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Kōrero: Te Rato, Wiremu Te Koti

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Rato, Wiremu Te Koti

?–1895

Nō Ngāti Kahungunu; he minita Wēteriana

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

Ngāti Kahungunu a Te Rato. Arā pea nō te tau 1820 i whānau a ia ki te rohe o Te Wairarapa. Ko Te Rato pea tōna matua. Kāore i te mōhiotia te īngoa o tōna whaea. I ngā tau tīmatanga o te 1830 ko Te Koti Te Rato pea tētahi o te hunga 100, he wāhine, he tamariki, tae atu ki tana pāpā, i mau hereheretia i Te Wairarapa e te ope taua a Wī Tako Ngātata rāua ko Te Puni-kōkopu o Te Āti Awa. Ki ētahi kōrero anō, ka mau hereheretia e Ngāti Toa a Te Rato me ōna mātua ki te rohe o Porirua.

I te marama o Hune 1839, i manaakitia paitia ngā mihingare o te Hāhi Wēteriana, a Te Rōpiha (John Hobbs) rāua ko Te Pumipi (John Bumby), e te kaingārahu o Ngāti Toa, e Te Rauparaha i tō rātou tūtakitanga i te moutere o Mana. Ka puta i a Te Rauparaha tana hiahia kia tukua mai he mihingare ki waenga i a Ngāti Toa mahi ai. I te whakaritenga ka tonoa mai ko Pāora, he taitama Māori hei kaiwhakaako mō rātou (tērā pea he toronga tonu ōna ki a Ngāti Toa). Nāna i whakakōkuhu ngātahi a Ngāti Toa me āna mauhere ki te whakapono Karaitiana. Nā te awe o te kupu Karaitiana i mau tonu te rongo, i mutu ai ngā kairiri i waenga i ngā iwi, ā, i tukutukua atu hoki ngā mauhere. Nā tēnei āhua pea i tūtaki ai a Te Rato ki te whakapono. He tangata pirihongo ki te Hāhi Wēteriana, ā, nāna i tango ko Wiremu Te Koti (William Scott) hei īngoa iriiri mōna. Nā te minita Wēteriana, nā Te Haena (Samuel Ironside) i iriiri i te 10 o Tīhema 1841 ki Te Awaiti i Kurateau (Tory Channel).

Nō te tau 1854 ka whakauru atu a Te Koti ki te Rōpū Māori Wēteriana (Wesleyan Native Institution) i Te Tātua (Three Kings) i Ākarana (Auckland). I te tau 1859 ka tukua atu ia hei mihingare ki Rēkohu, arā, ko te īngoa Māori ko Wharekauri (Chatham Islands). Nō te 27 o Noema ka whāritea e ia i reira te tuatahi o ngā iriiringa i mahia e ia. Pau ana te wā i a ia i reira ki te haere, ki te kauwhau atu, ki te akoako kura hoki. Nāna i whakanui ake te maha o ngā whare karakia, mai i te mea kotahi kia whā, ā, i whakatūria anō e ia he kura Māori. I te tau 1862, ka oti i a ia te tahu mai e 30 ngā mema o te hāhi, e 300 ngā apataki, ka hoki a ia ki tuawhenua, ki te takiwā o Te Wairau (Marlborough), torotoro haere ai i ngā whakaminenga Māori o reira. Nō te marama o Noema 1863 i whakawahia a Te Koti hei minita i Ōtautahi (Christchurch). E hiahia tonu ana ia ki te hoki ki Wharekauri, ēngari nā te ruarua me te taupetupetu o ngā rerenga waka ki reira i noho tonu ia i taua wā ki Ngā Pākihi-whakatekateka-a-Waitaha (Canterbury) kauwhau haere ai. Nā te whakaaro nui o te hunga Māori o Waitaha ka puta tā rātou kupu taurangi ki te tautāwhi i a Te Koti; nā reira, atu i te tau 1864, £lOO ā-tau i utua e rātou ki a ia. Ko Hetaraka Wārahi (Shadrach Wallace) te whakakapi mō tōna tūnga i Wharekauri.

Nō te 18 o Āperira 1864 i moea e Te Koti a Irihāpeti Mokiho i Rāpaki. Nō Ngāi Tūāhuriri me Ngāti Pūneke, he hapū nō Ngāi Tahu a Irihāpeti. Kāore i ārikarika te hākari i tāpuia e Ngāti Wheke o Rāpaki mā tō rātou minita. He whenua 20 eka te rahi. I whakatipuria e Te Koti he kai me ētahi kau i taua whenua hei oranga mōna. I te tau 1865 ka whakaritea e te Hāhi Wēteriana kia nekehia mai te pū whakahaere o tā rātou mahi mīhana ki ngā Māori o Te Waipounamu, arā, mai i Ōtākou ki Rāpaki. Mea kau i muri i tana taenga atu, ka whakaritea e te iwi o Rāpaki kia whakatūria he whare karakia mō rātou, ā, nō te marama o Mei 1869 i whakatuwheratia ai.

Kotahi pea, e rua rānei ā-tau ōna haerenga atu i Rāpaki mā runga hōiho. He wāhi tino ākikō ngā wāhi i haere ai ia ki te torotoro i tana whakaminenga whānui i roto o Waitaha me Ōtākou. Ko te mahi i a ia e pōkai haere atu ana, he iriiri, he tangohanga, he tanu tūpāpaku, he tīmata kura karaipiture, he whakaako kaikauwhau reimana, ā, he whakatuwhera kura hoki. Ka tae ki te pokapūtanga o te tekau tau atu i 1870 e urupare kaha mai ana te tangata ki a ia. Ēngari taka rawa ki te tau 1879, e ai ki ngā pūrongo tonu mai a Te Koti kua kore e pērā, kua mahue a ia kua kōtahitahi noa nei tana hunga hāhi. Kāore e kore nā te aranga mai o Te Maihāroa te poropiti i pēnei ai, ā, i whakarērea ai e hia rau kē nei o Ngāi Tahu ō rātou whare karakia, āpiti atu hoki ki te tokomaha noa atu o ngā kaingārahu me ngā kaikauwhau reimana.

I roto i ngā mahi o Rāpaki he tangata whakarae a Te Koti. I te katoa o ngā hui whakatau manuhiri, i reira a ia. I ētahi wā ko ia tonu te kaikōrero. I kitea anō hoki a ia i ngā hui hāhi me ngā hui tāone i waho o Rāpaki. Ko ia tonu tētahi o te pae pōwhiri i ngā mana tiketike, e taetae ake ana ki Ōtautahi. Nā te mea he tangata tūranga hira, whai mana hoki, he waiwai kia uru atu a ia ki ngā hui take Māori.

Nō te marama o Hānuere 1886 ka mate a Irihāpeti. Kāore ā rāua tamariki ko Te Koti. Nō te paunga o te 30 tau e mīhana mātātoa ana, e takahi ana i te nukuroa o te whenua mō tōna whakapono, kua tauheke te hauora o Te Koti. I te tau 1891 ka whakamutua e ia tana mahi, ā, nō te tau 1892 pea te hokinga atu ōna ki Te Wairarapa, ka mate i reira. Arā pea, i te tāone tonu o Hūpēnui (Greytown) te wāhi i hemo ai ia i te 4 o Mei 1895. I a ia e ora ana, i mau tonu ko tana whakapono, ā, i puta i a ia te kōrero, 'Ko tā te rākau hoki ki te rau, pērā anō hoki ko tā te Matua Nui ki a au; kei tōku Matua ngā mea katoa mōku.'

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

John H. Roberts. 'Te Rato, Wiremu Te Koti', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t27/te-rato-wiremu-te-koti (accessed 28 March 2024)