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Te Korou, Te Retimana

by Angela Ballara, Mita Carter

Biography

E kī ana te kōrero, i whānau tēnei tangata a Te Korou i ngā tau tata atu ki 1780; ā, i heke iho i a Rangitāne, i a Ngāti Kahungunu. Ko tana matua ko Te Raku pea. Ko Tawhitowhenua rānei. Ko tana whaea ko Te Kai, nō Ngāti Te Hina, nō Ngāi Tahu o Te Wairarapa. Ka moe ia i tana wahine, i a Hinewhakaaea, nō Ngāti Te Hina anō, ā, nō Ngāi Tahu o Te Wairarapa hoki. I noho whanaunga a Te Korou rātou ko tana whānau ki a Ngāti Wheke, ki a Te Matehau, ki a Ngāti Te Hauaitū, ki a Ngāti Te Tohinga, ki a Ngāti Te Umu me Ngāti Te Aomatauru. Nā te puta whānui o ngā whakamoemoe ki roto i ngā iwi, i pā ai tana whānau ki a Ngāti Kahungunu, ki a Rangitāne hoki.

I te heke ki Nukutaurua i te tau 1834, tokotoru ā rāua tamariki – he tamāhine, ko Erihāpeti, he tama, ko Te Tua-o-te-rangi (ko Te Turuki tētahi o ōna īngoa), he tāne anō pea te tuatoru. Te hekenga o te iwi, heke katoa hoki te whānau a Te Korou. Ina rā, i mau kē a Te Korou i a Te Āti Awa. Nō te taenga ki Ōrongorongo, ka huri atu ki te whakamāmā i te pīkaunga a Te Wera o Ngāti Mutunga, te kaimataara i a ia; ā, nanao kē atu ki tana pātītī, ka patua a Te Wera. Kātahi ka rere mā te ngāherehere, i ora ai ia. I te taenga ki te wā i houhia ai te rongo, ko Te Korou tonu tētahi o ngā kaiwhakarite i ngā āhuatanga. Hoki rawa mai rātou ki Te Wairarapa i te tau 1841, kua kaumātuatia kē a Te Korou, noho ana anō ko ia tētahi o ngā rangatira mō te takiwā mai i Whakaoriori (Masterton) ki Eketāhuna, atu hoki i ngā paemaunga o Tararua ki te takutai moana.

Nō te tau 1845, ka noho mai a Campbell Hāwea, hei kaiwhakaako i ngā āhuatanga Karaitiana, i waenga i tērā iwi. I te haerenga o Te Koreneho (William Colenso) ki te torotoro i a Te Korou i Kaikōkirikiri, rokohanga atu e whakaritea ana te mārena o Erihāpeti ki a Īhāia Whakamairu. Kua whai kē a Te Korou ki ngā mahi Karaitiana. Nā reira, hari rawa atu te ngākau o Te Koreneho i te rironga māna e iriiri te whānau a Te Korou: ko ia tonu – ko Te Retimana (Richmond) tōna īngoa iriiri; ko tōna whaea, ko Te Kai i iriirihia ki a Roihi (Lois); ko tana wahine ko Hinewhakaaea ki a Hoana; ko ā rāua tama tokowhā; me Erihāpeti rāua ko tana tāne, ko Īhāia; me ngā mokopuna tokorua, he tāne. Ko Te Tua-o-te-rangi, te tama, i iriirihia ki a Karaitiana. Kite rawa hoki a Te Koreneho i te pakari, i te ātaahua o Karaitiana, me te pai hoki o tana pānui i te Paipera Tapu i te reo Māori. E whā ēnei whakatupuranga o te whānau kotahi – ka koa rā hoki a Te Koreneho. Ko te tau 1848 tēnei.

Kei ngā tuhituhi anō a Te Koreneho e takoto ana te kōrero mō Te Korou, mō tana ngākaunui kia mau tonu te pupuri i ōna whenua mō ana tamariki. Ā, kia tūpato hoki tana whānau kei taka rātou ki ngā mahi whakawai a te Pākehā. Heoi, kāore i eke. Nō te tau 1844 noa atu, ka rarua ana tūmanako ki te rīhi whenua i ngā awaawa o Whareama ki a Charles Clifford, ki a Frederick Weld, me William Vavasour, ngā tāngata kua tau te noho ki ngā whenua o Te Wairarapa. I whai kē rātou i ngā whenua ki te raki, he raorao hoki. Pērā anō i te tau 1848. Ko ia tētahi o ngā kaikōrero ki a Francis Dillon Bell mō te hoko i ngā whenua o Te Wairarapa ki te 'Canterbury settlement'. Tau kē atu tērā hunga ki Te Waipounamu. Ehara, ka whai anō te tangata nei i ētahi whakarite anō. He aha rā i pērā ai? Tērā pea nā te mea kua rīhingia kē ētahi o ngā whenua i whai pānga ai ia, ēngari kāore ōna whanaunga i whakapā mai ki a ia. I tautohe rawahia te rīhitanga o te whenua i Manaia ki a William Barnard Rhodes rāua ko William Hodgson Donald. Te mutunga iho ko Te Korou tonu te tangata i tino āwhina i a Henry Tacy Kemp i ngā take hoko whenua.

Ka kaha te tomo mai a te Pākehā ki roto o Te Wairarapa, ka tīmata te whakatete a ngā taitama ki ngā kaumātua. He hoko tā ngā taitama, he rīhi tā ngā pakeke. Heoi, i roto i te kaikā o ngā taitamariki ki te hoko whenua, ka naomia atu e ngā rangatira pakeke, i te whenua ka hokona; e kore rā e takahia tā rātou kupu i mua, kia kaua te hoko. Ko te āhua nei, i uru atu a Te Korou rātou ko ana tamariki, ko tana tama tonu, a Karaitiana, me tana hunaonga a Īhāia Whakamairu, ki ngā whakataetae nei.

Whāia hoki ka tonoa mai e Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) ngā tāngata whakahaere i te Small Farms Association, a Joseph Masters rāua ko Henry Humphries Jackson ki a ia i Kaikōkirikiri. Kāore hoki rā he kōrero o te whakakāhore a Te Korou. Ēngari nō ana uri kē ngā īngoa kei te rārangi o ngā kaihoko – ko Karaitiana, ko Erihāpeti, ko Īhāia Whakamairu. He taikaha ā rāua kōrero. Nō te hokianga ki Pōneke (Wellington) ka haere a Īhāia Whakamairu i te taha ki te whakatutuki i te hoko. Kei te rārangi kē o ngā kaihoko i ngā whenua i Maungaraki, i Wainuiorū, i Whareama, i Rangiwhakaoma (Castlepoint) te īngoa o Te Korou. Rite tonu tā rāua hokohoko ko Karaitiana i ētahi o ō rātou whenua; ēngari mahi kē noa atu te tama, mahi kē noa atu te matua.

Mai i ngā tau 1860, ko Karaitiana kē i te whakahaere i ngā take mā te whānau; ā, ko ia anō te māngai mō Kaikōkirikiri i te hui i Kohimaramara (Kohimarama). Ka tīmata ngā Kōti Whenua Māori ki Te Wairarapa i te tau 1866, ka tū ko Karaitiana rāua ko Erihāpeti hei wahakōrero mō te whānau. Me hanga noa iho ka kitea a Te Korou; kua utaina te kōrero o 'te koroheke o Ngāti Wheke' ki runga ki a ia. E ai ki ngā pānuitanga a te kāwanatanga, tokorua rāua ko tana tama i taki tautoko i te Kīngitanga i te tau 1862. E ai ki ngā kōrero e tautoko ana rātou ko ērā o ngā kaihautū o Te Wairarapa i te Kīngitanga, ehara kau i te mea he manawapā nō rātou ki te Kīngi, ēngari he pāmamae nō rātou mō ngā utu, me ngā whenua i hokona. I te matenga i Manaia o Te Korou i Hānuere 1882, ka kīia nuku noa atu i te 100 ana tau. I tukuna rawa e tana hunaonga he pōwhiri ki ngā hoa Pākehā o te kaumātua nei, anā, he maha rātou i hui atu, i roto i te 300, ki te urupā i Whakaoriori.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Bagnall, A. G. Masterton's first hundred years. Masterton, 1954

    Colenso, W. Colenso papers, 1833--1863. MS. WTU

    N.Z. Native Land Court. Minute books: Wairarapa, 1866--1900. Micro MS Coll. 6. WTU


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Angela Ballara and Mita Carter. 'Te Korou, Te Retimana', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1t46/te-korou-te-retimana (accessed 19 March 2024)