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Kōrero: Karetai

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Karetai

?–1860

Nō Ngāi Tahu; he kaihautū

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

I whānau a Karetai i roto i ngā tau whakamutunga o te rau tau 1700–1799. Ko ōna mātua ko Te Ihutakura rāua ko Kakatuaheka, e rua rāua he uri tahi nō Tahupōtiki. Otirā, ko tōna matua he uri nō Te Ruahikihiki, ko tōna kōkā he uri nō Tūteahunga. Ko tētahi anō o ōna hapū o Ngāi Tahu ko Ngāti Marewa, ko Ngāti Irakehu. He pānga ngātahi ōna ki a Ngāti Māmoe me Waitaha. Ko ngā hapū o Ngāti Hāwea me Te Rapuwai ōna oka ki a Waitaha. Ko Karetai te ariki nui o Ngāi Tahu ki Ōtākou, i te tau 1831, i te wā i whakatūria ai te pā hopu tohorā o Edward Weller. Ka tapaina e aua Pākehā rā a Karetai, ki te īngoa kārangaranga o Jacky White; he īngoa tinihanga; nā te matarau o tōna kanohi kua mangu mai te āhua. Ko Karetai te ariki nui o Ōtākou whānui tonu, ēngari, ko ōna whakapapa mai i tōna kōkā, ka whai mana ai ia ki te rohe o Hakaroa (Banks Peninsula).

He ngāwari kē atu te ngākau o Karetai, tēnā i o ērā o ōna karanga rua i a Tūhawaiki rāua ko Taiaroa; i kitea mai rāua e te Pākehā, he kaha hiahia nō te tokorua rā ki te whai i ngā tikanga a tauiwi. Ēngari i roto i te ao Māori, he mau tonu te mana o Karetai. Waihoki, i rangatira ai tana tū i roto i te tangata, nā ana kāwai whakapapa, he toa ki ngā riri, he mārama ki ngā nohanga mana. Kāore he kōrero mōna mō āna hīkoi i roto i ngā pakanga. Kia huri ki ōna whiriwhiringa kōrero ki ngā Pākehā, kore rawa e kitea he painga atu. Kāore i pērā i tētahi o rāua i a Taiaroa, arā, i tōna whanaunga tata he whakahīhī, ēngari me te haere anō o te pōhēhē o ētahi o ana rāwekeweke. I te tau 1826, ka tūtaki a Karetai ki te Pākehā whai kekeno rā ki a John Boultbee i Te Ara-a-Kiwa (Foveaux Strait). Ka tono ia kia haere atu te Pākehā rā ki Ōtākou noho ai. Ka puta i a Boultbee te kōrero mō Karetai, pēnei ana nā, he tangata hauora, he wairua whakaratarata; he hihiko rawa atu ia mō te ako ki te tuhituhi kōrero.

I te tau 1833, i rite tahi te mana o Karetai rāua ko Tūhawaiki i te takinga o te ope taua, i te whana whakairi ki a Te Rauparaha me tōna iwi o Ngāti Toa, i Te Moana-a-Raukawa. I te pakanga whakamutunga i reira anō, tata tonu nei a Te Rauparaha ka mau heretia. I taotū te kanohi me te turi o Karetai; tino pura rawa tōna mata mauī, ka mutu kua hauā te waewae. Te āhua nei, kāore ia i uru atu ki te ope taua a Taiaroa i te tau 1834, i whawhai ai ki a Te Rauparaha, ēngari, e ai ki ngā kōrero, ko ia tētahi o te ope nā rātou nei i tāoro te marau a Te Pūoho i Tūtūrau i te tau 1836–37.

E hia kē nei ōna haerenga ki Poihākena (Sydney). I te tau 1834 pea, ka noho rāua ko tētahi o ōna hoa wāhine ki te minita, ki a Te Mātenga, (Samuel Marsden), i runga i tana pōwhiri ki a rāua. I reira ka akona rāua ki ngā tikanga Karaitiana. I reira hoki ka pāngia rāua ki te mate karawaka. Nō tō rāua hokinga ki Ōtākou i te tau 1835, ka pāpāngia katoatia ngā iwi e te urutā.

I uru atu a Karetai ki ngā mahi hokohoko whenua. I te tau 1838, ka whakaoti kōrero rātou ko ētahi kaihautū i Poihākena e noho ana, mō te hoko i ētahi poraka whenua nui tonu, i te tonga o Niu Tīreni. I te tau 1839, ka hokona e ia he whenua, mai i te awa o Waikouaiti ki te awa o Pleasant i te taha rāwhiti o Ōtākou, ki te takawaenga a John Jones. Ko tētahi wāhi o te utu, he waka hopu kekeno, i kaingākautia e ngā kaihautū kua hiahia rā ki te harihari taonga mā te takutai moana hei hoko.

I ngā marama whakamutunga o te tau 1839, o roto o ngā waka e 20 o Tūhawaiki i haere ki te pakanga whakamutunga ki a Te Rauparaha, e whā nā Karetai i ārahi. Ka tae atu rātou ki Wairewa (Lake Forsyth), ka mau hereheretia ētahi tāngata ārahi waka i te pā hopu tohorā o George Hempleman, i te kokorutanga o Peraki; ka patua he tangata i reira nō Ngāti Toa. Nō taua wā nei ka ū atu a Karetai ki Peraki me ōna waka e whā. Kei pakanga ai rātou i te tahuritanga o Kāpene William Hay, nō runga i te kaipuke o Poihākena, i a Siren, ki te mau here i te hunga nāna te mahi kōhuru rā; kāti, nō muri ka whakaaro ia me waiho noa iho. Kātahi ka tonoa e ngā rangatira, he poti rahi tonu i a Hempleman, hei utu mō te whenua, kātahi ka hainangia e Karetai mā te 'whakaaetanga ā-pukapuka whenua'; e tohutohu ana te pukapuka rā i ngā rohe, he mea whakawhānuitia rā e Hempleman i runga i te tinihanga, i tana tononga ki te Karauna i te wā i uiuingia ai ngā whenua.

Kīhai i tū te riri a te ope taua rā ki a Te Rauparaha, ka hoki ki te tonga. Nō te marama o Hānuere 1840, ka pōwhiritia a Karetai, a Tūhawaiki me ētahi atu o ngā rangatira o Ngāi Tahu, e John Jones, kia whakawhiti rātou ki Poihākena mā runga i te kaipuke, a te Success. Nō taua wā nei tonu, ka wehe mai a Wiremu Hopihona (William Hobson), ki Aotearoa, ki te whakamātau pēnā ka whakaae ngā rangatira Māori, ki te whakarite tiriti i runga i te tuku rangatiratanga. Ka rongo a Kāwana George Gipps kua tae mai ngā rangatira nei ki Poihākena, ka pōwhiritia rātou kia haere atu ki te Whare a te Kāwana, ki te haina hoki i tana tiriti, kia waiho mā ngā iwi ā muri atu, hei whakapūmau i mua i te aroaro o Hopihona. Kāore a Karetai, a Tūkawa me Kaikoreare i haere. Ka hui kē atu ko Tūhawaiki, ko Taiaroa me ētahi tāngata e rima, ki a Gipps i te 14 o Pēpuere 1840; i nanao atu rātou ki ngā kōura 10, mā te mea kotahi i a ia. Nā ngā tohutohu a Jones, kāore rātou i haina i te tiriti. Nō te 15 o Pēpuere 1840, ka hainangia e Karetai rātou ko ngā kaihautū e whitu o te tonga, te pukapuka a W. C. Wentworth rāua ko John Jones, me te mea nei e whakaae ana ki te tuku i te katoa o Te Waipounamu me Rakiura katoa atu ki te hoko. Ko ngā kaituku ko Tūhawaiki, ko Kaikoreare, ko Tūkawa, ko Taiaroa, ko Te Whaikai Pokēne, ko Tohowaki me Tōpi Pātuki. Ka riro mai i a Karetai tana utu, £20, me te oati ka hōmai £10 ā-tau ā muri atu. Ko tōna tohu i runga i te pukapuka, ko tōna moko tonu, ēngari e ngaro ana te pāpāringa me te kanohi mauī. I hainangia tahitia e Karetai rāua ko tana pāpā a Kōrako, te Tiriti o Waitangi mā Meiha Thomas Bunbury i Ōtākou, i te 13 o Hune 1840.

E hia nei ngā whakaaetanga ā-pukapuka whenua i hainangia e Karetai i muri nei: ko te whakaaetanga i te 31 o Hūrae 1844; ko te whakaaetanga a Te Keepa (H. T. Kemp), i te 12 Hune 1848, ko te pukapuka whakapūmau mō te harangotengote tuarua i Akaroa, i te 22 o Pēpuere 1849, me te harangotengote whakamutunga i Ōtākou, i te 17 o Tīhema 1849; ko te whakaaetanga ā-pukapuka whenua o Murihiku i te 17 Ākuhata o 1853, me te pukapuka whakapūmau i te harangotengote i Ōtākou, i te 3 o Oketopa 1853.

Nō te hoko i Ōtākou i te tau 1844, ka kī atu a Karetai ki te iwi, Māori, Pākehā atu, kia aroha tētahi ki tētahi, i runga i te āhua o ngā take whenua. Nō muri i te utunga o ana moni, ka kaiamumau a Karetai, i roto i te pōhēhē, te mea kei tana tatau, kāore i rahi tana utu. Ka rīria atu e Tūhawaiki, me te karanga atu e rūkahu ana ia; nō konei ka taki whawhai. Ka whakawetiwetihia a Tūhawaiki e te tama a Karetai ki tana toki; ka naomia atu e te Pākehā, ka tākirihia. Nō Oketopa 1844, ka toromi a Tūhawaiki ki te moana.

I Noema 1852, ka tūpono te mihingare tai, a James West Stack, i a Karetai rāua ko tana wahine taitamariki nei, e noho ana me tā rāua tamaiti i tō rāua kāinga, papa rākau kani, rūma kotahi; i te toropuke i Ōtākou e tū ana; ko te kāinga o te tama kua pakeketia, a Tīmoti, i reira hoki. Nā te kino o te rangi, ka noho a Stack rāua ko tōna hoa haere, a Tāmihana Te Rauparaha, i te taha o Karetai mō ngā rā e toru. Whakamīharo rawa atu a Stack mō tana tūtakitanga i te koroua rā, ka whakamihi ia mō tōna whakapono ki te hāhi Karaitiana. Ina tonu ana tuhituhinga, he koroua a Karetai i pārekareka rawa atu ki te whakarongo atu.

I te marama o Hepetema 1857, ka whakapiri atu a Karetai ki ētahi o ngā kaihautū o Ngāi Tahu, ki te haina i te petihana ki te Kuini, nā Matiaha Tiramōrehu o Moeraki i whakarite. Ka tukuna ki a Te Tipa (Walter Mantell) i Rānana (London), me ōna komekome i roto, mō te iwikoretanga o ngā Kāwana o Niu Tīreni o nāianei tonu, me o nanahi; e inoi ana kia whakahokia mai a Te Tipa, hei kāwana mō rātou i te motu nei, me tōna moana pounamu.

I mate a Karetai i Ōtākou i te 30 o Mei 1860, ka tanumia i runga i ngā tikanga o te hāhi Karaitiana. Kei te urupā Māori tōna kōhatu whakamaharatanga e tū ana. E kōrerotia ana, kua eke ia ki te 79 ōna tau. Tokowaru ana wāhine, ko Pōhata, ko Hinehou, ko Pītoko, ko Te Kōara, ko Wahine Ororaki, ko Māhaka, ko Hinepakia, me Te Horo; tekau ana tamariki.

I te wā e takahurihuri ana tōna iwi i raro i te pokeatanga o te iwi Pākehā, me te pānga mai o te urutā, i ora ai nā te wairua hūmārire o Karetai me te rangatira o ōna whakaaro. I nanao atu ia ki ngā taonga o te ao hou, me te pupuri i ngā tikanga o te ao tawhito. Ka noho tonu tēnei āhuatanga i whakapūmautia e Karetai, hei tikanga i Ōtākou.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Harry C. Evison. 'Karetai', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1k1/karetai (accessed 30 March 2024)