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Kōrero: Te Rerenga, Hōne Wētere

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te Rerenga, Hōne Wētere

?–1889

Nō Ngāti Maniapoto; he amorangi

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

Nō ngā tau 1830 pea a Hōne Wētere Te Rerenga i whānau ai ki Māniaroa, ki Rangitoto kē rānei, i te takiwā o Awakino. Ko Waitara tōna pāpā, he puninga tahi nā Hoturoa rāua ko Maniapoto. Ko Mākareta Hakahaka tōna whaea; ko Hokipera Rangihikaia ngētehi o ōna īngoa. Tokorua ā rāua tamariki, ko Te Rangituataka (ko Reihana Tākerei rānei) tō mua, ko Wētere tō muri.

Ko te hiahia o Waitara he here taura atu ki ngā Pākehā, he ako hoki i āna tama ki te ao o te Pākehā. I a rāua e tamariki ana he tūtaki tonu te mahi a Te Rangituataka rāua ko Wētere ki te Pākehā. Kua oti hoki rāua te ako kia āta mātakitakina te āhua o te Pākehā kia mōhiotia ai ōna whakaaro ki te Māori. I iriiria pea a Wētere e Cort Schnackenberg, he mihingare Wēteriana, i muri tonu mai i te tau 1845. Ka hoatu tōna īngoa iriiri ko Hōne Wētere (John Wesley). Ākuanei hoki i te kura a Schnackenberg e akona ana. Mō te roanga o ōna rā, he nui ake tōna whakawaia e te ao Pākehā tēnā i tana tuakana.

Nā tōna kore e hiahia ki te whakawhiti i te rohe o Te Āti Awa, ka hokona mai e Waitara he kaipuke hokohoko – ko te Hydrus te īngoa – i te tau 1845 pea, kia pai ai tana hoko atu, hoko mai ki ngā Pākehā o Nū Pāremata (New Plymouth). Nā konei ka puta tōna hiahia ki te tō mai i ngā Pākehā ki Mōkau noho ai, ā, e māmā ana tōna ngākau ki te hoko atu i ngā whenua hei nohoanga mō rātou, kia ea ai tōna hiahia. I te tau 1850, ka wehea e ia he whenua i te awa o Awakino hei hoko atu ki te Pākehā.

I taua tau anō ka tae a Tā Hōri Kerei (George Grey) ki Taranaki. Whakatika atu a Waitara ka heria ko Te Kerei (ko Tākerei rānei) hei īngoa mōna, ka waiho ake a Waitara. E rua tau i muri iho, ka tū a Waitara hei āteha. Ahakoa tana whakahoahoa atu ki ngā Pākehā, tū ana ko ia tētehi o ngā rangatira i whakaaria hei kīngi i te tau 1858. Ka mate a Waitara i te tau 1862, ka puta haere te rongo o tana tama, o Wētere. I a ia e taitama ana ka puta tōna mārohirohi ki te heri mēra i ngā rohe o te ito. Nōna hoki tētehi o ngā moko i runga i ngā whakaaetanga ā-pukapuka i te hokonga atu o Awakino i te tau 1854. I te tau 1855 ka riro ko Taumata-maire; ko Rauroa nō te tau 1857 i riro ai. Ko Wētere Te Haruru tōna īngoa i runga i aua tīti. Taka rawa ki te tau 1858 kua nui ake ngā wā i kitea tōna kanohi i roto i ngā mahi a rāua ko Te Rangituataka. Riro ana mā Wētere e tohatoha ngā pānga whenua ki ngā mea nō rātou te poraka o Te Kawau. Ka puta hoki tōna rongo ki te whaikōrero, ā, kua noho hei puna mō ngā mōhiotanga e pā ana ki te ao Pākehā. Ko ia tētehi o ngā kaituku kōrero ki ngā nūpepa huhua, ā, ka tīmata hoki tāna hoko atu, hoko mai i te kaipuke hokohoko, i te Paraninihi – he īngoa pōhēhē nō Parininihi (White Cliffs) pea. Nōna anō hoki ngētehi pānga o te kaipuke, o te Hannah Mōkau.

Ka taka te wā ka taupatupatu tōna hiahia ki te whakahoahoa atu ki te Pākehā, ki tōna hiahia ki te pupuri tonu i te mana o tōna iwi. Kua kite kē hoki ngā iwi o Mōkau i te hiakai mai o ngā Pākehā e noho mai rā i Taranaki ki ō rātou whenua. Te tūnga o te pā Pākehā ki Pukearuhe, pāwerawera ana te iwi; kua katia hoki te ara ki Taranaki. Kātahi ka hē kē atu i te hokinga mai o Ngāti Tama rāua ko Ngāti Mutunga i Wharekauri, arā, i Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) kia noho ki Taranaki. Koinei ngā ito o ngā iwi o Mōkau, ā, nā rātou i huhuti atu ngā whenua i waenganui i Mōkau me Pukearuhe i te 30 tau o mua atu. Te putanga o te rongo o ngā pakanga a Te Kooti rāua ko Tītokowaru i ngā tau whakapaunga o te 1860, ka whakaaroaro te Kīngitanga ki te hiki anō i te ara o riri whakauaua ki te Kāwanatanga. Hēmanawa ana a Ngāti Maniapoto.

Nā te kaha o ēnei hēmanawa, ka kōkiritia e te taua a Te Rangituataka rāua ko Wētere te puni Pākehā i Pukearuhe i te 13 o Pēpuere 1869. Tokotoru ngā hōia i mate, tae noa ki te wahine me ngā tamariki tokowhā a tētehi o aua hōia. Ka mate hoki te mihingare Wēteriana a Te Waitere (John Whiteley). Te hokinga o Wētere ki Mōkau ka rere ki te nehenehe o te tuawhenua, ki Māhoenui pea, whakapupuni ai. Nō konei tōna īngoa a Te Rerenga. Muri iho ka kī a Wētere kāore ia i whaiwāhi ki taua pakanga. Nō te tau 1872 rā anō ka hoki ki Mōkau.

Ahakoa te pakanga o Pukearuhe, ka whakahoahoa tonu a Wētere ki te tokomaha o te Pākehā. Nāna i tautāwhi a Charles Hursthouse rāua ko William Newsham, he kairūri, i tō rāua mautanga i a Te Mahuki i te tau 1883. Pērā anō hoki a Wirikihana (G. T. Wilkinson). Nāna anō hoki ka puta te ihu o Charles Hutchinson, he āpiha ākonga, i te wā e haere ana ia ki te heri i te kōrero pukapuka a Kāwana Hori Kerei ki ngā Māori mau pū i te tau 1865. Nō te tau 1884 ka ora anō i a ia a Hursthouse, me Thomas Perham, he kairūri moana, i te tahuritanga o tō rāua pōti i te pūaha o Mōkau. Nā tēnei rawa, ka whakawhiwhia ia ki te mētara a te Rōpū Atawhai a te Karauna o Ahitereiria me Niu Tīreni (Royal Humane Society of Australasia).

Nō waenganui i te tekau tau atu i 1870, ka riro ko ngā tautohetohe mō ōna whenua i Mōkau hei whakatāuteute mā Wētere. Arā a Ngāti Tama e noho manuhiri rā i runga i ngā whenua o Ngāti Maniapoto i kō tata atu o Mōkau. Huri tonu iho ki te kerēme i te whenua kia pai ai te hoko atu. Nō tō rātou wehenga atu i te maru o te Kīngitanga, ka mana kore a Tāwhiao ki tēnei tautohetohe. Ko te hiahia o Ngāti Tama he heri i tēnei kaupapa mā te Kōti Whenua Māori e whakatau, ēngari kāore a Tāwhiao i whakaae kia riro mā reira e whakatau ngā whenua o Ngāti Maniapoto. Nā tōna hiahia ki te whakatau ā-ture i tōna mana ki ōna whenua, ka ngana a Wētere ki te tō mai i te Kōti Whenua Māori ki Mōkau. Ko Rewi Maniapoto tōna taituarā. He pērā anō hoki ngā mahi a Ngāti Hauā ki a Rewi.

Nō te tau 1882 ka whakaaetia e Te Paraihe (John Bryce), te minita mō ngā take Māori, te hiahia o Wētere, ēngari ko te utu, mamae ana. Ko ngā whenua te utu mō ngā whakararu o te Kōti Whenua Māori. Otiia nā te kaha mai o ngā kaihoko whenua me Ngāti Hauā, ka huri anō a Wētere ki te Kōti Whenua Māori. Nā te mamae o te kiri i te kōti tuatahi, ka tohe a Wētere mā ki te takahuri i te ture e taea ai e rātou te ārai atu ngā rōia i te kōti, ā, e mutu ai te hoatu a ngā kaihoko Pākehā i te pūtea tōmua mō ngā whenua i mua o te whakataunga a te kōti.

Nā te kaha mai o Joshua Jones rāua ko William Grace, he kaihoko whenua, ka hinga atu a Rewi rāua ko Wahanui Huatare ki tā Wētere kōrero, kia karangatia he hui me Te Paraihe; ko te kaupapa, ko te huaki i ngā whenua o Ngāti Maniapoto. Ka tāpiritia atu e ia tōna hiahia kia wetekina te whakapae o te patunga o Te Waitere i Pukearuhe i runga i a ia. Ko Tīhema o te tau 1882 tērā. I te tīmatanga o te tau 1883 ka tangohia te here i runga i tōna kakī. I Āperira ka haere atu rātou ko Te Paraihe me Hursthouse i Waitara ki Pirongia.

Nō te 9 o Maehe 1889 ka mate a Hōne Wētere Te Rerenga i Mōkau. Ka nehua ki Hingarangi Kauri. E 35 tau i muri mai, ka hahua, kātahi ka nehua atu ki Hikumutu i te marae o Māniaroa. Tokowhitu ā rāua tamariki ko tana wahine tuatahi ko Mere; tokotoru ā rāua ko tana wahine tuarua, ko Te Āta Hoani.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

DNZB. 'Te Rerenga, Hōne Wētere', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t29/te-rerenga-hone-wetere (accessed 29 March 2024)