To learn the old ways .
As a young fella I remember some Maori people that lived near us, growing up in a era when
we where all New Zealanders or Kiwi's .With no racial barriers & people seemed to get along
a lot better than in some instances today.It seems now that this young Pakiha boy was going
to be taught the old ways.It wouldn't happen in a class room but in a more gentle way ,apparently
this had been decided for me with out my knowledge.Weather my farther had organized it or was it
just how thing where done I have no idea about why but like it or not this would happen .
My education began with trips to gather Kai moana ,weather at night collecting rock crabs or day
time outings gathering shellfish ,Muscle ,Pipi ,Cockel .There where kids my age envolved but
I am thinking back 50 years so excuse me if I miss details.
I recall being sent to deliver fruit ,vege & other items when we had surplus.They would also
recipricate with their own surplus,crayfish was 1 of those things & where received great fully .
On 1 of my deliveries the man of the house was in bed ,middle of the morning .When I inquired was
he sick ,the answer was no .He had been out fishing all night & now he needed to sleep.I was
taken into the wash house & the twin concrete tubs where full of fish ,snapper ,Kahawai etc.
I'd never seen that many fish before although I was only perhaps 5 yrs old.
I was told of the place in time where they fished & how as sun set the old people would go down
to the water to fish.Drift wood was gathered & a fire set ready .This was to keep out the chill of
the night air as the men folk would fish all night .As it became light they would go home with their
sacks of Kai moana to feed family's .Here was a special place where you left nothing but
foot prints.A place where food was gathered to feed family ,meat was expensive then too.
Fish would not be cleaned here they are to be taken home to be cleaned .If done
here it may foul the ground & the fish would move,it just wasn't done. Taken home all was used ,
any thing not edable was used as fertaliser for the vegetable garden .Nothing was wasted .
I also learned the traditional times to fish ,places & tides they where productive.I still fish some of
those places today. Thinking now how privaledged I was to be taught these things, the attitude that
their was plenty for everyone but they asked that you respect their ways & culture.I would rate to
think how many fish & meals those places have provided me over the years I have gone there.
In later years I was becoming a very keen fisher ,many hours where spent with mixed success .Some
days & indeed for most part I never got enough for a feed. After 1 such trip ,sitting after thinking about
why, I came to the idea that if the old Maori came home empty handed he & his family didn't eat .That
was the cold hard reality , so how did they manage .The idea of Maori fishing calenders came to mind,
nothing new there unless your a non-Maori, so a trip to the local book shop was made . I looked at a
couple before deciding on a Tuhoe version,a fishing & planting calender apparently .The couple of
dollars turned my fishing around major,this fishing guide had been around a long long time. I had mates
that laughed ,that won't work .Your dreaming ,waste of time. bla bla bla Oh OK yea yea yea sure but it
seemed it was working for me just fine thanks.
That first Tuhoe calender was 30+ years ago now .How things have changed ,12' solid glass rods
replaced by 14' then 16' hollow glass.The reels are the same again Mitchell 488's left hand drive
models ,different from the 487's of 30 years back .They where right hand drive. Line basically the
same ,rigs have been improved & refined .The old ones have now passed on ,they left me some thing
very special .Now though some 50 years down the track ,the old people that took the young Pakiha boy
under a wing & took time to impart the old ways ,the traditional places they fished.
I find myself coming back some of those places. The feeding peck 2 hours each side of high tide still
exists ,as does the 1hr each side of low tide at another spot & the first 3 hours after low tide yet
another couple of spots .But still the most productive is the high tide feeding peck & applies to most
ocean beaches I've fished.After all this time I'm still very great full for the opportunity I was given to learn & be taught.
Coupled with, later on the Tuhoe calender this knowledge has feed myself & those around me for a long time & hopefully a longer time to come .
