So what did happen way back in 1835?
Well the situation on Rekohu at the time was something like this: There were some 1700 Moriori living there, and some 30 odd European sealers, two or three New Zealand Maori and one or two ‘others’ of mixed ancestry or origin. Either way the peaceful Moriori were the dominant and most prodigious race present.
At this time there were several tribes of Maori living in Port Nicholson, (Wellington) New Zealand, some of whom traditionally resided there and others who had fled there after warfare in their own lands had forced them to vacate. It was of the latter that Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama belonged, having been forced to retreat from their Taranaki homelands and venture south to Poneke, or Wellington.
They had intended sailing to and invading Samoa but opted instead for the Chatham Islands, after they heard that it was a land of Kai, where the eels, swans and seafood were abundant, and more importantly the local people did not know how to fight.
They set forth on two separate voyages, having ‘chartered’ the European sailing vessel; the Rodney, and landed at the Chathams after several days at sea. The first group landed were very sick form their voyage and they were well looked after and nursed by their Moriori hosts.
The ship returned to Port Nicholson and retrieved the second group, returning with them after a couple of weeks.
This occured 24 generations after the Moriori chief Nunuku, had forbidden war. Moriori had been a passive people for hundreds and hundreds of years and inter-tribal fighting had ceased to exist during that time. Even violence between individuals was limited to duelling with wooden staffs until the first one retired or blood was drawn. This was enough to satisfy ‘mana’ and maintain respect.
Many people make the mistake of thinking that Moriori did not know how to fight, or that they did not possess weapons. Both suppositions are flawed. Moriori had ample weapons and trained in the use of them. Even though the weapons and the training were largely ceremonial, they certainly had the ability to protect themselves, if they so chose.
When the Maori visitors revealed their hostile intentions by embarking on their reign of terror called takahi: “walking the land,” Moriori were stunned. They had not seen this sort of violence for over seven hundred years and it went against everything they collectively and individually believed in. To take someones life or shed their blood unneccessarily was to break tapu, committing the ultimate sacrilige.
To the Maori invaders, this was easy. They had endured years and years of inter-tribal warfare in their native Taranaki and their customs and history dictated that conquest through force was the honorable way to subdue an enemy, and that taking a weaker tribes’ land was the normal course of things.
They killed several hundred Moriori. Many were eaten and the rest were enslaved. Protest was met with a tomohawk blow to the back of the head. In one ‘oven’ alone, over 50 Moriori were roasted. On one section of Waitangi beach, the bodies were laid together, touching, for over a quarter of a kilometre. The fact that Moriori did not respond with force may have further enraged the Maori conquerors, as they respected those enemies that were brave and noble warriors. Not those that either ran and hid, or sat waiting for the end.
At one stage during this conquest, shocked by the events unfolding around them, Moriori called a council of 1,000 men at Te Awapātiki to discuss what to do. The younger men were keen to repel the invaders and argued that even though they had not fought for many centuries, they outnumbered the newcomers two to one and were a strong people. But the elders argued that Nunuku’s Law was a sacred covenant with their gods and could not be broken. Unfortunately for them, the Maori found out about this meeting and quickly sought to stamp out any opportunities for rebellion. They intensified their attacks and the consequences for Moriori were devastating.
Although the total number of Moriori first slaughtered was said to be around 300, hundreds more were enslaved and later died. Some were killed by their captors. Others, horrified by the desecration of their beliefs, died of ‘kongenge’ or despair. According to records made by elders, 1,561 Moriori died between 1835 and 1863, when they were finally released from slavery. Many succumbed to diseases introduced by Europeans, but large numbers died at the hands of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama. In 1862 only 101 remained. When the last known full-blooded Moriori died in 1933, many thought this marked the extinction of a race. During this period, Moriori, seeing that they were about to be annihilated, offered to share the resources and bounties of Rekohu with their aggressive visitors. This would also have been seen as another indication of their weakness in the eyes of the invading foreces. From the 1850s Moriori elders petitioned New Zealand’s governor for recognition of their status as original inhabitants of the islands, and for restoration of the lands taken from them. However, it was not until 1863, 23 years after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, that Moriori were officially released from slavery by mainland Māori, in a proclamation by the resident magistrate of the Chatham Islands. In 1870 a Native Land Court was set up on Rēkohu to investigate competing claims by Moriori and Māori. By this time almost all Māori had returned to Taranaki. But the court ruled largely in favour of the absentee Māori, awarding 97.3% of the lands to Ngāti Mutunga by applying the legal rule that those in occupation in 1840 had greatest rights. No account was given to the long ancestral and peaceful occupation by Moriori.The unfairness of the authorities attitudes towards Moriori have long baffled many scholars and historians, and have contributed towards the perpetration and continuation of a range of myths regarding Moriori. This attitude has only began to soften in the last decade, with Moriori using the courts and land claims systems to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. The education system in New Zealand (to date) has done nothing for Moriori. Political correctness has afforded every amenity to Maori and New Zealand now has two official languages, and most official publications, laws and documents all refer to the treaty partner: Maori. Ironically though, Maori arent the only treaty partner. It was only through the challenge of Ngai Mutunga to Morioris’ Waitangi Tribunal claims, began in 1994, that this author became aware that the Treaty doesn’t specifically guarantee protection, partnership or participation for Maori. It guarantees it for “the native peoples and their chiefs.” Moriori fit that description. The Chatham Islands have been a part of New Zealand since 1842 and the Moriori have been living there for over 800 years, probably longer. Its really a ‘no brainer.’ Moriori are entitled to the same protections and poltical correctness that Maori currently enjoy. The new school curriculum which comes out in September this year will have a foreword reaffirming the partnership between Maori and the Crown, where it should be re-affirming the partnership either between all natives and the Crown, OR between Maori, Moriori and the Crown.But arent Moriori just another tribe of Maori?
No! Thats another myth. As insulting as the one that graced the front of a prominent Canterbury newspaper once that said :Moriori, Myth or Legend? and purported that Moriori were an invention to discredit Maoris’ claims over Treaty negotiations. Or the one that purported Moriori to be invented by the Maori as a way to destabilise Governments positions on land claims issues. These successful attempts to discredit Moriori as a people have been so effective that not that long ago, being Moriori was something to be ashamed of
The facts are that Moriori and Maori share similar backgrounds. They probably came from the same or similar origins, but generations apart. It is generally accepted that Moriori came to the Chathams about that same time as todays Maori ancestors arrived in New Zealand. They came to Rekohu, but not necessarily through New Zealand.
In 1852 a group of their elders had many of their myths and legends and genealogy recorded by a European living on the islands at the time and their stories of discovery of the Islands and their recorded oral hokopapa (genealogy) supported the stories of discovery and settlement.
Whilst many aspects of the language of Moriori are similar to that of Maori, there are differences perplexing enough that early scholars and linguists wrote that the language dictates that they are a seperate race. Moriori do not see theselves as Maori, they are Moriori.
But didnt they all die?
The last known full-blooded Moriori, Tame Horomona Rehe (Tommy Solomon) died in 1933. His childrens children live on and today his descendants are many, and all able to claim their Moriori ancestry. Additionally, there were many Moriori that were relocated to Stewart Island and then New Zealand, that had either Maori or European partners and children to them. The descendants of those children are also able and entitled to claim their Moriori ancestry. The membership of Hokotehi Moriori Trust grows steadily as many people are becoming aware of the renaissance of the culture and the fact that being Moriori in this crazy world is a heritage to be proud of.
The Government of today has acknowledged Moriori as a people, through words and actions in some cases, but because of political necessity, still chooses to ignore the difference between Moriori and Maori.
This continued oversight, which is not much different to that attitude taken by the colonial governors, when Moriori were suffering under the genocidal slave system of their conquerors, continues to encourage those that would benefit from the disappearance of the Moriori again. Today, people actively agitate for Moriori to be dispossessed of that which they are legally entitled to, through a new round of misinformation and propoganda. One rumour doing the rounds is that Moriori are actually early ancestors of Ngati Mutunga. Considering that this rumour is the first that this writer has heard of this relationship between the two groups, and my research, although not complete, has been fairly comprehensive, this also begs the question of the way in which they chose in 1835, to get re-acquainted with their long lost relations, that had been separated from them for over 800 years.
Moriori themselves, do not agree with this version. Those perpetrating this new view should re-read the Waitangi Tribunals findings and their report on Rekohu and they will find that: a) the Tribunal doesnt see that relationship b) Moriori are not Maori, but maori in a descriptive sense, ie: a seperate race c) Moriori are the original people of the Chatham Islands NOT Ngati Mutunga, although they do recognise Ngati Mutunga as having tangata whenua status, through their occupation of the islands of 170 years.
What is unsettling about this type of misinformation is that Government agencies are content to sit back and allow it to happen.Those pushing the spurious claims are free to do so and it is left to Moriori to clarify the truth to the public. And it is to the general public of New Zealand that Moriori does have to defend itself to. Remember that Before Michael King wrote his book Moriori: a People Rediscovered, there were no definitive accounts of what happened, nor of who Moriori were/are.
The last offical publication from the Government or government department agreed with the story that Moriori were a myth. That story went out to literally every school in the country. It was that type of misinformation that reinforced to the average New Zealander that the Moriori did not exist. Unfortunately because the Government continues with its inaction on this subject, the misinformation continues.
This writer sat in the public gallery of the House of Parliament in 1992 and heard someone ask the Minister of Maori affairs: “What about Moriori?” His response was:”What about them. What are they?” The whole house laughed/ That is the attitude that has traditionally precluded any official reception for Moriori by central Government.
It has been encouraging that the current Minister for Conservation and on occasion, the Prime Minister, have both spoken out positively about Moriori and hopefully this may continue.
However, as long as the misinformation continues, so will the marginalisation of the country’s most peaceful citizens.
Governments come and go, but the story of these proud and peaceful people is destined to become a guiding light in this unsettled world.
Govenrments have a responsibility to all of their citizens, not just to the biggest blocks of voters.
In the next report we will discuss ways in which the Government should be responding to Moriori.
