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Te Popo, Hira

by H. G. D. White

Biography

Ko Hira Te Popo anake te tamaiti tāne a Tāne Whirinaki, ā, ahakoa i kimihia ake kei te ngaro tonu te īngoa o tōna whaea. Nō Te Whakatōhea o Ōpōtiki a ia. I whānau a Te Popo i te wā e whakamātautau ana te iwi nei ki te whakakaha i a rātau, i mate kino rā ētahi i ngā marau a Ngāpuhi me Ngāti Maru o te tekau tau atu i 1820. Kāre i te mōhiotia ngā kōrero mō Te Popo i a ia e tamariki ana. Ko Tire te īngoa o tana wahine, ā, he tama me te tamāhine nei wā rāua; ko Merihika te mea tāne, ko Matu te mea wahine.

Taka rawa ki te tau 1860, nā te mahi tauhokohoko me te mahi ahu whenua i tino rangatira rawa atu ai te hapū o Te Popo, a Ngāti Ira. I te tau 1861 ka whakatūngia he mira mahi parāoa ki tō rātau whenua. Ko te Hira te īngoa o te kaipuke o Ngāti Ira, he mea rēhita ki te īngoa o Te Popo, ā, ko tēnei te waka harihari i ā rātau hua kai ki te mākete i Ākarana (Auckland). Kāre e kore i a rātau i Ākarana he kōrero te mahi ki ērā o ngā iwi tauhokohoko o Te Ika-a-Māui, mō te take i riroriro ai ngā whenua i te hoko me ngā pakanga a te Māori rāua ko te kāwanatanga. Nāwai rā kua noho mai a Te Popo hei tuarā mō te Kīngitanga.

Nō te tīmatanga o te tau 1864 i tukua atu e te mihingare o te Hāhi Mihingare i Ōpōtiki, e Te Wākana (Carl Sylvius Völkner) te kōrero ki te Kāwana ki a Hōri Kerei (George Grey), kei te 700, 800 rānei te nui o te hanga Māori mau pū kua kao mai ki te taha rāwhiti o Mātaatua, arā, ki Te Moana-a-Toi (Bay of Plenty). Ko te take i whakakaokao ai he haere ki te āwhina i te ātete a Waikato i ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga e urutomo ana i tō rātau rohe. I taua ope anō a Te Popo me ētahi o Ngāti Ira mā, i huaina rā ko te waitaua o Te Tai Rāwhiti. E whakamātautau ana te hunga nei mā Rotorua whiti atu ai ki Waikato. Kāore i whakaae a Te Arawa. Kaurerewa ana i ngā taha moana, ā, i te mutunga, ko te hokinga atu tēnā o te waitaua, ka whati. Nāwai rā nō te marama o Āperira 1864 kua kaokao anō te hunga nei, ka kautere atu mā te takutai ki Maketū. Rokohina atu ko Te Arawa rātau ko ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga me ngā waka taua moana o Peretānia e tū mai ana. I te aranga o te patu, hingahinga ana te waitaua, ā, ko te takutai anō te ara hokinga atu o ngā rerenga. Nō Ngāti Ira anō ētahi o ngā ika i hinga i taua riri. I te pakanga whakamutunga i Te Kaokaoroa, e pātata atu rā ki Matatā, tata tonu a Hira Te Popo te mau, te patua hoki.

I te taenga mai o ngā mihingare o te whakapono o te Pai Mārire, o Pātara Raukatauri rāua ko Kereopa Te Rau ki Ōpōtiki i Pēpuere 1865, ka hopukina a Te Wākana, ka tāronatia. Korekore rawa a Hira Te Popo me Ngāti Ira mā i tautoko kia patua, i whai wāhi rānei ki te mahi nei. Ahakoa tonu, nā te kaha kino o te mahi raupatu a te kāwanatanga i Ōpōtiki, tata pau katoa ngā whenua tōtika o Ngāti Ira te tango.

Nō te marama o Hepetema 1865 i ū mai ai ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga ki Ōpōtiki, ā, hinga ana te tāone nei. Kātahi aua hōia ka tahuri ki te whakarāihe i te whare karakia Mihingare, ā, nō te mutunga ka tīmata tā rātau putaputa atu ki te torotoro haere i te whenua. Nō ngā rā tōmua tonu o Oketopa, ka tīmata ngā hōia ki te piki atu mā te rori tōtō kāta e haere atu rā i Ōpōtiki ki ngā pā o Ngāti Ira, ki Te Puia, ki Ōpekerau, ki Te Tarata hoki. I roto i ōna pā tūwatawata kua oti kē i a Te Popo te whakatikatika te noho a tōna iwi ki te whawhai ki ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga. Ka hautokia e ngā hōia a Te Tarata i te Papa Kiorekino i Waiōeka, kātahi ka tauria e rātau. He mea kite atu e ērā o Te Puia kua raru a Te Tarata, ka taki rere tonu mai ki te āwhina. Te kitenga atu o ngā hōia eke hōiho e haere ake ana, ka huakina. Rua tekau o Te Whakatōhea i mate, torutoru nei ngā mea i taotū. I te pō, ka whati kau mai ngā kaiwawao o Te Tarata ki waho, papahoro ana te nuinga ki te ngahere. Kātahi ka tupu te whakaaro o Te Popo me whakarere katoa e ia ōna pā, ka tahuti rātau ko tōna iwi mā te awa o Waiōeka piki atu, haere atu ai. I ngā wiki o muri mai, ka putaputa ake ērā atu o ngā rangatira o Te Whakatōhea ki Ōpōtiki. He whakahauraro rā te take i puta mai, ā, ki te haina anō hoki i te kupu oati. Ēngari anō a Te Popo me Ngāti Ira, e whā tau kē rātau i te taiwhakaroto o ngā awa o Waiōeka me Te Waimana e noho tōngā ana.

Nō te marama o Hānuere i te tau 1869, i tae ake ai a Te Kooti Arikirangi ki Waiōeka. Nāna i huri ai a Hira Te Popo me Ngāti Ira nui tonu ki te hāhi Ringatū. Riro ana nā Ngāti Ira rāua ko Ngāi Tama o Tūhoe ngā māra kai i rumaki, ā, i whakatūngia rawatia he kāinga rahi tonu nei mō Te Kooti mā ki Maraetahi, e tātata atu rā ki Ōpōnae i te tāwhārua o Waiōeka. Kāti, horo ana te kāinga nei i ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga i te marama o Maehe 1870 – tukitukia rawatia. Ahakoa te hono atu o ētahi o Ngāti Ira mā ki te tira whawhai a Te Kooti, kāre a Te Popo i mau rākau. Taka rawa ki Hune o te tau 1870 kua noho kē mai te nuinga o Ngāti Ira ki Ōpōtiki, kātahi anō a Hira Te Popo me āna mōrehu ka puta ake ki te whakahauraro ki te kāwanatanga.

Koakoa ana ngā kanohi o te kāwanatanga i te tukunga a Te Popo i a ia. Ki tā Te Mea (W. G. Mair), te kaiwhakawā takiwā mō Ōpōtiki, ākuanei tē kitea he kino tēnei wehenga mai o Te Popo mō te kaupapa a Te Kooti. Ā, ki tāna anō, 'Kāti te tangata tino mātau, te tangata āhuatanga pai hoki. He tino whiwhinga tēnei hononga mai ōna ki tō tātau taha.' E rua, nuku atu rānei ngā whakaohiti atu a Te Popo i te kāwanatanga, e māherehere tonu ana a Te Kooti ki te whawhai anō.

Whakatika tonu atu a Te Popo ki te tono i ētahi o ngā whenua rāhui i Ōpōtiki hei rumaki kai māna; kāti kāore i roa tata kapi ana aua whenua i ngā māra a Ngāti Ira. Ā, ko te kōrero mō tā te hua o te kai – kāore he mahinga i Ōpōtiki i kō atu i wā Te Hira. I whakaorangia anō e ia te kāinga noho me te whare nui rahi tonu nei i Ōpekerau. He hiahia nōna kia whiwhi ngā tamariki o Ngāti Ira i te mātauranga, i tīmataria e ia he kura i tō rātau kāinga. Inā, nō te tau rawa o 1884 te kura a te kāwanatanga i whakatuwheratia ai, ā, e 30 ngā tamariki i reira. Ahakoa he aha ngā mahi o tōna takiwā ko Te Hira tonu i te waha, ā, tino mihi ana ngā Pākehā o Ōpōtiki ki a ia. Nō te tau 1887 i pōtingia ia hei āteha mō te Takiwā Raihana Māori o Waiōeka. Nō te tau 1889 ka pāngia e te mate i a ia i Ākarana, ā, ko te hokinga mai tēnā ōna ki Waiōeka. Nō ngā rā tīmatanga o Oketopa i pahemo ai.

Nā te rangatira ōna, i haria rawatia tana rākau mate ki Te Rae-o-kohi, ki Te Mānukatūtahi, e iri rā te kōrero a tōna tipuna, a Muriwai, 'Me whakatāne au i a au'.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Lyall, A. C. Whakatohea of Opotiki. Wellington, 1979

    Obit. Te Korimako Hou. 2 Dec. 1889

    White, H. G. D. 'Military activities in the Opotiki district in 1870'. Historical Review 20, No 1 (1972): 41--45


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

H. G. D. White. 'Te Popo, Hira', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t25/te-popo-hira (accessed 28 March 2024)