Te Hokioi printing press is a significant taonga because of its story and legacy imprinted within the whakapapa of the tangata whenua.
Te Hokioi printing press is a significant taonga because of its story and legacy imprinted within the whakapapa of the tangata whenua.
For the month of September, Te Awamutu Museum – Education and Research Centre is displaying information on one of its most significant objects — Te Hokioi Printing Press.
In celebration of Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori month, the information will be on display until September 30.
“There is more than one way to learn te reo Māori than kōrero. Today, you can learn te reo through waiata, karakia, watching movies, Whakaata Māori television programmes, and reading printed material,” said Te Awamutu Museum director Anne Blyth.
“Te Hokioi is connected to the Waipā through the living legacy of whakapapa of whānau that remain in the district and the press itself. It is only natural that the museum chose a significant taonga to highlight and to make the whole month of September Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori.”
The printing press Te Hokioi has an incredible story that spans over 200 years.
The press was used by Māori as a way to publish propaganda about the crown’s intentions within Aotearoa New Zealand in te reo Māori before the Waikato Wars of 1863.
Austrian researcher Dr Georg Sauer (left) and Auckland colleague Dr Sascha Nolden stand beside Te Hokioi press as they view Te Awamutu Museum’s 2010 exhibition of the printed word. Photo / Dean Taylor
The Austrian geologist Dr F.R. von Hochstetter surveyed the colony of New Zealand for nine months in the late 1850s.
During the Waikato leg of his survey, von Hochstetter met Hemara Te Rerehau of Ngāti Maniapoto and Wiremu Toetoe of Ngāti Apakura.
In recognition of their generous hospitality, they were invited back to Europe in January 1859 as guests of the Austrian government.
While in Vienna, the men worked in the printing office of Emperor Franz Joseph. The pair were entranced by their European hosts and intrigued by the things they saw.
We know what they thought about this trip, as Rerehau wrote about what he saw: “Austria is a very fine country, and the way people live is really excellent; the buildings are big and very tall. It is very beautiful inside the rooms, with lovely beds, excellent food and drink. And there are figures in the shape of lions and bears; their mouths are open so that water comes out.”
They returned to New Zealand in May 1860 with a printing press as a gift from the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef.
The printing press was manufactured in England by Hopkinson and Cope in the mid-1800s.
The press was probably set up at the Hopuhopu mission station, close to Ngāruawāhia, and the first issue of Te Hokioi e Rere Atu Na was printed in late 1861.
Its principal writer, Pātara Te Tuhi, was lauded for his witty prose, and in the early years of the 1860s, he argued in print on behalf of the Kīngitanga movement — often at the expense of the colonial government.
The press quickly became utilised by Māori as a way to publish their opinions on how the Crown was making headway into colonising the upper part of Aotearoa via the publication Te Hokioi e Rere Atu Na (The Soaring War Bird).
The Te Hokioi the Printing Press.
“Te Hokioi publication offered Māori the opportunity to not only learn printing skills but to create their own publication with no government edits. The press afforded Māori a way to express themselves without provocation or judgment and the freedom to distribute to the masses,” Blyth said.
Te Hokioi was part of the printed propaganda battle that preceded and prompted the Waikato Wars of the 1860s.
In response to Te Hokioi e Rere Atu Na, Governor Grey ordered that an opposing press and paper, Te Pihoihoi Mokemoke (A Sparrow Alone on the House Top), be set up at Te Awamutu by John Gorst.
After only four issues of the government paper, it abruptly ceased. Rewi Maniapoto of Ngāti Maniapoto confiscated the Pihoihoi Press and its fifth issue. The government press, along with its editor, was shipped back to Auckland.
The Hokioi press continued to print until the invasion of the Waikato in June 1863, when it was moved by waka to Te Kōpua, near a Wesleyan mission station, for safekeeping.
Although it reportedly fell into the river along the way, it was recovered intact.
There is some confusion in the record over what happened to the press after it was moved.
One account has it that the press was moved to Huntly after peace was made in 1881 and was used to print another Kingite paper, Te Paki o Matariki.
However, archives indicate that this was printed by another press, so it seems that the Hokioi press, after its short but turbulent run, languished in a paddock near the Waipā River.
As the land surrounding it was converted into farmland, the press served a variety of purposes: as a cooking pot stand for the Searancke family and as a tobacco press by locals.
The press remained largely forgotten in its paddock near the Waipā River until 1935, when members of the Te Awamutu Historical Society travelled out to the farm to inspect it. It was reported to be dilapidated, with several components missing and no sign of the typeset.
A reclamation party returned later that year to load it onto a truck, at which time Augie Swarbrick, then president of the historical society, remarked that the feat “clearly demonstrated that historical research is not a matter of mental effort only”.
The press was moved to Te Awamutu and stored in the offices of the Waipā Post to await more permanent storage.
Te Hokioi has been a part of the Te Awamutu Museum’s collection for 80 years.
The refurbishments made to the press were “to the point that it was cleaned and most of its components, including type, had survived. However, most of the press materials and wooden parts had not survived,” says Anne.
The Hokioi press is a considerable cast iron artefact, standing five feet tall and almost the same width. It is also a significant piece of Waikato history.
This is why Te Awamutu Museum – Education and Research Centre wanted to highlight it “by producing an in-depth research exhibit on the Front Porch Gallery and adding printing activities into our monthly creative offerings for visitors. It has been a great success, and lots of people have discovered a new piece of history they knew nothing about”, Blyth said.
“Everyone should come to learn about this significant taonga because of its story and legacy imprinted within the whakapapa of the tangata whenua. It’s an inspiring story of two young men who took on an adventure to a distant land, were embraced by them, and learned skills that were unknown and a language they didn’t understand.
“Upon the conclusion of the apprenticeship, they were celebrated by the Viennese royal family and its high society. This is an astonishing feat; however, not many people know about this amazing story and its connection to the Waikato Wars,” Blyth said.
To celebrate this story for the month of September, there will be creative activities involving learning how to create a print using the Te Awamutu Museum – Education and Research Centre’s hand-made printing press and how to design a monoprint. Suitable for all ages.
