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Paipai, Kāwana Pitiroi

by Steven Oliver

Biography

Nō te whakamutunga o te rau tau 1700–1799 pea ka whānau a Kāwana Paipai. Ko Kāwana Pitiroi (Governor FitzRoy) Paipai he tohunga nō Ngāti Ruakā me ērā atu hapū o Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi. He uri nō Te Raetaranaki (Raikaranaki rānei), nāna ko Tawhitiōrangi kia puta ko Kāwana Paipai. Nō te tau 1847 i mate ai a Tawhitiōrangi. Ko Haukōpata,  Te Hau Kōpatu rānei tōna ingoa, te whaea o Paipai.  Tokotoru ngā wāhine o Paipai.  Ko Kohe te whaea o Hori Kerei, i whānau mai i te tau 1826. Nō te 4 o Māehe 1844, ka moe anō a Paipai i a Wairere, i Putiki Wharanui, i te pūau o te awa o Wanganui. E toru tau i muri mai ka mate a Wairere, i te marama o Tīhema 1847.  I te 22 Āperira 1850, ka moe a Paipai i a Roka Kuao, te poaru o Turakina.

I te mea he toa ia, kāore e hapa i tū tahi rāua ko tōna tuakana, ko Te Ānaua, i ngā whawhai o ngā tau 1820–1839. Nō te whakanohoanga o ngā Pākehā ki Whanganui i te tekau tau mai i 1840, kīhai he whakahē ēngari he tautoko tā Kāwana Paipai. Ko ia tonu tētehi i haere ki te hopu i ngā taitama Māori nā rātou i kōhuru te whānau a J. A. Gilfillan i te tau 1847.

E mōhiotia ana tokotoru ngā wāhine a Paipai. Nā Kohe ka puta i te takiwā o te tau 1826 ko tāna tama, ko Hōri Kerei. Nō te 4 o Maehe 1844, ka whakahonongia a Paipai rāua ko Wairere i te pā i Pūtiki-wharanui i te pūaha o Whanganui. E toru tau i muri mai, ka mate a Wairere i a Tīhema 1847. Ka moe anō i te wahine, ko te pouaru a Turakina, ko Roka Kūao. I Pūtiki anō te tangohanga i te 22 o Āperira 1850.

He tino tohunga a Kāwana Paipai. He mana tōna ki ngā hau a Tāwhirimātea. Ko ia anō hoki te pūkenga o ngā kōrero me ngā pakiwaitara a ngā pakeke. E kīia ana, i huri ia ki te Whakapono, ēngari, kāore he kōrero mehemea i iriirihia. Ko ia te kanohi me te reo o tōna iwi i ngā whakahaere kāwanatanga. I te tau 1860 ka haere ia ki te hui a ngā rangatira i Kohimaramara (Kohimarama).

Nō te marama o Hune i te tau 1865 ka whakatūria a Kāwana Paipai hei āteha, mō te Kōti Whenua Māori pea. I ā rāua haere ko Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) i te tau 1866, ka kōrerongia e ia ngā mahi whaiwhai moa. I a ia e taitamariki tonu ana, haere ai rātou i ngā raorao o Waimate i Taranaki ki te patu moa. Ka pātata atu ki Ōhāwe i te pūaha o Waingongoro ka whakaatungia e ia ki a Kerei rāua ko te kaiārahi hōia rā, ko Thomas McDonnell, te wāhi i taongia ai, i kainga ai te moa. I te keringa iho ka huraina ake ngā pareho me ngā koihanga kua pākarukaru katoa i te paopaohanga kia taea ai ngā roro. E ai ki a Paipai, ka wehewehea ngā tānga o rātou hei whaiwhai i te moa kia ngenge. Kia pau te hau i te omanga, kua ngāwari noa iho te hauhau kia mate.

Ka tū ngā whawhai ki ngā Hauhau, ka tae a Kāwana Paipai ki Moutoa i te 14 o Mei 1864, ki Ōhoutahi i a Pēpuere 1865. Nō muri mai, ka haere ki te hopu i ngā kaihautū o ngā Hauhau: i a Tāhana Tūroa, i a Tōpia Tūroa, i a Te Peehi Pākoro Tūroa mā. Nō Whanganui katoa ērā tāngata. Ka whāia ngā Hauhau ki Weraroa pā i te awa o Waitōtara, ka horo. Ka whaia anō ngā Hauhau ki Taranaki i te tau 1866, ā, tae atu hoki ki Te Tai Rāwhiti. E whā ngā tau i tū ai ko ia hei kaingārahu mō ngā hōia Māori āwhina i te kāwanatanga.

Taka rawa atu ki te tau 1869, ka haere ia i te taha i a Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui ki Ākarana (Auckland) kia tūtaki ki te tama a Kuini Wikitōria (Victoria), ki te Tiuka o Edinburgh. I te tau i muri mai, i te wā i a Te Kooti, ka ākina e ia kia whāia e rātou – e te puni hōia o Whanganui – ki te rohe rā anō o Mātaatua. Kua kaumātuatia rawa a Kāwana Paipai i taua wā. E 70 pea ōna tau. He tangata taikaha. Kua huaina ko 'Puku-tohe-ki-te-riri'. Ko ia te mōrehu o ngā toa moko paruhi o Whanganui. Nō te tau 1874, ka whakawhiwhia ia ki te tohu toa o tērā wā, te mētara o Niu Tīreni mō Tūmatauenga (New Zealand War Medal).

Ko ōna whenua i Pūtiki i roto i te rāhui i wehea ake mā te iwi i ngā mea i hokona ki te kāwanatanga. Nō te tau 1871, ka tono ia ki te Kōti Whenua Māori i Whanganui kia tukuna mai ki a ia tētehi wāhanga o taua whenua rāhui. Kāore he whakahē, riro ana i a ia te poraka, Ngongohau Nama 1.

Taka rawa atu ki te tau 1881, ka haere ko rāua ko Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi ki te hui a ngā iwi o Te Tai Tokerau mō te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Ko te whakaaro, neke atu i te 90 ōna tau i te wā i mate ai a Kāwana Paipai ki Pūtiki i te 11 o Hune 1884.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Downes, T. W. Old Whanganui. Hawera, 1915

    Obit. Wanganui Herald. 12 June 1884


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Steven Oliver. 'Paipai, Kāwana Pitiroi', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated o Hune, 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1p1/paipai-kawana-pitiroi (accessed 29 March 2024)