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Te Rangitāhau

by Ken Te Huingarau Gartner

Biography

Nō ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau mai i 1820, nō ngā tau tīmatanga rānei o te tekau tau mai i 1830 i whānau ai a Te Rangitāhau (ko Tāhau te whakapotonga o tōna īngoa). Ko te wāhi i whānau nei ia e tata ana ki Ōpepe, 10 māero te tawhiti atu i te tonga rāwhiti o Tapuaeharuru. He kārangaranga hapū nōna a Ngāti Hineuru, ā, i heke iho anō hoki ia i a Ngāti Kurapoto me Ngāti Maruwahine, e kīia ana i nāianei he hapū ēnei nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Ko Parekaui tōna māmā, ko Ngāwaka pea tōna pāpā. Kāhore e mōhiotia ana ngā kōrero mō tōna tamarikitanga ki Ōpepe, ēngari ka pakeke ia, ka tino toa. E ai ki ngā kōrero e ono putu, e whā īnihi tōna roa, e rua tekau mā whā tōne pea te taumaha. He tauira ia nā te tohunga rongonui rā, nā Werewere Te Rangipūmamao o Tapuaeharuru. I a ia e taitama ana ka riro ia hei kaihautū mō tōna iwi, ā, mai i Waipāhīhī tau rawa ki Waitahanui tōna mana, tae rawa pea ki Kōrohe i te tonga, me Ōpepe hoki ki te rāwhiti.

Nāwai rā, ka puta a Te Rangitāhau hei hoariri ki te kāwanatanga i te marama o Oketopa 1866 i tana kuhunga atu ki roto i te hokowhitu o Ngāti Hineuru, 100 te kaha, i raro i a Te Rangihīroa. I haere atu rātau ki Ōmarunui, ki Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). Ko te whakaaro ka whakaekea e rātau a Ahuriri (Napier), ēngari whakaekea kētia ana ko rātau e Kānara Hōri Whitimoa (George Whitmore), poko tonu atu. Ko Te Rangitāhau tētehi o te hunga i tereputia rā ki Wharekauri, arā, ki Rēkohu (Chatham Islands).

I te marama o Hūrae 1868 ko Te Rangitāhau tētehi o te hunga mau herehere i rere mai rā i Wharekauri i raro i te maru o Te Kooti; i riro i a rātau te kaipuke rā, te Rifleman, ka rere mai ki Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay). He rūtene tino pono nei a Te Rangitāhau ki a Te Kooti. I whakamātau ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga kia kaua rātau e puta i tātahi, i whakaekea e rātau a Te Rangitāhau mā ki Pāparatū, ki Te Kōneke, ki Ruakituri. Kāre i roa ngā utu atu a Te Kooti, ā, kōkiritia ana e ia ngā Pākehā me ngā Māori o Te Tai Rāwhiti. I te tukinga o Matawhero i te 10 o Noema 1868 ko Te Rangitāhau tonu tētehi o ngā kaihautū i te whakaekenga o te whare o Meiha Piiki (Reginald Biggs).

I te omanga mai o Te Rangitāhau rātau ko Te Kooti mā, i te pakipakitanga i Ngātapa i Hānuere 1869, ka whakatahi atu rātau ki Te Urewera. Ka puta mai anō ia i te 9 o Maehe me tētehi ope, he mea whakakaha anō, nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa, ā, ko Wirihana Koikoi te rangatira i te kōkiritanga i a Ngāti Pūkeko o Whakatāne. Ko Te Rangitāhau anō hoki tētehi o ngā kaihautū o te taua i tonoa rā ki Uretara motu i Te Moana-a-Tairongo (Ōhiwa), ka patua i reira te kairūri rā a Robert Pitcairn. I te mutunga o ngā kaurerewa o reira, ko te haerenga atu tēnā o rātau ki Te Matau-a-Māui, ā, whakaekea ana a Ngāti Pāhauwera ki Mōhaka i te 10 o Āperira 1869. E 57 ngā Māori, e whitu ngā Pākehā i patua. Nā tana kaha ki te patu tangata i reira ka kino te īngoa o Te Rangitāhau.

Ka whakawhiti te ope a Te Kooti mā i te kokoru i te taha rātō o Waikaremoana, ka hoki ki Te Urewera; ka mutu ngā kaurerewa ki ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga, ka heke atu rātau ki te mānia o Rangitāiki i te rāwhiti o Taupō moana. I konei ka tīmata anō he whawhai hou. Nā Te Rangitāhau i āwhina te ārahi atu i te ope a Te Kooti ki Taupō moana. Nāna anō hoki i taki te hāpai, ā, nukaina uhimaneatia ana e ia ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga i Ōpepe i te 7 o Hune. Tokoiwa ngā hōia tūao a te kāwanatanga i mate, tokorima i oma. Nā tēnei parekura i tino whakaatu kua tae mai a Te Kooti ki roto ki a Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Hauroku ana te kāwanatanga me āna kūpapa Māori o Tapuaeharuru, ā tau ana te pōuri nui ki ngā hōia a te kāwanatanga i Te Moana-a-Toi (Bay of Plenty).

Ka mea a Te Kooti ki te patu i a Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki te raki mō tā rātau āwhina i te kāwanatanga. I muri i tēnei kātahi anō pea ia ka tahuri ki te whakaū i te hononga ōna ki ngā hapū o Ngāti Tūwharetoa e rata rā ki a ia. I hiahia hoki a Te Kooti kia tautokona āna mahi e te Kīngitanga, ā, kia pakanga, kia hinga i a rātau te kāwanatanga. Nā konei tonu kua kore e pai ki a Te Rangitāhau, whakarērea ana e ia a Te Kooti, ā, kāore i te tino mārama te take i pērā ai. E ai ki tētehi kōrero i whakahē ia nō te mea he huānga nōna a Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki te raki. I whakahokia anō e Te Rangitāhau a Te Kooti ki tāna i whakaae mai ai, mehemea kei roto rātau i te rohe o tētehi rangatira kē, me whai wāhi anō taua rangatira ki ngā whakahaere. Tērā anō tētehi taha o te whakaritenga nei, arā, i te whawhaitanga ki ngā kārangarangatanga o Te Kooti ki Te Tai Rāwhiti, ka waiho ērā mā Te Rangitāhau e patu. Ēngari menā kei roto rātau i a Ngāti Tūwharetoa mā Te Kooti kē e patu. I te taenga atu ki Taupō, kua kore e mana i a Te Rangitāhau tōna taha, ohiti kētia ana e ia ōna iwi o Waipāhīhī, o Kōrohe me ērā o Tapuaeharuru pea hoki, kia oma. Nā te kaikaiwaiūtanga a Te Rangitāhau i whawhai rawa pea rāua ko Te Kooti.

Kāhore e tino mārama ana mehemea i Te Pōrere a Te Rangitāhau i te whawhai mutunga a Te Kooti i te 4 o Oketopa 1869. Kua hoki kē pea ia ki Ōpepe noho mārire ai, ā, mutu noa tana whawhai ki ngā tāngata whai. Tēnā pea, i Te Moana-a-Toi kē ia e noho ake ana. E ai ki te tuhinga a Tawa (Gilbert Mair), i Ōhinemuri i te rangatira nei i a Te Hira, kimi wāhi punanga ai a Te Rangitāhau me ana tāngata 30. I kitea anō hoki ia i ngā mātārae o Katikati i te tau 1870, ko ia rā te rangatira o tētehi ope 'Hauhau' e hī ika ana, e 60 te tokomaha; e ai ki te kōrero kua heke te wanawana, ā, tino ora ana te āhua o tana rōpū.

Ka uaua te whakahaere pakanga a Te Kooti i Taupō i te ngaronga atu o Te Rangitāhau. Nā Te Rangitāhau i wātea ai ngā haerenga o Te Kooti i roto o Taupō; i tōna wehenga atu pānekeneke ana te haere a Te Kooti i ēnei whenua, arā, kua kairiri ngā iwi, kua kotahi rātau ko ngā hōia ki te whakahinga i a ia. Ko tō Horonuku Te Heuheu anake te hapū o Ngāti Tūwharetoa i mau ki a Te Kooti. Hāunga rā ō rātau whakaaro ki a ia, kua kore e pono kaha te hari i tana kaupapa.

He tangata hihiri a Te Rangitāhau ki te whawhai, ā, kāre ia e mataku. He mea whakapae he patu kino tana mahi i te hunga herehere, ēngari koirā tonu hoki te āhua o ētehi o ngā Māori i whawhai mō te kāwanatanga. Ki ōna uri, he tino toa rāua ko Te Kooti ki te pakanga. Ēngari he kaha ake tōna aroha ki tōna ake iwi i tōna hiahia ki te whai tonu i te tino kaihautū pakanga, i te matua tangata rā, i a Te Kooti. Nā te mea pea e mana tonu ana ia i roto i a Ngāti Tūwharetoa, i whakaaro ia ki te whakamaru i tōna iwi, hei aha ake tō rātau aroha ki a Te Kooti, ki ana kaupapa hoki. Tēnā pea hoki, nā te kaha tono tonu mai a ngā rangatira o Tapuaeharuru i pēnei ia.

I a Te Rangitāhau e noho ana i Taupō i te tekau tau atu i 1880, he tuku kōrero āna mahi ki te aroaro o te Kōti Whenua Māori. I taea e ia tōna īngoa te kuhu atu ki te rārangi kaihoatu whenua mō te poraka o Pohokura. E ai ki te kōrero, tokorua āna tama, ko Te Ranginui rāua ko Pāoro. E noho ana tāna pouaru, ko wai rā te īngoa, i Waitahanui i 1910 pea. I te tau 1900 ka toro a Te Rangitāhau i Rotorua ki te whakanoa whare whakairo. I whai wāhanga hoki te tohunga o Ngāti Awa a Hāmiora Tumutara Pio i taua kawanga whare. E kīia ana, nā te kaha o ā rāua karakia i mate ai a Te Rangitāhau i muri tata mai, ā, i muri tonu atu ka mate hoki a Pio.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Cowan, J. The New Zealand wars. Vol. 2, The Hauhau wars, 1864–72. Wellington, 1923

    Grace, T. S. A pioneer missionary among the Maoris, 1850–1879. Ed. S. J. Brittan et al. Palmerston North, [1928]


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Ken Te Huingarau Gartner. 'Te Rangitāhau', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t26/te-rangitahau (accessed 29 March 2024)