Dictionary of New Zealand Bography logo

Kōrero: Te Rangi-pūawhe, Te Keepa

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Rangi-pūawhe, Te Keepa

?–1905

Nō Te Arawa, nō Tūhourangi; he kaiārahi, he hōia, he kaipakihi

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

Ko Te Keepa Te Rangi-pūawhe tētehi o ngā tino rangatira o Tūhourangi, nō Te Arawa. I heke iho i a Houmaitawhiti mā roto mai i a Tamatekapua. Nā tana pāpā, koirā anō te īngoa ko Te Rangi-pūawhe, a Tūhourangi i ārahi i te pakanga ki a Ngāti Pikiao i mua i te whakareretanga o Tūhourangi i tō rātau kāinga i Te Rotoiti ka heke ai ki Tarawera noho ai. I uru ia ki ngā whawhai ki Tūhoe i Pukekaikāhu e tata ana ki Rerewhakaaitu i te tau 1822. I uru anō hoki ia ki te pakanga ki a Ngāi Te Rangi i te tau 1836 i horo ai a Te Tūmū i tua mai o Maketū. I whānau pea a Te Keepa i te pā o Motutawa i Tarawera. E ai ki ngā kōrero kei runga i tana urupā, i whānau ia i te takiwā o te tau 1826. Ko te īngoa o tana whaea ko Hinatuituia; nō Tūhourangi, nō Ngāti Wāhiao ia.

I roto i ngā whawhai o te tekau tau mai i 1860 i tautoko a Te Keepa Te Rangi-pūawhe i te kāwanatanga. Nō te tau 1864 i te wā i whakaaro ai te ope taua o Te Tai Rāwhiti ki te takahi i te rohe o Te Arawa, e taki haere ana ki te āwhina i te Kīngitanga, ka uru atu a Te Keepa ki ngā whawhai ki te ārai atu i te hoariri. Ka ākina atu te taua o Te Tai Rāwhiti, i Te Rotoiti; ka hinga rātau i te pūaha o Waihī e tata ana ki Maketū. Nō Te Kaokaoroa i tua mai o Matatā te hinganga whakamutunga i te 28 o Āperire.

Ko Te Keepa tētehi o ngā kaihautū o te ope taua o Te Arawa i uru atu ki te rōpū i haere i te taha o Kānara G. S. Whitmore ki Te Urewera ki te whawhai i te ope taua a Te Kooti me te iwi o Tūhoe e āwhina ana i a ia. I wehe atu te ope taua nei i Karatia (Fort Galatea) i te 4 o Mei 1869; ka horo a Te Hārema te pā o Ngāti Whare. He kaitautoko ēnei i te Pai Mārire, ngā iwi tautoko i a Te Kooti. Nō muri mai ka tae ki te riu o Ruatāhuna. E whawhai huakore noa iho ana ki te ope a Te Kooti, kātahi ka hoki whakamuri mai he kore nō Te Arawa i hiahia ki te whawhai i te wā e takurua ana. Nō te 18 o Mei 1869, ka whakawhiwhia a Te Keepa ki te taitara meiha i ngā Hōia ā-Iwi o Niu Tīreni. Nā Te Keepa a te Tiuka o Edinburgh, i whakatau ki Whakarewarewa i tana taenga ki Rotorua i te marama o Tīhema 1869. Nō te pō ka whakangahautia i te mumura o te ahi ka tukuna e Te Keepa me ētahi o ngā rangatira he taiaha me te mere ki te Tiuka. I ngā pō ka noho ngā hōia o Te Arawa ki te whakatūpato, he mōhio nō rātau kua tae mai a Te Kooti rātau ko tana iwi ki Taupō kei kō tata ake nei.

I ngā wā e mau ana te rongo i noho a Te Keepa i Te Wairoa i Tarawera i tana whare Pākehā. Ko Merepeka tana wahine; tokorua neke atu rānei ā rāua tamariki. Ko Potikai rāua ko Renati ngā mea e mōhiotia ana. Ko tana hāhi ko te Hāhi Mihingare. Ko ia tō runga rawa o ngā rangatira o taua takiwā; ko ia hoki te kaitiaki o Ō-tū-kapua-rangi me Te Tarata, ngā tūāpapa kei Rotomahana. I tū rawa ia hei mema mō Te Tai Rāwhiti ki te Whare Pāremata i te wā pōti o te tau 1875–76 me te tau 1884. Otirā, kāore i whai hua. I tū ia hei reo mō Tūhourangi i te tau 1882 i te whakahaeretanga o ngā whenua o Rotomahana–Parekārangi me ngā whenua katoa o te moana o Rotomahana me ngā tūāpapa, i te Kōti Whenua Māori. I tohengia e ia te whakatau a te Kōti mō tētehi whenua e whakataetaengia ana e Ngāti Rangitihi. He mea takahuri te whakatau a te Kōti i te tau 1884.

I ahu mai i a Te Keepa rātau ko tana iwi ngā kaiārahi me ngā waka. Nā rātau hoki ngā tūruhi e taetae atu ana ki ngā tūāpapa pūwhero-mā i whakangahau. He mea utu anō rātau. E £5 te moni hei utunga mō te whakairo pikitia, tango whakaahua rānei o ngā tūāpapa. Nā tēnei utu i kore ai he pikitia hira i peitangia kia tae rā anō mai a Charles Blomfield me tana kaupapa mō te whakairo pikitia i te tau 1884. Kātahi ka hui ngā kaihautū Māori ka tau tā rātau kōrero me utu e Blomfield kia kotahi te tahua moni; me hari mai anō hoki e ia he poti mōna. Kua mārakerake ngā hua o te manaaki tūruhi. Heoi, nō te hūnga o Tarawera i te 10 o Hune 1886, ohotata ana te mutu o tā rātau mahi. Ka ngaro te kāinga o Te Wairoa, mate katoa atu tētehi wāhi haurua o te iwi 250 te tokomaha. I taki rere ētehi ki te whare o Te Keepa whakaruru ai, ā, nō te kitenga kua kino haere te rū ka whakahaungia e Te Keepa kia nuku atu ki tētehi wāhi pai ake. Ka oma ngā mea i ora ki Ōhinemutu e tatari mai rārā a Ngāti Whakaue me tō rātau whare a Tamatekapua. Ka noho tonu a Te Keepa i Te Wairoa ā, kia mōhio rawa ia kua puta katoa ngā mea o Tūhourangi i ora ki te wāhi maru. Nō te 14 o Hune kātahi anō ka kitea te tohunga rārā a Tūhoto i tāpukena ora tonutia e ngā paru o te hū.

Nō muri i te rū ka mahi haere tonu a Te Keepa ki te kimi i ngā tūpāpaku kia āta nehua tikatia, ki te tango ake hoki i ngā taputapu e pai tonu ana. I tautohe rawa ia ki te tangata a te kāwanatanga i Rotorua, ki a H. D. Johnson, kia whakarahingia ake ngā āwhina e whakaarohia ana mō ngā mōrehu o te hū o Tarawera. Ko Tūhourangi kua noho kore kāinga, ā, ko te mea nui kia tere te whakanoho ki tētehi kāinga mō rātau. I whakaaro te kāwanatanga ki te tuku whenua mō rātau, ēngari ko te whenua o Rotomahana me tuku ki te kāwanatanga. I whakahuatia anō tētehi whenua i roto o Moehau (Coromandel), i Rēkohu, arā, i Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) rānei. Kāti, nō te māuiuitanga o Te Keepa ka kore ēnei kōrero i whaiwhaingia. Ehara, ka aroha tonu mai ngā iwi. Ko te tokomaha o Tūhourangi i noho ki Whakarewarewa ahu atu hoki ki Ngāpuna i te taha o ō rātau huānga o Ngāti Wāhiao. He wāhanga anō o rātau i haere ki Pārāwai (Thames) noho ai i runga i ngā whenua i arohaina e Ngāti Maru.

He mea whakauru atu a Te Keepa hei mema mō te Kotahitanga (ko te Pāremata Māori tēnei) i te tau 1896, ā, āta tae atu ana ia ki te hui i Tokaanu i te marama o Maehe. I uru atu ia ki roto i ngā whakahaere mō te pōwhiri i te Tiuka o Cornwall me York, rāua ko tana wahine, i Rotorua i te tau 1901. Nō tana matenga i te 27 o Hune 1905, ka ūhia ki ngā hōnore hōia, ka tanumia ki Whakarewarewa. Kotahi marama i muri mai ka whakatūngia he kōwhatu whero me te rīpeka pū porotiti, e mau ana ki runga i tana urupā hei whakamaumaharatanga mōna.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Steven Oliver. 'Te Rangi-pūawhe, Te Keepa', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1t68/te-rangi-puawhe-te-keepa (accessed 29 March 2024)