Tūhoe to 1865

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The Mana Motuhake of Tūhoe evolved over many generations. The iwi emerged from a period of conflict in the early nineteenth century having resolved historic rivalries and grievances with neighboring iwi and distant tribes through a combination of military engagements and a series of tatau pounamu (peace agreements), which were often accompanied by chiefly marriages.
 
The many hapū of Tūhoe exercised customary control over their collectively-owned lands and resources; each exercising an independent mana born out of strong leadership and distinct whakapapa.  At the same time, those hapū are linked by whakapapa connections, by what Tūhoe call matemateaone; the internal relationships that maintain their tribal identity.  The collective leadership known as Te Huinga o te Kahu – a group of hapū leaders – was established in the early nineteenth century to maintain the mana motuhake of Tūhoe. This was the first of several institutions the iwi have adopted throughout their history to give effect to tribal autonomy.
 
From 1820, Tūhoe began acquiring from other iwi the new Pākeha crops, livestock, and technologies (including, from 1830, muskets) that had already been brought to other parts of New Zealand. Contact with Pākeha traders based around Whakatāne began in the 1830s. From the early 1840s Tūhoe commenced dealing directly with resident Pākeha traders at Ōhiwa and, later, at Puketī, and Rūātoki. Traders provided goods in exchange for the flax, corn, wheat, and cattle produced on the fertile river flats around Ōpouriao, Ruatoki, and Waimana. Tūhoe also traded as far afield as Tūranganui and Northland. Tūhoe traded with iwi; exchanging valued Te Urewera resources, such as huahua (preserved birds) and timber suited to waka building for sought-after trade goods.
 
Tūhoe travelers returning from other districts introduced the Christian faith to the district in the 1820s. In 1839 Tūhoe leadership formally agreed to allow Christianity in Te Urewera. Several itinerant missionaries ministered throughout Te Urewera, as well as a resident missionary, based at Ahikererū from 1846 to 1852. A number churches were built during the 1840s. This quickly led to widespread literacy (in Māori) amongst Tūhoe. In the absence of permanent missionaries, Tūhoe lay preachers took responsibility for the Christian ministry.
 
Tūhoe did not sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Crown representatives took the Treaty to Whakatāne in June 1840, but did not take it to Te Urewera. Tūhoe were unlikely to have had the opportunity to consider or sign the Treaty.
 
Prior to the 1860s the Crown had no official presence in Te Urewera, and Māori customary law and practice continued to prevail. Tūhoe remained in control of their affairs. They were involved in “the great council of seventy”; a self-governing Mataatua Rūnanga based at Opōtiki that was initiated independently of the government in 1861.
 
Tūhoe had not alienated any of their lands at this time, but were aware of other Māori political movements and of the tensions arising over Crown acquisition of land in other areas. In the early 1850s, a movement to establish a Māori king developed in the Waikato in response to the rapid loss of Māori land. The Kingitanga also hoped to promote Māori authority in New Zealand. Tūhoe representatives attended the great hui at Pukawa in 1856 to discuss the kingship but despite later sympathy on the part of some hapū leaders for aspects of the movement’s aspirations, the iwi did not join the Kingitanga.              
 
In 1862 the Crown sent its Wairoa Resident Magistrate Hunter Brown to visit Te Urewera to promote Governor Grey’s attempts to establish ‘new institutions’ for Māori local self-government, such as an official rūnanga to liaise with a resident magistrate and civil commissioner. This was the first time a Crown representative visited the district.
 
Tūhoe received these proposals with caution, maintaining a stance of avowed neutrality towards the Crown as they did towards Kingitanga. Some hapū leaders expressed guarded interest in trying out the government’s rūnanga system although Te Manihera of Tātāhoata noted that, as with any decision affecting the iwi, the tribal leadership would need to meet and agree to it. Others were more suspicious of the Crown telling Brown they feared that the Crown sought “the mana of the land,” that if it secured their land they would “become slaves to the Queen,” and that they “fear for their nationality.” This policy was not introduced in Te Urewera, and the Crown withdrew it nationally in 1865.
 
War broke out between the Crown and Māori in the early 1860s in Taranaki and later in the Waikato. In 1863, the Crown enacted the New Zealand Settlements Act which provided for the confiscation of Māori land when the Governor in Council was satisfied that “any native tribe, or section of tribe or any considerable number thereof” had been engaged in rebellion against the authority of the Queen. Confiscated land was to be allocated to military and other settlers with a view to provide for future peace and security. Sales of confiscated land were intended to recoup the Crown’s costs for the warfare with Maori.
 
After the Crown’s unjust invasion of the Kingitanga’s Waikato heartland in July 1863, the Tūhoe leadership met at Oputao but was divided as to how to respond. There was some sympathy for the Kingitangā and a desire to support Waikato in halting the Crown’s troops, lest Te Urewera eventually suffer a similar fate. Te Whenuanui however recalled the Tūhoe whakatauki, ‘Kia tāwharautia a Mataatua [Let Mataatua be sheltered]’, and urged Tūhoe to stay and defend their borders.
 
Tūhoe leadership disagreed over whether they should send their men to support the Kingitanga. In the end, the people of Ruatoki and Waimana chose not to go, while small numbers from Ruatāhuna and elsewhere were dispatched to Waikato. The tauā joined in the unsuccessful defence of Orākau in April 1864, and the small Tūhoe contingent suffered significant loss of life. When Tūhoe survivors returned to Te Urewera, they were strongly criticized by the iwi. Later in April 1864 a small contingent from Waimana and Rūātoki was despatched to join the fighting. They combined with others from Tai Rāwhiti but their passage to Waikato was blocked by other iwi who were supported by Crown warships and military personnel. This second Tūhoe contingent was involved in the resulting fighting in the Matatā area.