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Kōrero: Blake, John Thomas

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Blake, John Thomas

1853–1940

Nō Taranaki; he kairūri, he kaiwhakamāori, he kaihoko whenua, he tumu kōrero, he kaiwhiwhi, kaiwhakaako hōiho rēhi

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Patrick Parsons, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1996. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Ko te kī, i whānau a John Thomas Blake, arā, a Hōne (Hōni) Tāmati Pereki i Ōrākei, i Ākarana (Auckland) i te 4 o Āperira 1853. He tama whakamutunga ia nā William Farley Blake, he kairūri whenua, maina hoki. I whānau a William ki Airana, ā, nō te tau 1841 ka whakawhiti mai ki Aotearoa. Ko te whaea o Hōne ko Maata Takahi Tourāwiri nō ngā hapū o Tītaha rāua ko Ngā Māhanga o te iwi o Taranaki. Nō te tau 1845, ka moe rāua ko William. I a Hōne e tamariki ana i tupu ake ia i te whenua o tana pāpā i Riverhead, wāhi o Te Waitematā, tae noa ki ngā tau pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1860. He mahi mira rākau hei hoko te mahi a tana pāpā. Pakeke rawa ake ia kua tau kē ia ki te kōrero Māori, he mea whāngai atu e te whaea. I kuraina ia i Ākarana; nā ngā monaki o Hato Paranihi ia i ako.

I noho katoa a Hōne rātou ko ōna tuākana ko Rīhari (Richard) rāua ko Eruera (Edward) hei tauira ākonga i ngā waewae o tō rātou matua i a ia e mahi ana i Ākarana, i Taranaki, me ngā whenua karinga koura hoki i Hauraki, i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1860. I te whāinga i a Wiremu Hīroki i Taranaki i te tau 1878, ko Hōne anō tētahi o te tira aru i a ia. Nō te kawenga ki te Kōti ki reira whiua ai a Hīroki, ka whai kupu a Hōne. I moe ia i a Eliza (Raiha) Hastings Vickery i te whare karakia o Hato Penetihi (St Benedict's Church) i Karangahape (Newton) i Ākarana i te 17 o Ākuhata 1885. Ka piki rāua ki Taupō, e mahi ana a Hōne hei kairūri. Ka whakamutumutu haere te tau 1887, ka neke anō rāua ki te tāone o Heretaunga (Hastings) i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay) noho ai. I reira ka tūpono atu ki a Rīhari Pereki, he kaiwhakamāori, he kanohi Māori āna mahi. Ka hokona mai he kāinga e Hōne rāua ko Raiha i te huarahi o Avenue, ā, i reira i Maehe o te tau i muri mai ka whānau tā rāua tamaiti tuatahi, a Lylie Mōrehu.

I whakawhiwhia a Hōne Pereki ki te tohu kaiwhakamāori whai raihana i te 19 o Hune 1889. I eke tonu tana whakawhiwhinga nei ki te wā i whakahaerea te take nui o Ōmāhu i te Kōti Whenua Māori i te tāone o Heretaunga, ki te whiriwhiri i ngā hunga e āhei ana ki ngā whenua o Rēnata Kawepō. I hohoro tonu te whakamahinga i a Pereki ki te tuhi i ngā kupu a ngā kaiwhakaatu matua. Ka whakataua tana utu, kotahi pāuna i te rā. Nā tana rātaka i kitea rawatia ai te tino hōhonutanga o ngā mahi a te kaiwhakamāori. Nā runga i ngā mahi whakauiui, ko te mahi anō a Pereki he whakarāpopoto i ngā take o ngā kēhi o mua atu. E hia kē nei ngā wā, tae noa atu ki te weherua pō, e mahi tonu ana ki te whakapākehā i ngā kōrero o taua rā. Ka mutu, tinitini ana te wā e pōkia ana ia e te taumaha o te mahi. I te 18 o Hepetema 1889, ka tuhia e ia ngā rarururu o tērā rā; he tere rawa tana mahi.

He mea āta whakamahi anō ngā mōhiotanga rūri o Pereki. Kia pai ai te whakatakoto a te Kōti i ngā rohe, i oti i a ia he mapi rūri o ngā poraka e tirotirohia ana. Kei runga tonu i te āhua o te kōrero whakaatu kei te takia tonutia mai, me ka whakarerekētia, ka āpititia rānei. Mā te āta takahi rawa i te whenua katoa, mā te whakaatu anō i ngā wāhi whakahirahira o runga, te momo rūri a Pereki i ngā kerēme whenua Māori. Nō Noema o 1889 ka noho puni rātou ko āna kaiārahi mō ngā rā e whā ki te rūri i te poraka i Waikōpiro, arā, i Ormondville. Kei roto i tana rātaka te kōrero mō tana noho puni i Mangapuaka. Ki tana kī, he roa e oho ana i ngā pō e kōrero paki ana, ā, ngahau ana ngā mahi. Ēngari kāre kau he tēneti mōna, ā, e heke ana te ua.

Ahakoa he wā tēnei e huhua ana ngā kerēme mō ngā whenua Māori, putuputu ana te puta ake o te mahi. Kātahi ka whakaputaina kētia e Pereki te āhua o āna mahi. Nō te taenga ki te huringa o te rau tau, e mahi ana a Pereki mā ngā Māori me ngā Pākehā ki te whakatau i ngā whakaaetanga mō te mōkete, i ngā rīhi me ngā hokohoko o te whenua. Nāna i whakarite te mahi hanga i ngā whare mō āna kaitono, ā, he whakamāori anō tāna mahi i te kōti.

Tērā noa atu te nui o ngā mahi i tuhituhia e Pereki mō ngā kōrero tawhito a ngā iwi o Heretaunga. He nui tonu āna mahi kei te mau tonu, ko ētahi kei ngā wāhi wehe, ko ētahi kei ngā whakanohanga mō te katoa. He tino mōmona kē atu ngā mokamoka o ngā whakaatu ā-kupu a te Kōti Whenua i mau i a ia, i ngā kōrero i mahue mai i roto i ngā miniti a te kōti; ko ētahi o āna kōrero i tuhi ai kei te reo Māori. Kātahi anō, nā ngā tuhituhinga a Hōne rāua ko Rīhari Pereki, he whakaaturanga tuaruatanga i ngā mauhanga a te Kōti Whenua Māori. Nō ēnei kōrero e mōhiotia ana me kei te tika, kei te hē rānei ngā tuhituhinga a te Kōti ake.

I kakama tonu a Pereki ki ngā mahi whanaketanga i te tāone o Heretaunga me taua takiwā katoa atu. Nō ngā tau mai i 1913 ki 1915, i noho ia hei mema mō te Kaunihera Takiwā Tāone o Heretaunga (Hastings Borough Council). Ko ia anō tētahi i kite tuatahi i te kaha pai o Haumoana hei wāhi whakatā, wāhi hararei. He tangata pūmanawa ia ki ngā mahi tākaro, ki te whutupaoro, ki te mekemeke me ērā atu mahi ngahau o waho. He tino toa ia ki te pupuhi pū, ā, he tau ki te eke hōiho. Ko ia tonu tētahi o ngā tāngata tuatahi ki te whakauru ki te ope hōia tūao mau raiwhara eke hōiho o Heretaunga (Hawke's Bay Mounted Rifle Volunteers). Kāre ōna mataku ki te eke hōiho tānapu; he runaruna noa ia ēngari i momoho. I mōhio whānuitia ia e te ao rēhi hōiho, taunga noa te tangata whaiwhai hōiho ki ngā tae kaka o tōna tēpara. He whakaomaoma hōiho rēhi rāua tahi ko tana matua i te rohe o Ākarana, ā, nō muri ka whai hōiho ia, ka tereina hōiho hoki i Te Mātau-a-Māui.

Katoa ngā tamariki e iwa a Hōne rāua ko Raiha Pereki (e ono i te ora i tō rāua matenga) i whakawhiwhia ki ngā pūmanawa huhua tuku iho. Tokowhā ā rāua tamariki tāne i uru ki te tīma whutupaoro o Heretaunga; tokorua i uru ki te tīma whutupaoro o ngā Māori All Blacks, ā, kotahi o rātou, ko Tiaki (Jack) Pereki i uru rawa ki te tīma All Blacks o Aotearoa o te tau 1925 me te tau 1926. Ka mutu, he momo pūkenga toi anō tō te whānau nei. Ko ngā mahi toi, ko ngā mahi mātauranga, ko ngā mahi hoahoa kāri putiputi, ko ngā mahi hoahoa whare, ngā mahi i mahia e ō rāua uri.

Ko te īngoa o John Blake ki te Māori ko Hōne Pereki. Kāore i te mōhiotia mehemea i whai wāhi atu ia ki ngā mahi o runga i te marae; ko tōna momo noho ko tērā o te Pākehā, pērā anō te taha ki tāna mahi me te whakahoahoa hoki ki ōna hoa. Kāti, i taunga anō ia ki ōna ao e rua, ki ōna iwi e rua, ā, kaingākau nuitia ana ia e rātou katoa. I mate ia ki te tāone o Heretaunga i te 26 o Noema 1940, tekau rā i muri mai i te matenga o tana hoa wahine.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Patrick Parsons. 'Blake, John Thomas', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3b38/blake-john-thomas (accessed 29 March 2024)