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Puhirake, Rāwiri

by Jinty Rorke

Biography

E toru ngā īngoa o tēnei rangatira e mōhiotia ana; ko Rāwiri Puhirake, ko Rāwiri Tuaia, ko Whakatauhoe. Ko ia tētahi o ngā rangatira o Ngāi Te Rangi ki Tauranga, mai i te tekau tau 1850 ā, tae noa ki tōna matenga i te tau 1864. Ko tōna matua ko Te Muna. Hei mokopuna ia ki a Whakapā rāua ko Hinerangi o Ngāi Tūkairangi hapū o Ngāi Te Rangi i noho rā ki Matapihi, i te taha rāwhiti o Tauranga moana. Kei te ngaro te tau o tōna whānautanga. I taka ia ki raro i te awe o ngā mihinare Karaitiana i tau atu ki te rohe o Tauranga, i te tekau tau atu i 1830. Nā rātou a ia i ako ki te kōrero i ngā pānui Māori, ki te tuhituhi hoki i te reo Māori. Ko te āhua nei i tapaina a Rāwiri (David) hei īngoa iriiri mōna.

Kāore e kore i a Puhirake e taitama tonu ana, ko ia tētahi i ātete i ngā waitaua urutomo a Ngā Puhi, i ngā tekau tau o 1820 ā, ki ngā tekau tau hoki o 1830. Ā, waihoki ki a Te Arawa mai i 1835 ki 1845. Nāna a Ngāi Tūkairangi i ārahi i a rātou rīriri ki a Ngāti Hē. Ko ngā whenua i Ōhuki i roto o Tauranga te kaupapa, ā, i tohetohea mai i 1856 ki 1859. I te wā o te pakanga i Waikato i ngā tau 1863–64, ka tono a Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpipi o Ngāti Hauā kia haere ake a Puhirake me tōna iwi hei tuarā mōna. Kīhai te rangatira rā i aro atu. He kore hiahia nōna kia heke te toto i Tauranga. Ko wai ka hua, tērā pea ka noho kūpapa tonu a Puhirake mehemea kāore te ope hōia o Peretānia (Great Britain) i tae ake ki Tauranga, i Hānuere o 1864. I kī te kaiwhakamāori a te kāwanatanga he pūrahorua a Puhirake. He wero nāna hei whakatakariri i a Puhirake kia huri ai tērā hei kaiwhana i te kāwanatanga. Kāore e kore i te taunga ake o Kānara G. J. Carey me tana taua e 700 te tokomaha, ka kite a Puhirake ka kaioraorahia tō rātou mana ahi kā ki ngā whenua o Tauranga. Nō tana whakataunga, ka hīkina e ia te rau o tana patu, ka pūkeke ana whakaaro kia riro i a ia te tāhuna.

He maha ngā pā i whakatūria e Ngāi Te Rangi mō aua pakanga. I whakahoungia kātahi ka nohoia e Puhirake te pā tawhito o Te Waoku e tū tata ana ki te awa o Waimapu. Ka tukutukuna atu e ia he wero ki a Rūtene Kānara H. H. Greer kia mauria ake ana hōia ki Te Waoku kakari ai. Hei whakangāwari i te haerenga ake o Greer ki te whakautu i tana tono, ka hangaia e Puhirake he ara hou ki Te Waoku. Ēngari, kore rawa a Greer i whakautu mai. Kātahi ka tukuna atu anō he wero e te whakakotahitanga o ngā rangatira o Ngāi Te Rangi, i hui ki te pā o Pōterīwhi. Ko te pā tēnei o Pene Taka Tuaia, i te awa o Wairoa e pātata ana ki te pūwaha. I reira ka whakatauria e Hēnare Taratoa me ana hoa ngārahu, ētahi ture hei whakahaere i te whanonga o ngā hoa tauwhāinga i te wā e tū ai te riri i waenga i a rāua.

Nō tō rātou kitenga kīhai te taua o Peretānia i aro atu ki tā rātou tono kia haere ake ki te whawhai, ka whakatauria e Puhirake me whakatata atu rātou. Ka hiki ki Pukehinahina. Ka tae, ka whakatūria he wāhi maioro ki te taha tonu o te kēti o te whenua i hokona mai e Ātirīkona Parāone (A. N. Brown). Nāna i hoko mō te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society), i 1839. Nā te tū i taua kēti a te mīhana, i tapaina ai a Pukehinahina e ngā Pākehā ko 'The Gate Pā'. Ko ngā rua whakarurunga i whakahaua e Pene Taka kia kerikeria, i mau tonu, ahakoa te taiparatanga a ngā pū nunui i te 29 o Tīhema 1864. I kitea i konei te tau o Puhirake hei kaingārahu me tōna punenga hei kaitātai. Nō te marangatanga mai o te 300 o ngā hōia o Peretānia ki te taiapu i te pā, e whanga atu ana a Ngāi Te Rangi i ō rātou wāhi whakarurunga. He maha ngā awarua e honohono haere ana i aua wāhi whakarurunga. Ka tomokia te pā, ehara, kua pakū mai ngā pū a te 230 o te taua a Puhirake i ō rātou wāhi whakarurunga. Me te aha hoki, ka oho mauri ngā hōia o Peretānia ka rere, ka taui. He aituā tino kino rawa atu tēnei pakanga mō rātou. Heoi anō, i ū tonu te hunga i noho iho ki te pā, ki ngā ture i whakatauria rā e Hēnare Taratoa mā i Pōterīwhi.

Nō Mei ka hui tahi ētahi anō o Ngāi Te Rangi me ngā kanohi a te kāwanatanga. E whakaaiohia ana e rātou te rongo, ēngari kīhai a Puhirake i tae. Ko ētahi o ngā ope hōia o Peretānia i nekehia ki Ākarana (Auckland). Na, ko Te Ranga, he ruarua nei ngā māero te tawhiti atu i Pukehinahina. Nō te 21 o Hune, i reira a Puhirake me ana toa e 500 te kaha e hanga pā hou ana. I rokohina atu rātou e te 600 hōia o te ope hurahura a Rūtene Kānara Greer i reira, ka tukia. Nō te taunga o te puehu kua hinga ko te ope a Puhirake, ā, ko ia tonu tētahi o ngā ika. I nehua ki te kauhanga riri i te rā i muri mai, ā, ko ngā āpiha hōia o Peretānia ētahi i tae ake ki te whakanui i a ia. Ko te whakaaro e 50 ōna tau i tana hinganga.

Ahakoa i hinga a Ngāi Te Rangi, i whai mana tonu rātou i roto i ngā kōrero ā whare, ki te whakarite kia eke ngā whakataunga ki te hiahia o ngā taha e rua. Ko te tuku i ā rātou pū hei tohu e hauraro ana rātou ki te mana o te kāwanatanga, me te mau tonu ki a rātou o te nuinga o ō rātou whenua, ngā whakataunga i puta. He pēnei te whakamārama a Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) mō tēnei whakataunga. Arā, he maumaharatanga nō te kāwanatanga ki te whanonga atawhai o Puhirake me ngā toa o Ngāi Te Rangi, ki ngā hōia taotū o Peretānia i mahue mai i muri i te riri i Pukehinahina.

Nō te 13 o Ākuhata 1874, ka hahutia ngā kōiwi o Puhirake i Te Ranga, ka mauria ki Matapihi ki reira tangihia ai. Nā te mea i mōhio rātou ki a ia, ā, hei whakaatu i tō rātou koha mōna, ka tanumia a ia e ētahi tonu o te hunga tangata whai mātārae, ki te urupā o te mīhana i te pā o Ōtamataha. Nō te tau 1914, i te huringa o te 50 tau mai i tōna matenga, ka whakaarahia he kōhatu wherowhero i tana rua kōiwi hei tohu whakamaumaharatanga ki a ia. Tata ki te 1,000 te maha o te hunga i tae ake ki te huranga o taua kōhatu. I reira anō hoki ngā kaingārahu Māori o te rohe whānui me ngā mōrehu hōia Pākehā o te wā o ngā mahi rīriri.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Belich, J. The New Zealand wars. Auckland, 1986

    Cowan, J. The New Zealand wars. Vol. 1, 1845--64. Wellington, 1922

    Gifford, W. H. & H. B. Williams. A centennial history of Tauranga. Dunedin, 1940

    Mair, G. The story of Gate Pa. Tauranga, 1926


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Jinty Rorke. 'Puhirake, Rāwiri', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1p30/puhirake-rawiri (accessed 29 March 2024)