Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Te Kere Ngātai-e-rua
?–1901
Nō Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi; he tohunga
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e David Young, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1993. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Ko Te Kere Ngātai-e-rua (Ngātaierua), e mōhiotia ana hoki ko Te Kere Te Huaki, he tama nā Pūtere rāua ko Te Huaki. Kāore i te tino mārama tōna rā whānau. Ka riro ko Te Kere hei kaihohou i te rongo, hei tohunga, ā, he tangata tino kaha te whai i te Kīngitanga. I puta ake āna mahi tino aweawe nei i te uru o Whanganui me ngā takiwā o Rangitīkei. Ahakoa ko Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi tōna tino iwi, he pānga anō ōna ki ngā iwi o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, o Ngāti Hāuaterangi i te taha whakarunga atu rā i Whanganui, o Ngāti Tū, o Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāti Apa. Ki ōna uri o Ngāti Hāuaterangi, ko Te Kere Taura kē tōna īngoa.
I a Te Kere e taitamariki ana ka mahi ia i runga i tētahi waka whaiwhai tohorā i waho mai o ngā takutai o Niu Tīreni. I te tau 1847 i roto ia i ngā mahi marau a Tōpine Te Mamaku me tōna iwi o Ngāti Hāuaterangi i te tāone o Whanganui. I te tau 1857 ka tupu te raru i waenga i a rāua ko Te Mamaku, mura ana te ahi pakanga, mate ana ētahi. Nāwai rā ka hinga ko Te Kere, ā, uruhia ana ia me te aha noho kē mai ana i Pūtiki, he kāinga Māori kei tāwāhi o te awa i te tāone o Whanganui. Kāore i mōhiotia mehemea i oma atu rānei, i mau hereheretia rānei ki reira. Ka noho ia i Pūtiki mō ngā tau e whitu. Nā te pakanga i aukatia ai te 22 māero o te awa o Whanganui mō te hia tau nei. Nā tētahi mārena i muri mai ka rata anō a Te Kere rāua ko Te Mamaku.
Ko Te Kere tētahi o ngā hia rau tāngata i kite i te parekura o Moutoa i te marama o Mei 1864. I konei, i tētahi motu paku noa nei e tata atu ana ki Rānana, i taiaritia ai te Hauhau e Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi me tōna iwi o te rohe whakararo o Whanganui. Mai i taua wā ko te whatumanawa o Te Kere ko te whakahohou i te rongo, te wā hoki i tīmata ai tana kawe i tana kupu ki te nuinga o ngā rohe o Te Ika-a-Māui. I mahi ia i te taha o Tītokowaru rāua ko Te Kooti. Nāna i hoatu he hōiho mā ki a Tītokowaru, ā, e ai ki te kōrero nā Te Kere i ora ai a Te Kooti.
Ahakoa kāore a Te Kere i iriiria, i tino kaha tana whai i te āhua o te titiro Karaitiana, me te kaha tonu o ōna hononga ki te Hāhi Katorika. Nā tōna matatau ki te reo me ōna whakataukī, nā te kaha o tōna wairua, me āna mahi whakaora i te tūroro, tae atu ki tōna mana matakite, i tīmata ai te tangata ki te whai i a ia. I tino kaha te whakaiti a Te Kere i a ia, kore rawa atu e hiahia kia whakanuia āna mahi e te iwi. Ka haere ia ki tētahi hui; i reira e kauhau ana a Hōri Rōpiha rāua ko Tōpia Tūroa mō te haerenga o Kīngi Tāwhiao ki te kite i a Kuini Wikitōria i te tau 1884. Nā te kaha mōhio me te kaha matatau o Te Kere, ka meatia ko ia pea tētahi o ngā pou tekau mā rua a Tāwhiao.
E tino kaha ana ngā here o Te Kere ki a Te Tīkanga, te whare i Tokorangi i te taha whakararo o te awa o Rangitīkei, e tata atu rā ki Sanson. He whare tēnei i āta hangaia ki te whakanui i te haerenga mai o Tāwhiao ki taua wāhi, ēngari ko tērā kore rawa i puta ake. I roto anō i ngā kōrero tūpuna a Ngāti Hāuaterangi he tauira whakaatu kē mai ngā mahi a Te Kere i te aranga ake o te kaupapa Rātana. Tino kaha hoki te kitea o te kaha haere o tōna mana i Awahuri, i Manawatū, i ngā whare nui huhua o te Rohe Pōtae, ā, i ngā whare whakatā mōna e tata atu rā ki Raetihi me Te Wairarapa i ōna haerenga atu, hokinga mai rānei i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay).
Ko te tau 1878 te tau i hangaia ai te whare Ngā Tau e Waru i Kaitekateka (Te Ore Ore), tētahi wāhi i kō atu o te tāone o Whakaoriori (Masterton). Ka puta i konei te riri i waenganui i a Te Kere rāua ko Pāora Te Pōtangaroa, te poropiti o Te Wairarapa. Ko te take o taua riri he kore i pai ki a Te Kere te kaha haere mai o te mana o Pāora, tae atu hoki ki te take mō te rahi o te whare. I taua wā i te mahi a Te Kere i ngā whakairo. Ka whakarērea e ia tana mahi whakairo i te whare me tana kōrero anō kāore e oti i roto i te waru tau; kāti, nō te tau 1881 rā i oti ai taua whare. Ka mutu ka riro nā Te Kere i whakahaere ngā mahi whakatūtū i tētahi whare i Tāhoraiti mō te iwi o Ngāti Mutuahi. Nō te tau 1883 i oti ai taua whare.
Atu i te tau 1883 ki te tau 1885 ka noho a Te Kere i Tokaanu. I konei ka poua e ia te kaupapa Paetiuihou. Ko taua takatūnga i whakahē i ngā mahi hoko whenua Māori, otirā, i te rohe ake o te Rohe Pōtae; i tono kia whakakorea te Kōti Whenua Māori, ā, kia kapi katoa Te Ika-a-Māui i te mana o te Kīngitanga Māori; i whakakore i te hoko i te waipiro, ā, i tono mai 'mā te Māori anō e whakahaere ngā wāhi nohoanga Māori'. He maha ngā here o tēnei kaupapa ki a Te Whiti o Parihaka nā te mea i poua hoki i runga i ngā mātāpuna o te āinga kore me te mana motuhake Māori. Ko tētahi wāhi hirahira anō o te Paetiuihou ko te whakaoraora tūroro. Ko te nuinga o ngā apataki i ahu mai i Taranaki, i Tūhua me Whanganui ki te taha ki runga, tae atu hoki ki a Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ki a Ngāti Maniapoto, ki a Ngāti Raukawa hoki. I te tau 1910 i kōrero tonutia te ihi me te wehi o Te Kere i Parihaka.
Nā ngā whakahē a Te Kere mō te Kōti Whenua Māori i aukatia e ia ngā haere ki ngā uiui a taua kōti, ā, nā tēnei mea ka ngaro tētahi wāhanga nui o te whenua. Koia te take i tere riro ai te poraka whenua nui o Waimarino i te tau 1886. Ahakoa i whai wāhi a Te Kere ki ngā uiui mō Pungaharuru i te tau 1888, kāore i whakaaetia tana kerēme nā te mea he kore i tūturu nō tana noho ki taua whenua. I whakatūria he kāinga nui mō ētahi o ngā apataki a Te Kere i Kaitieki, i tētahi pekanga o te awa o Rētāruke, nā te mea kāore katoa rātou i uru atu ki Tāwhata (Tāwata), te kāinga ake o Te Kere i te taha o te awa o Whanganui. I te tau 1892, ka tae ake he waka kī tonu i ngā kaiwhakaahua, ēngari ka whakahokia e Te Kere nā te mea ki a ia, ko te tino mahi kē a ngā tāngata nei he tirotiro whenua hei hoko mā rātou; kāore i whakaaetia e te pirihimana kaitirotiro o te rohe te tono kia whiua ia e te marau.
Nō te tau 1901 pea, ka mate a Te Kere i Tāwhata. I te wā i mate ia i takahia tētahi tapu. Nā runga i te whakaaro o tokowhā o ōna whanaunga ki te whakaora i a Te Kere, ka haere rātou ki te awa o Mangatiti, he peka nō te awa o Whanganui. I te hokinga mai e mauria ake ana e rātou ngā rārā o te hunakeha, tō rātou rākau tipua, rākau tapu rawa hoki, te puna wairua o Ngāti Hāuaterangi. Kāore i roa i muri mai matemate katoa ana rātou.
Kāore i tutuki i a Te Kere te maha o ōna whāinga i te wā e ora ana ia, ēngari ka mahue aua mahi hei pūtake whai atu mā ōna uri. Tokorua noa iho āna tamariki, ko Karanga Te Kere te īngoa o tētahi, ko Ngātaierua Te Kere tētahi; kei te ngaro te īngoa o tōna hoa wahine.