'TUI AROHA & THE PEOPLE OF THE NEW BEGINNING'

'Tui Aroha' is a fictitious parallel story set in New Zealand in 1775 during the start of the musket wars, and 1880 respectively. It is a story of two Maori women's search for realisation and empowerment.

In 1880, after the early settlement of Europeans, one of them is abandoned on the steps of a Presbyterian orphanage run by a Scottish pastor and his wife. Her mother lies dead beside her, a victim of the flu. They name her Mary, 'a good Christian name', and raise her in their faith.

Tui Aroha is the wife of a great and noble chief, Tane, in the year 1785, of the tribe Te Iwi Aka. They have twin twelve year old daughters, one of which is a deaf mute. The twins have developed their own unique sign language.

In pursuit of the newly arrived musket, brought to their shores by the Pakeha, or white men, Chief Tane is mortally wounded. Before he dies he is visited by his Gods and ancestors who instruct him that he must make his wife chief of the iwi, the tribe, if they are to survive the approaching tide of white man. Tane momentarily regains consciousness, and so orders the nobles gathered at his death bed. There is uproar at his final proclamation that a woman lead them..

Tui Aroha is confused, a wife and mother she has no idea what to make of her husband's final command.

Tuis' father, Rakai, a warrior of much mana, honour, suggests that they travel north to trade for the musket with a Pakeha whaling ship that had recently arrived. They set off to trade, and to meet the Pakeha for the first time, leaving the tribe in a furor over who should lead them.

Fast forward a hundred years, and Mary is now 13 yrs old. Two other Maori girls have been secretly teaching her the language and culture of her people. They are discovered by the pastors wife conversing in their tongue, and after receiving punishment for their 'crimes' decide to run away and find their true people. Before doing so, Mary steals her file from the pastors' office and discovers her real name is also Tui, and that her tribe was Te Iwi Aka.

The Tui Aroha of 1785 has gone down in Maori legend, and during their journey to find her people, the other two girls tell the story to of her exploits Mary/Tui.

Tui Aroha and her party arrive at their destination and gaze in wonder at the sight of the Pakeha ships. They have only enough goods to trade for one musket. During the night the twins sneak quietly away from their camp, and stealing a canoe, they board and rob the Pakeha ship of many muskets, powder and shot. As an afterthought as they make good their escape, one of the twins picks up and steals a picture book that was lying on deck.

The book is the illustrated story of Boudicca, the Celtic warrior queen of ancient Briton. Back at camp all are delighted with the twins exploits. The girls present the richly illustrated book to their mother, Tui Aroha. The twins point out to their mother that a woman can become a warrior and great leader,as is shown in the book. The girls go for a last walk on the beach while the others pack up camp.

Fast forward 100 yrs. Mary/Tui and the other two escapee orphans continue their journey armed only with a sketch of her mothers' moko, facial tattoo, to help them find her true people.

Rewind 100 yrs. As the twins stroll on the beach they are spotted by a sailor who recognizes them from the night before when they stole the musket.. The girls hide but are soon found. The two French sailors who went in pursuit, rape one before slitting her throat. As they make to grab the other, the deaf mute, she slits her own throat preferring to die at her own hand rather than suffer the fate of her twin sister. All the while on either side of them, two of the leading tribes prepare to do battle to determine dominance.

As Tui Aroha and her father Rakai search the beach for the twins a haka kicks off, a prelude to a terrible battle. On discovering the bodies Tui is overcome with grief, and tries to take her own life. Rakai knocks her unconscious, and throwing her over his shoulder, made good their escape while the battle erupted all around them. The Pakeha ships set sail to escape the melee, only to turn up later in the story when Tui Aroha exacts her revenge..

Tui Aroha, bound with rope, is pulled along by her father. Her eyes dead,and registering nothing as she clutches the book fiercely to her chest, which she studies intently at every opportunity. When they are a days' journey from home, Tui speaks for the first time since discovering the bodies of her daughters. She tells her father that she believes the book was sent to her from the world beyond by her husband, to show her the way to obey his last command and fulfill her destiny. She instructs her travelling party that they will stay on in the bush, while her father teaches her the art of the warrior. Tui learns quickly, training by day while studying her book by the light of the evening fire, while her father teaches her how to summon the spirit of Tu-Matauenga, the God of War.

Fast forward 100 yrs. Unbeknownst to Mary/Tui at this time as the orphans continue their journey, she is a direct descendant of the legendary Tui Aroha.

Both Tui's have much ground to cover, physically and spiritually, before they fulfill their respective destinies.