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Kōrero: Te Rau-o-te-rangi, Kahe

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Rau-o-te-rangi, Kahe

?–1871?

Nō Ngāti Toa, nō Te Āti Awa; he wahine rongonui, he wahine hokohoko, he pāparakāuta tana

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Eleanor Spragg, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. I whakahoutia i te o Hūrae, 2013. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Ko Kahe Te Rau-o-te-rangi, he tamāhine nā Te Matoha o Ngāti Toa, rāua ko Te Hautonga o Ngāti Mutunga, o Te Āti Awa. Ko Te Matoha tētahi o ngā toa a Te Rauparaha. I te pakanga i Motunui, nāna i patu ngā toa o Waikato, a Hiakai rāua ko Mama.

Kāore i te mārama i whānau ake a Te Rau-o-te-rangi ki whea – ki Taranaki rānei, ki te kāinga tupu o tana whaea i Kaweka e tata ana ki Urenui i te taha raro o Taranaki; ki Kāwhia rānei, ki te kāinga tūturu o Te Rauparapa o Ngāti Toa, ki te taha tonga o te whanga o Kāwhia. Heoi, i te tau 1821, i te hekenga o Te Rauparaha me tana iwi o Ngāti Toa ki te tonga, kua pakeke kē anō a Kahe i taea ai e ia te haere mā raro i tērā haerenga roa, haerenga tawhiti. E toru rau māero atu i Kāwhia ki Kapiti, e rua tau e haeretia ana. Ā, e rua ngā nohoanga ki te whakatā, ki te whakatipu kai hei ō. Ko te nohoanga tuatahi, i te kāinga o ana tūpuna, i Kaweka. I reira, ka whakaekea rātou e Waikato.

Kāore he kōrero o tana tamarikitanga i te taenga ki Kapiti. Ēngari i ngā tau 1832–33 i noho rāua ko tana tāne Pākehā, ko John Nicoll (Nicholl rānei), i Kapiti. Karangahia ai anō tana tāne ko Scotch Jock, he Kōtimana hoki. Nāna i whakarere te kaipuke whaiwhai tohorā i Te Wairau i te tau 1829. Ko tō rāua oranga, he hokohoko taputapu. Anei te kōrero a tana tamāhine: 'Ko taku whaea, he wahine kaitā, pakari, marohi'. Ka rere ana tō rāua kaipuke i Te Moana-a-Raukawa, ko Kahe anake hei āwhina i tana tāne ki te whakarere atu i Kapiti ki ngā kokorutanga o Te Wairau; mai ki uta nei rānei. Nō te tau 1834, ka wehe atu rāua ki te awa o Whanganui mō te 13 marama, ki te hokohoko taonga ki ō reira iwi Māori. Kātahi anō he kaihoko Pākehā ka tae atu ki tērā takiwā.

I hau ngā rongo o Kahe i tōna wāhanga mai i tana tamaiti i a Mākere, ka kau mai i Kapiti ki Te Uruhi, e whitu ngā māero, i te tuawhenua nei. Ko tana rere mai, he whakaara i te iwi nā te mea kua taiapuhia a Ngāti Toa. Mai i tērā wā, ka tapa te wāhi i kauria mai e ia, ko ngā wai a Te Rau-o-te-Rangi. Na, ka tae ki te wā o te Tiriti o Waitangi, tokorima ngā wāhine i whakamau i ō rātou tohu. Ko Kahe rāua ko Rangitopeora ngā mea o Ngāti Toa – he wāhine whai mana hoki. Nō te haringa mai a Te Karu Whā (Henry Williams) i te Tiriti ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika i te 29 Āperira 1840, ka uru atu rāua ki te kāhui rangatira i haina.

Taka rawa atu ki te 10 o Noema 1841, ka mārenahia a Kahe rāua ko tana tāne e te minita Perehipitiriana o Pōneke, e John Macfarlane, i runga tonu i tō rāua kaipuke. Nō muri rawa mai, nō te tau 1844, ka iriirihia a Kahe e Te Harawira (Octavius Hadfield), i Ōtaihanga i kō tata atu rānei i Waikanae. He mahinga kai hoki tā rāua i reira. Ā, i noho ia he kaitautoko i te Hāhi Mihingare. Nō te tau 1845, tino mōhio atu ngā tāngata haere i te nuku o te whenua, haere i te takutai moana, ki a Kahe rāua ko tana tāne; nā te mea he pāparakāuta tā rāua i Paekākāriki, i te wāhi tonu e tū mai rā te hōtēra i nāianei. Auau tonu te noho mai a te kāwana, a Hōri Kerei (George Grey) i reira. Ā, nāna i hari ngā tamariki a Kahe mā ki Ākarana (Auckland) kia kuraina, kia whakaakona i reira; ko te tama ki te Kāreti o Hoani te Kaihauhau, ko te tamāhine ki te kāinga tonu o Hōri Kerei noho ai. Ēngari, kāore i tino pakeke ērā o ngā tamariki ka matemate. Ko ngā mea e toru i pakekehia, ko Hēni Te Rau – i moe i a Henry Brown; ko Hōne – i moe i a Amīria; ko Mere Hautonga – ko tana tāne tuatahi, ko Īnia Tūhata; ko te tāne tuarua, ko Wiremu Naera Pōmare, kia puta ko Māui Pōmare te mātāmua, ko Piritaka, ko Te Hia, ko Pahi.

Nō te tau 1871 pea ka mate a Kahe. Ko ētahi e kī ana kei Kapiti e tanu ana; ētahi anō e kī ana kei te urupā tawhito i Paekākāriki. Heoi, i kōrerohia e tana tamāhine e Mere i te Kōti Whenua Māori i te tau 1890, he mea tāpuke tana whaea ki tō rātou whenua i Kārewarewa, ki te raki o te awa o Waikanae. Ko tana tāne, ko John Nicholl, i mate i te tau 1886, kei Waikanae e tanu ana.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Eleanor Spragg. 'Te Rau-o-te-rangi, Kahe', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated o Hūrae, 2013. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1t73/te-rau-o-te-rangi-kahe (accessed 29 March 2024)