Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Māori Contingent, 1915

New Zealand. Army. 1st Maori Contingent. Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Maori Contingent, 1915. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-624.
Cultural Permissions AppyMS-624

This list brings together the names of personnel who appear on the Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Maori Contingent, 1915. The scroll was presented to Captain Alec Mitford Edwin, Commander of the transport SS Warrimoo, by the Commanding Officer, officers, and men of the Contingent on their arrival in Egypt in 1915.

The original scroll and a framed facsimile were gifted to Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira in 1970 by Mrs Mairatea Tahiwi, MBE, in memory of Captain Pirimi Pererika Tahiwi, whose name appears among the signatories.

The text of the scroll reads:

Ki te Kai-hautu, ki ana rangatira me nga huruhuru o ona waewae, o te rua-tekau o nga waka kawe katoa, opetaua a te Kingi o Ingarangi, tena koutou.

Te poroporoaki tenei kia koutou nana nei matou i whakawhiti ora mai i nga ngaru pua o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

Kotahi ano te taua Maori ka hoe i enei moana, mai i te wa i whakarerea ai a Atia-te-Varinga-nui e nga uri o Tu-te-Rangi-marama. Na te karakia a nga tohunga me to ratou mohio ki nga whetu, i whakawhiti nga waka o o matou Tupuna ki te Ika-a-Maui.

Kaati ko aua karakia he mea whakatinana e nga Tohunga kore moko, ki te mapi, ki te kapehu, ki te kanohi karahi me era atu makutu. Ngaro atu he tetekura, ora mai he tetekura.

Tena koe te Tetekura te tukunga a nga tohunga kua ngaro atu ki te hohonutanga.

Na tenei whanaungatanga i rite ai o tatou whakaaro, i kotahi ai a tatou whakahaere, i pumau ai hoki te aroha i waenganui i a tatou. E mihi atu ana matou kia koe e koro me to hapu mo nga manaakitanga maha i a matou.

Kua u te Hokowhitu-a-Tu, ki te Ihipa, ki te whenua i takahia e to tipuna e Mohi i nga ra onamata.

Naumai! Haere e hoki te moana tapokopoko a Tawhaki i runga i te rangi marie. Hoatu nga mihi ki te kainga, a taihoa ka hoki mai ki te tiki mai i a matou.

English translation (as printed on the scroll):

To the wielder of the steering paddle, to his chiefs and his adherents, Greetings.

This is a farewell to you who brought us safely over the breaking waves of the Great Ocean of Kiwa.

This is the first Maori war party that has paddled over these Seas since Atia-te-Varinga-nui was left by the descendants of Tu-te-Rangi-marama in 450 B.C. It was the incantations of the priestly navigators and their knowledge of the stars that guided the canoes of our ancestors across the seas to the Fish-of-Maui.

Your incantations have been materialised by your untattooed wizards in sea craft into charts, compasses, sextants and other forms of “witchcraft.” As one centre frond of the tree fern disappears another takes its place. As one wizard dies another appears. Greetings to you, the wizard, successor of the tattooed navigators who have passed away to the bosom of the deep.

Through this relationship our thoughts have been in accord, our actions one, and friendship firmly established between us. We render hearty thanks to you, O Sir, and your people for the innumerable kindnesses we have received at your hands.

The hundred and forty fighting men of Tu the War God have reached terra firma, Egypt, the land which was trodden by your ancestor Moses in the days of long ago.

Farewell! Return! Recross the Troublous Ocean of Tawhaki in peace and safety. Give our love to the homeland, and in due time come back for us.

Citation
New Zealand. Army. 1st Maori Contingent. (1915). Scroll of the 1st New Zealand Maori Contingent, 1915 [Holograph]. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Manuscripts, MS-624. Presented by Mrs Mairatea Tahiwi, 28 August 1970.

Results

Record ID	Family name	First names	Force	Wars	Service #
C34490	Poa	George	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/348
C34504	Rickus	William	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/289
C57373	Tunuiarangi	James Carroll	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/225
C58494	Wi	Patihana	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/485
C53394	Pullen	Ernest	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/233
C56387	Sullivan	Jury	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/569
C34357	Aperahama	Hone	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/381
C34377	Brown	Harvey	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/314
C34327	D'arcy-Hamilton	Eagle	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/539
C44520	Grant	Rawiri	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/2
C45247	Haronga	Tamahou	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/7
C47782	Kinita	Paki	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/537
C34339	Maaka	Nikara Hohepa	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/338
C34430	Manihera	Anitipa	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/238
C50699	Merito	Topia	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/86
C51287	Morris	William	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/25
C52415	Pakana	Nikorima	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/159
C34345	Paurini	James Waru	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/409
C52848	Pereto	Pono	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/105
C53121	Poi Poi	Pita	Army	World War I, 1914-1918	16/513

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