Nunuku's Law

Nunuku’s Law of Peace

In Rekohu, there were many fights that caused injuries and death. Nunuku was one of the chiefs of Rekohu. He was fed up with all the violence so he decided to make a law to stop all the fighting. When Nunuku told the other chiefs, they all agreed to end all the fighting. People kept the law. If two people started a fight, they were not allowed to draw blood or else that would be breaking the law.

They valued peace for a very long time. To show they  valued peace, they wore white albatross’ feathers to show that peace was so important in their lives.

Later on invaders came to Rekohu. The tribes were Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga. When they came, the Morioris didn’t know what to do. They gathered together and decided that they would not fight. The invasion was fierce. Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama killed many of the Morioris but some were taken as slaves. Some Morioris were left on the island and were proud of what the other Morioris did because the Morioris who died stood up for peace.

The descendants are very proud and today they show memorials in the Marae  for those who died because of the 2 tribes. In the Marae there is a long, wooden pole that has names of the people that died in the invasion.

The Treaty of Waitangi:

The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement between the British Crown and the Maoris. They also wanted their identity and their culture recognised. In 1870, a native court award was 58 516 hectares which is 97.3 % of the land of Rekohu but sadly, the Morioris only got 2.7 % of their land or 1640 hectares. 1988 was the year when they wanted their fishing rights and land back and they also wanted their identity and culture to be recognised. A good thing was that in 2004, the Morioris won back their fishing rights.