Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Ngātata-i-te-rangi
?–1854
Nō Te Āti Awa; he rangatira
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Angela Ballara, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau a Ngātata-i-te-rangi ki Taranaki i ngā tau tata atu ki te 1800 pea. He tama nā Te Rangiwhētiki. Ko tōna kāwai rangatira i heke mai i tōna whaea i a Pakanga, o Ngāti Te Whiti o Te Āti Awa. He karanga taina a ia nō Hōniana Te Puni-kōkopu me Matangi rāua ko Te Wharepōuri. He whanaunga tata nōna a Wī Piti Pōmare, e mōhiotia ana anō ko Pōmare Ngātata te kaiārahi o te hekenga o Ngāti Mutunga ki Rēkohu, arā, ko Wharekauri (Chatham Islands).
I a Ngātata e tamariki ana ko ia tētahi o ngā mea i whawhai kia kore ai te pā o Rewarewa e hinga. E tata ana tēnei pā ki Nū Pāremata (New Plymouth). Ko te wāhi tēnei i kōkiritia ai a Ngāti Tāwhirikura, me tana whanaunga tata a Ngāti Te Whiti, e Taranaki i te tekau tau mai i 1800. Ko te whakautu tēnei a Taranaki i te kōkiritanga a Te Āti Awa i te pā o Koru i te taha o te awa o Ōākura. I matemate ētahi o ngā tino rangatira, ēngari ko Te Puni rāua ko Rauakitua me Ngātata i waimarie.
Ko Ngātata tētahi o te hunga o Te Āti Awa i noho i te taha raki o te awa o Waitara. Nā rātou i āwhina a Peehi Tūkorehu o Ngāti Maniapoto me tana ope taua i te tau 1820, kia puta atu ki te pā o Pukerangiora i te taha o te awa o Waitara. Nā Te Rauparaha i inoi atu ki ngā hapū o Te Āti Awa e noho ana i te taha i te tonga, kia āwhinatia a ia ki te kōkiri i a Tūkorehu. Otirā, i te taenga mai o tētahi ope nui nō Waikato, me ētahi atu i raro i a Te Wherowhero, ki te āwhina i a Tūkorehu, ka whakaaro ngā hoa o Te Rauparaha he pai kē atu tā rātou āwhina i a Te Rauparaha i Motunui. Ko te matenga o te taua a Te Wherowhero te hua. Ko Ngātata tētahi o ngā mea o Te Āti Awa i haere i te taha o Te Rauparaha i tana hekenga tuarua ki Waikanae me Kapiti. E mōhiotia nei ko Te Heke Tātaramoa. I muri iho, ka hoki a Ngātata ki Taranaki.
I te tau 1824, ka puta te rongo ki Taranaki kei te takatū a Waikato ki te ngaki i tō rātou hinganga i Motunui me Pukerangiora. Ko te nuinga o ngā mea i āwhina i a Te Rauparaha i te tonga i whakaaro me haere anō rātou. Nō Ngāti Mutunga me ētahi atu ope o te hapū o Te Āti Awa te nuinga i roto i tēnei haerenga. Ko Ngātata tētahi o ngā rangatira i haere i te taha o Ngāti Mutunga i raro i tōna irāmutu i a Wī Piti Pōmare. I a rātou e hīkoi ana i tēnei haerenga, e kīia nei ko Te Heke Niho-puta ka āpititia rātou e Ngā Rauru i te pā o Te Ihupuku.
I noho ngā tāngata o Te Heke Niho-puta i Waikanae mō te kotahi tau neke atu rānei. Kātahi rātou ka neke atu ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour). Ka noho i Kumutoto, i Pipitea, i Ngāūranga me ētahi atu wāhi o te rohe o Te Awakairangi (Hutt Valley) e kīia nei i nāianei ko Heretaunga. Otirā, kāore i roa, i runga i tō rātou noho āhua rīriri, ka panaia rātou, ahakoa ko rātou kē nei ko Ngāti Ira i reira i te tuatahi. Ko ētahi, o Ngāti Mutunga me Ngati Tama, i tau kē atu ki Te Wairarapa. Ko Ngātata pea tētahi i roto i taua nohoanga.
I te tau 1826, i te haerenga i te taha o Te Wharepōuri rāua ko Ngātata ki Pūtake, i Te Hāwera, ka patua a Te Karawa e Ngāti Ruanui. Haehaea rawa tōna tinana. Ko Te Karawa he taitama rangatira nō Te Āti Awa, he irāmutu nā Rauakitua, te rangatira mātāmua o Ngāmotu. Ka tupu te whakaaro i a Rauakitua kia ngakia te mate. Ka haere ko Ngātata ki a Te Wherowhero rāua ko Te Kanawa i Mōtepoho, ki a Tūkorehu i Mangatoatoa. Ka waiatatia atu e Ngātata tana ngākau. Oho tonu mai a Waikato ka whakaarahia te ope nui tonu, ā, ka hono atu rātou ki ētahi o Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāti Tama. Ka takahi atu ki Taranaki. E rua ngā parekura i ngā tahataha o te maunga, ko Kīkīwhenua, ko Maru. Ka ea te mate o Te Karawa.
I te tau 1828 pea, ka whakahuihuitia e Ngātata me ētahi atu o ngā rangatira o Te Āti Awa tētahi ope taua nō Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Raukawa hei ngaki i ngā mate o Te Heke Niho-puta i a Ngā Rauru. I te tau 1831, ko Ngātata pea tētahi i roto i te ope o Ngāti Mutunga, i haere i te taha o Te Rauparaha ki te pā o Kaiapoi i Te Waipounamu, ki te ngaki i te mate o Te Pēhi Kupe. I a rātou e ngaro atu ana, ka hinga mai te pā o Pukerangiora i ngā ope taua a Waikato i Taranaki i te tau 1831. I te tau 1832, ka hoki a Ngātata ki Taranaki, nā te mea i reira a ia i te wā e pupuritia ana e Te Wharepōuri, e Te Puni me ētahi atu, te pā o Ōtaka i Ngāmotu mō ngā wiki e toru e awhitia ana rātou e Waikato.
Ahakoa i waimarie tēnei pupuritanga i te pā, i waimarie anō i tētahi atu kōkiritanga a Waikato i te rohe o Mōkau, he maha ngā mōrehu o Ngāti Tama, o Ngāti Mutunga me Te Āti Awa, i whakaaro me āwhina rātou i ngā ope whakaeke o mua atu e noho ana i Waikanae me Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Ko Ngātata rāua ko tana tama, ko Wī Tako, me Te Puni rāua ko Te Wharepōuri, i haere katoa mā te tuawhenua i te hekenga e mōhiotia nei ko Tama-te-uaua i te tau 1832. I runga i te whanaungatanga o Ngātata ki a Ngāti Mutunga, ka karangahia mai ia kia haere atu ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Ko Pōmare rāua ko Ngātata i noho ki te pā o Kumutoto. He whare, he māra kai a rāua i ētahi atu wāhi o te rohe o Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Kāore he kōrero i haere a Ngātata i te taha i tana tama i a Wī Tako, i a Te Puni, i a Te Wharepōuri rānei, i ō rātou haerenga ki Te Wairarapa. I tō rātou hokinga mai i reira i te whakamutunga o te tau 1835, ka kite rātou i a Ngātata e noho ana i Ngāūranga, i te nohoanga o Ngāti Mutunga i mua i tō rātou wehenga atu ki Rēkohu i Noema. Nā Ngātata i whakaae kia noho te hapū o Taranaki, a Ngāti Haumia, ki Te Aro, ā, ka tohua e ia te rohe i waenganui i a rātou me Ngāti Ruanui. I tukua e Ngāti Mutunga ō rātou whenua ki ngā mea i noho iho, arā, ki a Matangi a Pito-one (Petone), ki a Ngātata a Ngāūranga, me ngā wāhi e mōhiotia nei i nāianei ko Thorndon. I tukua e Ngātata ki a Ngāti Haumia ngā mahinga māra kai i whakarērea rā e Ngāti Mutunga i Ngāūranga. Kāore i roa, ka hoki mai a Te Wharepōuri me tana iwi i Te Wairarapa ka noho ki Matiu (Somes Island), ā, ki Pito-one, ki Waiwhetū me Ngāūranga; ka panaia a Ngāti Haumia e ia.
Nā tēnei mahi pea ki a ia i heke haere ai te mana o Ngātata. Kua koroheke kē ia i te putanga ohoreretanga mai o tana tama, o Wī Tako, me tana tuakana me Te Puni, me te rangatira toa nei ki te whawhai, me Te Wharepōuri. Kātahi ka ngaro rawa atu tana mana. Otirā, nō te taenga mai o Kānara Wairaweke (William Wakefield) me ngā āpiha o te Kamupene o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Company) i runga i te Tory, i te tau 1839, ka hau te rongo ko Ngātata kē te rangatira o Kumutoto me te pā o Pipitea; heoi, i riro kē i tana tama, i a Wī Tako, ngā whakahaere āpiti ki ngā moni whenua i utua kētia i roto i tōna īngoa. Kei te Tiriti o Waitangi te tohu o Ngātata i whakamana ai i te 29 o Āperira 1840, i te aroaro o Te Karu Whā (Henry Williams) me Thomas Clayton.
Ko ētahi o ngā īngoa o Ngātata e mōhiotia ana i ētahi wā, ko Makoare, ko Makoere Ngātata rānei. Ko te āhua nei i tukua atu e ia tana mana ki tana tama, i te tekau tau mai i 1840, ā, i tōna koroheketanga ka noho a ia i te pā o Kumutoto. Tokorua ana wāhine; ko Whetowheto o Ngāti Ruanui te whaea o Kararaina, o Wī Tako (te pāpā o Hōhipine Love), o Te Raro, o Wī Tana Ngātata me Ngāpei. Ko Wī Tana rāua ko Ngāpei i noho i Taranaki. He tamāhine anō tā rāua ko tana wahine tuarua ko Meri Haratua. Tokorima ana tamariki i te ora tonu i tōna matenga.
I mate a Ngātata ki Ōtākou (Otago) i te tau 1854, i a ia e haere ana kia kite i tana tamāhine mātāmua, i a Kararaina Te Piki, i moe i a Taiaroa o Ngāi Tahu. Nā te kāwana i whakatū he kōhatu whakamaharatanga ki a ia ki reira. Nā George French Angas i pani tōna whakaahua.