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Kōrero: Faulkner, Ruawahine Irihāpeti

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Faulkner, Ruawahine Irihāpeti

?–1855

Nō Ngāi Te Rangi; he wahine whai mana, whai whenua

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Laurie Barber, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Ko tēnei wahine nō Ngāi te Rangi. Ko Ruawahine, ko Puihi ōna īngoa. I whānau pea ia i ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1800–1899. Ko Tāwaho rāua ko Parewhakarau ōna mātua. Ko Ngāi Tūkairangi tōna hapū. Nō ērā tau ki 1834 ka tūtaki rāua ko John Lees Faulkner, he tangata Pākehā nō Yorkshire i Ingarangi. He tangata hanga kaipuke, haere i te takutai hokohoko taputapu ai. Kātahi a Ruawahine ka tīmata ki te whai i a Faulkner, ka tau ki Kororāreka (Russell). I te marama o Hānuere 1835, ka riro mai he whenua i a Faulkner ka noho rāua ki reira. Ka whānau tā rāua mātāmua ka iriirihia e Te Karu Whā (Henry Williams) i te 20 o Mei. Ka tapaina ko Joseph. Taka rawa atu ki te tau 1840 ka hoki mai te whānau ki Tauranga. Mō tētahi wā poto i noho rātou ki Maungatapu, ā, i muri mai ka noho tūturu ki Ōtūmoetai, arā, ki ngā whenua o Ruawahine. Ka whakatūria tā rāua toa hokohoko taputapu ki tātahi tonu. Ka hua.

I te tau 1842, ka iriirihia a Ruawahine ka tapaina ko Irihāpeti. Ka mārenahia rāua e te minita Parāone (A. N. Brown) o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society) i Tauranga. Nā Ruawahine i tōtika ai a Faulkner. Hāunga anō ana whenua. Ko ia tonu hei rauhī i tana tāne i ngā wā o te raru. Ko ia hei whāriki mō ngā tono a tana tāne ki te iwi e ū ai ā rāua mahi herengi. Nā ana mahi ahu whenua, hanga poti, me ngā mahi hokohoko ka noho te tāne a Ruawahine hei Pākehā mā Ngāi Tūkairangi. Ka riro mā rāua hei whakahaere ngā mahi hokohoko a te iwi – hokohoko harakeke, kānga, witi, poaka, kūmara, ki Kororāreka, ki Ākarana (Auckland), ki New South Wales i Ahitereira, rā anō. Nā te moenga o ngā tokorua nei i waimarie ai ngā iwi o Tauranga. Ka riro mai ai he pū, he paura, he kākahu, me ngā taputapu ahu whenua. Ina rā kua whiwhi kē hoki ngā iwi o Te Tai Tokerau i ērā mea. Tae rawa ki te pokapūtanga o te tekau tau atu i 1840, he pau kaha nō te iwi kāinga ki ngā ahi hokohoko, ka amuamu tō rātou kauwhaukarakia a Parāone. 'E pau kē ana ngā whakaaro o te hunga nei ki te whakatipu witi, ki te tuku taha poaka ki te waitote hei hoko i Ākarana.'

Ngāwari noa iho ki a Ruawahine te haere i waenga i ngā iwi e rua, Pākehā, Māori. Pērā āno ana tamariki. Haere ana ngā reo e rua, haere ana ngā taha e rua. Ēngari te pāpā. Kāore i rata ki te taharua o ā rāua tamariki. I ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1840 ka hangaia te whare o te whānau ki Beach Rd i Ōtūmoetai. I whakamanuhiritia e Ruawahine ngā tāngata pekapeka atu ki reira. I tētahi pō i 1846, ka pā te tūpuhi ka tūpono atu a Mary Martin, te wahine a te Kaiwhakawā Matua, a William Martin (Wiremu Mātene). Ka riro nā Ruawahine i tiaki. Hei whakamihi mā te wahine rā ki te pai o te manaaki i a rāua.

E rua tekau tau a ia e whakawhānau tamariki ana. Ka mahue mai ko ia anake ki te tiaki i tō rāua kāinga me ā rāua tamariki. Hui katoa, tekau mā toru hāunga a Joseph. Tokorua i mate wawe. Ka ora ko Joseph, ko Elizabeth, ko Maria, ko Jane, ko Jarvis, ko Eliza, ko Alfred, ko George, ko Isabella, ko Christopher, ko John. E ngaro kē atu ana hoki tana hoa ki ana mahi hokohoko.

Nō te 24 o Hepetema 1855 ka mate a Ruawahine ki Tauranga ka tāpukena ki te urupā a te mīhana. Ko tāna i waiho ake ai he taura whiri i te Pākehā rāua ko te Māori o te rohe mai i Ngā Kurī-a-Whārei ki Tihirau (Bay of Plenty). He maha hoki ana tamariki i moemoe i ngā tamariki a ngā whānau Pākehā tōtika tonu. Ko ngā mahi a Ruawahine rāua ko tana tāne i kawea tonu e ngā uri i ō rātou kaipuke atu i Tauranga ki ngā takiwā.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Laurie Barber. 'Faulkner, Ruawahine Irihāpeti', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1f3/faulkner-ruawahine-irihapeti (accessed 29 March 2024)