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Kōrero: Te Tau, Taiāwhio Tikawenga

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Tau, Taiāwhio Tikawenga

1860–1939

Nō Ngāi Tūmapuhiārangi; he tangata ahuwhenua, he kaiwhakatupu hōiho, he kaiārahi whakapono, he kaitōrangapū ā-rohe

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

Tekau mā rima ngā tau atu i 1910 e kaiārahi ana a Taiāwhio Tikawenga Te Tau i ngā mahi nunui tōrangapū, tae atu ki ngā mahi nunui anō a te whakapono i waenganui i te iwi Māori o Te Wairarapa. Ko ia te tama pōtiki a Kaipāoe, he wahine rangatira nō Ngāti Rākairangi, rāua ko tana tāne, ko Tikawenga Te Tau o Ngāi Tūmapuhiārangi, he rangatira anō. Nō te tau 1860 i whakaarahia e Tikawenga he ope nui hei hohou i te rongo ki ngā whaitua e rarua ana e te pakanga i roto o Taranaki, o Waikato me Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). Nō taua tau anō, i te 16 o Pēpuere, i whānau ai a Taiāwhio i Tūranganui e tata ana ki Pirinoa i Te Wairarapa, ā, tapaina tonutia ana a ia ki te īngoa o te ope i taiāwhio atu rā.

I whakatipua pea a Taiāwhio me tōna tuakana a Pūhara ki Pāpāwai, te wāhi tonu i kuraina ai a Taiāwhio. I āta whakangungua rawatia a ia ki ngā tikanga me ngā whakapapa o ōna hapū, ā, nōna ka pakeke ka riro ia hei mema ki runga ki te komiti a Tānenui-a-Rangi, i whakahautia rā kia tuhituhia ngā whakapapa me ngā kōrero tuku iho o Te Wairarapa.

Nō te tau 1878 pea te moenga a Taiāwhio i a Mākere Kīngi o Ngāti Muretū, he hapū nō te rohe o Hūpēnui (Greytown). Tekau mā tahi ā rāua tamariki, ka mate rā a Mākere i te 27 o Ākuhata 1893. Ko Wiremu Kīngi Te Tau noa te tama i pakeke, ā, whai uri ana. Nō te 4 o Āperira 1894, i moea e Taiāwhio a Pani Parata o Ngāi Tahu i Puketeraki, wāhi whaka-te-raki atu i Ōtepoti (Dunedin). He kaiwhakamāori whai raihana rawa a Pani, ā, he tohunga hoki ki te patu piana. Nō muri iho, hau ai tōna rongo i ngā hui whakangahau puta noa i Te Wairarapa. Tokotoru ā rāua tamariki: ko Rīhari Hētana (Richard Seddon) te tama; tokorua ngā tamāhine, ko Hera Merehana rāua ko Mere Tuari (Mary Stuart), inarā he mea karanga anō ko Kuini Wikitōria.

Mau kaha tonu te whakamīharo o Taiāwhio ki te whānau roera o Peretānia. Nā Tikawenga pea a ia i pērā ai, ina koa nō te tau 1867 i tukua tērā ki te aroaro o te Tiuka o Ētinapara (Edinburgh). Nō te tau 1897 i haere ai a Taiāwhio ki te hui whakanui i te tiupiri taimana a Kuini Wikitōria i Rānana (London). I a ia i Rānana he takoha nei wāna i tuku ai ki te whānau roera, ā, whakawhiwhia ana a ia ki tētahi mētara whakamahara.

I tēnei wā kua tino rangatira kē rawa atu a ia, mō te nui o āna rawa me te nui anō hoki o te moni. He pānga nei ōna i ētahi poraka whenua o Te Wairarapa, ā, i Kaumoana e tātata ana ki Whakaoriori (Masterton) he whenua nui tonu tāna e pāmu ana nō tōna whānau. Nāna ake anō tētahi pāmu tāriana, whakatipu hōiho rērehi, ko ia tonu te kaiwhakahaere. Tipu ana i a ia te hōiho toa nei ki te hārapa, toa nei ki te toi; kāti, i te tau 1908, he mea whiu a ia, whakamutua ana tana mana rēhi hōiho mō te ono marama te roa. Ina koa hoki te take, ahakoa māuiuitia ana te hōiho, ka whakarēhia tonutia e ia. He kāinga rahi nei te kāinga o Taiāwhio i Kaumoana, he papa rua nei te teitei. Ko ētahi o ngā taonga whakahirahira tonu a Ngāi Tūmapuhiārangi i tōna kāinga tonu e putu ana.

Nō te tau 1901 i aroaro ake ai a Taiāwhio ki te Hāhi o te Rūri Tuawhitu o Ihowā i pū ake rā i te rohe whānui o Te Wairau (Marlborough). Kāre noa iho i roa kua kaha kē tana mau i ngā mahi a te Hāhi, e hou nei te tipu ki roto i te iwi Māori o Te Wairarapa. Ko Taiāwhio anō tētahi o ngā rangatira o te nūpepa Māori, o te Matuhi, ā, ko te āhua nei i riro i a ia te nui o te mahi ki te waihanga ake i ngā tikanga atua a te Hāhi, me te pāho anō hoki ki te motu. I hokona ake e ia he perehi tā i te pepa, ā, i whakanōhia tonutia e ia ko tana wahine hei ētita. Atu i te tau 1903 ki 1906 i tāia ai te pepa nei.

Riro ana ko te huhua o ngā mahi a te nama whitu nei i te Paipera hei kaupapa mō ngā whakaakoranga a te Hāhi, me te whakapono anō hoki, me e tū ana te Kīngitanga o Ihowā, he wā noa nei te wāhanga e puta ana, he wā noa nei te wāhanga e puta ana. Ko te kaupapa pono mārika anō o te Hāhi ko te taha ki te tātai heke ā-atua – ka whitu nei ōna wāhanga – arā, o ngā Kīngi Māori me ngā Kīngi Ingarihi hoki. Utaina atu ana hoki te tātai ihiihi o ngā matakite Māori i muri mai. Ēngari ko te mate kē, riro ana te nuinga o ngā whakaatu i te rohe o Te Wairarapa, ā, whakaaturia ana hoki a Pāora Te Pōtangaroa rāua ko H. P. Tūnuiārangi, arā, ko tōna tuakana, he pāpā kē anō tōna. Akona mārikatia ana e Taiāwhio tonu ngā poropititanga a Te Pōtangaroa. Nō muri ka kī ia ko Te Pōtangaroa tonu te kaiwhakapū me te kaiwhakarea o te Hāhi.

Nō te tau 1910 i pōtitia ai a Taiāwhio hei pīhopa ā-rohe mō te Hāhi o te Rūri Tuawhitu. Nō muri mai i taua tau anō i meinga hei pīhopa matua huri noa i te Hāhi, atu rawa atu ki te tau 1925. Riro ana ko ia tonu hei kaiwhakahaere i ngā hui rahi a te Hāhi e whakanui ana i te Kirihimete me ērā anō o ngā hui nui a te wā, pērā i te koroneihana o Kīngi Hōri V i te tau 1911 me te whakatuwheratanga o Nukutaimemeha whare nui i te tau 1918. Kia āta tirohia anō ai ngā poropititanga a Te Pōtangaroa, nā Taiāwhio anō i āwhina te whakahaere o tētahi hui nui i Te Oreore, e tata atu rā ki Whakaoriori. Hei whakanui i te hui tau 40 i puakina ai e Te Pōtangaroa āna tino poropititanga, nā Taiāwhio i hanga he tohu whakamaharatanga ki te pāka o Whakaoriori (te Pāka o Kuini Wikitōria) i te tau 1921.

He mema a Taiāwhio nō te Rōpū Mahi Atawhai o Niu Tīreni (Liberal and Labour Federation of New Zealand), ā, nō te tau 1903 i riro ko ia hei kaihautū mō te wāhanga Māori. I te tau 1905 ka whakatūria a ia hei kaititiro hauora mō te Takiwā o te Kaunihera Māori o Rongokako (Māori Council District o Rongokako). He mea rīpoata e ia te āhua o ngā whare noho o te Māori ki te Pāremata, pānuitia rawatia hoki e ia te tū āhua o ngā kāinga Māori katoa o Te Wairarapa.

Nō te tau 1905 i pōtitia ia ki te kaunihera hei kanohi mō te hunga kāinga o Whakaoriori. I te tau 1908 ka whakatūria ia hei heamana mō te kaunihera, ā, taka rawa mai ki ngā tau tōmuri ake o te tekau tau atu i 1920, i a ia tonu taua tūnga. Ko ngā mema o te Kaunihera o Rongokako (Rongokako Māori Council), ko ngā kanohi tonu o ngā kāinga Māori katoa, ā, pūmau tonu te tautoko a te nuinga o te Māori o te rohe i a rātou. Ka taka ana ki ngā pōtitanga a te kaunihera, eke ana te pānui whānuitia e ngā nūpepa Māori. He tangata pākaha a Taiāwhio, tohu ai i tōna tūranga kia ū ai i a ia ngā take hauora, parukore, tae atu ki ngā tikanga a te Māori. Ko ia anō hoki te kaihāpai o te kaunihera i ētahi o ngā hui Māori o te motu.

Piri hono tonu ai te Kaunihera o Rongokako ki te Hāhi o te Rūri Tuawhitu o Ihowā; e ai ki a Taiāwhio, ka rua ēnei rōpū, ka rua hoki ngā waewae o te iwi Māori. He whakaaro tahi tonu tō ngā rōpū nei, kia mana motuhake ai te Māori, ā, waiho ake tēnei hei take waha mā ngā rōpū nei. I te takiwā atu i 1910 ki 1920 te tino puāwaitanga o te Hāhi rāua ko te kaunihera, ā, ka nui kē tōna mana me te mīharo o ana kaipōti ki a ia.

Nō ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1920, i mahue ake ai i te tangata ngā kaunihera Māori. Ko te wā tonu tēnei i kitea te aranga o te whetū marama hou, o T. W. Rātana, arā, ko ia te kaihautū tōrangapū, kaihautū whakapono rā. Nā tōna kaha ki te poropiti me te whakaora tūroro i whai ai a Taiāwhio me te tokomaha o ngā mema o te Hāhi o te Rūri Tuawhitu o Ihowā. Ko Taiāwhio tonu tētahi o ngā mea tuatahi nāna i haina te kawenata o te Hāhi Rātana i te tau 1925. Nō muri nuku atu ai a Taiāwhio me ētahi o ngā mema o tōna Hāhi ki te pā o Rātana. Ko te rironga atu o te pīhopa matua me te tini o ngā mema, te take i pau katoa ai te Hāhi o te Rūri Tuawhitu ki te Hāhi Rātana.

Ka tīmata a Taiāwhio ki te ako i ngā tohutohu a Te Pōtangaroa i Rātana pā. Nā konā i tohua ai e ngā ākonga a Rātana ko Te Pōtangaroa tonu tētahi o te kāwai wairua, me te kāwai matakite a te Māori, tīmata ake i a Tāwhiao Te Wherowhero rātou ko Te Ua Haumēne, ko Te Whiti, ko Tohu, me Rātana anō hoki.

I ngā tau 1926, 1927 i noho a Taiāwhio hei āpotoro mō te Hāhi Rātana. Nō muri mai ka mutu haere te kitekitea ōna i te ao Māori whānui, tae atu hoki ki Te Wairarapa. Kia wātea ai a Pani ki te kite i tōna iwi, he wā nei rāua ko Taiāwhio e noho ake ana i Te Waipounamu. Ēngari nā te kore kaha o Pani ki te whakarere atu i tōna whānau te take i hoki mai ai a Taiāwhio ko tana kotahi. I te tōnga o ōna rā, e ngana tonu ana a ia ki tōna nei momo noho, hokona kūaretia atu ana e ia ōna whenua, ngaua ana a ia e te mōkete. Nāwai rā pau katoa ana āna rawa, pakaru ana tō tangata, mahue ana ko te penihana noa tana oranga. Aroha ana tana rūma noho, ko te pakupaku mārika, ā, korekore ana he mea āna i roto.

Nō te tau 1939 i haere ai a Pani ki Rātana pā, i kitea e ia tōna hoa e māuiuitia ana. Whakahokia ana e Pani a Taiāwhio ki te hōhipera i Whakaoriori, ā, mate ana a ia i reira i te 4 o Hune 1939. He mea whakatakoto ia i te marae, ā, i tāpuketia a ia ki te urupā o Te Oreore; 25 tau nei i mua atu, ko ia rā te tino tangata o tērā takiwā. E ora tonu ana a Pani me ā rāua tamariki tokotoru, ka mate nei ia.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

S. M. Chrisp. 'Te Tau, Taiāwhio Tikawenga', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3t21/te-tau-taiawhio-tikawenga (accessed 19 March 2024)