New Arrivals to Rekohu

Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama  New Arrivals to Rekohu

In 1835, 24 generations after the Moriori chief Nunuku had forbidden war, Moriori saw about 900 new arrivals on Rekohu from two Māori tribes, Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama. Originally from Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island, they had voyaged from Wellington on an overcrowded European vessel, the Rodney. They arrived severely weakened, but were nursed back to health by their Moriori hosts. However, they soon revealed hostile intentions and embarked on a reign of terror called takahi: “walking the land.”

Stunned, Moriori called a council of 1,000 men at Te Awapātiki to debate their response. The younger men were keen to repel the invaders and argued that even though they had not fought for many centuries, they outnumbered the newcomers two to one and were a strong people. But the elders argued that Nunuku’s Law was a sacred covenant with their gods and could not be broken. The consequences for Moriori were devastating.

New Arrivals to Rekohu

The annihilation of Moriori on Rekohu

Although the total number of Moriori first slaughtered was said to be around 300, hundreds more were enslaved and later died. Some were killed by their captors. Others, horrified by the desecration of their beliefs, died of ‘kongenge’ or despair. According to records made by elders, 1,561 Moriori died between 1835 and 1863, when they were released from slavery. Many succumbed to diseases introduced by Europeans, but large numbers died at the hands of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama. In 1862 only 101 remained. When the last known full-blooded Moriori died in 1933, many thought this marked the extinction of a race.

Dealings with the government

From the 1850s Moriori elders petitioned New Zealand’s governor for recognition of their status as original inhabitants of the islands, and for restoration of the lands taken from them. However, it was not until 1863, 23 years after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, that Moriori were officially released from slavery by mainland Māori, in a proclamation by the resident magistrate of the Chatham Islands.

In 1870 a Native Land Court was set up on Rēkohu to investigate competing claims by Moriori and Māori. By this time almost all Māori had returned to Taranaki. But the court ruled largely in favour of the absentee Māori, awarding 97.3% of the lands to Ngāti Mutunga by applying the legal rule that those in occupation in 1840 had greatest rights. No account was given to the long ancestral and peaceful occupation by Moriori.

New Arrivals to Rekohu                       New Arrivals to Rekohu

This judgement was the final blow for Moriori; as a people and as a culture for the next 110 years………….