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Kōrero: Te Kahuhiapō, Rāhera

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Kahuhiapō, Rāhera

?–1910

Nō Ngāti Pikiao, nō Ngāti Pūkenga; he wahine whai mana

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e John Aramete Wairehu Steedman, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1993. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I whānau pea a Rāhera Te Kahuhiapō i te tekau tau atu i 1820. E ai ki te kōrero, i whānau ia ki Motutawa pā pea, i te tonga o Te Rotoiti. Ko Te Nia tōna pāpā, he rangatira nō Ngāti Pikiao. Ko tōna whaea ko Rangiāwhao, he tapairu nō Ngāti Pūkenga, nō Waitaha-a-Hei me Ngāti Ranginui.

Nā te mea he tapairu, ka noho tōna moenga tāne hei take nui mā tōna iwi. I noho ia mō tētehi wā ki te pā o Te Pehu i Paengaroa i te awa o Kaituna. Kei te tuawhenua mai tēnei wāhi i Maketū. I muri iho ka noho ki Motutawa; i reira e whakatipua mai ana. I a ia e kōtirotiro ana, ka tūtaki ki a Te Ngaru, he māhuri tōtara nō Ngāti Te Tākinga. Ka puta tō rāua mate nui ki a rāua. Te rongonga o te pāpā, ka haria a Rāhera ki tērā taha o Te Rotoiti, ki Pukurahi, he pā anō nō Ngāti Pikiao. Ka mahue tūkaunga a Te Ngaru, ka puta te maingo ki a ia, ka whakatangitangi i tana pūtōrino kia rere ai te tangi i te moana. Ka waihangatia e ia tētehi waiata aroha. Ka maharatia ake anō te waiata nei, waiatatia nuitia ana i muri mai. Ēngari kore rawa hoki rāua i piri anō.

Mai i te 1836 ka uru atu te iwi o Rāhera ki roto i ngā raruraru o Te Arawa ki a Ngāti Hauā rāua ko Ngāi Te Rangi mō Te Tūmū me Maketū. Koirā hoki te wāhi hokohoko i ngā harakeke kia riro mai ai ngā pū. E hia nei ngā hokinga mai, hokinga atu o Ngāti Pikiao ki Maketū, ki te tuawhenua i runga i tēnei raruraru, 10 tau rawa hoki te roa. Nā Paurini Te Whatarau, he rangatira ahurei nō Ngāti Pūkenga, te mahi whai tikanga i riro mai ai he wāhi noho mō tōna iwi i Maketū.

E ai ki tētehi kōrero, i tūtaki a Te Whatarau rāua ko Rāhera i te tīmatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1850 ki Maketū. Ka whānau tā rāua tamāhine a Katerina Te Atirau i te tau 1854. Nō muri iho, ka whakamoea e Te Whatarau a Rāhera ki tana mokopuna whāngai, ki a Hōne Te Atirau. I moe pea rāua i waenganui o te tekau tau atu i 1860. E ai ki tēnei kōrero nā Hōne i whāngai a Katerina. Ko te kōrero a Katerina ki te Kōti Whenua Māori, ko Hōne tōna pāpā. Ka moe a Rāhera rāua ko Hōne, ka noho ki Maketū mō tētehi wā poto; he wā anō, kua neke ki Te Puke. Nō muri ka noho me ētehi o Ngāti Pūkenga ki Ngāpeke, i te taha tonga o te moana o Tauranga. Nā te Kōti Whenua Māori ka whiwhi pānga rāua ki ngā whenua o Ngāpeke. Koinei hoki te pūwhenuatanga o te noho a Rāhera ki reira. Tokorua ā rāua tamariki: ko Hōne Te Atirau, te mea tāne, ko Meretaka Te Atirau te mea wahine. Kāore a Hōne i tae ki te tāhaetanga, ka mate. Tekau mā tahi ōna tau.

He tokomaha ngā whanaunga o Rāhera nā rātau i wawao a Pukehinahina (Gate Pā) i te pakanga o te tau 1864. Nōna hoki ētehi o ngā whenua i murua e te kāwanatanga ēngari nō muri mai ka whakahokia ki a ia. Ahakoa tēnei raruraru, e mōhio ana te Kōti Whenua Māori nō tōna whānau ngā pānga nui ki ngā whenua mai i Maketū ki Tauranga, ā, mai i Ōkawa ki Te Rotoiti. He pānga whenua anō hoki nō Rāhera i waho rawa atu o tōna rohe, arā, i Moehau (Coromandel) me Whāngārei.

Nā te nui o te whenua, ka piki hoki tōna mana, ā, whānui ana te hora o tōna aweawe. Nō te tau 1881 ka mate a Hōne Te Atirau; nō taua wā anō hoki i mate ai a Paurini Te Whatarau, ka tāpuketia ia ki te tihi o Mauao (Maunganui) hei tūtei mō te moana o Tauranga. Riro ana te mana whenua me te mana tangata o Hōne Te Atirau me Te Whatarau i a Rāhera. Nā konei ka hāereere mai ōna whanaunga kia riro māna hei tohutohu. Nā tōna whaipānga ki ngā iwi huhua, ka haria mai hoki ō rātau raruraru māna e wānanga, māna hoki e whakatau. He mana āna kupu. I muri mai, ka tū ia hei kaiwhakaatu i te aroaro o te Kōti Whenua Māori, ka tū hoki ia ki te whakapapa i tōna tātai mai i ngā tīpuna o Ngā Kurī-a-Whārei ki Tihirau (Bay of Plenty).

I muri mai o te matenga o Hōne Te Atirau, ka noho a Rāhera mō tētehi wā ki Matapihi wāhi o Tauranga moana i te taha o tana matua kēkē, o Te Hātiti Heretaura. I mua i te matenga o Te Hātiti, ka moe anō a Rāhera i a Eru Nētana o Ngāti Ua. Kāore he tamariki o tēnei moenga. Ka moe a Katerina i a David Asher, he kaiwhakahaere take Māori, he kaiwhakamāori, he kaihokohoko hoki i Tauranga. Ko Rāhera te kaitaurima i ā rāua tamariki 11, tae noa hoki ki te tamaiti a tana tamāhine tuarua, a Meretaka. Nāna i ako āna tamāhine me āna mokopuna wāhine ki ngā mahi raranga kete, whāriki hoki. E rua āna mōkaikai kiwi, ā, nō te matenga ka mahia ngā huruhuru hei whatu i tētehi kākahu. Kei ngā uri o te whakatupuranga tuaono tonu taua kākahu e pupuru ana.

I te tau 1910 ka pāngia a Rāhera e te māuiui, ka riro nā āna tamāhine i opeope. Nō te 12 o Oketopa, ka mate ki Ngāpeke. E hia rau te tini i haere ki tōna tangihanga. Kua tāpuketia kētia, i te taetae tonu atu ngā tāngata. Ka waiatatia hoki te waiata a Te Ngaru i taua tangihanga. He mea tāpuke ia ki tōna ake urupā i tōna kāinga i Ngāpeke.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

John Aramete Wairehu Steedman. 'Te Kahuhiapō, Rāhera - Te Kahuhiapo, Rahera', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t20/te-kahuhiapo-rahera (accessed 29 March 2024)