The Story of Kaiapoi Pā

By Kathy Duncan Kaiapoi Pā was a mighty stronghold, well-known throughout Te Waipounamu for its prosperity and strength - until it fell in a merciless onslaught led by a fearsome warrior from the North. As a result of this warfare and strife, tribal life in Canterbury was marred for many years. Then into this darkness came the light of the gospel. God changed the hearts of two men of that northern tribe, and they bravely returned to seek forgiveness and share the gospel with those their tribe had once hated and slaughtered. The story of Kaiapoi Pā is also a reminder of God’s redemption and faithfulness when all hope seems lost. The Kaiapoi Pā was built around 1700 by Ngāi Tahi chief Tūrakautahi. Because of its geographical location and solid fortifications, this important seat was considered impregnable. heT site itself was on a small piece of land that extended out into a lagoon. The lagoon was deep enough to provide protection on three sides while the surrounding swamps made it difficult for invaders to come close. A deep ditch extended across the open side of the pā behind which a double row of palisades also stood. The three guarded gates could be easily defended. Tragically, in the early 1830s, this prospering hub of local Maori life was completely destroyed by the infamous Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha culminating in a final raid following inter-tribal hostilities between the two iwi since 1828. Based at Kapiti Island, Te Rauparaha had earned a reputation as a powerful, warring leader. Stories of the abundant quantities of precious pounamu in the South Island roused his desire to conquer this southern territory. Further provoked by apparent insults, the Ngāti Toa leader decided to mount an assault and conquer its people. Accompanying him was his close comrade Te Pehi and his five year old on,s Katu Te Rauparaha. After stopping at Kaikoura to avenge an insult made against him by an unsuspecting chief, Rerewaka, Te Rauparaha headed south and set up camp a few hundred metres from the Kaiapoi Pā. Warned of his approach, chief Tamaiharanui gathered his people within the fortification, cut away bridges and prepared for a possible attack. Recognising a surprise attack was out of the question, Te Rauparaha decided on a more peaceful approach and communicated with the locals that he was there to trade muskets for pounamu. Negotiations began. Suspicious of the northern visitor’s true intentions, Tamaiharanui’s doubts were further aroused when he learned that a party of Ngāti Toa had desecrated a local grave. Fugitives from Kaikoura had also begun to arrive and reported horrific tales of the sacking of their pā. Tensions began to rise. Attempting to prove his ‘peaceful’ intentions, Te Rauparaha strategically allowed his chiefs to go into the pā to trade, indicating to the hosts there was no hostility. This proved to be a miscalculation, as by now the hosts were fully aware of his plans. The next day when the Ngāti Toa chiefs entered the pā to trade as usual, events quickly came to a head. While Te Pehi was involved in a verbal altercation over a piece of pounamu, fellow chief Pokaitara was struck with a miti and killed at one of the gates. Witnessing this, Te Pehi quickly tried to escape over the wall, but was also killed. The other remaining Ngāti Toa chiefs also tried to escape but to no avail. They were all killed. This was a devastating blow to Te Rauparaha. His great plans had been thwarted with disastrous cost. With no other alternative he returned to Kapiti grieved and defeated, vowing to avenge the blood of his lost kinsmen. Two years passed before he sought his revenge. In a cleverly devised tactic, Te Rauparaha used a European vessel as a means to enter undetected into Ngāi Tahu territory. His accomplice, Captain John Stewart, master of the merchant brigantine Elizabeth, would receive a cargo of harakeke in exchange for transportation of a taua to Akaroa.

www.nzcms.org.nz/200-years New Zealand Church Missionary Society 78 Peterborough Street, PO Box 25098, Christchurch 8144, New Zealand NZ Freephone 0508 4 NZCMS. Phone +64 (3) 377 2222. Fax +64 (3) 377 1111. Email [email protected] With Te Rauparaha and his war party of 170 hidden below deck, the Elizabeth sailed into Akaroa harbour in November 1830. This caused much excitement at the Takapuneke Pā as the prospects of trade were anticipated. The unsuspecting Tamaiharanui, along with his wife and daughter, were welcomed aboard Elizabeth by Stewart but soon discovered they had been duped by their enemy. More and more Ngāi Tahu came aboard and were lured below deck where they were bound and taken as prisoners. Later that night a war party went ashore and destroyed the defenseless pā, killing most of the inhabitants with only a few escaping into the darkness. The next day Elizabeth set sail for Kapiti where Tamaiharanui was customarily handed over to the wives of Te Pehi who tortured and killed him. Te Rauparaha was not content with this victory and further sought to plunder the pā at Kaiapoi. In December 1831 he assembled a taua of 600 and camped outside the well-defended, well-provisioned stronghold. The siege continued for three months until Te Rauparaha finally devised a stratagem that would bring him victory. Piling up bundles of dried manuka bushes against the wooden fortifications on the land side he was able to set fire to the defenses. Getting enough bushes in place to cause a powerful enough blaze cost many lives but this was nothing compared to the loss that the Ngāi Tahu were yet to suffer as a consequence of being overcome by their Ngāti Toa enemy. It is estimated that 1000 people inhabited Kaiapoi at the time of the raid. About 200 were able to escape through the swamp, using the smoke and vegetation as cover. The remainder were either killed or bound ready to be taken back to Kapiti as slaves. And it wasn’t over yet. In one final act of power, Te auparahaR travelled to Onawe Pā on Banks Peninsula and captured it. Finally he could return to Kapiti with his mana restored. Surviving Ngāi Tahu escapees were left to rebuild. About this same time the gospel of Jesus Christ began to spread throughout the North Island, reaching Kapiti in 1839. Te Rauparaha’s son Katu embraced the Christian faith, along with his cousin Matene Te Whiwhi, and was baptized Tamihana. Immediately they desired to journey south to the people of Ngāi Tahu to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. This was a risky mission as it was unknown how they would be received, but the pair were strong in their resolve and in 1843 they took the message of the gospel to the remnants of Ngāi Tahu remaining in Te Waipounamu. Eventually the slaves who had been taken to Kapiti were also allowed to return home. Later, Canon James West Stack became aware of the story of Kaiapoi Pā and believed it worthy of commemoration. Born in 1835 to missionary parents at Puriri, Thames, Stack spent his childhood at mission stations in the North Island. The Stack family returned to England in 1848 and it was there that James became a clerk for the Church Missionary Society. Returning to Aotearoa in 1852, aged 17, he spent six years as a CMS school teacher before commencing his work as a missionary and clergyman among the Maori people of the Christchurch Diocese, including Banks Peninsula and Tuahiwi. To this calling he dedicated himself for 40 years. Stack had met Tamihana Te Rauparaha when the rangatira visited England in 1851-2. Being able to speak te reo Maori, Stack was able to converse with Tamihana and sometimes accompanied him as an interpreter. The two friends returned together to New Zealand in July 1852. After their arrival at Koputai (Port Chalmers) they were invited to be guests of chief Te Matenga Taiaroa at Otakou (Otago Peninsula). Only 20 years had passed since their host had helped defend the Kaiapoi Pā against the raid led by Tamihana’s father. Miraculously, because of the gospel of peace, these once enemies now treated each other with honour and respect as they sang and prayed together. For years the Kaiapoia pā site remained desolate. Then in 1860, Woodend Anglican minister Rev. John Raven cleared the landmark of the bones that still lay there and buried them. Later, in 1898, Stack erected a monument in the hope that the story of this significant place would never be forgot