Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Parata, Katherine Te Rongokahira
1873–1939
Nō Ngāti Pūkenga, nō Ngāti Pikiao; he wahine whai mana
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Angela Ballara, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1996. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau a Kataraina (Katherine) Te Rongokahira Asher i Tauranga i te 21 o Noema i te tau 1873. Ko tōna pāpā ko David Asher, te mātāmua a Hannah Keesing rāua ko tana tāne, ko Asher Asher, he kaihokohoko taonga; he Hūrai tahi rāua, he manene ki tēnei whenua. Ko tōna whaea ko Katerina Te Atirau, he wahine kāwai rangatira nō Te Arawa me Mātaatua. Ko ia te tamāhine mātāmua a Rāhera Te Kahuhiapō o Ngāti Pūkenga, o Ngāti Pikiao me ērā atu hapū. Ko Te Rongokahira te īngoa i mōhiotia nuitia a Kataraina, ā, ko ia te mātāmua o ngā tamariki 11. Ko Albert (he mea karanga ko Opai) rāua ko Ernest, ētahi o ōna tungāne. I hau ngātahi atu ō rāua rongo ki te motu mō te tākaro whutupaoro. He tungāne anō nōna a John Te Atirau Asher, he tangata rongonui mō tana tū hei kaikōkiri kaupapa, hei kaiwhakahaere hoki mō Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
He kaiwhakakākahu, he kaihoko pūeru tāne a David Asher i Tauranga. E hia kē nei ōna momo kaipuke hokohoko, hei harihari taonga i waenganui i Tauranga me Ākarana (Auckland). I matatau rawa atu a ia ki te kōrero Māori, me te aha, he kaiwhakamāori whai raihana ki te kōti tētehi o ana tohu. I te rua tekau tau atu i 1880, he haere tonu te mahi a Katerina Te Atirau ki te Kōti Whenua Māori ki te whawhai mō ngā tika o tōna whānau ki ō rātau poraka whenua huhua. Nō te tau 1886, i hokona atu e ia he whenua kia kore ai e pokea tana tāne e te nama. Nō te 27 o Noema o te tau 1894, ka āta whakatūturutia tō rāua mārena ko Katerina. Nō taua tau anō ka noho a David hei rangatira mō te Hōtēra o Tauranga. E kōrerotia ana he tangata atawhai a David, ēngari he pākaha. I whakawehea mai e ia te noho a tōna whānau i te hōtēra, he whare kē tō rātau i noho ai. Kāre kau he kōrero mō te kuranga o ngā tamariki a Asher, ēngari anō a Te Rongokahira, nā te āhua o āna mahi tonu i kitea ai te tino pai o te whakaakoranga i a ia.
I runga i te pai o te whakatipuranga i a ia, me te whai rawa hoki a ōna pakeke, tae atu ki ōna kāwai rangatira, ka tino whāia a Kataraina Te Rongokahira Asher hei hoa wahine. Kātahi ka taumautia a ia hei wahine mā Taare (Charles) Rere Parata o Waikouaiti i Te Waipounamu. Ko tētehi anō o ōna īngoa ko Taare Rakatauhake Parata. Ko tōna pāpā, ko Tame Haereroa Parata, he Mema Pāremata mō Te Tonga; he hononga ōna ki a Ngāti Huirapa, he hapū nō Ngāi Tahu, tae atu ki ngā iwi o Ngāti Māmoe me Waitaha. Ko tōna whaea ko Peti Hurene, arā, ko Elizabeth Brown, he wahine kāwai rangatira anō. Ka mutu tētehi mārena tino nui rawa atu i whakaritea i te Hōtēra o Tauranga i te 15 o Hune 1896. Mai i te tekau tau atu i 1830, kātahi anō te hononga tuatahi o te tokorua i pērā rawa te rangatira o ngā whānau o ngā motu nui e rua. He karaka, he kaiwhakamāori whai raihana ki te Kōti Whenua Maori te mahi a Taare i tērā wā. Ka puta ō rāua uri, ko Peti, he mea wahine, me ngā tama tokorua, a Rāwiri (David) rāua ko Taare (Charles).
Nō ngā tau tōmua o tō rāua mārenatanga, he rite tonu te haere a Taare rāua ko Te Rongokahira ki Te Ūpoko‑o-te-Ika; ko rāua ētehi o ngā kaihautū o te taha Māori 'ahu whakamua', i ū ki te kaupapa i hua ake ai te Rōpū Taitamariki Māori (Young Māori Party). I whakarērea e Taare te Kōti Whenua Māori i te tau 1905, kātahi ka heke ki Pōneke (Wellington) noho pūmau ai. I reira, ka whakatū kamupene rāua ko Wiremu Māwhete (William Moffatt) hei hoko whenua, hei whakamāori, hei kanohi whakahaere Māori hoki. Ko tā Taare, he whakahaere i te tari matua i Pōneke; ko tā Māwhete, he whakahaere i te tari peka i Te Papa-i-ōia (Palmerston North). Nō te tau 1911, ka uru a Taare ki te tūranga o tana pāpā, hei Mema Pāremata mō Te Tonga.
I a ia e noho kaihautū ana i waenganui i ngā iwi Māori o Te Whanganui-a-Tara ka uru atu a Te Rongokahira, he mea karanga a ia e te Pākehā ko Mihi C. Parata, ki ngā mahi tāmau whenua, i te wā o te Pakanga i Āwherika ki te Tonga (1899–1902). I āta whakaaturia e tētehi wāhanga nui o te iwi Māori tā rātau tautoko i te kāwanatanga; ēngari, nā te hiahia o ngā iwi o Peretānia, arā, ko ngā iwi kiritea anake me pakanga ki ngā iwi kiritea, ka āraia te haere o te hōia Māori ki reira, whawhai ai. Heoti, i mahi rātau ki te kohi moni hei tautoko i te hunga e haere ana. E hia nei ngā rā i te marama o Āperira 1900, e whakahaerea ana tētehi wā hākari Māori nui i te Papa Rāhui o Waitangi (Basin Reserve), nā Te Rongokahira Parata rāua ko tana hoa i whakarite. Ko tōna kaupapa he whakanui ake i te tahua moni kia rahi ake ngā tāngata (More Men Fund). I tuku moni anō a Pene Te Uamairangi o Heretaunga i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay), a Tamahau Mahupuku o Te Wairarapa me ērā atu o ngā rangatira, ā, i tukua hoki he tāngata ki te āwhina. Kātahi ka hangaia he tauira pā, ka whakatūtū haeretia ētehi tēneti i waho o te āwhiotanga hei whakaahua i ngā mahi toi a te Māori hei hoko; i tohaina hoki he kai hāngi i reira. I whakatūria he whakakitenga mō te haka me te poi: tērā tētehi haka hangareka, ko te 'Kiki te Poa' te īngoa, he haka i paingia e te wairua whakahuka, kaitaua hoki o taua wā. Arā anō tētehi waiata i manakohia, ko te 'Waiata a Kuruka (Kruger)', i hurihia ki te reo Māori. I tae atu ngā mano; tērā noa atu te rahi o ngā hereni i whiua ki te tahua tāmau whenua.
Kāre i roa i muri mai, arā, nō te marama o Hune 1901, ka tīmata ngā whakatikatika mō te taenga mai o te Tiuka rāua ko tōna hoa rangatira o Cornwall, o York. He wā nui whakaharahara tēnei ki ngā iwi katoa o Aotearoa, ēngari, i nui kē atu ki te iwi Māori, arā, ki ērā o ngā iwi Māori i āwangawangatia tō rātau piripono ki a Kuini Wikitōria me tōna whānau i te rau tau atu i 1800 ki 1899. E hia mano nei ngā kāri pōwhiri me ngā tīkiti i tukutukuna haeretia ki ngā iwi Māori kia tae mai ki Rotorua ki te pōwhiri Māori i whakaritea rā.
I whakamōhiotia a Te Rongokahira rāua ko tana taokete a Irihāpeti Parata ki te hoa wahine o te Tiuka i runga i ngā tikanga ōkawa; ka mutu, kātahi ka noho rātau ko Airini Tōnore (Donnelly) o Heretaunga me Wikitōria Taitoko o Whanganui, i mua tonu o te mahau o te hunga roera. I hūhia e ia tana kākahu kiwi ki runga tonu i ana pūeru i kākahuria e ia hei tūtaki i te kāhui ariki; ko tō te hoa wahine o te Tiuka i mau ai he rau huia me te tino kākahu nā Te Rongokahira i hoatu mōna. I whakaahuatia a ia e mau ana ia i taua kākahu, ā, nō muri, ka tukua he kape o taua whakaahua ki a Te Rongokahira. Nō te roanga o ngā whakahaere, i a Te Rongokahira e tū ana hei wahine takāpui mā te hoa wahine o te Tiuka mō taua rā, ka whakataua atu e ia he taonga tiki pounamu, nā ngā iwi o Heretaunga i hoatu, ki te kakī o te Tiuka Wahine, kātahi ka tāpiria atu anō he rau huia ki te pōtae kāmeta.
Nō te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, ka uru anō a Te Rongokahira ki ngā mahi tāmau whenua. I noho ia hei perehitini rīwhi mō te Rīpeka Whero Māori. Ko tētehi o āna mahi,he kohi moni mā ngā hōia Māori o te Rōpū Paionia o Niu Tireni (New Zealand Pioneer Battalion). Nō te tau 1917, ka noho ia hei mema mō te komiti whakahaere i te Tahua Hōia Māori a Reiri Riwapūru (Liverpool) rāua ko Mīria Pōmare. I whakatauria e te komiti, i tētehi anō o ā rātau hui i taua tau, ki te whawhao kia 100 ngā pūhera kai, me ngā mea whatu, tae atu ki ngā tītī hei kai mā ngā tāngata o Rarotonga i Īhipa, ā, ko 1,000 ngā pūhera ki ngā Māori i Parani. I whakatūria hoki e te komiti he tēpu hoko i runga i te tiriti hei kohi moni kia rite ai ngā tono a te Rīpeka Whero me te Poraka Whero (Red Jersey).
E Mema Pāremata tonu ana a Taare Parata, ka mate ia ki Pōneke i te 8 o Hānuere i te tau 1918. He mea whakahoki tana tūpāpaku ki Te Waipounamu, ki Puketeraki, nehua ai. E 44 ngā tau o Te Rongokahira i taua wā, ā, ko te whakaaro, ko te wā tērā i noho pū noa ia i tōna whānau. Kāre i tino nui rawa ngā kōrero mō āna mahi i waenganui i ngā iwi i muri atu. Nō te 25 o Hepetema 1920, ka moea e ia tētehi karaka Pākehā a Leonard Robertshaw, i Pōneke. Kāore rāua i whai tamariki. Tae rawa ake ki te 1928, kua noho kē te whānau ki Pito-one (Petone). I te tau 1934 ka mate tana tāne tuarua, ā, nō te marama o Noema 1938, ka mate mai te mea tamariki o āna tama a Taare. I mau tonu tana noho ki Pito-one i te taha o tana tamāhine moe tāne, o Peti Parata-Olsen, me tana tama a Rāwiri, ā mate noa a Te Rongokahira i te Hōhipera mō te Katoa i Pōneke i te 7 o Hune 1939. I tanumia a ia ki te urupā Māori i Pito-one i te 10 o Hune.
He wahine ātaahua, he wahine huatau, ā, he wahine māia a Kataraina Te Rongokahira, he momo tauira nō ngā uri o ngā mārenatanga i waenganui i te kāwai rangatira Māori me ngā iwi manene rongonui. I taea e ētehi te whakawhanaunga atu ki ō rātau ngare, me te whakatahuri mai i a rātau kia whakapono ki a rātau anō, me te ako i ngā āhuatanga tikanga ā-iwi nā reira nei rātau i paingia ai e te Pākehā. He wahine pērā a Te Rongokahira. I noho ia hei taura here i waenganui i te ao Pākehā me te ao Māori, ā, he pērā anō tana moenga i a Taare Parata, arā, he taura here i waenganui i ngā iwi Māori o Te Ika-a-Māui me Te Waipounamu.