Ngā Rauropi Whakaoranga

p.78 and following: Ati-Awa and Ngāti-Toa invasion of Wellington district 1819-1824.

p.86 "One of those who afterwards lived with the Ati-Awa after that tribe had driven out and practically exterminated Ngāti-Ira, told me that in those days Ngāti-Ira did not cultivate the soil at all, but lived on fernroot, fish, pauas, birds, and the fruits of the forest. There was one kind of plant the root of which they called aka aaka which was eaten, and furnished a large addition to their daily food. The root was as thick as a man"s wrist and about a foot long: its leaves were like the wharawhara (Astelia Banksii); but, my informant says, it is now quite extinct, destroyed by the cattle. The root was dug up with a pointed stick, then roasted, when it was very good"