Stored away in the back of an old Auckland building for years was the fabulous war canoe Te Toki a Tapiri ( The Battle axe of Tapiri ), nearly 25 metres long , almost two metres wide, capable of carrying nearly 100 warriors, which narrowly escaped being destroyed .
The hull was adzed out from a single totara log about 1836 for Te Waaka Tarakau , chief of the Ngati Matawhaiti sub tribe of Ngati Kahungunu, at Whakaki Lagoon , near Te Wairoa, Hawkes Bay.
Then it was exchanged for a "famous cloak" from the Rangowhakaata tribe, Poverty Bay. The new owners then carried out intricate carving and weaving .
Ownership of the huge canoe changed again when it was sold to the Ngati Teata tribe, Waiuku, a special shed built for it at Rangatira, near Waiuku. In 1860, following the outbreak of the Waikato War, Te Toki a Tapiri was "confiscated " by Government forces.
In a front page article , The Manukau Progress of October 16, l963 , dealing with demolition of old buildings in the district , ran the above early photograph with interesting information about the canoe . From the rear of one of the two storey buildings next to the Auckland Store , owned by the "gallant " Captain Thomas Parnall, was stored the " famous Maori war canoe ".
As Company Commander of the Onehunga Naval Volunteers, Captain Parnall had led the expedition in the Lady Barkly which in July l863 made a " sudden swoop on various creeks, bays and inlets", to seize Maori canoes which might be used by "insurgent tribes" in a raid on Auckland . A "great fleet " of canoes, including Te Toki a Tapiri, had been captured and towed to Geddes Basin at Onehunga to await orders of Lieutenant-General Sir Duncan Cameron .
He ordered all of them destroyed. However, prominent local people strongly urged the war canoe be saved , and he reluctantly relented , but insisted it be placed in a safe place and guarded securely for the duration of the war .
Captain Parnall and the Collector of Customs at Onehunga were made personally responsible for the safe keeping of the canoe . It was stored at the rear of Captain Parnall's coal and firewood business.
Online information says the canoe was repaired and refloated as the main attraction in the l869 regatta organised for the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh. It was reported that attempts were made to blow it up on Onehunga beach. Paora Tuhaere, Ngati Whatua chief , of Orakei, subsequently looked after the canoe and it was presented to the Auckland Museum by the government in 1885, where it became part of a major display in the Auckland War Memorial Museum , see photo at top of this post .
