by the ever increasing number of European weapons in tribal hands.Two English missionaries, Bumby and Hobbs, had established a mission at Te Aro, Port Nicholson, with the help of young Maori trained in the mission stations in the north. They included Minarapa who was to play an important part in trying to head off open war between the Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa. At the time the battle of Kuititanga took place, Te Rauparaha's own son Tamihana, and Matene te Whiwhi were in the Bay of Islands on a journey to try to persuade Rev Henry Williams to send a missionary to the Horowhenua.

The catalyst which led to the battle of Kuititanga was the killing of some Ngati Ruanui people from Taranaki who were building houses on Ngati Raukawa land north of Otaki. Three chiefs were among those killed and a number of prisoners were taken. When they learned what had happened the Te Ati Awa at Waikanae decided against a revenge raid which was the normal tribal practice. Christian ethics were slowly taking root among Te Ati Awa and some Maori teachers had already established a small chapel at Kenakena pa. They decided to ask Minarapa (who was a Taranaki man) to come up from Te Aro to act as a go-between to secure the release of the prisoners.

Minarapa went first to see Ruru te Aperahama, of Katihiku pa on the south bank of the Otaki River, an old man known to be receptive to Christian ideas. Together they went to Kukutauaki pa to talk to the influential Ngati Raukawa chief, Ngakuku. Most Ngati Raukawa saw little merit in Christianity at this time, and while Minarapa was given a hearing, Ngakuku made it quite clear that the prisoners would not be released before Minarapa was driven out of the pa. Ngati Raukawa were not interested in any form of negotiation, rather they were prepared to fight to redress grievances related to the Horowhenua war five years earlier.

When Minarapa reported the failure of his mission there was little that Te Ati Awa could do other than to prepare to fight. The attack did not come immediately. Te Ati Awa received a number of warnings that an attack was imminent. Te Hiko of Ngati Toa crossed from Kapiti to warn them to be well prepared. Te Hakeke, father of the great Ngati Raukawa chief Te Whatanui (later protector of the Muaupoko), told of an attack within five days, and promised that no Muaupoko or Rangitane would be involved. Later, Te Hakeke even checked incoming canoes to ensure that none were.

Te Ati Awa approached Kukurangi, an old tohunga and seer, who lived at Kenakena pa, for a prophesy on the likely outcome of the fighting with the Otaki people. He responded with a rather cryptic prophesy promising at least some success and the people having faith in his vision, relaxed their vigilance and were caught poorly organised when the attack came.

The day before the battle Te Rauparaha, Te Rangihaeata (Waitohi's famous warrior son), Te Hiko and other Ngati Toa leaders were on the islet of Motungarara, off the south eastern shore of Kapiti Island, when Te Rauparaha's young wife Pipi Kutia crossed from Waikanae to tell them that the attack would begin next day. Te Rauparaha suggested making a gesture of peace to Te Ati Awa, but the others knowing that Ngati Raukawa would be beaten, suggested that Te Rauparaha himself go and rub noses with his Ngati Raukawa kin.

The Attack

The initial Ngati Raukawa attack led by Ngakuku and Te Whatanui, took place at dawn on 27 October against the Waimea pa at Kuititanga, an outpost of Kenakena pa on the northern bank of the Waikanae River.With the element of surprise working in their favour the early advantage was with the Otaki people and the Te Ati Awa defenders were forced to retreat in disarray across the river to Arapawaiti pa. Here they were reinforced by the main force from Kenakena, some Ngati Toa, and other Taranaki people from Te Uruhi, Whareroa and Tipapa pas. Soon a counterattack was launched, the Ngati Raukawa beaten off and it was the turn of the raiders to retreat in disorder.

The pursuing Waikanae people outpaced the fleeing Ngati Raukawa, apparently by keeping to the hard sand of the beach and forcing the enemy to race through the heavy sand of the dunes. BehInd the warriors came the women carrying ammunition and re-loading the muskets for the men. At the boundary near the Kukutauaki stream, at sunset Minarapa who was with the warriors called for an end to the slaughter and managed to overrule the young men who wanted to pursue the enemy to the end.

Estimates of the death toll vary. Te Ati Awa estimated that they had killed 200 Ngati Raukawa and lost 40 of their own men. Henry Williams later wrote of 70 Ngati Raukawa and 20 Te Ati Awa dead. Counted among the casualties was the fighting chief Ngakuku.

Victory was with Te Ati Awa. The prisoners were taken to Kenakena and all were executed, largely it seems at the instigation of the chief Te Manutoheroa. It was not traditional execution. Nothing belonging to the dead warriors was kept by the victors. A total of 55 men were buried in a common grave, along with their garments and weapons with full ‘military honours.' When Henry Williams visited the site a few days later he commented: "This is a new feeling arising from the great change which the introduction of the gospel has effected among them."

Te Rauparaha himself took no part in the fighting. He did cross from Motungarara in a whaleboat and watched the fighting from the safety of the sea. Apparently he tried to land at one stage, but was forced to retreat when threatened by some Te Ati Awa men. The intentions of Te Rauparaha at this time have never been defined. Perhaps he was there to encourage his Ngati Raukawa kin ? Perhaps to try to mediate ? According to a witness at a later hearing of the Maori Land Court:" Te Rauparaha had weapons in that fight. His mouth was his weapon."

Henry Williams and Octavius Hadfield were aboard the New Zealand Company ship, Tory, which anchored off Kapiti Island on the day of the battle. The ship carrying Colonel William Wakefield had for the previous few weeks been negotiating the purchase of land at Port Nicholson, Cloudy Bay and the Marlborough sounds, and had come to Kapiti to negotiate with the acknowledged overlord of central New Zealand, Te Rauparaha. The Ngati Toa leader had just returned from Waikanae in his whaleboat when, with other chiefs he boarded the Tory.

When he learned what had happened on the nearby mainland, Colonel Wakefield decided to send a party ashore to help the injured. Among those who went ashore at Te Uruhi, Paraparaumu Beach, that day were the surgeon Ernst Dieffenbach and the surveyor-artist Charles Heaphy. Dieffenbach later described their friendly welcome at the pa, the nature of the injuries the warriors had sustained and the grief of the women. From Te Uruhi the party went on to Kenakena where most of the wounded had been taken. Dieffenbach described Kenakena pa as very large, neat and clean and surpassing many villages in Europe.

Charles Heaphy wrote that the shore party arrived three hours after the fighting ended. He was able to describe the lamenting for those killed and how the women and some of the men were bleeding profusely from self-inflicted cuts in the Maori way. Next day the party went on to Waimea and were shocked by the devastated pa. Heaphy also reported on the types of herbal dressings used by the Maori to treat the wounded with the result that within a few days, the wounded were recovering without infections or fever.

It was Colonel Wakefield who made the first moves to bring the warring tribes together to try to arrange a settlement. When the shore party returned to the Tory, Wakefield persuaded three Te Ati Awa chiefs to go with him to make peace with Te Rauparaha.Wakefield recorded in his report to the New Zealand Company that the chiefs were afraid that the great Ngati Toa leader would have their heads, but as soon as they were aboard the Tory, he sent for Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata.

When the two Ngati Toa leaders arrived they found the Te Ati Awa chiefs with their faces half -hidden in their mats. Gradually the tension was reduced, greetings were exchanged, and Te Rauparaha made a long speech in which he chided them for hiding their faces from a friend who was glad to see them. Many speeches followed in which mutual feelings of goodwill were exchanged. By sunset, many of the grievances on both sides had been aired and resolved, and it seemed to Wakefield that Te Rauparaha was keen to use his power to bring an end to the fighting.

A Final Peace

Henry Williams too was involved in the peacemaking. On 30 November, Williams was instrumental in negotiating a final peace at a meeting held on Kapiti Island between fifteen Te Ati Awa chiefs and the major Ngati Toa and Ngati Raukawa leaders. This meeting brought the era of inter-tribal warfare in Horowhenua to an end.

Early in December Williams left on his return journey to the Bay of Islands, leaving Hadfield behind at Otaki to begin establishing a new mission. On 11 December in the Rangitikei, Henry Williams met a large party of Ngati Ruanui people from Taranaki who were on their way down the coast to assist their kin in Horowhenua in avenging the deaths of their people at the hands of Ngati Raukawa, which led to the fighting at Te Kuititanga. Little is recorded of this meeting, but Williams was able to convince the Ngati Ruanui that peace had been achieved and persuaded them to turn back.

Octavius Hadfield wasted no time in beginning his mission among the Horowhenua people. In the early days he found the Ngati Raukawa at Otaki slow to accept his presence and teaching, and he spent most of his time at Waikanae where Te Ati Awa under Reretawhangawhanga and Wiremu Kingi, were much more eager to hear the Christian message and to learn to read and write. By 16 Decemeber he had organised classes and had 180 men and boys in four different classes learning to write on slates. It was the first systematic, daily schooling in the district.

Thus, 27 0ctober 1839, marked the beginning of a new era. Inter-tribal warfare in the Horowhenua had ended to be replaced by increasing trade with the Pakeha, the spiritual and educational activities of the missionaries, and, before long, a steady flow of settlers hungry for land.

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