Historic Hawke's Bay: Working together after 1931 earthquake

A cook-up at Westshore, Napier, by a group Māori to feed about 100 Māori evacuated from Tangoio.

Rū Whenua is Māori for earthquake, meaning "shaking of the land." Earthquakes, according to Māori legend, are caused by the god Rūaumoko when he walks the earth.

Early European settlers whose idea of an earth-shuddering tremor in the "old country" was a locomotive passing by, were introduced to two large earthquakes in Marlborough in 1848 and Wairarapa in 1855.

Māori had of course experienced earthquakes for centuries before Europeans arrived but living in a pā with an absence of building materials that would cause death or injury, they weren't unduly troubled.

While most photos of the 7.8 magnitude 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake show Europeans and the effect on them, very little is told of the experiences and impact on Hawke's Bay Māori, who were then predominantly a rural-based people.

When Grand Hotel publican Jack Ross was trapped in the cellar after the earthquake, Māori from Paki Paki reportedly came to effect a rescue, but with constant tremors and the hotel collapsing bit by bit, it was not possible. Jack perished that night when fire destroyed the hotel.

In Hastings and Napier, any Māori who needed emergency accommodation at the "tent city" camps were removed "from white camps as a health measure." This was on the Health Department's grounds that "typhoid fever is common among natives and a large proportion are chronic carriers of the disease".

Minister of Native Affairs Sir Āpirana Ngata on a visit to Hawke's Bay on February 11 indicated in a speech that Māori housing had been badly affected, hence the obvious need for tent accommodation, which would be provided by the Māori Welfare League, with assistance from the Red Cross.

Major JM Power from Lower Hutt was put in charge of Red Cross activities in Hawke's Bay in the earthquake's aftermath and spent two months here. He was given a special commission by the Government to watch out for the interests of Māori.

Some men gather outside the Grand Hotel in Heretaunga St East later on February 3, 1931.Photo / Diane Nelson.

Between 1800 and 1900 Māori were fed by the Red Cross and the Māori Welfare League, divided into four areas, accommodation and tents; labour department (legendary wrestler and shearer Ike Robin was put in charge); food and clothing; and health.

Major Power's concern for Māori, as he said, "was rather the commercial than the physical earthquake" (although, as previously stated, they had property losses as well). Drought and the Great Depression had hurt the small Māori farmer, he said. And that "the small Māori farmer had been accustomed to carrying on from cheque to cheque – shearing, wool, or other cheques – on credit given by the various stock and station agents against the following season's cheques."

As a result of this, special funds were set up by the Government "to tide them over their difficulties", which helped in most cases to alleviate their distress, a report stated.

Paraire Tomoana of Waipatu Marae was thankful for the assistance given by Major Power and the Red Cross. He also reflected on Māori and Pākehā working together during the earthquake recovery, saying "Thanks to their great example we have put aside both caste and colour to join in giving mutual assistance."

Māori camps of a different sort were established in Hastings after the earthquake to help with the earthquake clean-up. Around 200 Māori from Bridge Pa, in area close to where KiwiBank is today, established a camp. While the men did the mahi (work) of pulling down buildings, their wāhine minded large fires on which kai was cooked for the men.

I have also been recently made aware of another camp on the corner of Elwood Rd opposite the Tomoana Showgrounds, where Māori from Waimarama had apparently also set up a camp, going to town each day to help with the clean-up. They set up a miniature golf course to provide themselves with entertainment when not working.

Ernest Vogtherr, who was sworn in as a special policeman, recalls "… the quickly organised bands of Māori from the surrounding pas who flocked in with offers of help and were magnificent … struggling with crowbars and even bare hands to shift huge heaps of glass and rubble in the hope they might find someone alive."

Governor-General Lord Bledisloe said on February 10: "After our recent sojourn in the area grievously stricken by the earthquake disaster, I desire, in view of what we have seen and heard, to record our respectful admiration of the splendid spirit, indomitable pluck, patient endurance, resourcefulness and: unflagging mutual helpfulness animating its whole population, European and Maori alike, of both sexes and all ages, in the fate of death, bereavement and irretrievable material losses. It has made us feel proud to belong to the British race so happily, co-operating in this country, and in this crisis, with the noble Maori people. The finest traditions and quality of both races have been put to the add test, and magnificently maintained."

Sir Āpirana Ngata visited Hastings on February 10 to meet with around 100 Māori from Porangahau to Napier. He expressed his sympathies to the Māori people as well as Pākehā. Most pleasing to him was the favourable reports on the way in which the "native race had come to the rescue of those needing assistance".

Many homes of Māori had been destroyed, and their schools Hukarere, Te Aute and the Māori Agricultural College at Bridge Pā had been badly damaged or destroyed. Sir Āpirana stated Māori from around wanted to assist and offers had been made – and several tons of potatoes had already been received.

Several Hastings businessmen approached Sir Āpirana quietly after the earthquake and said of Māori: "They have set an example to everybody and one that will never be forgotten."

• During the Napier Art Deco Festival, Michael Fowler will be operating Art Deco/earthquake tours in the Hastings CBD. They will be limited to 10 people per tour. Some spaces are left on tours from February 17 to 19 at 1pm and Saturday 10am. Tickets from https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2022/feb/deco-hastings-earthquake-walk

• Michael Fowler (mfhistory@gmail.com) is a contract researcher and commercial business writer of Hawke's Bay history. Follow him on facebook.com/michaelfowlerhistory