Te Maungarongo (The Peace Making) 1845 by Duane Moyle (2010)

Date2010DescriptionThis painting speaks of two momentous occasions of peacemaking in Tauranga. The first happened soon after the Ngapuhi defeated the Ngai Te Rangi in 1820. The leader of the Ngapuhi, Te Morenga, was scouting around Ōtūmoetai and Matua and decided to rest a while under the shade of a ngaio tree. Te Waru, the chief of Ngai Te Rangi, saw him there, crept up and captured him. Te Waru took him as a prisoner back to the remainder of the Ngai Te Rangi where he released him and demanded that Te Morenga bind him and take him back to the Ngapuhi war party at Pilot bay, who were at this time making preparations for a great cannibal feast on the slain Ngai Te Rangi. As Te Morenga returned to his people he was greeted by many who were eager to kill his prestigious prisoner. He ordered them to wait and he recounted the story of how mercifully he was treated when he was a prisoner of Te Waru. The Ngapuhi were so filled with admiration for the chivalrous conduct toward their leader they decided they would not fight against such a great man and declared peace between Ngapuhi and the Ngai Te Rangi. They also decided not to eat their slain enemies and gave them a respectful burial in caves on Mt Drury. Throughout the first half of the 19th century the Bay of Plenty was the scene of many wars. The European traders who began to establish themselves in the area brought with them guns, where as the missionaries taught Christianity and a more formalized form of law and order. In 1842 Major Banbury and a detachment of soldiers were sent to Tauranga to curb the fighting between Arawa, Ngapuhi and Ngai Te Rangi. In 1845 a peace treaty was signed and a commemorative stone with the inscription “Te Maungarongo 1845” (the peace making) was set up at Maketū. From this moment until the land wars of the 1860”s peace reigned throughout the area with the local tribes happy to allow the European settlers to enforce the law. This painting shows a serene Mauao and Tauranga Harbour from Sulphur Point. The name Tauranga means “safe anchorage” and aptly describes the Tauranga that we know today. The Tukutuku structure is borrowed from a design used in the Christchurch City Libraries to symbolize Aoraki. It is based on a Niho Taniwha pattern common in many traditional tukutuku panels which speaks of threatening mythological creatures and also a chief”s divine lineage. More information: http://duanemoyle.wordpress.com/

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Start here:Mauao (Place)PeopleDuane Moyle: Sacred Ground (2010)PlacesMauao (Place)EventsPete Morris: Art Profiles (2011-2018)Part of Photograph CollectionCommunity contributions

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Te Maungarongo (The Peace Making) 1845 by Duane Moyle (2010)

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