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Te Rangitopeora

by Teremoana Sparks, W. H. Oliver

Biography

I whānau a Rangi Topeora ki Kāwhia i te tīmatanga o te rau tau 1800–1899. Ko Te Rākaherea tōna matua, ā, ko Waitohi o Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Raukawa tōna whaea. Ko ōna hapū ko Ngāti Kimihia me Ngāti Te Maunu. I mau ia ki ngā iwi o tōna whaea. E taitamāhine tonu ana ia i te heke whakarungatanga mai o Ngāti Toa ki te noho ki Kapiti me te takutai moana i te tuawhenua. Kei ngā tuhituhi e kī ana, tokowhā ngā tāne i moea e Topeora. Ko Te Rātūtonu o Ngā Māhanga ki Taranaki te mea tuatahi, i moe rāua i te tau 1818. Nō te tau 1822 ka mate a Te Rātūtonu. Ko ana tāne o Te Arawa, ko Rangikapiki tō mua, ko Mātene Te Whiwhi tā rāua tama; ko Te Wehi-o-te-rangi tō muri, nā rāua ko Rākapa Kahoki, he wahine. Ko Hauturu te tāne tuawhā. Ka pūremu a Hauturu ki tētahi tūmau i Kapiti; ka meatia e Rangi Topeora kia patua taua wahine rā, kia kainga hoki. Āpiti atu he tokomaha ngā whaiāipo a Topeora.

E tamariki tonu ana a Topeora, i Kāwhia, kua mātau kē ia ki te tito waiata, he āhua i kawea hoki e tana tamāhine, e Rākapa Kahoki. I ngā pakanga a Ngāti Toa ki Waikato, ka patua e Ngāti Pou ētahi wāhine o Ngāti Toa, hei tēina ki a Topeora ētahi. Ka titongia e Topeora te kaioraora mō ngā rangatira o Ngāti Pou. E tohu ana ngā kupu, arā, ā tōna wā, kia mōrikarika te tūkino i ngā rangatira o Ngāti Pou i mua i te patunga kia mate. Nō muri ka whakatutukitia te tohu e tana pāpā e Te Rauparaha, ka patua, ka kainga aua rangatira.

I te hekenga o Ngāti Toa ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika, i haere me ā rātou pū mā Taranaki. Ka whawhai haere, ā, huhua noa ngā pā i horo. Kātahi a Taranaki ka whakatahi ki te pā kaha o Tāpuinīkau, e pātata ana ki Ōpunake. Ka taiapuhia e Te Rauparaha mā. Ko tētahi o ngā tāngata o roto o te pā, ko Te Rātūtonu, he whaiāipo nā Topeora. Ka whakahaua a Te Rātūtonu kia puta mai, kia moea rāua. Ēngari, ka arotau a Nekepapa, nō Te Āti Awa, māna kē te tāne, ka whakataetae ki a Topeora. Ka oma tahi atu rāua ki tā rāua tāne. Ko Topeora i tae tuatahi atu, ka ūhia e ia a Te Rātūtonu ki tana kahu kurī, ka riro i a ia te tāne. Ahakoa tonu, kāore i mau te rongo. Nō muri kē mai, ka whiriwhiria, ka tukuna kia mārire noa rātou i roto i te pā. Nō konei i kitea, ahakoa e taitamāhine tonu ana anō, kua pakari, kua mārō kē te tū o Topeora.

Ko ngā iwi whakaheke ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika, i whawhai tonu i waenga i a rātou. I tua atu, i rewa anō te rau o ā rātou patu ki te iwi kāinga. I tēnei wā, ko Rangi Topeora tonu e takatū ana i waenga i ngā iwi. Ka whakarērea a Te Horo i te tuawhenua, ka whakawhiti a Ngāti Tama ki Kapiti noho ai. Nō ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1820 ka kakari ki a Ngāti Toa rāua ko Ngāti Raukawa. Ka matemate a Ngāti Tama, ka tonoa mai te tamāhine a tō rātou rangatira a Pehitaka, hei whakarite i te rongo ā whare. Nā Topeora i whakatau mai, ka kōrerorero rāua ko tana pāpā, ko Te Rauparaha, ka tonoa ko tana tama, ko Mātene Te Whiwhi hei hohou i te rongo. Ko te hokinga tēnā o Ngāti Tama ki tuawhenua.

Ko Mua-upoko o Horowhenua tētahi iwi i kaha te whawhai atu ki ngā taua whakaeke mai o te raki ki te tango i tō rātou mana ahikā. Tokotoru ngā tamariki a Te Rauparaha e mōhiotia ana nā rātou i patu. Nā tēnei mahi ka puta te taha kaitaua o Rangi Topeora. Ka āta noho a Topeora rāua ko tana whaea ko Waitohi, ka whiriwhiri me pēhea te ngaki i ēnei mate. Ko te mutunga iho, ka whāia a Mua-ūpoko, ka patua, tinitini ana i mate.

Ki tētahi kōrero ā Ngāi Tahu, nā Rangi Topeora tonu i tū ai te pakanga o te tau 1829. I te takakinohanga a Te Kēkerengū o Ngāti Ira i a Topeora, ka mataku kei patua a ia e Te Rangihaeata, ka rere ki ana whanaunga ki Ngāi Tahu i Kaikōura. Nō muri ka puta atu a Ngāti Toa, ka pēnei a Ngāi Tahu he haere pai noa iho, ka āwhina atu ki te tō mai i ō rātou waka. E mauria mai ana ngā waka, e patua ana a Ngāi Tahu e Ngāti Toa. Kātahi ka haere a Ngāti Toa, ka whakaekea a Kaiapoi, ēngari kāore i taea.

Ko Topeora tētahi o ngā wāhine tokorima i haina i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Nāna i haina te tauira o te Tiriti i heria atu e Te Karu Whā (Henry Williams) ki Kapiti, i te 14 o Mei 1840. Ahakoa tana haina i te Tiriti, nō muri rawa mai a ia ka rata ki te nohonoho mai a te Pākehā. E ai ki te kōrero a tētahi hōia Pākehā o ērā rā, i te tau 1846 ka whakahēngia e Topeora te noho a te Pākehā. Riri tonu atu ia, i te kore āwhina atu o te hunga o Ōtaki i te pakanga a Te Rangihaeata ki ngā Pākehā. Nō konei ka tātātia ia e tētahi kaumātua, ka whakanōhia ki raro, ka taunutia atu. Ka whiua ngā kōrero, arā, ko ia rawa te tuahine heahea o tana tungāne heahea kē ake i a ia, ā, he kūao kurī te ritenga o Topeora. Ka kī anō te kaumātua nei, mā te rongomau ka whai poaka, ka whai rīwai, ka whai tupeka ai te tangata, ā, ka pāinaina i ngā ahi kāinga. Ko tā te pakanga, ko te hūhi ko te poautinitini. Whai noa te iwi i tā te koroua rā.

He wahine whai rawa, whai whenua hoki a Topeora. I kōrerohia, i a rāua ko tana tama ko Mātene Te Whiwhi te nuinga o ngā whenua i Katihiku, i te wahapū o Ōtaki. I rīhitia e ia te whenua ki ngā Pākehā. Ko ētahi i meatia hei hoko. Ahakoa kāore a Te Rangihaeata rāua ko Te Rauparaha i whakaae, ka whakawhiwhia tonu e Topeora a William Mayhew, he tangata whaiwhai tohorā, ki tētahi whenua. Ēngari i riro anō i a Te Rauparaha mā he wāhanga o te utunga mai a Mayhew.

He wahine tino rangatira a Topeora, he wahine toa, he momo hoki nō tōna whaea nō Waitohi. He pū kōrero i tono, ā, i āhei ki te tū i ngā hui, he reo reka e hiahiatia ana hei kīnaki whaikōrero, he kaitito waiata, he wahine remurere. Kei Ngā mōteatea (I, 70), kei tētahi o ana waiata, ana kōrero mōna anō:

E hira hoki au
I aku tūmanako
E kai nei te aroha, ī.

I tōna iriirihanga ki Ōtaki i te 2 o Mei 1847, whai tonu ia ko te īngoa 'Te Kuini' hei īngoa mōna. Ko tētahi o ana tāne i tapaina ko Arapeta, ko te īngoa tēnei o te tāne a Kuini Wikitōria. Ki tōna rohe, i karanga tonutia a Topeora ko 'te Kuini o te Taitonga'. Ka taipakeketia ia ka panipania e Gottfried Lindauer tōna whakaahua, he wahine purotu, he wahine whakahirahira, kore rawa ia i mau kākahu Pākehā. Nō te wā atu i 1865 ki 1873 ka mate tēnei wahine rongonui, ki Ōtaki.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Burns, P. Te Rauparaha. Wellington, 1980

    Carkeek, W. The Kapiti coast. Wellington, 1966

    Power, W. T. Sketches in New Zealand. London, 1849

    Te Kahu, T. W. 'The wars of Kai-Tahu (Ngai-Tahu) with Kati-Toa (Ngati-Toa)'. Journal of the Polynesian Society 10, No 2 (June 1901): 94--100


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Teremoana Sparks and W. H. Oliver. 'Te Rangitopeora', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated o Āpereira, 2012. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1t103/topeora-rangi-te-kuini (accessed 29 March 2024)