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Kōrero: Rāwhiti, T. T.

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Rāwhiti, T. T.

1851?–1927

Nō Ngāti Hauā; he hēkeretari, he kaiwhakahaere o te Kīngitanga

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Stuart Park, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1996. I whakahoutia i te o Māehe, 2019. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Toru tekau ngā tau e kōkiri ana a T. T. Rāwhiti i te kaupapa mana motuhake a te iwi Māori me te whakaū anō i a rātou kia kaua e whakawhirinaki ki tētehi atu. Tērā pea i ahu mai a ia i Tauwhare, i te takiwā o Horotiu (Cambridge), ā, he pānga anō ōna ki a Ngāti Hauā. Kāore e mōhiotia ana ngā īngoa o ōna mātua, ā, kāore hoki i mau ērā o ōna īngoa tapa. Heoi anō ko tōna hiahia kia mōhiotia noatia a ia ko T. T. Rāwhiti. I ētehi wā ka whakaīngoatia a ia ko P. T. T. Rāwhiti, ko T. T. Rāwhiti Maaka rānei, ā, nōna tonu pea te īngoa nā a Maaka Rāwhiti e mau ana i runga i ngā rārangi īngoa pōti o 1908 me 1919.

Tērā pea i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1880, he kaiwhakahaere Māori a Rāwhiti mō te Rohe Pōtae; kei ngā kōrero o te Kōti Whenua Māori o te tau 1887 e mau ana tōna īngoa. I noho ia hei tino hoa piri ki a Tupu Taingākawa, te Tumuaki o te whare ariki o te Kauhanganui (te pāremata o te Kīngitanga), arā, ko Rāwhiti nei te hēkeretari. I te pānuitanga o te rārangi ture, inarā ngā ture nā te Kauhanganui i whakamana i ngā hui o 1892 me 1893, ko tōna īngoa e mau ake ana i raro. Nāna anō hoki i tuhi te nuinga o ngā rīpoata i puta mō ngā whakahaerenga a te Kauhanganui.

I kaha te kitea o te kanohi o Rāwhiti i roto i te tini o ngā mahi a te Kīngitanga i waenganui i ngā tau 1892 ki 1922. Ahakoa rā nā tōna piri tata ki a Taingākawa, i ētehi wā ka noho hei take whakararuraru i a ia ki ngā rangatira o te Kīngitanga. He wāhi nui tonu nei tō Rāwhiti ki te mahi whakahaere i te Pēke o Aotearoa i whakatūria rā e Kīngi Tāwhiao i te tau 1886; otirā, ko ia tonu pea te kaiwhiriwhiri me te kaiwhakahaere o taua pēke. I te tau 1894 nāna i haina ētehi haki e rua, ā, e ai ki te kōrero ko ēnei anake ngā haki i puta atu i te pēke. Ākuanei pea, i roa noa atu ia e mahi ana i reira: atu i te tau 1886 ki 1905 te roa o te pēke e tuwhera ana.

I te marama o Hune 1895, ko ia tētehi o ngā māngai o runga i te komiti tōpū o te Kotahitanga me te Kīngitanga, ko tā rātou nei mahi he whiriwhiri whakaaro hei whakakotahi i ngā rōpū e rua nei. I taua tau anō, i kaha tana tohe i te mana āhei o te Kīngitanga ki te whakarite i tāna ake tāke kurī. I te marama o Noema 1897, ka haere rāua ko Tupu Taingākawa ki Pōneke (Wellington), ka tonoa e rāua te pirimia, a Te Hētana (Richard Seddon), kia tautokona te pire he mea hanga e Hēnare Kaihau, e te mema Pāremata mō te Tai Hauāuru, kia waiho mā te Māori tonu e whakahaere āna ake take. I inoia anō e rāua te Komiti mō ngā Mea Māori (Native Affairs Committee) o te Pāremata kia tautokona anō taua kaupapa. I te marama o Hune 1898, ko Rāwhiti tētehi o ngā tino tāngata o roto o te tira i tonoa e Kīngi Mahuta ki te hui a te Pāremata o te Kotahitanga i tū ki Pāpāwai. I konei, ka pōtitia a ia ki tētehi komiti, ko tāna nei mahi he whiriwhiri i ngā kupu o te menemana ki te pire e kīia ana ko te Pire Whakatautau Whakahaere hoki i ngā Whenua Māori (Native Lands Settlement and Administration Bill). I taua wā kua oti te whakatakoto ki mua i te aroaro o te Pāremata. Nō muri i hoatu e ia ana whakaatu ki te komiti e whakarongo ana ki ngā kōrero mō taua pire.

Taka rawa ki te tau 1900, kua noho kē a Rāwhiti hei hēkeretari motuhake mā Kīngi Mahuta, ā, i te hui i Waahi, takiwā o Rāhui Pōkeka (Huntly), ka rārangitia e ia ngā whakahē a ngā Māori i te Ture Whakahaere i ngā Whenua Māori (Māori Lands Administration Act) 1900. Ko ia te kanohi o Waikato i te hui mō te Whakakitenga ki te Ao Whānui o Aotearoa (New Zealand International Exhibition) i tū ki Ōtautahi (Christchurch) i te tau 1906. I te tau 1907 ko ia tonu tētehi o ngā tino kaitātaki o te hunga whakahaumanu i te Kotahitanga, i petihanatia rā e rātou a Kīngi Eruera Te Tuawhitu, me ōrite te atawhai i te Māori me te Pākehā i raro i ngā kaupapa o te Tiriti o Waitangi. I te marama o Mei 1907, i tae ia ki tētehi hui i Waahi, e 3,000 te nui o ngā tāngata i reira, e kōrero ana i ngā take o te Tiriti. Ko tāna, ko te whāinga a te Kotahitanga ko te whakakotahi i te whakaaro o te Māori ki mua i te aroaro o te kāwanatanga. E ai ki tāna anō kia whai mana te Māori ki te whakahaere i āna ake take i raro i āna ake tikanga, ēngari me te hiahia anō kia mahi tahi te kāwanatanga Māori rāua ko te kāwanatanga whānui.

I te tau 1909 ka hui atu tētehi rōpū kāwanatanga ki a Kīngi Mahuta me āna tāngata anō i Waahi. I taua hui, ka whakaaetia kia tukua ētehi whenua i te Rohe Pōtae hei whenua whakanoho i te Pākehā, whakatū whenua hoki hei pāmu mā ngā Māori. I tua atu i tēnā hei whenua rāhui anō tētehi wāhi o aua whenua, tuku atu hoki i tētehi wāhi mō Kīngi Mahuta. E ai ki ngā tuhituhi whakaatu a Hēmi Kāwana (James Cowan), ko Te Rāwhiti tangata rahi tonu nei tēnei, arā, ko te hēkeretari huatau, kanohi menemene a te Kīngitanga; ki a Kāwana, ko ia tonu tētehi o ngā tino kaihautū o tēnei hui. Whakahē ana a Taingākawa rāua ko Rāwhiti i te whakaaetanga a Mahuta ki ngā whakatau a te kāwanatanga. I tētehi hui i te marama o Āperira 1910 i Waharoa, i te taha whaka-te-raki o Matamata, ka pānuitia e rāua te whakatūnga o tētehi Kotahitanga o ngā iwi Māori o Aotearoa i raro i te maru o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ahakoa rā, i noho tonu a Rāwhiti hei hēkeretari, hei kaitiaki moni, hei kaitautohe i roto i ngā mahi a te Kauhanganui. Otirā, i uru atu anō ia ki ngā huihuinga a ētehi atu iwi.

I mau tonu a Rāwhiti ki āna mahi i roto i te rōpū a Taingākawa i te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, ā mutu noa te pakanga. I mau tonu i a ia te tūranga kaitiaki moni tae noa atu ki te tau 1920. E pakari tonu ana āna mahi i roto i te Kīngitanga, i tana kōrerotanga i te hui i tū ki Waahi i te tau 1922. Riro ana ko Rāwhiti hei tino kaihautū i te taenga mai o T. W. Rātana ki te kite i a Kīngi Te Rata, te whakakapi a Mahuta i te marama o Oketopa 1922. Ko te āhua nei, ko tērā te tuhituhinga whakamutunga i whakatakotoria mōna. Kāore i te mōhiotia te rā i mate a ia.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Stuart Park. 'Rāwhiti, T. T.', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996, updated o Māehe, 2019. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3r6/rawhiti-t-t (accessed 29 March 2024)