JUNTAS SOLDADAS

Despite its ruggedness and often highly changeable weather, the Craigieburn region has certainly not been untouched by humans. Both Maori and European inhabitants have over time made their own mark on this barren landscape.

3.6.1 Significance to Maori

It is not known whether or not permanent Maori dwellings have existed in the Craigieburn area in the past. However, rock drawings on the limestone formations at Castle Hill suggest that Maori people were present in the area. An adze was also discovered near the Pinnacles in the Harper Valley, further supporting the evidence of the Maori presence in the area (New Zealand Forest Service, 1981). The limestone tors of Castle Hill (Kura Tawhiti) are of great cultural importance to Maori. Castle Hill was once an important resting place for Maori travellers. The early users of this area were the Wai Taka and Ngati Mamoe, with Ngai Tahu having used it in more recent times (Barnett, 1991).

Evidence suggests that Maori used a number of alpine routes in both the Craigieburn and Arthur’s Pass regions during times in which they were in search of the highly prized greenstone (pounamu). The prominent pioneer West Coast surveyor G.J. Roberts once

commented that Maori travellers probably crossed every pass in the Southern Alps which was low enough to be grassed during the summer months (Dennis, 1986). Another possible reason for Maori to have travelled through the Craigieburn area is that they may have been in search of moa, an important food source, and it is thought that remnants of fires found in the area may have been lit to aid hunting. Radio-carbon analysis of charcoals from the Craigieburn Range and Porter’s Pass areas date fires found there to 1000, 1050, 1340 and 1440 AD, which coincides with the moa hunter period of early Polynesian settlement (New Zealand Forest Service, 1981). Relph (2007) also suggested that the main reasons for Maori occupation of the area were for seasonal food-gathering expeditions and the quest to obtain greenstone.

Over the centuries, the Maori people have formed a strong spiritual bond with the landscape of the Craigieburn region. The traditional Maori belief system itself is synonymous with nature and belonging to the land, having much bearing on how Maori interact with the natural environment (Kappelle, 2001). Maori have often explained their relationships with the land through legend. One such legend tells of a chief, Rakaihautu, who brought his people, the Waitaha iwi (tribe), to New Zealand and travelled through the mountainous interior of the South Island, digging out high country lakes with his digging tool (Relph, 2007). Legends such as these denote a deep relationship between people and land. The story of Rakaihautu and his people demonstrates how some tribes believe that their people had a direct influence on the formation of landscapes themselves.

3.6.2 Early European occupation: Runholding and exploration

The Canterbury Association was established in 1850, when European settlers arrived in Canterbury on the famous ‘first four’ ships from Britain, and settlers began to arrive in the Craigieburn area in 1857 (Relph, 2007; Wright, 1990). Between this year and 1860, all the land surrounding Craigieburn Forest Park was taken up by runholders (New Zealand Forest Service, 1981). The vast landscape of tussock appealed to the new human arrivals, and was recognised as being highly suitable for cultivation, with much of the scrub and tussock being burnt to clear the land to be stocked with sheep for grazing (Kappelle, 2001).

The Canterbury Association’s original vision was to replicate the English agricultural farming system, based on well-to-do owners of freehold property employing waged labourers (Relph, 2007). However, the factors of expensive land, small markets and labour shortages meant that this method of farming was slow to develop in the Canterbury region. As a result,

Canterbury’s land tenure system was modified, providing for leases that could be taken up very cheaply (Relph, 2007). The leasehold runs of the Craigieburn changed hands frequently (Wright, 1990).

As a consequence of this modification, there was a rush to secure blocks of land, and generally, the lessee had no pre-emptive rights to the land, which posed the threat of other farmers being able to buy up a portion of the land and freehold it (Relph, 2007). Despite these problems, the new settlers were not deterred from farming the high country, and by 1854 grazing rights had been taken up for most of the Canterbury Plains, with most of the land there being freeholded (Relph, 2007).

There had been few attempts to explore the high country before 1849, when the surveyor named Charles Torlesse, accompanied by Maori guide George Tuwhia, scaled Otarama, one of the summit peaks in the range that would later be named in honour of Torlesse (Relph, 2007). Nearly a decade later, in 1858, Torlesse would make his way over what is now Porters Pass with the intention of exploring and mapping Castle Hill Basin (Relph, 2007).

In 1857, Joseph Hawdon, an Australian pastoralist, employed Joseph Pearson to venture into the high country to search for land to graze (Relph, 2007). With a companion, Pearson took a route around the northern end of the Torlesse Range and emerged into the Broken River Valley, where he spent several weeks exploring and burning the tussock around Cass, Flock Hill and the upper Waimakariri River (Relph, 2007). Joseph Hawdon later took up leases across much of this area for runs that became Grasmere, Craigieburn and Riversdale.