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Kōrero: Te Tai Hakuene, Īhaka

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Tai Hakuene, Īhaka

?–1887

Nō Ngā Puhi; he ihorei, he kaikauhau reimana, he kaitōrangapū

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

I whānau a Īhaka Te Tai Hakuene ki Te Rāwhiti ki Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands), tērā pea i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1830, i ngā tau tōmua kē rānei o te tekau tau atu i 1840. I tipu mai ia i te wā o ngā whawhai i Te Tai Tokerau i ngā tau 1845–1846. Ko ia te tuarua o ngā tama a Whai Hakuene; e ai ki te kōrero i hainatia e ia te Tiriti o Waitangi i raro i te īngoa o Te Tai. Ko Ngāpuhi tōna iwi, ā, he hononga anō ōna ki Te Rarawa. Ko te whaea o Īhaka ko Tirokai, i mōhiotia i muri mai ko Ākinihi. Nō Ngāi Tāwake o Ngāpuhi a Whai Hakuene rāua ko Tirokai.

E taitama tonu ana a Īhaka, ka moea e ia a Āhenata Takurua, te tamāhine a Te Kēmara Tāreha o Waitangi. Nā te āhua mōioio o tana wahine i kore ai ia i haere ki te ako i Ākarana (Auckland) hei minita mō te Hāhi Mihinare. Nā konei ia i noho kē ai hei kaikauhau reimana. I te tau 1874 i tata mate ia i tētahi hau āwhā i pakaru ohorere mai i te tonga rāwhiti, i a ia i runga i tōna waka whai tohorā. Ka 25 pea ōna tau ka hinga tana matua, ka mahue mai ko ia hei whakakapi mōna. He tamariki tonu ā Īhaka rāua ko Āhenata Takurua, ā, ko Mita Te Tai te mātāmua. I muri mai o te matenga o Āhenata i te tau 1880, ka moe a Īhaka i a Ruiha Kerei (Louisa Grey) i Kororāreka (Russell) i te 25 o Maehe 1885. He tamāhine tēnei nā Mātene Te Whiwhi o Ōtaki, ā, ko ia te pouaru a Hōri Kerei o Te Rāwhiti.

I te 14 o Āperira 1875 ka moea e tētahi o ngā tama a Īhaka Te Tai te irāmutu a Hira Te Āwhā o Kaikohe. I tū te mārena i Waitangi, ā, 500 ngā Māori, 100 ngā Pākehā, 100 ngā tamariki, i tae ki te hākari. I hangaia he whare nui mō te mārena i te takiwā o te marae o Te Tii, te wāhi tōpuni o te iwi i te wā o te hainatanga o te Tiriti i te tau 1840. I tapaina te whare ko Te Tiriti o Waitangi hei tohu mō te tautoko me te piripono o Ngāpuhi ki te Tiriti. Ka noho tēnei taonga hei wāhi rūnanga, hei wānanga whaikōrero i ngā take a te iwi. Ka tū ko Īhaka Te Tai te kaipupuri i ngā moni a te komiti, nāna nei i whakatū tētahi kōhatu whakamaumahara e mau nei i runga ngā kawenata o te Tiriti i roto i te reo Māori me te reo Ingarihi, kei te marae o Te Tii e tū tonu ana i tēnei rā.

I te marama o Maehe i te tau 1881 ka uru atu a Īhaka ki te hui Māori nui i Waitangi. E toru mano ngā iwi i tae. Ko te kaupapa o taua hui he inoi kia whakatūria he pāremata Māori, whai kaha ki te whakakore i ngā ture katoa mō ngā take e pā ana ki te iwi Māori. Nā Āperahama Taonui i waihanga taua kaupapa, ko ia hoki tētahi o te rōpū taketake ki te haina i te Tiriti. Ko te tikanga tēnei i whakatūria te Tiriti hei tāhuhu mō ngā whakahaere tōrangapū a te iwi, pērā i ngā pāremata Māori i whakatūria rā i ngā tekau tau atu i 1890.

I tū a Īhaka Te Tai hei Mema Māori mō Te Tai Tokerau i te tau 1884. Nā āna whaikōrero i te Pāremata i whakaatu ōna māharahara me ērā o ōna hoa mema Māori. I tīmata a ia ki te kōrero mō te whakatū taiapa ki ngā urupā mō te hunga i hinga i Ōhaeawai, ā, nō te tau tonu o muri mai ka mahia. Kaha tonu ia ki te werowero i te mahi whakaroaroa ki te hanga kura mō ngā tamariki Māori i ngā rohe kua oti kē te tuku te whenua Māori mō taua tikanga. Ko te whakautu a Rāpata Taute (Robert Stout) nā ngā raruraru o ia rohe i kumea roatia te take nei. He māharahara nōna ka kōkiritia e ia ngā tāke kurī me te pātai atu mehemea kei te whakaarotia e te kāwanatanga te whakamana i te whakahau a te Komiti mō ngā Mea Māori me waiho ko ngā wāhi tāone anake hei utu i te tāke nei. Ko te whakaatu ki a ia, tērā pea ka whakaaetia e te kāwanatanga, arā, mā te whakahau ā-pānui e kore ai e pā te tāke kurī ki ētahi rohe, ēngari e kore rawa e menemanatia te Ture Rēhita Kurī o 1880. I tautokona e Īhaka tētahi pire hei whakamana i te tikanga kia pānuitia te Paipera ki roto ki ngā kura. I te tau 1885 ka pātai ia, e pēheatia ana e te kāwanatanga te mahi whānako a te Pākehā i ngā tio o ngā whenua Māori i Mangōnui. Ko te whakautu a te kāwanatanga, nā te mea kei te kerēme ngā Māori i ngā tio i raro i te mana o te Tiriti o Waitangi, ka riro pea mā te Kōti Matua (Supreme Court) e whakarite. Heoi anō, kāore i whāia atu te take nei.

Ko te kaupapa nui a Īhaka Te Tai i te Whare Pāremata ko te mana o te whenua Māori. I tautoko ia kia ōrite te mana whakahaere a te kāwanatanga me ngā komiti Māori i whakatūria i te tau 1883. Ko te kōrero a te ihorei o Ngāti Maniapoto, a Wahanui Huatare, arā, me hoatu te mana motuhake ki ngā komiti Māori, ēngari kāore a Īhaka i whakaae. Ko tana whakahoki ki tēnei, ka tūkino noatia e aua komiti taua mana. I tautoko ia i te pire i huaina ko te Ture Whakahaere Whenua Māori (Native Land Administration Act) 1886, i runga i tana whakaaro ka whai wāhi te iwi nō rātou te whenua ki te hoko, ki te aha rānei, ā, whakaarahia ake anō te mana rangatiratanga. Nā te ture nei i tuku he wāhi whakahaere ki ngā komiti i whakatūria e te iwi nō rātou ngā poraka whenua, ēngari i whakaae anō te ture nei kia āhei te iwi kāinga ki te tango pānga whenua mai i te komiti whakahaere, ka wāwāhi ai. I mahara a Īhaka mā konei hora whānuitia ai ngā mahi hoko whenua, ā, kua kore te hunga nō rātou te whenua e noho kore mōhio ki ngā hoko huna noa a ētahi.

I mate ohorere a Īhaka Te Tai Hakuene i tōna kāinga i Kororāreka i te 6 o Āperira 1887 i muri i tana hokinga i te hīnota a te Hāhi Mihinare i Ākarana. Nā ngā kai o taua hui ia i paihana. I tangihia a ia i Waitangi. Tōna rongonui i hua mai i tana tūpono ki te whakatinana i te wairua o te Tiriti o Waitangi ki roto ki ngā kaupapa tōrangapū o Aotearoa whānui.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Steven Oliver. 'Te Tai Hakuene, Īhaka', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t30/te-tai-hakuene-ihaka (accessed 30 March 2024)