Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Tohi Te Ururangi
?–1864
Nō Te Arawa, nō Ngāti Whakaue; he kaihautū, he āteha
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Jenifer Curnow, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
He toa rongonui a Tohi Te Ururangi. He kaihautū nō tōna iwi o Ngāti Whakaue o Te Arawa. He uri nō Whakaue, nō Tūteaiti arā ki te taha ki tana pāpā ki a Te Piere II. Nā tana whaea nā Hinepapa ka pā ia ki a Ngāti Pikiao me ērā atu hapū o Te Arawa. Nō te tīmatanga o te rau tau 1800–1899 pea ka whānau. Ko tana wahine matua ko Haukau. Tokorua ā rāua tamariki. Ko Ngākī te tama. Ko te tamāhine ko Ngātai i moe i a Retireti Tāpihana (Retreat Tapsell) te mātāmua a Piripi Tāpihana (Phillip Tapsell) rāua ko Hine-i-tūrama o Ngāti Whakaue anō. Ko tana wahine tuarua ko Ngāpī, kāore rāua i whai uri.
Rite tonu te mātakitakina e te Māori me te Pākehā he tangata whai mana a Tohi Te Ururangi. I ngā tau tōmua mai i 1840 ka tūtaki a Mary Martin ki a Tohi. Ka kōrerohia e ia he tangata hanga nui te tupu, he poto. Ko ana whatu he pūwhero, he tōtoto. Kāti ko tana āhua katoa he tangata hōhonu ngā whakaaro, he tangata mātau. Ehara i te tangata ngeri, ēngari he mārō tōna āhua.
I a Tīhema o te tau 1835 ka patua a Te Hunga o Ngāti Hauā i Parahaki. Nā Haerehuka o Ngāti Whakaue pea i patu. Nō muri mai, nō Maehe i te tau 1836 ka whakaekengia te pā o Te Arawa i Maketū e Waikato rāua ko Ngāi Te Rangi. Ko tō rātau rangatira ko Te Waharoa. Nō te marama o Ākuhata i te pakanga i Mātaipuku i te takiwā ki Ōhinemutu ka whakakaohia e Tohi Te Ururangi ana toa e whāia ana i te awa o Utuhina. Ka huri a Tohi ka tū mārō atu ki te hunga whaiwhai i a rātau. Kotahi te rangatira o Ngāti Hauā, ko Raerae, i tū i te matā, i pūhia e Te Arawa. I te kitenga atu o Tohi kua hinga a Raerae ka tarapeke atu ki tōna taha o te awa ka tokia. Tumeke ana a Ngāti Hauā, ka puta ka rere a Te Arawa ki tō rātau pā. Taka rawa iho ki te tau 1839 i Pēpuere ka pakanga anō i Te Whare-uru-rua. Ko Tohi anō tētehi o ngā toa rongonui. E tū atu ana i te waharoa, i Irohanga, i Maketū, ka pūhia e ia tētehi o ngā toa whakaeke.
I a Noema o te tau 1842 ka mau hereheretia tana tama, a Ngākī. Tekau mā tahi noa iho, mā rua rānei ōna tau. I runga a Ngākī i te kaipuke hokohoko i a te Nimble. Nō te ūnga ki Katikati ka mau i a Ngāi Te Rangi. Ka pā te ngākau pōuri me te whakatakariri ki a Tohi. Ka hanga whakaaro ki te rapu utu. Kātahi ka whakawhiti ki Tūhua (Mayor Island) ki te patu i a Ngāi Te Rangi, arā i Te Whānau-a-Tauwhao. Ka patua ka taona ētehi. Ka hihiko te manawa o Hōri Tūpaea, te rangatira o Ngāi Te Rangi, ki te pakanga ki a Te Arawa. He aha rā mutu noa iho i reira.
I te tau 1845 i te rongonga o Tohi he mea patu tana tama, kainga rawatia, ka whakahakahaka a ia ki te whakaeke i te takiwā o Tauranga ki te ngaki i te mate. Whāia ka tūtaki atu ki a Kāwana Pitiroi (Robert FitzRoy) i Ākarana (Auckland) i te marama o Hune ka waiho ake tērā whakaaro. Haere kē ana ki te karakia i te Whare Karakia ake o Tīpene. Koia rā te huringa o Tohi hei Karaitiana, iriiri rawa i tona wā.
Ka taka ki te tau 1852 ka tupu he riri i waenganui i a Tohi Te Ururangi rāua ko Te Amohau i Maketū mō ngā kōhatu mō te whare karakia e hangaia ana ki reira. Kia puta ai ana riri ka haere a Tohi me tana ope ki Mōtītī ki te takatakahi i ngā urupā o ngā koroua o Te Amohau. Ka tangi atu a Te Amohau ki a Hōri Tūpaea i Ōtūmoetai kia āwhinatia mai ia. Tata tonu ka tū te pakanga. Mei kore ake ngā mihinare – a te Ātirīkona Parāone (A. N. Brown) rāua ko Te Hāpimana (Thomas Chapman), me T. H. Smith – i houhia ai te maungārongo. Ko Smith he kaiwhakawā takiwā i Maketū. Tae rawa ake ki te tau 1856 kua wehe mai a Tohi i Mōtītī kua houhia hoki te rongo ki a Tūpaea.
Nā runga i ngā mana o Tohi ka whakaritea e Smith i te tau 1858 kia whakatūria a Tohi hei kaiwhakawā hei āwhina i a ia. Otirā, kāore he mana kāwanatanga o tēnei tūranga. Ka noho mai a Tohi i Maketū. Atu i reira ka huri haere i te takutai moana ā whati atu ki uta, ki te whakarata i ngā āhuatanga i tutū ai te puehu. He wā anō ka waimarie. Nāna ka memeha te riri i waenganui i a Ngāti Awa o Whakatāne rāua ko Te Whakatōhea o Ōpōtiki. Nāna anō i whakarata tētehi riri whenua i Tarawera. Nō tētehi wā ka haere ia ki Matatā ki te whakahau i ngā Māori o reira kia utua ā rātau nama ki tētehi Pākehā kaihokohoko.
I te tīmatanga kāore a Tohi i utua. Nō te māuiuitanga o tana wahine ka eke te taumahatanga ki runga ki a ia. Nā tana mahi ka kore e taea te ahu whenua i tana māra. Ko te īngoa i mōhiotia ai ia i tērā wā ko Pēkamu Winiata (Beckham Wynyard) arā ko Pēkamu Tohi. I tae rawa ia ki te hui i Kohimaramara (Kohimarama) i te tau 1860. Te takanga ki Hānuere i te tau 1862 ka tohungia a Tohi hei āteha ki Maketū. Ko tana utu £10 i te tau. Ko ōna hoa mahi ko Smith me H. T. Clark, te kaiwhakawā o Tauranga. I mau tonu ki a ia tērā tūranga ā mate noa.
I ngā pakanga o ērā wā pūmau tonu te tautoko a Tohi i te kāwanatanga. He nui hoki ngā iwi atu i Matatā ki Te Wairoa i huri ki te tautoko i te Kīngi Māori i te tau 1863. I tupu rawa tana whakaaro mō te haere ki Ākarana ki te tiki hōia, ki te tiki matā. Nō Pēpuere o te tau 1864 ka takahi mai te hunga e haere ana ki Waikato. Tata ki te 800 tēnā ope. E whakatika ana mā waenganui tonu o te rohe o Te Arawa. Ko Tohi tonu tētehi o ngā kaihautū nā rātau i arataki ngā hōia i tō rātau tukitanga i te ope a te Kīngitanga, i Maketū. Nō te 28 o Āperira 1864, ka tū te pakanga whakamutunga a ngā iwi tautoko i te Kīngi ki Te Kaokaoroa i te takiwā ki Matatā. E tū atu ana a Tohi i te toropuke kirikiri ki te akiaki i ana tāngata, ka pūhia. Ka amohia ki te taha o te awa o Puakōwhai, nō te ahiahi ka mate. I te kaha o te whakatakariri o tana pouaru, huri tonu iho ka pūhia a Te Āporotanga, te rangatira o Te Whakatōhea e mau herehere ana i a Te Arawa.
Nō tōna matenga, kātahi anō ka rongo a Te Arawa i te aroha ki a Tohi. Pērā anō ngā Pākehā i mahi tahi ai rātau. Kei ngā tuhituhi a T. H. Smith te kōrero: 'E kore a Maketū e rite ki te wā e ora ana a Tohi.' I nehua a Tohi ki Ōhinemutu. Nō te tau 1876 ka whakaarangia e te kāwanatanga he kōhatu whakamaharatanga ki a Tohi Te Ururangi ki te Whare Karakia o Tāmati i Maketū.