316
18 Dating the Last Migration to New Zealand
In Chapters 19 and 20 we sketch a chronology for Maori and Polynesian prehistory from the study of traditional genealogies. We propose to show how, sensibly
analysed, the genealogies that underpin Polynesian tradition, and have always been
regarded by Maori as the backbone of their traditions, can provide prehistorians with
a finely delineated chronology. Our approach is specific and pragmatic. It differs significantly from that of the early historians who established the Polynesian Society,
in particular in recognizing the variability of generation lengths and in being partly
based on climate data to which they had no access. We seek to establish and exploit
the interface between El Niño proxy data (a product of modern climate research)
and traditional accounts of long-distance voyaging.
The present chapter has a simple focus: to establish a date for the Heke. The
importance of this date is signal: it is needed as a secure chronological pillar for our
analysis of genealogies in Chapter 19 and ultimately for our dating, in Chapter 20
of the first settlement of New Zealand. Both the first and last prehistoric settlements
of New Zealand hold an important place in our chronology for the peopling of the
Pacific.
18.9 Dating the Last Great Migration
Traditional history can open a window on the past, powerfully recapture time, place,
emotions and actions remote from our experience but made accessible to us through
the very pacing, tension and detail of the events being narrated. The personalities
of the men ranged in conflict live again in the narration and so are known to every
generation hearing their history. For Maori listening to the story of Uenuku’s defeat
of his enemy, Tawheta, Uenuku is not just a name in a genealogy. His mana is palpable for those listening for his responses, recognizing his motivations, hearing his
words and watching his actions, sharing his drive to revenge, rejoicing in the defeat
of his enemies. The Nga-i-porou version of the story of Uenuku’s defeat of Tawheta
is powerfully told. Though it is lengthy, we quote most of it in full because it can
provide such a remarkable window on the past and because its clear recording of
Uenuku’s exploitation of a solar eclipse enables us to date the battle of Uenuku and
Tawheta to the day, hour and minute. This dating provides chronological bounds
that enable us to securely date the Heke. The account does much to explain why the
Heke immigrants retreated rather than face Uenuku’s revenge. Uenuku is revealed
to be a powerful strategist, lethally intelligent, undeviating in his determination for
revenge, exerting total control as leader over his own men, and manipulating circumstances to exert such control over his enemies that they have no hope of avoiding the
extinction he plans for them and inexorably brings about. The Nga-i-porou account
is given in John White’s The Ancient History of the Maori, Volume III [21]:
Ue-nuku was a very great chief of the olden times. One of his wives was named Taka-rita
(fallen spirit). She was the sister of a very great chief named Ta-wheta (writhing in pain),
who dwelt in large pas of his own called Matiko-tai (rise in the sea) and Po-ranga-hau
(winds blowing at night).
18 Dating the Last Migration to New Zealand
In Chapters 19 and 20 we sketch a chronology for Maori and Polynesian prehistory from the study of traditional genealogies. We propose to show how, sensibly
analysed, the genealogies that underpin Polynesian tradition, and have always been
regarded by Maori as the backbone of their traditions, can provide prehistorians with
a finely delineated chronology. Our approach is specific and pragmatic. It differs significantly from that of the early historians who established the Polynesian Society,
in particular in recognizing the variability of generation lengths and in being partly
based on climate data to which they had no access. We seek to establish and exploit
the interface between El Niño proxy data (a product of modern climate research)
and traditional accounts of long-distance voyaging.
The present chapter has a simple focus: to establish a date for the Heke. The
importance of this date is signal: it is needed as a secure chronological pillar for our
analysis of genealogies in Chapter 19 and ultimately for our dating, in Chapter 20
of the first settlement of New Zealand. Both the first and last prehistoric settlements
of New Zealand hold an important place in our chronology for the peopling of the
Pacific.
18.9 Dating the Last Great Migration
Traditional history can open a window on the past, powerfully recapture time, place,
emotions and actions remote from our experience but made accessible to us through
the very pacing, tension and detail of the events being narrated. The personalities
of the men ranged in conflict live again in the narration and so are known to every
generation hearing their history. For Maori listening to the story of Uenuku’s defeat
of his enemy, Tawheta, Uenuku is not just a name in a genealogy. His mana is palpable for those listening for his responses, recognizing his motivations, hearing his
words and watching his actions, sharing his drive to revenge, rejoicing in the defeat
of his enemies. The Nga-i-porou version of the story of Uenuku’s defeat of Tawheta
is powerfully told. Though it is lengthy, we quote most of it in full because it can
provide such a remarkable window on the past and because its clear recording of
Uenuku’s exploitation of a solar eclipse enables us to date the battle of Uenuku and
Tawheta to the day, hour and minute. This dating provides chronological bounds
that enable us to securely date the Heke. The account does much to explain why the
Heke immigrants retreated rather than face Uenuku’s revenge. Uenuku is revealed
to be a powerful strategist, lethally intelligent, undeviating in his determination for
revenge, exerting total control as leader over his own men, and manipulating circumstances to exert such control over his enemies that they have no hope of avoiding the
extinction he plans for them and inexorably brings about. The Nga-i-porou account
is given in John White’s The Ancient History of the Maori, Volume III [21]:
Ue-nuku was a very great chief of the olden times. One of his wives was named Taka-rita
(fallen spirit). She was the sister of a very great chief named Ta-wheta (writhing in pain),
who dwelt in large pas of his own called Matiko-tai (rise in the sea) and Po-ranga-hau
(winds blowing at night).