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The Old Frontier : Te Awamutu, the story of the Waipa Valley : the missionary, the soldier, the pioneer farmer, early colonization, the war in Waikato, life on the Maori border and later-day settlement

Incidents of the Siege. — The Maori Defence

Incidents of the Siege.
The Maori Defence.

The Maoris' reason for not building the Orakau pa in a more defensive position is explained by the survivors. They say that it page 71
The Battlefield of Orakau The blockhouse on the hill was built five years after the battle, close to the site of the British field head-quarters during the siege. This drawing shows the battleground as it was about 1870.

The Battlefield of Orakau
The blockhouse on the hill was built five years after the battle, close to the site of the British field head-quarters during the siege. This drawing shows the battleground as it was about 1870.

page 72 was not placed where the native church stood, and where “Kawana” afterwards fixed his homestead, because that situation was conspicuous, and would readily be seen from the Kihikihi redoubt. This position certainly would have been superior to that selected as the site of the fort on the Rangataua rise, for on the western side of the Orakau Hill, just in rear of the old homestead, the ground slopes steeply to the Tautoro gully and swamp, and that side of the pa could easily have been scarped into an insurmountable wall. On the southern side there is a quick incline to the present road; on the east and north aspect the land slopes gently from the hill crest.

With regard to the famous cry of defiance associated with the defence of Orakau, it is difficult to reconcile some of the Maori versions with the popular story. From none of my Maori authorities, all of them men who fought at Orakau, have I been able to obtain exact confirmation of the reported ultimatum: “Ka whawhai tonu matou, ake, ake, ake!” (“We will fight on for ever, and ever, and ever!”) The following is the statement of Major W. G. Mair, who, when ensign in the Colonial Defence Force Cavalry, acted as staff interpreter, and conveyed General Cameron's demand for the surrender of the pa and his promise of safety for the garrison: “I could see the Maoris inclining their heads towards each other in consultation, and in a few minutes came the answer in a clear, firm tone: ‘E hoa, ka whawhai tonu ahau ki a koe, ake, ake!’ (‘Friend, I shall fight against you for ever and ever!’”) Then Mair made request for the women and children to come out. “There was a short deliberation, and another voice made answer: ‘Ki te mate nga tane, me mate ano nga wahine me nga tamariki.’ (‘If the men are to die, the women and children must die also.’)” The difference between the popular version and Mair's narrative is obviously very slight.

The Maori account, as given by Te Huia Raureti and Pou-Patate Huihi and the late Te Wairoa Piripi is to the effect that the answer of Rewi and his fellow-chiefs was that they would not make peace. Te Wairoa Piripi said: “The General's messenger came to us and called out: ‘Do not fire at me. I have a message for you from the General to request that you make peace, so that your women and children may be saved.’ This message was made known by Raureti Paiaka to the whole pa, to Rewi, who was at the northern section of the pa when the pakeha was speaking to Raureti. The page break page break
Major W. G. Mair Major Mair, who served with great distinction in the Maori Campaigns, 1863–72, was General Cameron's interpreter in the negotiations with the Maoris Orakau, April 2nd, 1864. For many years after the wars he was a judge of the Native Land Court.

Major W. G. Mair
Major Mair, who served with great distinction in the Maori Campaigns,
1863–72, was General Cameron's interpreter in the negotiations with the Maoris
Orakau, April 2nd, 1864. For many years after the wars he was a judge
of the Native Land Court.

After Fifty Years: Old Opponents Meet This photograph, typifying the peaceful union of the races, was taken at the monument on the Orakau battlefield, on the occasion of the jubilee gathering, April 1st, 1914.

After Fifty Years: Old Opponents Meet
This photograph, typifying the peaceful union of the races, was taken at the
monument on the Orakau battlefield, on the occasion of the jubilee gathering,
April 1st, 1914.

page break
The Battlefield of Orakau (Present Day) The bluegum tree in the foreground marks the site of the gun emplacement, the Armstrongs were posted to shell the pa. The site of the pa is in the middle distance, on the roadway marked by the row of trees. The artillery was 350 yards.

The Battlefield of Orakau (Present Day)
The bluegum tree in the foreground marks the site of the gun emplacement,
the Armstrongs were posted to shell the pa. The site of the pa is in the
middle distance, on the roadway marked by the row of trees. The artillery was 350 yards.

The Capture of the Entrenchment This picture is a drawing, untitled, among the numerous war sketches left by Major von Tempsky. Major Mair, to whom it was shown many years ago, said he believed it represented the final scene at Orakau, April 2nd, 1864, when the last few Maoris to abandon the pa encountered the bayonet.

The Capture of the Entrenchment
This picture is a drawing, untitled, among the numerous war sketches left by
Major von Tempsky. Major Mair, to whom it was shown many years ago, said
he believed it represented the final scene at Orakau, April 2nd, 1864, when the
last few Maoris to abandon the pa encountered the bayonet.

page break page 73 people in the western part of the pa were listening. Rewi Manga made reply: ‘Kaore au e hohou te rongo’ (‘I shall not make peace.’) Then all the people cried in chorus: ‘Kaore e mau te rongo, ake, ake, ake!’ (‘Peace shall never be made—never, never, never!’) Then stood up Karamoa Tumanako, of Ngati-Apakura, and said: ‘I shall make peace.’ To this Rewi, Hone Teri, and Raureti replied: ‘We are not willing that the people should be made prisoners, but if we leave the pa you make your own peace.’ Some of the people having fired, the pakeha dropped down, and the fighting began again. It was now that the rakete (rockets, i.e., hand-grenades) were flung into our pa. They were not so bad at first, but when the fuses were shortened many were the deaths. The sap was now close up. The outer fence, or pekerangi, was thrown down on the top of the soldiers, and some of them were killed or injured there. Two shells from the big gun on Karaponia [the hill on which the blockhouse was afterwards built] burst in the Manga-o-Hoi swamp, and the tribes in that direction were scattered. The explosion of a third shell slightly damaged the end of the pa where Te Huia and certain others were. The sun was declining, and now the pa was broken at the south-east angle, and the people jumped out from all parts of the work. The line of soldiers below the pa in the south-eastern direction was broken through by Paiaka, Te Whakatapu, and Te Makaka te Taaepa, and the people fled to the swamp, thence to the Puniu, leaving a great many dead.”

Te Huia Raureti said (1920): “When the interpreter spoke to us, saying, ‘Friends, come out to us so that your lives may be saved,’ Rewi Maniapoto made reply, through a messenger, my father Raureti Paiaka, ‘Peace shall never be made—never, never!’ Again spoke the pakeha, and said: ‘That is right for you men, but as for the women and children, send them out of the pa.’ This was declined, and all the people cried, repeating Rewi's words, ‘Peace shall never be made—never, never, never!’ (‘Kaore e mau te rongo—ake, ake, ake!’)”

The Ngati-Tuwharetoa and Ngati-te-Kohera tribes declared that it was Hauraki Tonganui who replied to Mair on behalf of Rewi—he was simply a mouthpiece or messenger.

It is clear from all the Maori statements, and also Major Mair's account given me many years ago, that Rewi himself did not speak to the interpreter. (For full details of Orakau and the discussion page 74 between the opposing parties see the Official History of the New Zealand Wars, written for the Government, and published 1922.)

Orakau pa was surrounded by a square of post-and-rail fence, about a chain outside the earthworks. A veteran of the Forest Rangers says it was a cleverly-designed obstruction—the predecessor of our modern barbed-wire entanglements. It was partly masked with flax and fern, and it wrought the defeat of Captain Ring's charge at the pa. The mounted men, too, were stopped by the post-and-rail fence, and there made a good target for the Maoris. The earthworks were not high, but the wide trench was a deadly affair and a complete obstruction to any charge.

Cross-Section of Orakau PA From a survey, 1864.

Cross-Section of Orakau PA
From a survey, 1864.

Cross-Section of Orakau PA

Cross-Section of Orakau PA

The British headquarters in the siege were fixed just under the fall of the ground on the south-west of the pa close to where the blockhouse was afterwards built. The slopes are covered to-day with a dense growth of prickly acacias. The blockhouse has disappeared; the site is traceable only by a hollow showing where the magazine was under the floor of the building. A short distance to the W.S.W. of this spot, on slightly higher ground, just on the edge of the Karaponia crest, with the acacia grove feathering the abrupt slope to the swamp a hundred feet below, is the place where two Armstrong guns were posted to shell the pa. A tall bluegum marks the exact spot; at its foot are the fern-grown remains of a short parapet, the gun emplacement.

It was estimated that about 40,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by the troops during the three days' fighting at Orakau.

page 75

“Some of our men,” wrote an eye-witness, “lost their lives through foolishly and recklessly exposing themselves to the fire of the rebels. Tired of waiting in the sap, and in some instances excited by drink, they stood up and invited their fate: ‘Come on,’ they would cry, ‘and we'll cook your head for you!’—in jocular allusion to the preserved heads which once formed an important article of trade in this island.”

The same narrator, an army chaplain, wrote: “Our men were short of caps; the reason for this was that they often used them for lighting their pipes. They placed a small piece of rag inside the caps, which they then caused to explode with the points of their bayonets.

“The Royal Irish had to avenge the death of their gallant leader [Captain Ring]. More than one Maori was slain from the belief that he had fired the fatal shot. It is said that ten Maoris fell in this way; when a fugitive was overtaken the cry arose: ‘That is the man who killed the captain!’—then came a wild yell, a shot, a bayonet thrust, and all was over.

“A Maori fugitive was taken prisoner and committed to the charge of two of the Royal Irish, who were thus prevented from joining in the pursuit. As they heard the shouts of the pursuers dying away in the distance they cursed their hard fate in being obliged to remain behind. An officer came up when their impatience had reached its crisis: ‘Shall we kill him, Barney?’ Barney thought for a moment, then shook his head. ‘I couldn't kill the craytur in cold blood, Shane, but I wish we were quit of him.’ ‘Kick him and let him go,’ was the ready response. They loosed their hold and applied their heavy boots with full force to the person of their prisoner, who turned round and looked as if he would have sprung at their throats. The love of liberty was stronger than the thirst for revenge; he disappeared in the bush, while Shane and Barney hurried after their comrades.

“Most of the women who attempted to escape from the pa were taken; they were not able to run as fast as the men, and were soon exhausted. One woman was found dead clasping a Bible to her breast. The sacred volume was found on the persons of several of the dead and wounded, who had left everything else behind.

“There was little left to reward those who first entered the pa; they found about three tons of raw potatoes and a little Maori bread, but not a drop of water, nor any vessel to hold water. ∗ ∗ ∗

page 76

They had no surgeons to attend to their wounds. One man had his left leg broken by a ball; he bound two pieces of wood round it with wild flax and fought on to the last. Another whose side was pierced plugged the wound with a cork and kept his place among the defenders of the pa. ∗ ∗ ∗ We have officers here who fought through the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny; all unite in affirming that neither the Russians nor the Sepoys ever fought as the Maoris have done; all lament the necessity of having to fight against such a gallant race. On this point the whole army is unanimous; a different feeling may prevail among the colonists, who look forward to reaping a rich harvest from all this carnage and bloodshed.”