Ancient Tribes of Peace Discovered in New Zealand

Some 1500 years ago a waka (canoe) came ashore on the land of Aotearoa ( New Zealand) and the Nation of Waitaha was born. For more than a thousand years the land was the undisturbed home of Waitaha. With the arrival of three tribes it grew until it was a confederation of over 200 tribes. They lived in the ways of peace, without weapons and without war. This nation of Stone People, Star Walkers, and Wind Eaters survived in harmony with the land until the 13th century, when warrior tribes began to arrive out of the Pacific. The Waitaha met the warriors in friendship. When the fires of war lit the land they hid the sacred histories in hope that one day they might be given again to the people of peace. The Waitaha were gardeners, who said "If we are not gentle with life, the garden within us dies.
- Song of Waitaha

Before I can walk in any country I need permission. I'm not talking about the usual visa and passport thing. What I'm talking about is permission from the land and the people. This special kind of permission is of spirit not form. It involves patience, listening and trust. This is a short story of how I received permission to walk in Aotearoa (New Zealand)

At long last I arrived at Mt. Maunganui, the place where Barry and I had arranged to meet, for he was now back in New Zealand. I was both nervous and excited to meet him again. Barry is a short man with curly hair and a grey beard with all the mannerisms of a leprechaun, including a twinkle in his eyes. When he spoke it was with the gentle authority of a learned man and prolific author of twenty books, an anthropologist and well-known lecturer. We greeted each other with a long hug.

We shared our stories of the road and I must say those of the Tourist for Peace paled in comparison to Barry’s. He had travelled to many countries since we last met. He talked how he had been asked by the Maori grandmothers to take pounamu, the sacred stone to the twelve tribes of North America. Now he had returned home to share in the mysteries of the Waitaha, who many years ago had come to New Zealand by canoe. This nation had lived in the ways of peace for over a thousand years. They honored the land and the waters to sustain life. They were known as the Water Seekers, the Stone People, the Star Walkers and the Wind Eaters. In time the warriors came and the Waitaha collectively decided it was more honorable to die in peace than to live in war. Humbly they bowed their heads to warrior clubs. After the red tides of war swept the country, the few remaining people chose to keep their traditions, their ways and their beliefs alive by passing them down to each generation through song. This was done in secret until 1988, when a particular configuration in the sky led them to believe that it was time to release this knowledge to all. They then approached Barry who knew the ways of the Maori and had also written about the historic Greenstone trails. It took Barry over five years to write a story that he thought would take two, and it totally changed his life and the lives of those who have been involved with the book. Days later I was given a Koha a gift, it was my own personal copy of the "Song of Waitaha."

It sat for some time still wrapped in its brown cover, for I dared not open it until I was ready. The day finally arrived and I sat alone slowly turning each page. I was drawn to a chapter about a peace trail and how the Waitaha would gather sacred Greenstone (Jade) to carry on this grueling trail over the Southern Alps, as a symbol of peace. I sat in silence for a long time, the words continuing to drop deeper into my heart. "Yes," I blurted out loud to no one in particular. My permission, "Yes," this is the permission I had been waiting for. Hadn’t I been given a 5 kilogram piece of Greenstone to carry through the country when I first arrived here? "That’s it," I said still yelling out loud. Walking this trail in the footsteps of the ancestors was to be the permission I was seeking.

I went to see Barry and said "I must walk this path before I can start my own walk." He listened to my every word carefully, not interrupting. He was like a father listening to an excited child. I was the child telling him why I just had to have that new red bike or my life could not go on. I can be very naive at times, which is turning out to be a wonderful gift as it takes me to places I would not normally dare go.

So there I was, being very naive again when I said to Barry, "I need you to guide me across the trail, but if that is not possible I will do it alone." In retrospect, if I had walked this trail alone I surely would have died. Fortunately, Spirit takes care of me in my foolishness and provided me with not only Barry but 12 other people. You need permission from the Elders to walk this trail and must also walk it in the old ways, which means walking with twelve others, and passing through seven sacred doors. My image of this journey was one of pretty little flowers brushing gently across my ankles, feeling the wind at my back and the warm sun in my face as I tra la laa'd along in blissful harmony. Well, it was a little like that for the first hour, and then everything changed. There I was on top of a mountain hacking out steps in the ice and snow. I said "Hoka Hey" meaning it is a good day to die many times as we crossed rivers where we had to link arms with at least four others in order to not be swept along by the raging torrents pouring from the glacier. Six days later I crossed the Southern Alps, physically exhausted but emotionally and spiritually strengthened. I had earned my permission to finally begin my walk through the South Island of New Zealand.