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Kōrero: Ormsby, John

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ormsby, John

1854–1927

Nō Ngāti Maniapoto; he kaiwhakarite, he kaitōrangapū ā-rohe, he kaiahu whenua, he kaipakihi

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e M. J. Ormsby, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1993. I whakahoutia i te o Noema, 2001. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

E ai ki ngā kōrero o tōna ngare i whānau a John Ormsby (Hōne Ōmipi) ki Te Kōpua, he wāhi e tū tata atu ana ki Pirongia Maunga, i te 6 o Noema 1854. Nō Ngāti Te Waha me Ngāti Pourāhui hapū o Ngāti Maniapoto a ia. Ko ia te tuawhā o ngā tamariki a te kura māhita o Waipā, a Robert Ormsby (e whakahuaina ana e ngā Māori ko Pumi) rāua ko tana wahine, ko Mere Pianika (Mary Bianca) Rangihurihia, te tamāhine a Te Raku. Nā tō rātou pāpā ake ā rāua tamariki i ako. I haere te pāpā ki te Kāreti o Te Tokotoru Tapu (Trinity College) i Tapurini (Dublin). Kāore ia i noho kia riro mai te tohu kauati ka heke mai ia ki Niu Tīreni nei. He marama i mua o te rewatanga o te patu ki Waikato ka tukua e ōna whanaunga o Ngāti Maniapoto te kōwhiringa ki a Pumi o te tū ki te taha o te Kīngitanga, ki te taha kē rānei o te kāwanatanga. Whai noa ana ia i te taha Pākehā. Ko te wehenga atu tēnā ōna me tōna whānau i te kāinga me te rohe o Waipā. Ko te tuakana o Hōne Ōmipi, ko Wati (Arthur) i mahue ki roto ki a Ngāti Maniapoto; 10 tōna pakeke. Ko tētehi anō o ōna tuākana i hono atu ki roto i te rōpū hōia a te kāwanatanga. I noho te whānau ki Ākarana (Auckland) i te wā o te whawhai, ā, nō te mutunga rawa o te pakanga kātahi anō ka hoki mai ki tō rātou kāinga i Waipā.

Ko Rangihurihia, arā e mōhiotia ana hoki ko Rangatahi, te tamāhine a tētehi tangata e noho pātata mai ana ki a Hōne Ōmipi. I moea a ia e Hōne i te 6 o Hānuere 1877 i Pirongia. Ka mate a Rangihurihia, ka moe a Hōne i a Mārama Hiriako; i mate anō tērā, kātahi ka moea e ia te teina o Rangihurihia, a Ngāhora, ko Moe Aranui anō tētehi o ōna īngoa.

I hau tuatahi te rongo o Hōne Ōmipi i te tekau tau atu i 1880, ka noho ia he tamaiti i manaakitia, i whakaakona e tērā o ōna pāpā, e Wahanui Huatare. I taua wā e tū ana te raruraru i waenga i a Tāwhiao rāua ko Rewi Maniapoto, nā te kokoraho o Tāwhiao kia taka te Rohe Pōtae ki raro i tōna mana. E ai ki ngā kōrero, nā Ōmipi rāua ko tōna whanaunga, nā Te Mohi Te Pūaha (ko Tommy Green anō tētehi o ōna ingoa) i āwhina te kaikohikohi Ateriana rā, a Anaria Reiheke (Andreas Reischek) ki te whānako i ngā wheua o tētehi rangatira o Tainui e takoto ana i tētehi rua kōiwi i Kāwhia. Ko te whakaaro nā Tūpāhau pea aua wheua, he tupuna ki a Tāwhiao rāua ko Te Rauparaha. Ko te Āperira o 1882 te wā i whānakotia ai. Ko taua ana kei ngā whenua i whakawhiwhia e Te Kōti Whenua Māori ki Waikato, ahakoa ngā pīra o ngā whanaunga o Ormsby, kua tahuri hoki ki te kerēme i te whenua. 

I runga i te kore whakaae a Tāwhiao ki ngā hiahia o te kāwanatanga, ka whiriwhiritia kētia e Ngāti Maniapoto me whakatakoto he tikanga e pai ai ki ngā iwi e rua mō te taha ki ō rātou whenua tae atu hoki ki ērā o ngā raruraru. Nā te mea kua mahi tahi i whakaaetia kia whakatūria te Komiti Māori o Kāwhia i raro i te Ture Komiti Māori o 1883. Ko Ōmipi tōna tiamana tuatahi. Ko tāna he tirotiro, he rīpoata i ngā take whenua, pērā i te tohu me tuku ki a wai ngā pānga whenua tuku iho me ngā taitara, ā, ki te whakatau i ngā kerēme iti iho i te £20 te rahi. O ngā komiti Māori katoa i pōtitia i raro i te ture o 1883, i kitea ko tērā o Kāwhia te mea mātātoa me te mea momoho. Ahakoa he karanga taitamariki, he karanga teina noa tōna tū i raro i ngā tikanga Māori, pou tuarātia ana tōna tiamanatanga e ōna kaumātua rangatira. Titiro tonu atu ana ōna kaumātua ki te whakamahi i ōna kaha ki te kōrero, me tōna pai ki te whakatau i ngā whakahaere i waenga i a ia me ngā āpiha Pākehā a te kāwanatanga.

Nō te tau 1884 i whakaaetia te pitihana a Ōmipi mā kia tukua a Wahanui Huatare kia tū ki te aroaro o ngā mema o te Whare Pāremata ki te kōrero mō ngā take e pā ana ki ngā whenua Māori. Ko Ōmipi te hoa haere o Wahanui ki Pōneke (Wellington). Ko tō rāua tino whakaaro kia whakamanahia rātou ki te whakahaere i ō rātou ake whenua. Nā te hiahia o te kāwanatanga ki te hanga i te rāina rerewē mā te Rohe Pōtae ka herea te whenua. Ka aukatia te hoko ki tētehi atu, ēngari anō ki te Karauna.

Whai hua ana tā rāua haere. Ka whakaritea kia hui tahi te minita Māori, a Te Paranihi (John Ballance), rātou ko ngā kanohi o Ngāti Maniapoto, o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, o ngā iwi o Whanganui, o Ngāti Raukawa me Ngāti Hikairo ki Kihikihi i te 4 o Pēpuere 1885. Nā runga i tana tūnga tiamana ka riro nāna i whāriki atu ngā āwangawanga o ngā Māori. E tino māharahara ana rātou ki te tiaki tonu i ō rātou iwi kei ngaro noa ngā whenua ki te rēti, ki te nui haere o te nama me te rironga noa i ngā hokonga whenua here kore. Hāunga anō he pai ki a rātou te rīhi atu i te whenua. I whakaaetia mai te tono a Ōmipi, kia whakawhānuitia atu te mana o te Komiti Māori o Kāwhia; kia whakapaingia ake ngā whakahaere a te Kōti Whenua Māori, ā, kia whai tikanga mana anō hoki te Māori ki te mahi poka waro, kōura hoki. Ēngari ko te take nui kē ko te whakaaetanga kia hua rānō te whenua, kia tīmata rawa te rīhi atu rānei ki te Pākehā, kātahi anō ka tīmata te utu reiti o aua whenua. Kāore a Te Paranihi i whakaae ki te tautohe tonu a Ōmipi kia nukuhia ake te tokomaha o ngā mema Māori kia waru.

Kāti anō te pai o te kirimini i oti i Kihikihi. Ka tonoa ko Ōmipi hei māngai whiriwhiri i ngā whakatikatikanga ture e ahu mai ana i te kāwanatanga. Ka kitea hoki kua kore ngā whakararuraru a ngā tāngata haurangi i whakainutia ki te waipiro, ā, kua kore ngā tinihanga i ngā huihuinga a te Kōti Whenua Māori pērā i ērā i kitea rā e Ngāti Maniapoto i Horotiu (Cambridge). Ka riro tonu ko te komiti o Ōmipi hei kohi i ngā moni kōmihana i ngā kaikānataraka mō ngā mahi tango kirikiri, mira rākau hoki hei papa, hei whakawhiwhi raihana ki ngā kaiwhakahaere o ngā whare piriota, hei whakamana i te noho kāinga taupua o te hunga Pākehā whakatū toa hokohoko me ngā kaikānataraka rerewē; ā, ka noho tonu mai hoki ko tana komiti te takawaenga ki te kāwanatanga. I mau tonu te whakahaere a te komiti i ngā whenua o Ngāti Maniapoto me ētehi atu anō hoki. Rīhitia ana ngā whenua o te Māori ki ngā Pākehā mō te 21 tau, ā, i ia 5 tau ka whiriwhirihia anō te utu o aua rīhi. Kāti, kāore he utu mō ngā whakapainga a te tangata mahi i te whenua i te mutunga o tana rīhi. Nō te tau 1887 i mekemeke ai ngā taitama o Ngāti Maniapoto me ētehi kaikānataraka nā te mea he karo nō ērā ki te utu i te kōmihana a te komiti. I āta tirohia e te kanohi Māori o te kāwanatanga, ā, ko tāna i tohu ai me waiho noa te take nei kia takoto. Ko te āhua nei ko Ōmipi te kaitakawaenga o te raruraru nei, ā, whakaritea ana he utu.

Ahakoa ēnei painga mai, i tōtara wāhi tonu ngā taha e rua o te Kīngitanga. I ngā nohoanga o te kōti i te Rohe Pōtae i te tau 1886 i whakakorekore noatia e Ōmipi ngā kanohi o Tāwhiao. Nā te tatanga o Ōtorohanga me te āhua o ngā take tōrangapū e mōhio ana ia, ka ātetehia e ia te nekehanga o te kōti ki Pirongia, ki Whatiwhatihoe rānei.

Ka haere nā te wā ka nui kē atu ngā mahi i taka ki a Ōmipi. Nō te tau 1886 ka whakaātehatia a ia ki te Kōti o te Kaiwhakawā Takiwā o Waikato me te Kōti Whenua Māori. I tohua ia ki te tūranga kōmihana i raro i te Ture Whakatikatika 1889 i te Ture Kōti Whenua Māori, ā, nō te tau 1920, ka whakatūria ia ki te Kōmihana mō ngā Kerēme Whenua Māori.

He pērā anō tōna momoho i ētehi atu o āna mahi. I te tau 1890, ka whakamanahia e te Kōti Whenua Māori te taitara o te whenua o tōna whānau, e 3,161 eka te rahi, i Te Kōpua, ā, ka tīmata a ia ki te pāmu hipi. Puta ana ngā amuamu o Wirikihana (G. T. Wilkinson), te āpiha hoko whenua i Ōtorohanga, nā te hua pai o taua mahi i whakahauhau ētehi atu o Ngāti Maniapoto kia pupuri i ō rātou whenua tēnā i te hoko, ā, e mōhio kē ana ia, taihoa ake nei me taka ngā mahi pāmu hipi a te Māori. Ko tētehi mahi anō a Ōmipi ko te whakatū i te tāone o Ōtorohanga. Ko ia te tiamana o te Poari o Ōtorohanga Tāone, ā, ko ia hoki te karaka o te kaunihera ā-rohe tuatahi o Waitomo; nāna i whakatakoto te kōhatu tūranga o te tāone hōro. Nāna i whakawhiwhi ōna whanaunga Māori ki ngā mahi whakahaere i te hōtēra, i te wāhi whakapākarukaru kōhatu, i te pūtia, i te tēpara hōiho, i te tari inihua whenua, i te tari whakamāori me te wāhi tunu parāoa; katoa nāna i pou. Tipu haere tonu te pai o āna mahi ahu whenua, ā, riro ana nāna i pou te tari wā kāinga tuatahi o te Uniana Mahi Pāmu o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Farmers' Union). Kāore ia i whakaae ko ia hei tūranga kanohi mō te kamupene inihua o te moana (Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation) mehemea kāore e whakaaetia e rātou te Māori kia inihuatia; kātahi anō te kamupene ka ngāwari mai.

Nō te tino kaumātuatanga o Ōmipi kātahi anō ka kotahi ngā whakaaro o Ngāti Maniapoto rāua ko te Kīngitanga. Nāna i toko te pounga o te marae o te Kīngitanga i Tūrangawaewae i te tau 1920. He kaitohutohu a ia ki te Kīngi Māori, ki a Te Rata. Nāna anō hoki a Te Puea Hērangi i āwhina ki te hanga momo pōti anō hei whakapūmau kia pōtitia ētehi atu Māori ki runga ki ngā rōpū whakahaere ā-rohe.

Nō te 11 o Hune 1927 ka mate mai a Hōne Ōmipi i Ngāruawāhia. Ka mahue pani mai ko tana hoa wahine tuatoru rātou ko āna tamāhine tokorua me āna tama tokorua. He tangata i tino whakanuia, i whakarangatiratia e tōna iwi. He tangata mātau ki te whaikōrero me te totohe hoki; kāore he tangata i rite ki a ia te mōhio ki ngā tikanga whakahaere tāone, ki te taha ture, ki ngā tikanga a te kāwanatanga hoki e pā ana ki te Māori. I tino whakaarotia nuitia a ia mō āna tohutohu, ā, hihiri ana te haere a ngā kaikimi tohutohu ki a ia. Nā āna mahi i mau tonu ai i a Ngāti Maniapoto ō rātou whenua i ngā pēhinga mai a ngā tāngata whai me te kāwanatanga. I kaha tonu ia ki te tohutohu i tōna iwi kia rapu i ngā huarahi tika mai o ngā nohoanga uaua kia puta mai ki ngā wāhanga o te tino oranga tinana.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

M. J. Ormsby. 'Ormsby, John', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993, updated o Noema, 2001. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2o8/ormsby-john (accessed 28 March 2024)