A Maori history of Tokomaru Bay, East coast North Island

Abstract

This study is a history of the two sub tribes (hapu) Whanau a Ruataupare, and Whanau a te Aotawarirangi of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast of the North Island. The two hapu share the same gene logical basis, and geographical area. The study examines the identity of these people as given in their history. Traditional stories are treated as part of this identity, that is, as a particular way of presenting history and as such, worthy of study in its own right - as oral literature. It is further argued that by focusing on the concept of 'traditional history' we are in fact aided in understanding what the stories are 'saying', that is, their meaning. This study then, looks at the concept of Maori History as it is applied to Tokomaru. ~he raw historical data begins with "a brief survey of the creation of the Maori world as the people of Tokomaru understood it and develops down through the migration period to New Zealand, and "around the East Coast until the hapu became established at Tokomaru. Once the ancestresses Rautaupare and Te Aotawarirangi establish their rights to Tokomaru the study becomes one of looking at the hapu, who derive their name from these two women, as their society grows, -changes, and alters; and as they mould their surroundings to meet their spiritual, cultural and economic needs. They-become in a real sense two hapu, but one people (just as Whanau a Rua sub divides into smaller hapu), and so the term 'Tokomaru People' is appropriate. The history follows the advancement of European intrusion until approximately 1870 when the era of Maori Land Court sittings herald a new era. However it is stressed that no absolute break exists within the flow of Tokomaru society and history. Life here is and always has been one of adjustment; firstly, the move to New Zealand; the settling of Tokomaru; movements around Tokomaru lands; wars within Tokomaru society and with outside groups which interrupted the 'flow of life'; gradual Pakeha intrusion; and finally, in this study, the Land Wars of the 1860's which more completely bring.Tokomaru society into wider New Zealand history. The second par~ to this study is an attempt to analyse the material. The degree of awareness within Maori society of history and a Maori framework for analysing the material, is established, and to this is added insights apart from the Maori perspective but nevertheless considered essential to the understanding of it. In brief, this is that Maori stories indicate cultural beliefs but more importantly stress strategies for reacting to and understanding historical events. In this way it is argued we can understand the meaning of identity for people of Tokomaru.