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Kōrero: Tūhuru Kōkare

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Tūhuru Kōkare

fl. 1800–1847

Nō Poutini Ngāi Tahu; he kaingārahu

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Maika Mason, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Ko te kōrero i whānau a Tūhuru Kōkare i ngā tau tōmuri o te rau tau 1700–1799. E kīia ana, i te tau 1864, kei te 70 pea ngā tau o tana tama o Tarapuhi. Ko Te Ruahuanui rāua ko Tītohi ōna mātua, ā, i tipu mai ia i ō rāua taha i Kaikainui, te pā o tōna tipuna tāne, o Waewae. Kei kō paku atu ko Kaiapoi. Na, ko te rangatira o Ngāi Tahu nāna i hanga taua pā ko Tūrākautahi. Hei tama ki a ia a Waewae te pāpā o Tūhuru.

Ko Tūhuru te amorangi o Ngāti Waewae hapū o Ngāi Tahu. I eke ki tōna pakeketanga i te wā e tino kaha ana te akaaka o te ao Māori i Te Wakanui-o-Māui, arā, i Te Waipounamu. Nō te rau tau 1700–1799, ka heke te iwi o Ngāi Tahu mai i Ngā Pākihi-whakatekateka-a-Waitaha (Canterbury Plains) ki Te Tai Poutini. Ko ngā pī o te pounamu i te takiwā ki Arahura me Māwhera (Grey River) te kaupapa o te haere. Ko te iwi o reira ko Ngāti Wairangi. He pā tō rātou i te ngutu awa o Māwhera e tū ana. Nō te taenga atu o ērā ka huakina, ka horo. I te hinganga o te pā ka tukitukia e Ngāi Tahu ki Waitaha i mua i tō rātou hokinga ki te rāwhiti. Taro ake, ka whakatōpū ētahi anō o ngā hapū o Ngāi Tahu ka patua e rātou a Ngāti Wairangi.

Inā kē te rahi o te rangatira nei o Tūhuru, ā, he tangata rākau kawa anō hoki. I whai wāhi rātou ko tana hapū i te patunga o Ngāti Wairangi, i ngā tau e potapotae ana i te tīmatanga o te rau tau 1800–1899. Ko te moana o Kōtuku-whakaoho (Lake Brunner) te kauhanga riri. Ka whakatika atu rātou i Kōtuku-whakaoho ki te raupatu haere i Te Tai Poutini. I tīmata atu te waitaua raupatu nei i te takiwā ki Karamea, kātahi ka heke whaka-te-tonga me te āta raupatu haere, ā tae noa ki Makawhio (Jacobs River). I riro katoa te tangata whenua i a rātou. I hikitia te rau o te patu i Karamea, i Whanganui, i Kawatiri (Buller), i Māwhera, i Taramakau, i Arahura, i Hokitika, i Ōkarito, ā, i Makawhio hoki.

Ko ngā pae maunga o Paparoa te tāhuna o te hinganga whakamutunga o Ngāti Wairangi. Nō muri mai ka hui te tira a Tūhuru ki Rūnanga. Ko te noho ki Te TaiPoutini ko te hoki rānei ki Kaikainui tōna kaupapa. Ka wānangatia te take nei ēngari kīhai i tatū. Ka whakawhiti tō rātou tira i te awa o Māwhera ki Ōmotumotu (Ōmoto). I reira ka whakatauria me noho rātou ki Te Tai Poutini. Ko te tahuritanga tēnā o Tūhuru me tōna iwi ki te hanga pā hou mō rātou ki Māwhera, ā, ka tahuna ā rātou ahi. Kua mōhiotia rātou i nāianei ko Poutini Ngāi Tahu, arā, ko te iwi o Ngāi Tahu ki Te Tai Poutini.

Ko te mahi kē mā Tūhuru i nāianei he wawao i tana rohe i ngā whakaariki. Ko Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri tērā ka turakina. He iwi nō te tauihu o Te Wakanui-o-Māui, arā, nō te tairaki o Te Waipounamu, ka mahue te whakawhitiwhiti rawa mō te pounamu ka haere ake kē ki te pāhua i taua taonga. Heoti, i taua wā anō ka ngaruru te mahi hokohoko pounamu, ā, ko Kaiapoi te wāhi putunga hei hokohoko. Nō te tau 1827, 1828 rānei ka puta ake i Paturau, he wāhi e pātata ana ki te kokoru o Whanganui, ko Niho rātou ko tana marau mau pū ki te pāhua i te rohe pounamu. I te hohounga o te rongo ka noho mai a Niho me tētahi wāhanga o Ngāti Rārua ki Māwhera. He pakanga tāmutumutu te mahi a Ngāti Waewae ki a Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri o te takiwā ki Kawatiri. He take ahi kā ki te whenua te kaupapa. Taka rawa ake ki te tōmuatanga o te tau 1837 kua mate mai i a Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku a Te Pūoho-o-te-rangi o Ngāti Tama, ā, whakarērea iho ana Te Tai Poutini e Niho rātou ko ōna uku o Ngāti Toa.

Nō te 21 o Mei 1846, ka tae atu ngā kaitorotoro rā, a Thomas Brunner rāua ko Charles Heaphy ki Māwhera. I ahu pērā mai i Whakatū (Nelson). He tokoiti noa iho te hunga i te pā o Māwhera i taua wā. Ahakoa rā, he tino mahana tonu te manaaki i tukuna e Ngāti Waewae ki a rāua. I te 1 o Hūrae 1847 ka tae atu anō a Brunner ki Māwhera. Ka tūtaki ki a Tūhuru me te kite ake anō he maha kē atu ngā tāngata i reira i tēnei haerenga mai ōna. I te rā o te Kirihimete, e whā kē ngā wā i whakaritea mō te karakia, ā, he hākari te mahi. I haere ake i te raki me te rāwhiti o Te Waipounamu te hunga nā te Hāhi Wēteriana me te Hāhi Mihinare. Nā rātou i kawe ake te Kupu ki a Tūhuru mā. Ko te huringa tēnei o Ngāti Waewae ki te Whakapono.

I moe a Tūhuru ki a Papakura, ka puta ā rāua tamariki tokoono, arā, a Hinekino, a Tarapuhi Te Kaukihi, a Weretā Tainui, a Nihorere, a Tāwhao, me Te Hiakai hoki. Nō te mea kīhai tana īngoa i te pukapuka tataunga iwi o 1848 ka hua te whakaaro i mate ia i taua tau anō, nō mua tata atu rānei. Ki tētahi kōrero nō te tau 1854 ka kawea tana tūpāpaku kia takoto ki te ana kōiwi kei runga ake i te pā o Māwhera. I tōna matenga ka tautapatia tana tama a Tarapuhi hei whakakapi mōna, ā, hei kaingārahu hoki mō Ngāti Waewae. I te matenga o Tarapuhi i te tau 1864 ka riro i te teina i a Weretā Tainui te tūranga ūpoko ariki mō tōna iwi.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Maika Mason. 'Tūhuru Kōkare', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1t111/tuhuru-kokare (accessed 28 March 2024)