314
18 Dating the Last Migration to New Zealand
of a colony. This applied less to the Heke than to earlier migration fleets because
the Heke migrants from different canoes, and even from the same canoe, dispersed
rapidly to different areas in New Zealand upon arrival. Perhaps because the country
was known to be significantly populated, intermarriage with indigenous tribes was
anticipated.
18.8 Historical Evidence for Migration Fleets
Migration fleets are recorded in Polynesian tradition long before Irapanga’s fleet of
six canoes reached Hawaii (by our calculation in about AD 460). As we saw in Part I,
the earliest migrations recorded in Maori whare wananga traditions speak of a fleet
of six or seven canoes. That fleets were still being used during the Medieval Climatic
Optimum can be shown from traditions describing the medieval migrations led by
Kahukura (AD 1230). The 2,000 colonists that Kahukura initially settled would have
required a fleet of at least eight and possibly ten double canoes to transport them.
Kahukura’s fleet and the circumstances of the migration are interesting in their own
right. They offer a good illustration for our claim that famine and conflict over land
and resources were a prime motivation for migrations within the Pacific as well as
to New Zealand during the Medieval Climatic Optimum. We quote from Stephen
Savage’s brief account [20] of the migrations Kahukura led. The skill in conflict
resolution Kahukura demonstrates and the suggested use of migration to create
possible future refuges in times of trouble contrast with Uenuku’s overwhelming
commitment to revenge and his drive to settle disputes inexorably by force:
Ka‘ukura, the name of a celebrated ancestor of the Polynesian race. He was a direct descendant of Atonga (Whatonga), another famous ancestor of the Polynesians, being sixth in
line from Atonga. According to tradition, it was during the period of Ka‘ukura that a large
migration took place from one of the ‘Avaikis named Amoa, Savaii, Kuporo, and Vai‘i. This
migration was caused through constant and acute troubles among the people, and is said to
have taken place during the period of the year named Iri-nga-te-rangi, and the actual day the
fleet departed was named Otutu-metua, probably the 14th September or October. The total
number of people that Ka‘ukura took away on this occasion was e varu rau 1600 persons,
adults. According to the tradition, the following is the manner in which he placed his
people on the islands named:- at Iva-nui, two hundred persons with Maro-kura as their chief;
at Iva-rai , 200 persons with their chief Te-ika-moe-ava; at Iva-te-pupenga, 200 persons with
their chief Ru. Other islands included with these three named, are Te-kirikiri, Te-Rayam
and Naeva-Tipa. Ka‘ukura then appointed Teuira-te-ai-po as the head ariki over the three
islands named, and when he had completed the necessary ceremonies, he addressed the
people telling them to ever remember that they sprang from a common stock and were
one people. This was when drum beating ceased, and from this fact, Ka‘ukura called these
islands Pau-motu, meaning the ceasing of drum beating.
Kahukura’s settling of another 1,000 settlers is described, with the appointment
of chiefs. Kahukura then returns to ‘Avaiki to recruit more colonists:
On arrival at ‘Avaiki, where he had left Naea Ariki and his brothers, he found that a
revolt had broken out, the cause being the four brothers of Naea Ariki, named respectively, Tuoteote, Kkarae-mura, Uki and Pana, who had become jealous of their elder brother,
18 Dating the Last Migration to New Zealand
of a colony. This applied less to the Heke than to earlier migration fleets because
the Heke migrants from different canoes, and even from the same canoe, dispersed
rapidly to different areas in New Zealand upon arrival. Perhaps because the country
was known to be significantly populated, intermarriage with indigenous tribes was
anticipated.
18.8 Historical Evidence for Migration Fleets
Migration fleets are recorded in Polynesian tradition long before Irapanga’s fleet of
six canoes reached Hawaii (by our calculation in about AD 460). As we saw in Part I,
the earliest migrations recorded in Maori whare wananga traditions speak of a fleet
of six or seven canoes. That fleets were still being used during the Medieval Climatic
Optimum can be shown from traditions describing the medieval migrations led by
Kahukura (AD 1230). The 2,000 colonists that Kahukura initially settled would have
required a fleet of at least eight and possibly ten double canoes to transport them.
Kahukura’s fleet and the circumstances of the migration are interesting in their own
right. They offer a good illustration for our claim that famine and conflict over land
and resources were a prime motivation for migrations within the Pacific as well as
to New Zealand during the Medieval Climatic Optimum. We quote from Stephen
Savage’s brief account [20] of the migrations Kahukura led. The skill in conflict
resolution Kahukura demonstrates and the suggested use of migration to create
possible future refuges in times of trouble contrast with Uenuku’s overwhelming
commitment to revenge and his drive to settle disputes inexorably by force:
Ka‘ukura, the name of a celebrated ancestor of the Polynesian race. He was a direct descendant of Atonga (Whatonga), another famous ancestor of the Polynesians, being sixth in
line from Atonga. According to tradition, it was during the period of Ka‘ukura that a large
migration took place from one of the ‘Avaikis named Amoa, Savaii, Kuporo, and Vai‘i. This
migration was caused through constant and acute troubles among the people, and is said to
have taken place during the period of the year named Iri-nga-te-rangi, and the actual day the
fleet departed was named Otutu-metua, probably the 14th September or October. The total
number of people that Ka‘ukura took away on this occasion was e varu rau 1600 persons,
adults. According to the tradition, the following is the manner in which he placed his
people on the islands named:- at Iva-nui, two hundred persons with Maro-kura as their chief;
at Iva-rai , 200 persons with their chief Te-ika-moe-ava; at Iva-te-pupenga, 200 persons with
their chief Ru. Other islands included with these three named, are Te-kirikiri, Te-Rayam
and Naeva-Tipa. Ka‘ukura then appointed Teuira-te-ai-po as the head ariki over the three
islands named, and when he had completed the necessary ceremonies, he addressed the
people telling them to ever remember that they sprang from a common stock and were
one people. This was when drum beating ceased, and from this fact, Ka‘ukura called these
islands Pau-motu, meaning the ceasing of drum beating.
Kahukura’s settling of another 1,000 settlers is described, with the appointment
of chiefs. Kahukura then returns to ‘Avaiki to recruit more colonists:
On arrival at ‘Avaiki, where he had left Naea Ariki and his brothers, he found that a
revolt had broken out, the cause being the four brothers of Naea Ariki, named respectively, Tuoteote, Kkarae-mura, Uki and Pana, who had become jealous of their elder brother,