Before a Special Tribunal Under the Resource Management Act 1991 In the matter of an application for a Water Conservation Order for the Ngaruroro River and Clive River Statement of evidence of Patrick Parsons on behalf of the New Zealand Fish and Game Council; Hawke's Bay Fish and Game Council; Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand; Jet Boating New Zealand; Whitewater NZ Incorporated; and Operation Pātiki Ngāti Hori ki Kohupātiki 11 December 2018 Introduction 1 My Name is Patrick Parsons. I live at Poraiti on the hills west of Napier. My specialist field is customary Maori history and genealogy of the Hawke's Bay district. I have forty-five years of experience in this work. 2 I identify the ancestor Tareahi as the authority under whom I prepare this evidence. He belonged to the Ngai Takaha section of Ngati Whatuiapiti on his father's side and spent much of his youth at Kereru and Whanawhana at the foot of the Ruahine ranges. 3 At the time of the turbulent inter-tribal battles of the 1820s most of the people of Hawke's Bay went into exile, the majority to the Nukutaurua on Mahia peninsula and the remainder to Tiritea, near Massey University on the lower Manawatu River. By identity the majoriy of the latter were Ngai Te Upokoiri, tangatawhenua of the Ngaruroro River from Omahu to the Ruahines. In times of war the various hapu went under the name Ngai Te Upokoiri, including Tareahi's sub-tribe. 4 Through his mother's people, Ngati Hinepare Tareahi's authority extended from the coast at Ahuriri. He was elevated to the position of principal chief by the people and chose to remain on the land when the exodus occurred. By doing so he maintained the ahika of both peoples, keeping their fires alight on the land. This allowed them to repatriate their former lands upon their return. 5 Tareahi kept his son Paora Kaiwhata with him on the land teaching him the history and ancestry of his people. In turn Paora Kaiwhata became principal chief of Ngati Hinepare. At the celebrations of the centenary of Paora Kaiwhata's death in May 1992 at Moteo marae I was inducted into the Ngati Hinepare and Ngati Mahu sub-tribes under his mana. This is the authority under which I present this evidence. 6 While this is not a hearing before the Environment Court, I confirm that I have read the code of conduct for expert witnesses contained in the Environment Court Consolidated Practice Note (2014). I have complied with it when preparing my written statement of evidence and I agree to comply with it when presenting evidence. I confirm that the evidence and the opinions I have expressed in my evidence are within my area of expertise. I have not omitted to consider material facts known to me that might alter or detract from the opinions that I express. Scope of evidence 7 My evidence addresses: (a) Origins of the name Ngaruroro; (b) Taniwha of the Ngaruroro; 12000434 | 4052892 page 1 (c) History of Kohupatiki; (d) Kaitiaki role of Kohupatiki on the Ngaruroro; and (e) Kohupatiki marae. Origins of the name Ngaruroro 8 The Ngaruroro River takes its name from the upokororo, a fast-swimming native fish which dwelt in its waters at the time the ancestor Mahu explored its banks. The name in English is grayling and although it is no longer found in our waters there are records of Maori fishing for it at Ohiti as late as 1897. The ancestor Mahu or Mahu Tapoanui was an adventurer and explorer who established himself at Lake Waikaremoana. Many place-names around the lake testify to his presence there. 9 In the Waikaremoana hearing of 1916, Hikanui Watene made reference to Mahu. 'Mahutapoanui was before Kahungunu's time. He had his Kainga at sea and he was brought ashore by other ancestors. He arrived onshore at Whakaki. He had a raupo patch at Whakaki. At Wairoa he had shark pipis and the places are called 'Pipi a Mahu' and 'Maunga a Mahu.' He proceeded to Omahu in Heretaunga, hence the name.' (Ref. Wairoa Minute Bk 27, page 287 Waikaremoana hearing.) 10 It was during the above visit to Heretaunga that his dog disturbed a shoal of upokororo while crossing the river. These fish fled upstream at such speed that they created waves or ngaru in Maori. It is from these two words that the Ngaruroro River derived its name. The place where the dog crossed the river has been known as Omahu ever since. It is also evident that the bed of the river at that time was close to the present bed. 11 Although the upokororo fish is extinct today it may have survived into the early 1900s. In his evidence in the Ohiti hearing of 1897 Manahi Pukerua observed, 'Taumata o te Puawhaki is a ridge on which people sat to look down [the] Ngaruroro and watch the shoals of upokororo coming up the river.' (Ref. Napier Minute Bk 42, Page 154 – Ohiti hearing) Taniwha of the Ngaruroro 12 One of the beliefs of the Maori was that a great monster living deep under the ocean was the cause of the tides. The name of this taniwha was the Parata. When it breathed out the tide came in and when it breathed in the tide went out. There is a place on the old Ngaruroro called Wahaparata. The location is where the Mangateretere stream enters the old river near the Heretaunga Croquet Club. This is on Napier Road between Mangateretere and Havelock North. 12000434 | 4052892 page 2 13 As the tide came up the Ngaruroro River past Kohupatiki marae it was preceded by a breeze. It was accompanied by a tidal bore which was regarded with a certain superstition and took the name Wahaparata. This bore continued up the old Ngaruroro as far as the point mentioned in the above paragraph where it ran out. This is why the name occurred at that spot. Because of the beliefs and observations of the people on the river the bore became their taniwha. (Ref Ancient Tide Lore and Tales of the Sea by William Colenso page 5). History of Kohupatiki 14 Since earliest civilisation in Heretaunga, the Ngaruroro river has served as a tribal boundary. Prior to the invasion of Taraia I it divided the interests of Ngati Awa and Ngati Whatumamoa on the north side from Rangitane on the south. Taraia settled Te Hika a Papauma, the descendants of his father Rakaihikuroa's first marriage, on the south side of the Ngaruroro. He reserved the north side for himself and his hapu, Te Hika a Ruarauhanga. 15 At the time of Taraia's invasion, Tanenuiarangi pa, across the Ngaruroro from present-day Kohupatiki, was the principal Rangitane stronghold in Heretaunga. Te Hika a Papauma gained Tanenuiarangi pa, as it fell within their newly acquired territory. Tanenuiarangi was occupied in the mid-1700s by the Ngati Tuku a te rangi chiefs, Te Tutura and Rangikamangungu, together with their first cousin Te Tahatu. 16 Te Tutura and Rangikamangungu were born in Heretaunga. Their ancestor Hikawere II had returned from Te Wheao to Heretaunga as the invitation of Taraia's people to be a chief over them. In doing so he exercised the rights inherited from his mother. From the point of view of Te Hika a Ruarauhanga this was good strategy as it made an ally of Te Hika a Papauma. 17 Te Tahatu returned to Heretaunga under similar circumstances. The Heretaunga chiefs Tokopounamu and Whawhatiputa went to Te Wheao to invite the chief Te Rangikoianake to be their overlord. His people would not agree and offered them his younger brother Te Tahatu instead. 18 At the time when these three chiefs were in occupation at Tanenuiarangi they were accused of bewitching Mahia, a son of Te Ruruku. Te Ruruku, a chief of Ngati Matepu lived at Tangoio and at the northern end of the Inner Harbour. Calling on the support of Ngati Porou, Ngati Rongowhakaata and Ngati Kahungunu of Wairoa he descended on Tanenuiarangi. Te Tutura, Rangikamgungu and Te Tahatu were joined by Te Rangikoianake and together they fought off the attackers. When the war party left, the inhabitants of Tanenuiarangi warned the neighbouring tribes that Te Ruruku's war party would be back. 12000434 | 4052892 page 3 19 They had not misjudged the enemy. The combined taua, more numerous than before, launched their first attack on Motukumara pa on Lake Oingo. They took it comfortably then switched their attentions to Tanenuiarangi. They surrounded it and attacked but by nightfall had failed to penetrate. Next they tried to burn it, again without success. An attempt to enter by tunnel failed. They lassoed the palisade poles with ropes but were unable to pull the pa down. Fighting took place all around the pa. 20 Finally Hineioroia, who was married to Rangikamangungu's son Te Ua Te Awha, stepped up onto the battlements of Tanenuiarangi. Te Ruruku was dismayed to find his daughter in the pa and sent Meke across in a canoe to arrange a truce. Meke arrived at the canoe landing which was called Te Rae o Kore and called for Rangikaunuhia, eldest son of Te Tahatu. Te Ruruku's forces agreed to back off in exchange for the venerated adze Te Ramaapakura. 21 It was also at Tanenuiarangi that the Ngapuhi chief Te Wera met with Pareihe in the early 1820's before the battle of Te Pakake. An agreement was reached allowing the people of Heretaunga refuge under Te Wera at Nukutaurua.