The new spring leaves and flowers of a young whau tree
On Waitangi Day the tree I always think
of is the whau (Entelea arborescens). That's because of the
words spoken by the rangatira from Waima, Mohi Tawhai, at the Treaty
of Waitangi signing gathering held in the Hokianga six days later, on
the opposite coast of Northland from the Treaty grounds where
commemorations are taking place today.
Mohi Tawhai, addressing the
representatives of the British Crown who had brought the Treaty for
signing, said: “Let the tongue of everyone be free to speak: but
what of it. What will be the end? Our sayings will sink to the bottom
like a stone, but your sayings will float light, like the wood of the
whau tree, and always remain to be seen. Am I telling lies?”
For many, many years, as millions of
acres of tribal lands were alienated via legalistic procedures
conducted in a foreign language, it seemed that Mohi Tawhai was
surely speaking the truth. However, today there are hopeful signs
that his truly indigenous metaphor can be applied to Maori words as
well as to those of the Crown. That includes his own words, which
have now been preserved for 173 years.
The whau is a special tree in lots of
ways. It is the only species in the Entelea genus, and it is endemic to
New Zealand. As Mohi Tawhai's metaphor indicates, it has very light
wood, as light as cork. It was therefore used as floats for nets,
which are always meant to be seen. This was mainly in the northern
part of the North Island, however, and always near the sea, since the
whau is a very tender tree, which can not abide frost, strong winds,
dry soil, or heavy shade. It is neither tall, nor long-lived, but it
grows easily from seed. It is an attractive tree for coastal gardens,
covered in white flowers in spring and masses of spiky seed capsules
in autumn.
Our national leaf emblem, the silver fern, is also a good tree to ponder on Waitangi Day. Its leaves are green on the upper side and silver on the lower side, and the koru of new possibilities uncurl from its head.
A thoughtful post. I hadn't heard those words about the whau. I used to live near Maungawhau (Mt Eden), which used to be covered in whau and in recent years has been replanted. so the whau has been in my consciousness for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this.