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Te Tirarau Kūkupa

by Steven Oliver

Biography

Ko te āhua nei i whānau a Te Tirarau Kūkupa, te tama a Kūkupa rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi, ko Whitiao, i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1790. He uri whakaheke nō Rāhiri, he tupuna nō Ngā Puhi, ā, nō Toa o Te Roroa hoki. Ko tōna tupuna wahine ko Te Toka-i-Tawhio, he ngārahu nō Ngāti Ruangaio. Ahakoa e whakahuahuatia ana a Tirarau (ko tōna īngoa kārangaranga tēnei) he amorangi nō Ngā Puhi, nā roto i ngā moemoenga haumi ka noho pākanga kiritahi ia ki Te Uri‑o-Hau, he iwi he hononga rā ōna ki a Ngāti Whātua. Ko ētahi anō o ōna ngare, ko Ngāi Tāhuhu me Te Uriroroi, ā, i a ia te tūranga amorangi mō Te Parawhau o Whāngārei. I a ia te mana whenua ki te taitonga me te taihauāuru o te whanga o Whāngārei, ā, nā te raupatu ka rere pērā atu tōna mana ki Kaipara moana. Kei te takiwā ki waenganui o Whāngārei me Kaipara moana ko Tangiterōria; ko tōna kāinga matua tēnei.

I tōna taiohitanga ka kite a Tirarau i te rewanga o te patu i waenga i ngā iwi. Kei Onemānia ko Te Parawhau. Na, nō te wā i mua atu o 1820 ka whakaekea a Te Parawhau e te marau a Ngāti Pāoa. Ka kāwhakina tētahi o ngā wāhine a Kūkupa e Kaea. Ka tahuri a Tirarau ki te aru i te marau rā, ā, ka piri. Ka karanga atu ki a Kaea kia tukua tana herehere. Ko tana pū te takoha nāna i tuku ki taua rangatira o Ngāti Pāoa rā.

Nō muri tata tonu mai i ngā raruraru nei, arā, nō te tau 1820, ka toro atu a Te Mātenga (Samuel Marsden) i Tangiterōria, ka tūtaki ki a Tirarau, ēngari ko 'Tourow' kē te whakahua a tērā i taua īngoa. Hei tā Te Mātenga nō Tirarau tētahi o ngā tino whare kua kite ia i Niu Tīreni nei. Tekau mā ono putu te whānui o te mahau. E karapotia ana te whare e te pā, e Te Aotahi. E 24 ki te 30 putu te teitei o ngā tūwatawata. Hei tā Te Mātenga e whakawhiua ana te iwi o Tirarau e ngā tukinga mai a 'Shunghee' me tōna matawaka. Ko Hongi Hika te 'Shungee' e kōrerotia nei e ia. Nā reira i piri ai te noho a te tini tāngata i te pā, ā, mahue ana ō rātou whenua kia takoto noa. Heoti, taihoa ake nei ka noho a Tirarau hei uku mō Hongi. Nō te tau 1821 ka whakauru atu tana teina a Te Ihi ki te ope a Hongi ki te tuki i a Ngāti Pāoa. Nō muri mai i te pakanga ki a Ngāti Whātua i Mahurangi ka hono atu a Tirarau ki te āwhina i te taua a Hongi o 1825 ki a Ngāti Whātua. Ko Te Ika-a-ranganui te kauhanga riri, ko Ngāti Whātua i hinga. Ka haere tonu tana tautoko i te haumi o Ngā Puhi, ā, i uru ia ki te marau ki roto o Waikato o te tau 1832.

Hei pou i ngā mahi tauhokohoko ka haere a Porake (Joel Polack) ki Tangiterōria i te tau 1832, ā, heipūtia atu e ia a Tirarau e pakanga ana i tōna takiwā. Nā Te Peka (Charles Baker) o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society) te maungārongo i whakatau, ēngari, kīhai i taea. He pēnei nā te whakaatu mai a Porake i a Tirarau, arā, 'he tangata tāroa, tū rangatira. Anō ki tōna āhua e 35 pea ōna tau. Ko tōna kanohi te wai whakaata o ōna whakaaro, e rite ana te hanga ki tō te kanohi Pākehā. Ko te kiri he kiri kōuraura hāmā, ā, kapi katoa ana a ia i te moko.' Ko te kōrero a Porake he maha ngā wāhine a Tirarau. Nō muri mai te kōrero 12 ngā wāhine i moea e ia, ā, nō te huringa o tana wahine aporei ki te whakapono Karaitiana ka tukua e ia ērā atu kia haere. Nā te mihinare Wēteriana rā, nā Hēmi Pura (James Buller), i iriiri te mea i noho hei wahine māna, a Hariata. Nāna anō i whakahauhau ngā mihinare Katorika, ā, nō te tau 1843 ka hoatu e ia he whare mō Antoine Garin i Mangakāhia. Kāhore i te mōhiotia mehemea i huri a Tirarau ki te whakapono Karaitiana. Kāhore anō hoki he kōrero mehemea i tapaina he īngoa iriiri ki a ia.

Nā Tirarau i whakamau tana moko ki te Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tīreni i whakahaeretia rā e Te Pūhipi (James Busby) i te tau 1835. Ko ia tētahi o ngā rangatira nāna i hoko te whenua i Whāngārei, 40,000 eka te rahi, ki a Te Pūhipi, i Tīhema o 1839. I ngā marama tōmua o taua tau anō ka hokona e ia 60,000 eka ki te raki o Te Wairoa ki a Henry Walton. I moea e taua tangata a Kohura, te irāmutu a Tirarau. E ai ki ngā kōrero o muri mai ki te Kōti Whenua Māori, kore rawa i whakahēngia e tōna iwi āna mahi o aua rā; ka hokona atu e ia te whenua me ngā rākau, kātahi ka tiritiria ngā utunga anō ki tāna i pai ai.

Nā tana kokoraho i te mana ki ngā whenua i hokona rā e ia ka tupu ake ētahi raruraru i waenga i a rātou ko te Pākehā. I te tau 1842, ka takutakuna e ia a Thomas Forsaith, he tangata whai i Kaipara. Ko te pūtake, ko te hara o Forsaith i muri i te kitenga o tētahi papa angaanga i ōna whenua. I taua tau anō ka whakahaua e ia kia murua ngā whare o ngā tāngata whai tokowaru i Whāngārei. Nāna te whakapae nā aua kaiwhiwhi whare i tāpohe ētahi wāhi tapu. Otirā, i tāia e ia tana moko ki te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840. Nāna hoki i aukati ōna whenua ki a Hōne Heke Pōkai i te tau 1845. Nā tēnei i kore ai te whawhai i ahu whaka-te-tonga ki Ākarana (Auckland).

Ko ngā take e whakamāharahara ana i a Tirarau i te tekau tau atu i 1850 ko ngā mahi hoko rākau, hoko whenua a ērā atu o ngā iwi o te takiwā ki Kaipara. Nōna tētahi o ngā ringa nāna i hiki te patu ki te raupatu i taua rohe i muri mai i te riri o Te Ika-a-ranganui. I nāianei kua tutū anō te puehu i waenga i a rātou ko te hunga ko rātou nei te tangata whenua o taua wāhi, arā, i a Ngāti Whātua me Te Uri‑o-Hau. I te tau 1854, nā te mea e noho kore tatū tonu ana tana kokoraho ki taua rohe, ka puta tana kupu whakamataku, ka tahuna e ia te whare o te tangata, ahakoa ko wai, e hoko whenua mai ana mōna i Mangawhai i a Ngāti Whātua. Nā te hui i karangatia e te kāwana, e Koa Parāone (Thomas Gore Browne) i waenga i ngā hoa tauwhāinga i te tau 1857, nāna i kaupare te riri i Kaipara. Nā taua hui i whakarite e 300,000 eka te rahi o te whenua kia hokona atu ki te kāwanatanga.

I te tau 1862, ka tino tutū rawa atu te puehu i waenga i a Tirarau rāua ko tōna whanaunga, ko Matiu Te Aranui. He hoko whenua kūraruraru te kaupapa. Nā Tirarau i kī e hokona ana e ia ētahi whenua kei ngā pareparenga o te awa o Wairoa ki te kāwanatanga. Ara ana ngā rākau whawhai, ka tīmata te pakanga i te whakamātautanga a Te Aranui ki te roherohe i te whenua e kokorahotia ana e ia i tērā o Tirarau. Mate rawa ētahi. Tekau mā rua māero ki te raki o Maungatāpere ko ngā whenua kūraruraru o Waitomotomo. I hangā e ngā hoa tauwhāinga nei ō rāua pā tūwatawata ki reira. Nō taua wāhi nei a Ārama Karaka, he rangatira, ā, he āteha hoki. I whakauru atu rātou me te 50 pea o Ngā Puhi ki te taha o Te Aranui. Ko te āhua nei he maha kē te hunga e tuarā ana i a Tirarau, ā, i tua atu, i utua rawatia e ia ngā kaikeri kāpia o Te Arawa ki te mau rākau māna. I te mutunga nā te kāwanatanga i whakarite whakaaetanga kia tukua taua raruraru ki tētahi kōti. He kanohi nō ngā hunga tauwhāinga ētahi o ngā mema o taua kōti. Kātahi ka tukua ngātahitia e te hunga mautohe o ngā pā e rua rā ā rātou haki, ā, whakarērea ana taua wāhi. Oti ana te tuku te haki a Tirarau ka tūturi rātou ko āna apataki ki te whakamoemiti mō rātou i waiho kia ora ai.

I taua tau anō ka tū he raruraru mō te kawa i waenga i a rāua ko tana pākanga kiritahi, ko Paikea Te Hekeua, te ngārahu o Te Uri‑o-Hau. Ko wai hei toronga tuatahitanga atu mā Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) te papanga. He kawe i tana take rūnanga hei kaupapa kāwana mō ngā Māori ki Te Tai Tokerau te take o te haere ki te toro. Ka totohe a Tirarau me mātua peka te kāwana ki Whāngārei i mua i tōna haerenga ki Kaipara. Ka kī a Paikea Te Hekeua, e kore ia e tūtaki ki te kāwana mehemea ka haere mai tērā i Whāngārei ki Kaipara. I te mutunga, ka tohutohungia atu te kāwana e te kaiwhakawā takiwā, e Te Pura (Walter Buller), kia meinga kia rua ōna toronga atu i Ākarana.

Ko te tau 1864 te wā i toro atu ai te hēkeretari a te kāwanatanga, a Te Pōkiha (William Fox) i a Tirarau. Arā i Māreikura i te awa o Wairoa e noho ana. Nā Tirarau tonu te kī ki a Te Pōkiha, kāore he raru ki a Ngā Puhi o te whawhai i Waikato, ēngari ka ū tonu ki te maungārongo ki te kore tētahi e whakamātau ki te tango i ā rātou rākau whawhai. Kei te pūrongo a Te Pōkiha i muri mai te kī e pāngia ana a Tirarau e te rūmātiki, ā, kei tōna tinana e mau ana ngā nawe o ngā pakanga huhua.

I ngā tau o muri rawa mai e manahau tonu ana te mahi a Te Tirarau mā tōna iwi. He tangata mahi ahu whenua. He hōiho ōna hei whakamahi i runga i tana pāmu, ā, he parau anō hoki āna. Ahakoa he whare Pākehā tōna kīhai ia i pai ki te noho ki roto. I waenganui o te tekau tau atu i 1870 ka hangā e ia tētahi whare karakia. Nō te tata paunga o taua tekau tau ka whakatuwheratia te huarahi mai i tōna wāhi noho ki Whāngārei. Nō te Pēpuere o 1877 ka waimarie tana tono ki te Kōti Whenua Māori mō te taha ki tōna iwi o Te Uriroroi, ki te take o ngā poraka whenua o Kauaeranga me Ngāturipukunui. Ko te kerēme a Te Uri‑o-Hau hei ātete i tāna i whakaparahakotia.

E ai ki ngā kōrero nō te 19 o Tīhema 1882 a Te Tirarau Kūkupa ka hinga. E ngaro ana te wāhi o tōna matenga. Ko tana teina ko Taurau Kūkupa tōna whakakapi nō te mea he whare ngaro te heke o Tirarau. I nehua ki te urupā o Hikurangi i Whatitiri, i te taha o tōna matua, o Kūkupa. Ki te whakaaro ka hahua ōna kōiwi, kātahi ka haria ki tētahi ana kōiwi. Tērā tētahi tohu whakamaharatanga mōna kei te marae o Tangiterōria.

He tangata mārō nei a Tirarau i ōna rā tōmua. Utaina ana e ia te mana o āna ture ake ki runga ngātahi i te Māori me te tangata whai. Ka haere nā te wā, ka kite a Tirarau i te whai tikanga o te mahi tahi me te kāwanatanga, ā, i pērā anō hoki te nuinga o ngā rangatira o Te Tai Tokerau. I tutuki i a ia āna whāinga mā roto mai i ngā kōti whenua, i mua i tōna matenga.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (New Zealand). 1863, E–3

    Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (New Zealand). 1891, G–1

    Lee, J. 'I have named it the Bay of Islands…'. Auckland, 1983

    Polack, J. S. New Zealand. 2 vols. London, 1838

    Smith, S. P. Wars of the northern against the southern tribes of New Zealand in the nineteenth century. Wellington, 1904


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Steven Oliver. 'Te Tirarau Kūkupa', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/2t31/te-tirarau-kukupa (accessed 30 March 2024)