5 minute read
Te Hokinga mai: The Return Home
from Plenty 14
It all started with a chat on the porch with my brother Rab and Des Palmer of the Waewae whānau, Ngāti Manawa. He was researching his whakapapa and had heard many stories from Rab on this porch. One of them was about the rock carvings in Murupara, and it rang a bell with him about some discarded documents he’d seen that had been sent in for proofreading with a view to publishing back in 1976. That proofreader was a Mr Williams, who happened to have a grand daughter married to one of Des’s brothers. We made a phone call to Mr Williams, then 94 years young, at a nursing home in Auckland, and hearing how very important these documents were to the people of Ngāti Manawa, he was delighted for them to be in the right place – back home in Murupara.
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And so, 30 years after they had been sent for proofing, a box of documents and photographs came home. There was a mixture of emotions when we received it. Curious and excited for what we may find of Ngāti Manawa heritage, but also saddened that there was no one alive in the rohe to confirm the stories passed down by our old people. But we took delivery of the box believing it would maybe help fit together some pieces of the puzzle to our stories of yore and how they impact on who we are and where we belong. In particular, because I am Ngāti Manawa and Murupara is my hometown, I had quietly anticipated some extraordinary revelation about our people.
Inside the box we found a manuscript, drawings, graph charts, and a collection of black and white photographs, each meticulously labelled and filed. The documents were type-written on oversized A4 sheets and the negatives and photos looked like they were taken with a Box Brownie. But the title instantly captured my interest: ‘Murupara Rock Carvings or Archaeology with a Difference’ by Martin Wilson.
Martin had taught at Rangitahi College for several years, and he lived in the schoolhouse at the back over-looking farmland and the Whirinaki River. Above it rose the Tawhiuau and Te Ika Whenua ranges; a perfect setting in the heart of Ngāti Manawa to embark on a journey a few miles from Murupara.
Martin was originally from Scotland, but had lived in Otaki on the Kapiti Coast for many years where he became fascinated with Māori folklore. By the time he came to Murupara he was researching into whakapapa and history and working on several publications that would eventually lead him to Te Ana a Maru, which he refers to as the Murupara shelter. Most people now know it as the Murupara Rock Carvings (or The Caves), and though there are a lot more visitors to the area than in Martin’s day, the stories of this wāhi tapu site are still only known by very few, with very little of this history written down. The Murupara Rock Carvings lie hidden amidst the pines, their secrets intact.
Murupara was once a thriving timber town, and it is ironic that pine-trees are now the biggest threat to the rock carvings. Although a protective fence surrounds them, the elements and the forest put these taonga at risk as moisture seeps in from the dense forest surroundings, in addition to their spiritual significance being lost through ignorance. The challenge for us is to preserve and protect this ancient relic so that our descendants, and all people, may share in the mysteries and knowledge of a bygone era and the box of documents seemed to hold the key to this.
Having read the manuscript and scrutinised the photos and graphs, it seemed obvious that the carvings represented an important part in our country’s history; they were significant to the way of life, traditions and spiritual beliefs of its first peoples. I was also intrigued by the depth of research Martin had done in Murupara and other historic sites in Ngāti Awa, Waikato, Hauraki and Tūwharetoa rohe.
His work posed two questions: how is it Ngāti Manawa have no knowledge of their origins, and how old are the carvings? At the time Martin was doing his research, archaeological theories were supported by scientific fact rather than tradition and spiritual beliefs handed down from tīpuna for hundreds of years, despite the fact that they too were experts in their field. Since the carvings were uncovered in 1925 various theories about their origins have been put forward, but they remain largely overlooked. I believe the Murupara Rock Carvings will be the greatest archaeological find in the Bay of Plenty for Ngāti Manawa once the information in the book is known more widely.
One of the things Martin wanted to tick off his bucket list was to one day have the ‘story in print’ for the benefit of future generations. He believed education and a little effort was the key for growth and knowledge, and I felt the information in the book to be of too great a benefit for it to remain unpublished. So I was eager to see Martin’s dream fulfilled and the information made available and I began a search for his descendants through mail directories, media, electoral rolls, census and the like. This was to no avail however, and so I began to seek funding to publish the book for libraries and universities. This too was unsuccessful, so I decided to fund the publication of the book myself, and what followed was a steep learning curve about modern publishing technology!
I was heartened that a most learned and respected koroua, Kingi Porima, kaumatua of Tainui and Moewhare, a former Chairman of Tainui Trust Board and Kaingaroa Logging Company Manager for many years, had shared the same whakaaro. Through his encouragement to publish the book for ngā tamariki, ngā mokopuna ano hoki.
Discovering the truth of our history, its vibrant culture and who we are as a people, was a humbling and poignant experience. They were my inspiration and reason to ‘put the story in print’ and publish the book. It was both an honour and privilege to have learnt so much more of our beginnings, and I hope one day to be able to present Martin’s descendants with copies; my search for them is ongoing even now.
