2.2 Muriwhenua Land Report 20 place, happened to arrive there on the celebration of the Epiphany. For the purposes of these claims, however, such names at least serve as evidence of the cultural bias of Europeans at that time. If they could not accept that occupied places were likely to be already named, then presumably they would be no more disposed to recognise a legal system of rights and obligations that had little in common with their own. Te Rerenga Wairua In visiting throughout Muriwhenua, the Tribunal soon learnt how ancestral associations with the land remain real for young and old of Muriwhenua today. These site visits were used to explain places and events already spoken of, or to assist those who talk more freely of the past when the landscape provides the cues. Needless to say, numerous sacred sites were pointed to; but possibly none was more noteworthy than Te Ara Wairua, the spirit path, and Te Rerenga Figure 4: Tuki’s perspective by computerThe People and the Land 2.3 21 Wairua, the final departing place for the spirits of the deceased at one of the most northerly points. The traditions associated with those extremely sacred places are shared with Maori throughout Aotearoa, and a reference to Te Rerenga Wairua is rarely omitted in speeches at tangi in all parts of the country. It serves, too, as a reminder of Maori links to the Pacific Islands and beyond. Just as Island traditions describe the departure of spirits from westerly promontories pointing to Asia, so also the Muriwhenua Peninsula points north, for the spirits will pass through Hawaiiki on their way.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 22:14:07 +0000