18.8 Historical Evidence for Migration Fleets
315
and desired to be arikis [chiefs] also. This led to the trouble which was at its height when
Ka‘ukura returned unexpectedly. Ka‘ukura managed to establish peace, and appointed each
of the brothers as tutaras, a rank which was but little inferior to that of the title of ariki.
He then selected three hundred more suitable persons, and departed again on his colonizing
voyage. On his way he called again at the islands of Iva-nui, Iva-rai, and Iva-te-pupenga,
and selected three hundred more persons to add to those he had but recently obtained at
‘Avaiki. He sailed away proceeding to Tonga-reva, then to Rangiatea, where according to
tradition, he built a koutu which he named Tapu-tapu-atea. He here landed Tamatoa, a son of
Tangaroa with his clans, and proceeded to Taiti-nui, where he landed and took up permanent
abode, building an ariki house which he named Au-maru.
Placed in the context of the migration fleet led by Kahukura, the seven canoes of
the Last Great Migration can hardly be thought of as anomalous. Tradition provides
clear motivation for migration in the unwise challenges of Turi and of Tamatekapua
to the formidable Uenuku and his extreme reactions to their challenges. An escalation in risk to the point where survival is threatened, given the unbending character
of Uenuku, left migration as the only option. The outcomes of every action in the
sequence of events that leads to migration arise directly from the personalities of the
individuals involved.
If Turi and Tamatekapua were dealing with a Kahukura rather than an Uenuku,
the Heke may never have taken place. Psychologically, the Heke traditions have
authenticity. Statistically we have shown that there is no evidence that the canoes
of the Heke were not contemporaneous. Historically there is clear evidence from
Tahitian and Rarotongan traditions that the Heke was a migration to New Zealand
from Eastern Polynesia. The detail given in the traditions is grounded in place and
time and consistent with climatic evidence and El Niño dating which place the Last
Great Migration on the cusp between the end of the Medieval Climatic Optimum
and the beginning of the Little Ice Age.
Culturally too there is subtle but sound evidence for the historicity of the Heke.
In some ways this evidence might be seen as the strongest of all. Elsewhere we
have argued, from the role the Takitimu played as a sacred canoe, that the Heke
was conceived of as a fleet. Indeed the name “Heke” means fleet. The role of
the Takitimu was as a spiritual flagship bringing an ark of spiritual resources to
New Zealand and conveying three highly trained tohunga to set up three whare
wananga, or schools of learning, to train future generations and pass on traditional
knowledge to the fleet’s descendants. The Takitimu, too, was an “ark” of bloodlines.
Two representatives from every family of the fleet had a place in the Takitimu and
shared in the task of protecting and conveying its sacred cargo to New Zealand.
The canoe itself was sacred: no food could be cooked on it and no woman had a
place aboard. Each canoe of the Heke carried its own “gods” aboard. The Takitimu’s
sacred cargo was of a higher order of sacredness and the importance of the sacred
canoe for the future of the Heke immigrants in New Zealand clearly defined and
prepared for in advance. The cultural primacy given to the Takitimu is out of keeping with Simmons’ paradigm of separate non-contemporaneous internal migrations
but entirely in keeping with the traditional account of the Heke as a carefully organized, large-scale migration fleet bringing migrants from Eastern Polynesia to New
Zealand.
315
and desired to be arikis [chiefs] also. This led to the trouble which was at its height when
Ka‘ukura returned unexpectedly. Ka‘ukura managed to establish peace, and appointed each
of the brothers as tutaras, a rank which was but little inferior to that of the title of ariki.
He then selected three hundred more suitable persons, and departed again on his colonizing
voyage. On his way he called again at the islands of Iva-nui, Iva-rai, and Iva-te-pupenga,
and selected three hundred more persons to add to those he had but recently obtained at
‘Avaiki. He sailed away proceeding to Tonga-reva, then to Rangiatea, where according to
tradition, he built a koutu which he named Tapu-tapu-atea. He here landed Tamatoa, a son of
Tangaroa with his clans, and proceeded to Taiti-nui, where he landed and took up permanent
abode, building an ariki house which he named Au-maru.
Placed in the context of the migration fleet led by Kahukura, the seven canoes of
the Last Great Migration can hardly be thought of as anomalous. Tradition provides
clear motivation for migration in the unwise challenges of Turi and of Tamatekapua
to the formidable Uenuku and his extreme reactions to their challenges. An escalation in risk to the point where survival is threatened, given the unbending character
of Uenuku, left migration as the only option. The outcomes of every action in the
sequence of events that leads to migration arise directly from the personalities of the
individuals involved.
If Turi and Tamatekapua were dealing with a Kahukura rather than an Uenuku,
the Heke may never have taken place. Psychologically, the Heke traditions have
authenticity. Statistically we have shown that there is no evidence that the canoes
of the Heke were not contemporaneous. Historically there is clear evidence from
Tahitian and Rarotongan traditions that the Heke was a migration to New Zealand
from Eastern Polynesia. The detail given in the traditions is grounded in place and
time and consistent with climatic evidence and El Niño dating which place the Last
Great Migration on the cusp between the end of the Medieval Climatic Optimum
and the beginning of the Little Ice Age.
Culturally too there is subtle but sound evidence for the historicity of the Heke.
In some ways this evidence might be seen as the strongest of all. Elsewhere we
have argued, from the role the Takitimu played as a sacred canoe, that the Heke
was conceived of as a fleet. Indeed the name “Heke” means fleet. The role of
the Takitimu was as a spiritual flagship bringing an ark of spiritual resources to
New Zealand and conveying three highly trained tohunga to set up three whare
wananga, or schools of learning, to train future generations and pass on traditional
knowledge to the fleet’s descendants. The Takitimu, too, was an “ark” of bloodlines.
Two representatives from every family of the fleet had a place in the Takitimu and
shared in the task of protecting and conveying its sacred cargo to New Zealand.
The canoe itself was sacred: no food could be cooked on it and no woman had a
place aboard. Each canoe of the Heke carried its own “gods” aboard. The Takitimu’s
sacred cargo was of a higher order of sacredness and the importance of the sacred
canoe for the future of the Heke immigrants in New Zealand clearly defined and
prepared for in advance. The cultural primacy given to the Takitimu is out of keeping with Simmons’ paradigm of separate non-contemporaneous internal migrations
but entirely in keeping with the traditional account of the Heke as a carefully organized, large-scale migration fleet bringing migrants from Eastern Polynesia to New
Zealand.