Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Tāwhai, Hōne Mohi
1827/1828?–1894
Nō Ngāpuhi; he kaihautū, he kaitōrangapū
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Ranginui J. Walker, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1993. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
He tama a Hōne Mohi Tāwhai nā Mohi Tāwhai rāua ko tōna hoa wahine, ko Rāwinia Hineikoaia (arā, a Hārata). Nō Te Māhurehure a Mohi e pupuri rā i te ahikāroa o Waimā ki Te Hokianga-o-Kupe (Hokianga), ā, he karangatanga hapū hoki nō te kotahitanga o Ngā Puhi. Nō Te Whānau Puku hoki ia. I whānau pea a Hōne Mohi Tāwhai ki reira i te tau 1827, 1828 rānei. Tekau mā rua pea ōna tau i te wā i hainatia ai e tōna matua te Tiriti o Waitangi i Te Hokianga i te 12 o Pēpuere 1840. Takitahi noa iho ngā kōrero mō tōna taiohinga; ēngari ko te āhua nei i tae ia ki te kura mīhana i reira, i noho tahi hoki ia i te taha o ngā mihinare Wēteriana o taua takiwā. Ko tōna īngoa ko Hōne Mohi, he īngoa iriiri pea.
I tū ia hei kaihautū i a ia e tai tonu ana. Nō te korenga o te rūnanga a te kāwanatanga i Te Waimate i te tau 1865, he mea whakatū i raro i te kaupapa rūnanga a Tā Hōri Kerei (George Grey), ka mau tonu ia ki tētahi rūnanga pērā i Te Hokianga, ēngari kāhore he mana. I whakaīngoatia ia hei āteha mō te Kōti Whenua Māori i Te Tai Tokerau; kātahi ia ka tahuri ki te kawekawe i ngā tāngata o Te Waimate kia mahi tahi me te kōti. I roto i te wā, i whakaarohia nuitia ia e te iwi; nō te tau 1867 ka tohutohungia ia ki te kāwanatanga e te kaiwhakawā o te rohe, e E. M. Williams, kia whakanuia mō āna mahi hohou rongo, i te wā i tautohetohe ai ngā iwi, ā, i rere rawa ngā patu. Nō te pakarutanga mai anō o ngā riri take whenua i Ōtaua i te tau 1812, i whakamihi a Spencer von Stūrmer, te kaiwhakawā takiwā, ki ngā whakatūpato a Tāwhai kei heke te toto.
Nō te taenga ki te 1876, kua raruraru a Tāwhai ki ngā mahi a te Kōti Whenua Māori. Kua kite kē ia i te whakapau huakore noa iho o te moni i te utu i te tono karāti Karauna, i te rūri i te whenua me ngā mahi hoki a te Kōti. I tana reta o Hune, ka tuhituhi ia i tana whakaatu i te kōrero a Ngā Puhi ki te kaunihera o Tūhourangi i Rotorua, kia whakakāhoretia te kōti, kia whakatakahuringia hoki te ture kia puritia ngā whenua kāhore anō i whakahaeretia e te kōti i raro i te whenua papatupu. Heoi, nāna i riro ōna hapū i mua o te aroaro o te kōti, ā, i whakahaeretia e ia ā rātou take mō ngā kokoraho nunui pērā i te poraka o Waimā i te tau 1885 ki te 1886.
Ko Tāwhai te Mema Pāremata mō Te Tai Tokerau mai i te tau 1879 ki te tau 1884. Nō te Hānuere o 1880, i whakaīngoatia ia ki te Kōmihana Roera o Te Tai Hauāuru kia āta tirohia ngā whakapae Māori mō ngā whenua i murua noatia i Taranaki; mō ngā hunga hoki i mau hereheretia mō te takatakahanga i ngā rūri a te kāwanatanga. I te tīmatanga, kīhai ia i pai ki te kōmihana nei; heoi, nā te totohe mai a te minita mō ngā take Māori, he kī nōna, he tangata tū takawaenga ia i te mea kīhai tōna ringa i pā ki ngā riri.
I mua i te tīmatanga o te kōmihana, i pōti a Tāwhai kia whakahētia te Pire Mau Herehere Māori (Māori Prisoners Detention Bill) 1880, nō te mea kāhore i tāia ki te reo Māori. Tētahi, he ture tēnei i whakahohorotia kia whakaaetia e te Whare Pāremata. Kore rawa ia i whakaae ki te tautoko kūare noa, he take i whakakahohorotia te whakahaere. I whakahē hoki ia i te kawenga atu o ngā herehere Māori i Taranaki ki ngā whare herehere o Ōtepoti (Dunedin) me Hokitika mā runga i te kaipuke, kia ngaro atu ai; he mōhio kē nōna, kāore e kore ka mate rātou i te kaha māeke o Te Waipounamu. Nō te mutunga iho, kāre i whakaae a Tāwhai ki tana nohanga i runga i te kōmihana i te taha o Te Pōkiha (William Fox) rāua ko Francis Dillon Bell. Ko te take, i pā te ringa o te mea o mua ki ngā murunga whenua o Taranaki; ko tētahi rā, i uru ki te hokonga o Waitara.
Ahakoa he iti noa iho te wā i noho ai a Tāwhai ki te kura, he tangata whiwhi pūmanawa, ā, i kaha tonu ia ki te kauwhau i ngā take huhua noa atu i te Whare Pāremata. Nōna anō ōna whakaaro, ā, hei tāna, ka pōti ia mō te mea e pai ana ki tōna hinengaro. I tino whakahē rawa atu ia i te mahi a te kāwanatanga ki te tono moni i Ingarangi, hei utu i te pakanga e hoepapa ana i ngā iwi o Waitara. I ātetehia e ia te whakaurunga atu o te hanganga ture e riro ai ngā whenua i te Māori; ki tōna whakaaro, ka hurihia e te kāwanatanga ngā hua o ngā whenua i hokona hei āwhina ki te patu i ngā itarete o ngā moni i tonohia rā. I whakahētia anō e ia te whakapaunga i te £20 miriona nuku atu mō ngā mahi nunui a te kāwanatanga i ngā tekau tau o 1860 me 1870; me te uta tāke atu ki runga i ngā rawa a tōna iwi hei utu i ngā moni i tonohia rā ahakoa kāhore he painga i puta ki Te Tai Tokerau. Hei tāna, i whakawhiwhia ētahi o ngā rohe ki ngā hua, arā, ki te rerewē, ki ētahi mahi mā te katoa; ēngari, kāhore a Te Hokianga i whiwhi. I whakatūpatoria e ia te kāwanatanga, mehemea ka tohe tonu rātou ki te tāke i ngā whenua Māori, tērā e riro mā te taua 24,000 te nui hei whakamana aua tāke. I pōti a Tāwhai kia whakahētia te Karauna mō te Pire Reiti i ngā Whenua o te Karauna me ngā Whenua Māori (Crown and Native Lands Rating Bill) 1880, i runga i te whakapae ko aua tāke rā, e ahu atu ana ki te hoko whenua.
Ko tā Tāwhai rāua ko Hēnare Tomoana i te tau 1881 me te tau 1882 he whakatinana i te Pire Whakamana i ngā Komiti Māori (Native Committees Empowering Bill), hei tuku ki aua komiti rā te mana o ngā Kōti Whenua Māori mō te whakatau i ngā taitara whenua i runga i te kakama me te pono. Nō te tau i muri mai, ka tuarātia e te kāwanatanga tētahi Pire rite anō, heoi, kīhai i whai take. Nō te tau 1881, i whakapae a Tāwhai nō te mea i kaikai waiūtia e te kāwanatanga tāna mahi tiaki i te iwi Māori, ārai atu hoki i ngā momo kino e whakaweti ana i a rātou; ēngari koa e whakawhere kē ana te Karauna i te iwi Māori. Nā runga i ngā pire i whakaaria e te Kaunihera Ture (Legislative Council) i pai ki tōna ngākau, pērā i te Pire Ārai mō te Hoko Tāhae i ngā Whenua Māori (Native Lands Fraud Prevention Bill) me te Pire Rīwhi mō ngā Māori (Native Succession Bill) e mate ōhākī kore ana, ka puta te whakaaro ki a ia kia whakakāhoretia te Whare Pāremata kia waihotia ko te Kaunihera Ture anake. Nō roto i ngā whakawhitiwhiti kōrero mō te Pire Whakatū Māngai (Representation Bill) ka takoto te kōrero kia whakakoretia ngā nohanga Māori; heoi, i waona e Tāwhai. Hei tāna, ko te tikanga whakakanoho, he mea tuku iho i a Kuini Wikitōria mā roto mai i te Tiriti o Waitangi; ki te taea e tētahi mema pāremata te whakaatu tētahi ture e whakakāhore ana i te Tiriti ki a ia, ko tērā te wā e noho puku ai ia.
Nāna ka noho hei māngai mō ngā take Māori, ka tohe atu a Tāwhai, nā te mea ko ētahi ture kāhore i hāngai ki ngā tikanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, koirā te pūtake mai o te hae i waenganui i te Māori me te Pākehā. Hei tāna, ka ea ngā wawata o te iwi Māori mā te whai i ngā tikanga o te Pāremata. Koirā, i ngā tau tīmatanga o te 1880, i whakarērea ai e ia te kaupapa kia whakatutukitia katoatia te Tiriti. Ka inoi kē ia ki te Pāremata kia kaua e hangaia he ture hei huarahi mai mō te kino. Nō te tau 1890, kua mārama ki a Tāwhai e kore te Pāremata e whakarongo ki āna tohutohu mō te Tiriti, ka takahuri ōna whakaaro tōrangapū, ā, ka whai kē i ngā kaupapa Māori i waho atu i te Pāremata. Nō te marama o Mei 1890, i noho ia hei tiamana mō tētahi hui a ngā iwi o Te Tai Tokerau i Ōmanaia. He kāinga tēnei i whakatapua e ngā apataki a te tohunga a Āperahama Taonui, he tangata whakarae i roto i te kaupapa o te Tiriti i te tīmatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1880. Nā tēnei hui, ka oti he komiti whakahaere i hua ai te Pāremata Māori tuatahi i Waitangi i Āperira 1892. I te wā i puta ai ngā riri i Te Tai Tokerau i ngā tau tekau mai i 1890 mō te ture tāke kūraruraru mō te kurī, i whai kupu a Tāwhai ki tōna iwi kia mau tonu ki te rangimārie, kia whai hoki i te ture, me tana tohutohu atu ko te huarahi tika ko te tuku pitihana ki te Pāremata kia takahurihia te ture.
He rangirua nōna, i kore ai a Tāwhai i pai ki te tuku i ngā kōrero tawhito a te Māori mā te Pākehā hei tuhituhi. Heoi, i kōrero ā-pukapuka rāua ko te kaituhi, ko Te Mete (S. Percy Smith); āta hoatu ana e ia ētahi kōrero mō te takenga mai o te Māori mai i Rangiātea, mō ngā īngoa o Waimā-Tuhirangi me Moehau i Hawaiki, mō ngā kōrero mō te waka tupuna, mō Ōmāmari, mō ngā aho whakaheke o Ngā Puhi mai i a Tumutumuwhenua, i a Nukutawhiti, ā, mō Hongi Hika. I whakaaro anō a Tāwhai ki te tuhituhi i ngā kōrero mō Hongi Hika; kāti, nā tōna māuiui me te mate noa, kīhai i tutuki i a ia te mahi nei.
I mate a Hōne Mohi Tāwhai i te 31 o Hūrae 1894. Tokorua nei ngā tamariki a Tāwhai rāua ko tana wahine, ko Mākere Maraea, arā, ko Hōne Tākerei Tāwhai me Kereama Tāwhai. Nō te tau 1885 i mate ai a Kereama i a ia e kuraina ana ki te ture e te kamupene rōia o Whitaker rāua ko Russell i Ākarana (Auckland). E 21 ōna tau.