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Te Taniwha, Tukumana

by Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal

Biography

Ina pea nō te tau 1862, 1863 kē rānei a Tukumana i whānau ai i te takiwā o Pārāwai (Thames). Ko te tama a ia a Reihana Poto o Ngāti Maru rāua ko Karukino Te Taniwha o ērā hapū o Ngāti Whanaunga, arā, o Ngāti Puku me Te Mateawa. Ko tētehi īngoa karanga anō ōna ko Taiwiwi. He mea whakahirahira te awe o Te Horetā Te Taniwha ki a ia, arā, o tana tupuna koroheke ki te taha o tōna whaea. Nā tēnei a ia i mōhiotia whānuitia ai ko Tukumana Te Taniwha, heoi anō, i ētehi wā ka whakautu a ia ki te īngoa o Tukumana Reihana.

Ahakoa te noho a te nuinga o Ngāti Whanaunga ki Moehau (Coromandel Peninsula) he hapū ruarua nei tō rātou e noho kē mai ana i Waimangō i te takiwā o Wharekawa, i te taha hauāuru o Te Pae o Hauraki (Firth of Thames); ka noho a Tukumana ki reira, ki Kūpata rānei, i kō tata atu i Pārāwai. E ai ki a ia, e whia tau kē nei e tū ana te pakanga a Ngāti Whanaunga rāua ko Ngāti Pāoa, ko Wharekawa te take. Ko ngā kaumoana o Tainui waka te tuatahi ki te hanga i tētehi tūāhu ki reira, ā, i whakahaerea rawatia ētehi kawa anō, kia riro ai i a rātou te mana me te take ki te whenua. Na, ko ngā tokorua nei, ko Hotunui rāua ko tana tama, ko Marutūāhu (ngā tūpuna o te manawapū o ngā iwi o Marutūāhu), he uri nō ngā kaumoana o Tainui, ā, nā rāua i hanga tō rāua kāinga ki te rohe o Wharekawa. Nā Marutūāhu i tiaki tā rātou take ki te whenua, ahakoa ngā takinga maha a Ngāti Pāoa. I te mutunga, ka tangohia e Ngāti Puku, e te hapū o Tukumana, mā rātou e tiaki aua tikanga ki te whenua, tēnā rawa ia, ko ērā whenua nō mai rā anō i nohoia ai e Ngāti Whanaunga. I whai wāhi anō te whānau o Tukumana ki ngā poraka whenua, mai i te awa o Piako ki Tāpapakanga.

Nā te noho a Tukumana i roto i ngā iwi he karanga īngoa noa te kaha o te ngākau pono ki te Kīngitanga, nāna a ia i kukume atu ki ngā take o taua kaupapa. Ko ia tonu pea tētehi o tērā wāhanga o te Kīngitanga e whawhai ana kia kaua e tukua atu ngā Pākehā ki te poraka o te Rohe Pōtae noho ai. Heoi, he hua kore nō tana petihana ki te kāwanatanga i te tau 1903 kia wehea mai ōna whenua i ngā rohe o te takiwā o Waikato, nō mua tata atu i pānuitia ai. Tau rawa ki te tau 1917, kua noho kē a ia hei mema mō te whare o raro o te Kauhanganui, ā, i a ia taua tūranga e mau ana, tae noa ki 1920.

I te wā o tōna ohinga, i a Tukumana ngā pūmanawa o te ākonga e pā ana ki ngā mahi a ngā tūpuna me ngā tikanga tuku iho a tōna iwi. Ko Tukumana te tino kaiwhakamārama o ngā tikanga tuku iho a ngā iwi o Marutūāhu whānui tonu, tēnā rawa ia, a Ngāti Whanaunga ake; koia ēnei ngā hua o ngā taonga tuku iho i whakaakona e Te Horetā ki a ia. Kia taea mārikatia a Hotunui te tiaki, arā, te whare nui hira o te iwi o Parehauraki, ka takoto te marohitanga kia nekehia ki te whare pupuri taonga o Ākarana (Auckland Museum). Ko 1925 te tau, ā, nā taua marohitanga a Tukumana i tīmata a ia ki te tuhituhi i ōna mōhiotanga e pā ana ki ngā kōrero tuku iho mō Marutūāhu. Nō te 7 o Maehe 1925, ka tae atu a Tukumana ki tētehi hui nui i tū ki Pārāwai, e pātata ana ki te tāone Pākehā ki reira, hei māngai mō Ngāti Whanaunga. I whakaaetia e te hui kia tiakina te whare. Kāore a Parehauraki i ngākaunui ki te hoko, whakaae kē ana ki tā te kairangahau o te noho ā-iwi kaupapa rā, ki tā Hōri Kereama (George Graham), he tangata nō Ākarana (Auckland), arā, me neke a Hotunui ki te whare pupuri taonga, ā, ka waiho ki reira tiaki tika mai ai mō te hunga nō rātou te whare. Ka haere nā te wā, nāwai, nāwai, ka whakawhitia te whare nui ki te whare pupuri taonga i te tau 1929.

E whakaponohia ana koia tēnei te wā i tūtaki ai a Kereama ki a Tukumana. Tūturu mārika, nō muri iho i taua tūtakitanga i tīmata ai a Tukumana ki te tuhituhi i ngā tāhuhu kōrero me ngā tikanga tuku iho a Marutūāhu. Ko te tuhinga tuatahi tonu, he mea whakaīngoa noa ko 'Marutūāhu'. Ākuanei pea koia tēnei tana tuhinga tino whai tikanga rawa atu. He mea whakaputa anō nā Tukumana ētehi atu tuhituhinga, ā, ko ētehi anō i whai wāhi atu ki ngā pepa a Hōri Kereama. He tino whai tikanga rawa atu aua tuhinga ki ngā iwi o Marutūāhu me Parehauraki. I tāia ētehi o aua kōrero ki te Journal of the Polynesian Society. Ko ētehi wāhi anō he mea whakauru nā Te Putu (Leslie Kelly) ki tana pukapuka, ki Tainui.

Nō te 5 o Maehe 1915 ka moea e Tukumana a Iritana Pēneti (Edith Bennett) i Ākarana. He whare ngaro, ēngari, he tini ngā tamariki nā rāua i taurima. Ko ētehi i noho tūturu ki Waimangō. Ko ētehi anō he wā ki reira noho ai, he wā ki wāhi kē. Ko ngā whakakapi ki ngā whenua o Tukumana i Waimangō ko tētehi tokorua o aua whāngai rā, arā, ko Haunui Tukumana Roera (Royal) o Ngāti Tamaterā me Ngāti Te Aute, rāua ko Irāmutu Kārewa o Ngāti Maru. I a Haunui ka pakeke ka hiahia ia ki te moe i a Meri Tāmihana (Thompson), he wahine nō Ngāpuhi, arā i te hōhipera o Pārāwai e ako ana hei nēhi. Heoi anō, kīhai a Tukumana i pai ki tēnei. E noho mamae tonu ana tōna ngākau mō te pāhoro nanakia a Hongi Hika i a Te Tōtara i te tau 1821. Koia tēnei te pā nui o Marutūāhu. Kia ahatia, i moe tonu a Haunui rāua ko Meri, ā, taurimatia ana e te koroheke rā ā rāua tamariki me te mea nei he mokopuna tūturu nāna. Nō muri mai ka karangatia ngā uri ko Te Whānau-a-Haunui.

He wāhi paku i tuhia mō Tukumana ki te pukapuka iti a Henry Ashby o 1963. Ko The history and legends of the western coast of the Hauraki Gulf te īngoa. E kī ana te whakaaturanga a Ashby, arā, he tēpara hōiho tō Tukumana i Waimangō, ā, i riro i tōna hōiho, i a Kotiroa he kapu rērehi i te tau 1885. Ko tōna whare he whare Pākehā i hangaia tōtikatia, ā, e ai ki ngā kōrero he Māori matangareka ki te ahu whakamua. I ngā tau whakamutunga o tōna koiora, ka toro atu te kairīpoata kōrero rā a Chris Barlow i Waimangō ki te kite i a ia. Nō muri tata mai ka whakapukapukatia e Barlow he tuhinga me tētehi whakaahua i te taha. Ko te kīanga a Tukumana ki a Barlow kua meatia e ngā uri o Haunui Tukumana hei whakataukī mā rātou ko tēnei: ko ahau tēnā hei hoa mō te whenua i ngā rā katoa.

I hinga a Tukumana ki Waimangō i te 28 o Maehe 1941, ā, i nehua ki te urupā i reira. Nō mua atu i a ia tana wahine i mate ai. Nā te iwi whānui o Hauraki a ia i tangi i runga i te mōhio kua whakangaro atu nei a ia, kua ngaro anō hoki tētehi wāhi rahi tonu o te toi kauaerunga me te toi kauaeraro, ā, tē taea te whakahoki mai.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Barlow, C. 'The old man speaks'. Finn scrapbook. MS 133. AR

    'New Maori treasure. Magnificent carved house'. Auckland Star. 10 March 1925: 8

    'Pedigree from Maunu'. Journal of the Polynesian Society 54, No 4 (Dec. 1945): 198


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal. 'Te Taniwha, Tukumana', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3t20/te-taniwha-tukumana (accessed 29 March 2024)