Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Huata, Hēmi Pītiti
1866/1867?–1954
Nō Ngāti Kahungunu; he kaihautū, he minita Mihinare
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Cordry Huata, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1996. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Ko te tuawhā a Hēmi Huata o ngā tamariki a Tāmihana Huata, te minita pāriha tuatahi o te minitatanga Māori o Te Wairoa; i whai a ia i muri i te mihinare rā, i a James Hamlin i te tau 1864. I tau iho ki runga i a Hēmi te mana o tana pāpā, o Tāmihana, tētahi o ngā rangatira nui, nōna te kaha whakahirahira ki ngā take i Te Wairoa. Ko tōna whaea, ko Rīpeka, he wahine tapairu nō Rangiāhua. E rua ōna tuākana, ko Ānaru Huata rāua ko Kunaita Pōmare, ā, tokorua rāua i mate uri kore. I whānau a Hēmi Huata ki Rāmoto, ki Waiparapara (Frasertown) kei te taha raki o Te Wairoa i te tau 1866, i te 1867 rānei. He uri ia nō Ngāti Kahungunu. Ko tōna hapū nui ki te taha ki tana pāpā ko Ngāti Mihi; ko ngā hapū o tōna whaea ko Ngāi Tamaterangi me Te Aitanga-a-Hinemanuhiri. Ko ētahi atu hapū e kī ana a Hēmi nōna, ko Ngāti Hinetū, ko Ngāti Kōtore o Pāpuni, ko Ngāti Paikea o Mōhaka, ko Ngāti Hikapī o Waikare (kei waenganui o Mōhaka rāua ko Tūtira tēnei), ko Ngāti Hika o Te Rēinga me Ngāti Ruapani o Waikaremoana.
E tamariki tonu ana a Hēmi, ka haria a ia ki Heretaunga, ki ngā mānia o te pokapū o Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay), ki te taha o tētahi whanaunga ōna i te wā e takatū ana a Te Kooti i te rohe o Te Wairoa. Ko te take i karangatia ia ko Pītiti, he mau nō tētahi o ōna whāea kēkē e raweke pītiti ana i reira, ka tapaina ia ko Hēmi Pītiti Huata. I te tau 1886, i a Te Tātana (John Thornton) e noho tumuaki ana i te Kāreti o Te Aute, me Apirana Ngata e kura ana i reira, ka tae atu hoki a Hēmi hei ākonga. Ko tētahi o ngā īngoa o Hēmi ko James Stuart; he piriwheke ia i te Kāreti i te tau 1890. Nō te tau i muri mai ka whakatūria ia hei kāpene mō te tīma whutupaoro a te Kāreti, ā, toa ana rātau i te whakataetae o Te Matau-a-Māui. Ka mutu, ka haere tawhio rātau i Te Waipounamu.
Ka mutu te kura o Hēmi i Te Aute ka haere ia ki te Kāreti o Te Rau Kahikatea (Te Rau Theological College) i Tūranga (Gisborne), ā, i reira, ka whakawahia a ia hei rīkona i te tau 1898. Nō muri i tana whakawahitanga hei pirihi i te tau 1901, ka whakatūria a ia hei minita kaiāwhina mō te rohe pāriha o Mōhaka, ā, i muri mai ka whakanōhia a ia hei minita tuatahi. Mā runga i tōna hōiho a ia torotoro haere ai i tana pāriha ki te kauwhau i te karaipiture, ki te iriiri mema hou, ki te mārena tāngata me te tuku hoki i te Kai Hapa. Nāna anō hoki i toro atu i te hunga e pāngia ana e te mate, i tuku hoki i ngā tini whakapai me te nehu hoki i ōna whanaunga huri noa i te rohe.
Kāre i tino roa i muri i tana whakawahitanga, ka moe a Hēmi i a Rōpine Aranui nō Ngāti Pāhauwera ki Mōhaka. Ka noho tō rāua mārenatanga hei huarahi whakatau i te puehu i waenganui i a Ngāti Pāhauwera me ngā hunga tautoko i a Te Kooti. Nā te whakaritenga i tau i waenganui i a Tāmihana Huata rāua ko Te Kooti, ka uru atu ngā whanaunga maha o Tāmihana o Ngāti Kōtore ki te whārona awatea a Te Kooti i te wā i whakaekea ai e ia a Mōhaka i te tau 1869. Ka patua a Mātenga Te Aohia, he tupuna nō Rōpine, me ētahi atu o ōna whanaunga.
Nā runga i ngā mana tuku iho i tōna pāpā me tōna whaea, ka noho a Hēmi hei tangata whai mana i te rohe o Te Wairoa. Mai i ngā tau 1913 ki te 1919, i noho ia hei pirihi kaiāwhina mō Te Wairoa, ā, ahakoa tukua ana e ia tāna mahi i te pāriha o Mōhaka i te tau 1934, i mau tonu i a ia āna mahi minita ki tōna rohe ake. He tangata ngākau māhaki a Hēmi Huata, he tangata whakaiti, he tangata i arohaina e tōna iwi. I manakohia a ia te kaipuri o ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Kahungunu; nāna ētahi o ngā kōrero kei Tākitimu, te pukapuka a Tiaki Hikawera Mītira (J. H. Mitchell), me Ngā Mōteatea, nā Apirana Ngata rā i tā. I tohutohungia e ia tana tama a Te Ōkanga (Aussie) ki ngā tikanga tawhito me ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Kahungunu; ko ngā whakapapa me ngā rātaka, he mea tuhituhi rawa e ia.
Nō ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1920, i kaha ngā mema o te Hāhi Mihinare ki te taupatupatu mō te kaupapa a T. W. Rātana. I te tīmatanga, ka tau te whakaaro, e pai noa ana te whakapono o te Hāhi Rātana ki te hunga Mihinare. I te wā i a Hēmi Huata e noho ana hei kaihautū mō te Hāhi Rātana i Te Wairoa i te tau 1922, ka tū te pōti whānui a te kāwanatanga; i tautokona e ia a Taranaki Te Uamairangi hei mema motuhake mō te rōpū Rātana, e whakataetae ana ki a Apirana Ngata me ētahi atu o roto i te rohe ki Te Tai Rāwhiti. Nō te taenga mai o Rātana ki Mōhaka i ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1920, ka haere a Hēmi i tōna taha ki Te Wairoa, ki te hui hoki ki te pā o Rātana i te Kirihimete. Ēngari, i whakahuatia e te Hāhi Mihinare i te tau 1925, arā, ko te whakapono o te Hāhi Rātana he whakapono wehewehe, e taupatupatu ana anō hoki ki te kaupapa o te Mihinaretanga. Ka whakarērea e Hēmi te Hāhi Rātana, he mōhio nōna e kore e taea e ia te tautoko ngā whakapono e rua. Ahakoa anō, i waihotia e ia ōna whanaunga kia noho tonu hei apataki mā te Hāhi Rātana.
He whakahaere toa hokohoko i Mōhaka tā Hēmi Huata rāua ko Rōpine mai i te tau 1923 ki te 1927. He tuku nō rāua i ō rāua whanaunga kia pūkai ā rātau nama, kāre kau tonu i momoho te whakahaere. Ko tētahi mea hē rawa, ko te raweke a ētahi o ā rāua tamariki i ngā kēne whurutu, arā, he mea wero ngā tini, kātahi ka unumia te wai, ka whakahokia ki runga i ngā whata. Haere rawa ake ngā tāngata ki te hoko, kua kitea ngā pokanga.
Tekau mā tahi ngā tamariki a Hēmi rāua ko Rōpine. Nō te whānautanga o tā rāua mokopuna tuatahi, ka riro mai i a rāua i runga i te tikanga Māori. E hia kē nei ngā mokopuna me ngā whanaunga i atawhaitia e rāua i muri mai. Ko tētahi tino kōrero a tā rāua tama, a Wī Te Tau Huata, e 42 ōna tāina me ōna tuāhine. Tokotoru ngā tamāhine i tukua e Hēmi ki te kura mō ngā kōtiro Māori, ki Hukarere (Hukarere Native Girls' School); tokotoru ngā tamariki tāne i tukua ki te Kāreti o Te Aute, ā, tokorua anō o ngā mea tāne i tukua ki ētahi atu kura.
Nō te tekau tau atu i 1930, i manaakitia e Hēmi te kaupapa ahu whenua Māori i Horohoro (Horohoro Native Land Development Scheme) a Apirana Ngata; nō konei te whakanohotanga o ētahi whānau o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Rotorua, ki te āwhina i a Te Arawa ki te ahu whenua hei pāmu mā rātau. E mōhiotia ana a Hēmi i roto i ngā marae puta noa i Te Wairoa, ko ia tonu tētahi o te hunga pū kōrero ki te tū ki te marae. Nōna ake tōna marae, a Te Huinga‑o-te-rangi-ora i Rāmoto. Heoi, i tautokona e ia te hanganga o te whare nui o Tākitimu i te marae o Waihīrere (arā, i ētahi wā ka tapaina ko Tākitimu anō) e tata ana ki Te Wairoa, ā, ko ia anō tētahi o ngā kaitiaki tuatahi. Nō te tau 1937, i whakawhiwhia a Hēmi Huata ki te Mētara Koroneihana o Kīngi Hōri Te Tuaono. I tukua e ia āna tama kia tū hei hōia i te Pakanga Tuarua. Nō te Ope 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion) i Itari, i whakatūria ko Wī Huata hei minita, ā, whakawhiwhia ana ia ki te Rīpeka mō te Toa (Military Cross) mō āna mahi.
I mate a Hēmi Huata i Rāmoto i te 13 o Oketopa o te tau 1954. Nō te 17 o taua marama rā i nehua a ia ki te urupā o Te Poho‑o-Rākaihākeke, i Rāmoto anō. Kei ngā waewae o tōna pāpā ia e takoto ana. Nō te matenga o Rōpine i te tau 1959, ka tanumia hoki ki reira.