Tame Iti Return

The cherished ‘son’ of grandparents, Haare Williams grew up hearing of the Tuhoe struggle from the ponderous stories told to him by Wairemana, grand-daughter of Tutakangahau, where he felt her pain in episodes of inter-generational deprivation. There’s little to cheer about, lots of tears shed for Tuhoe after the signing of The Deed of Settlement this week of $170m for the bloody wounds that have endured for over 141 years of grief and rage. 

I heard that - He rongo korero noake, Tame Iti is out of The [i]Hinaki …’ and welcomed home into the heartland of his Tuhoe kin in Ruatoki with a glass of red wine …

I heard that … Tuhoe; people of “The Mist,” a story of survival over many ponderous moments with ‘Grandmother Stories’, Wairemana Poniwahio at Karaka my first home on a remote shore of the Ohiwa Harbour. I was a blessed grandson surrounded by the Tuhoe narrative that became a part of what and who I am handed down from her dad, Taihakoa Poniwahio of Ruatoki and her grandfather, Tutakangahau of Waikaremoana.

 I heard that … Te Kooti and Rua Kenana were their links to the remnants of their land and the common ties that brought them together. I heard that … the negative Pakeha (state) constructs of Tuhoe as dissidents who provided sanctuary for criminals in the Urewera canopy of bush, mountains and mist.  They were painted as wild and uncouth or a people that should always be treated with distrust.

I heard that … Kenana, the Prophet founded his community on non-violence and strict hygiene standards, compulsory schooling and church attendances, farming co-operative, a savings bank, superannuation, a school, a marae and a temple with savings of £31,000.   The settlement was run by his own parliament.

I heard of … Tamaikoha visits to officials amongst them PM Richard Seddon and to the courts to fight to protect their lands, bush and water. 

I heard that … the forced session of Tuhoe lands around Waikaremoana – all the way to Ruatoki, Waimana, Pekatahi and Opouriao happened for alleged disloyalty.

I heard of … the intrusions of the state into Te Urewera borders on trumped up charges of being “… in pursuit of refugees and fugitives”.



This photograph of Tame Iti outside the High Court was up for auction. Photo Credit: Jos Wheeler, Stuff.co.nz

 

I heard of … the rape of the land and the mana of a peaceful people wanting their independence yet forced through poverty to a subsistence life eking out a living without the resources they once controlled to a white legislative hegemony of looters who came in the guise of missionaries, surveyors, soldiers and politicians, miners and cattle barons.  They came as the occupying troops – their lust for land was (and still is) endemic.  Teachers and nurses they trusted.

I heard that … Te Kaunihera Whitu Tekau-The Council of Seventy of outstanding leaders: Numia, Tamaikoha, Tutakangahau, Rakuraku, Tamarau, Te Ahikaiata, Poniwahio, Te Amo all the way down to Tame Iti.  Historian Judith Binney described them, “… actively seeking to protect lands of Tuhoe.” Their names resonate with the Tuhoe struggle.

 “… ka tangi ki tenei taonga e hohou nei i te maungarongo ki te whenua, whakaaro pai, whakawatea te whakamomori i uhia ake nei ki runga ki a Ngai Tuhoe, kua mahea ra.” 

(…. I grieve, but this taonga laid out on the marae; peace over the land will come; one that will set us free and release us from this grief.)

A tribute by Tuhoe kaumatua, Te Rangi Puke at Waikirikiri, Ruatoki to Kahurangi Judith Te Ohomairangi o te Aroha Binney on Monday 30 November 2009 at the launch of her book ‘Encircled Lands 1821-1916’.

I heard that … The final chapter of this saga is about redemption and moving ahead as Tamati Kruger put it “…it’ll take time for us to heal but the state must bear the ultimate guilt.” 

I heard that … Tuhoe can no longer hold their breath for the state to do the right thing by them they have been hurt deeply.  They ask, “… when will the war end.”

 I heard that … Knowledge is emancipation, knowledge is a freedom held in waiata of a long trail of betrayals that bite deep, but Tuhoe today sees knowledge as a precursor to healing wounds rendered over 140 years.  The mending is a long way off.  The state cannot salve its guilt in a bottle of distilled red wine from the rich Earth of confiscated fields in Opouriao for the ultimate redemption can only come from Earth and God.

I heard that … when Rua Kenana, The Maungapohatu prophet stepped forward to peacefully receive Police Commissioner, John Cullen with ninety-nine fully armed and mounted police and on Sunday 2 April 1916, his welcome was crushed with violence and the deaths of two; son Toko and a follower, Te Maipi.  What happened in Te Urewera five years ago; was this an episode of history repeating itself: Parihaka, Rangiaowhia, Ngatapa, Bastion Point …

I heard that … the people of Ruatoki still cannot believe that their sleepy hollow was rudely woken up on Monday 15 October 2007 to a violence that hovers still in their peaceful corner of Earth. 

 “I got up early on Monday and drove to my Kohanga Reo.  About 3kms from home, I was stopped by a strange site that still frightens me.  There was this road block and six cops, well I thought they were cops on the road, masks covering their faces and armed with machine guns (I think).  I was rudely asked to, “… step out!” which I did.  Then they lined me up against my number plate and photographed me.  After about an hour, they let me go without answering my questions.  I didn’t know that Tame Iti had been arrested until I got to my Kohanga Reo.  So now we’re terrorists.” 

(Interview Te Umu Mere McGarvey, Tuhoe Kuia, Ruatoki 16 October 2007)

 I heard that … tonight as Tame Iti takes a deep breath, a brief reprieve from Waikeria and the courts, he’ll be celebrating with “Hei Tira Tira-Hey Diddle Diddle …”, he holds above his head a bottle to celebrate, but you can be sure what he’s holding is not a Molotov cocktail.

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[i] Hinaki – jail, prison, internment, a trap for eelsinaki