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Mangaian Society

Atiu Invasion

Atiu Invasion

In the time of Vara, second priest of Motoro, a band of warriors from Atiu were defeated by Te-aio at Iku-ruaka in the Keia district. The battle of Iku-ruaka forms the fifth in the Mangaian list, and Gill (12, p. 308) states that the people defeated were the Atiuans under Matatia. Appropriately enough, further mention is made in the song of the two kites (12, p. 44) composed by Akatea-ariki of Atiu, who came to Mangaia and married Matakore, as already related. Gill's translation and explanatory notes are as follows:

Tangi reka mai, e reira e; Ah! soft indeed its notes;
O te pa'u i karavau The drum which ever sounds
Na 'Akatea-ariki. Is Akatea-ariki's.
Na'ai e rutu e - ? Who shall beat it?
Na te mana o Mani'i kake mai ei? Who has the skill of Manii to attempt it?

Manii, an Atiuan chief slain in Mangaia because he would not part with his beautiful breast ornament. The spot where he fell is a place of pilgrimage now to his countrymen; it is called Matatia.

The use of "Matatia" as a place name and also as a personal name is confusing. Fortunately, information gathered in Atiu prior to my visit to Mangaia throws light on this historical event. The Atiuan expedition to Mangaia was recorded in local tradition. The leaders were Te Manii-o-te-rangi, Tane-nui, and Tearo. In a song (pe'e) describing the death of the three chiefs, Matatia is called a battlefield:

No Te Mani'i-o-te-rangi teia pe'e: This song is for Te-Mani'i-o-te-rangi::
Maoake tai ki te uru, O maoake breeze from the sea,
Papa nui ki te tonga. Bearing sad news from the south!
Nga ariki ia tokotoru e-! The high chiefs were three, alas!
Taia ki Mangaia; Who were killed in Mangaia;
No Atiu mai, 'akaoti noa e-! From Atiu they came, their lives were ended, alas!
Kua 'akaoti noa i 'oki The life was ended also
Te Mani'i-o-te-rangi e-! Of Te-Manii-o-te-rangi, alas,
Ki te tumu koia Matatia. At the battlefield of Matatia.

As a check on the time of the invasion, an Atiuan pedigree beginning with Tane-nui, who was killed with Te Manii-o-te-rangi, is given in Table 6.

page 42
Table 6.—Genealogy of Tane-nui of Atiu

Table 6.—Genealogy of Tane-nui of Atiu

page 43

Table 6 shows a pedigree on the female side (generations 9, 10, 12) of the Rongo-ma-tane ariki family. From Tane-nui to Mataio in 1900 is 16 generations. In Table 3 the corresponding period from Vara to Vaevae covers 15 generations. The two pedigrees thus check up, for a difference of one generation is of no significance. The Atiu pedigree supports the value of the Ngati-Vara pedigree as an approximately correct chronology. As the Atiuan pedigrees go back for a period of settlement antedating Tane-nui by some generations, they confirm the comparative lateness of the early settlement of Mangaia.

Te Aio, the victor in the battle of Ikuruaka, was the first to be both the real and the recognized Lord of Mangaia. After his death he was deified and later became the tribal god of the Ngati-Vara.