Ngākuku

XIXᵉ siècle

Refusing revenge out loud, on the day itself, in front of everyone.

Who was Ngākuku?

A Ngāti Hauā chief and lay catechist at Matamata, in the years when the tribes were still at war. In October 1836 his daughter Tarore, twelve years old, was killed in her sleep during a raid, and the Gospel of Luke in te reo Māori that she carried was taken by one of the attackers. At the burial, in front of his people waiting for the call to revenge, he asked that no payment be sought. Years later the man who had taken the book had it read to him and came to ask forgiveness.

In their own words

There lies my child; she has been murdered as a payment for your bad conduct. But do not you rise up to obtain satisfaction for her. God will do that. Let this be the conclusion of the war with Rotorua. Let peace be now made.

Words at the funeral of his daughter Tarore, at Matamata, October 1836, from the journal of the Rev. A. N. Brown; William Williams, Christianity among the New Zealanders, London, 1867, ch. XII, p. 244

The only reason why my heart is sad, is, that I do not know whether my child has gone to heaven, or to the Reinga.

Words reported on the evening of Tarore's death by the Rev. A. N. Brown; William Williams, Christianity among the New Zealanders, London, 1867, ch. XII, p. 244