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Te Wainohu, Hēnare Wēpiha

by Grant Nikora Wainohu

Biography

Me ka kōrerorero nei ngā hōia o te Rōpū Paionia o Niu Tīreni, arā, nō muri mai i whakaīngoatia ko Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū (New Zealand Pioneer Battalion) mō tā rātau 'Padre' mō Hēnare Wēpiha Te Wainohu, pupū tonu ana te aroha mōna. Heipū tonu te ngākaunuitia o Te Wainohu e ngā hōia Māori i a ia e noho minita ana ki a rātau i te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. Nāna rātau i ārahi, i whakaū hoki te taha wairua me te taha iwi hoki o ngā taitama rā, i te wā e wehe atu ana rātau i te iwi kāinga, e anga atu ana ki te mura o te ahi.

I whānau a Hēnare Wēpiha Te Wainohu i Mōhaka, ki Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay), i te 4 o Hune o te tau 1882. Nō Ngāti Pāhauwera me Ngāti Kurahikakawa tōna papa a Wēpiha Te Wainohu, he uri whakaheke mai i a Kahungunu rāua ko Te Huki. Nō te hapū o Ngāi Tuhemata tōna whaea a Para Te Aho. He tuakana nōna a Pāora Tukutuku, ā, he tuahine nōna a Neti Waikōuka. I whakatipua ia i runga i tā rātau pāmu mahi hipi, mahi miraka kau hoki i Mōhaka. Nō te tau 1896, ka tae a Hēnare Te Wainohu ki te Kāreti o Te Aute, kura ai.

I taua wā nei, e tupu rearea ana i te kura he momo kaupapa whakaora i te whakapono. Kia tae ki ngā whakataetae whutupaoro me ngā hui noa iho nei, ka whakarērea ā rātau ake waiata, kua waiata kē i ngā hīmene; nā ētahi anō i whakatū tētahi Uniana Karaitiana mō ngā ākonga, ā, noho ana ētahi o ngā mema ki te kauwhau i te karaipiture, tae atu ki te whakahouanga hoki i te taha pāpori. He whakahē nō ētahi o ngā tauira i te kaupapa whakaora nei, kātahi ka hangaia he rōpū kē atu, ā, tapaina ana ko te rōpū a ngā 'Tikōti' (Tikōti Gang, arā, te rōpū a Te Kooti). Ko Hēnare Te Wainohu tonu tētahi o ngā kaihautū. Ko tā te rōpū nei, he pupuri kia mau ki ngā tikanga Māori tuku iho e kawea nei e te Hauhau, pare atu i te nuinga o ngā tikanga Karaitiana. I te tīmatanga, e hia kē nei ngā tauira i akiākina e rātau kia kuhu mai, ēngari nō muri nei, i hinga katoa atu rātau – tae atu hoki ki a Te Wainohu – ki te Uniana Karaitiana a ngā ākonga.

I tua atu i te whakapono Karaitiana i mau mārika i a ia i Te Aute, tērā atu ngā painga i whiwhi a Te Wainohu, hei whakaū i a ia mō te wā i minita a ia. He tino toa nei ia ki te whutupaoro; nōna ka takatū i runga i te papa tākaro, ka mōhio ia me mau tonu tana whakatūpato haere i a ia, me tana mōhio anō ki te mahi tahi. I te taenga mai o te tīma o ngā kura tuarua o Te Waipounamu e tawhio haere ana i te tau 1898, ko ia tonu tētahi o ngā tino toa o te tīma i tino mate i a rātau a Te Waipounamu. Kāti tonu i te haka i runga i te papa tākaro, tae atu ki ngā whakangahau o muri, nāna anō i taki. Nā tana toa ki te whutupaoro, me tana manawanui hoki ka tapaina ia e ōna hoa ki te īngoa kārangaranga, ki a 'Taika' (tiger). I a ia i te kura, ko ōna hoa anō i reira, ko rātau anō e whakahoahoa ana i te wā i te pae o te pakanga.

I a Te Wainohu i haere ki tētahi hui i Tūranga (Gisborne) i te tau 1901, ka whakaaro ia ki te haere ki te kite i ōna hoa i kuraina ai rātau i Te Aute, arā, i a Poihipi Kōhere, i a Tūrei Parāone me R. Hiwinui e taki ako ana i te Kāreti o Te Rau Kahikatea (Te Rau Theological College). He mea whakapatipati e rātau, ka whakaae ia ki te whakauru i a ia ki reira, akona ai. Nōna i reira, ka whakawhānuitia tōna mātauranga, ka mutu, ka ako ia kia mārama tonu nei tana kōrero i te reo Pākehā; āpiti atu ki tēnā, ko tana whiwhi anō hoki i ngā tohu mātauranga mō te whakaakoranga atua. I whakawahia ia hei rīkona i te 30 o Hepetema i 1906; nōna e mahi ana i Te Wairoa, he mea ārahi a ia e te minita rā, e Āperahama Tamihere, ā, whakatapua ana a ia hei pirihi i te 21 o Tīhema i te tau 1908. Kātahi ia ka noho hei pirihi mō te rohe Māori o Te Wairoa. I moe ia i a Ērena Kīngi, ēngari kāre i whiwhi tamariki.

I te pakarutanga mai o te Pakanga Tuatahi, i whakaurua atu a Te Wainohu ki te tari mō ngā minita o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Chaplains Department). I whakaīngoatia ia hei minita mō te Ope Taua Māori i rere mā runga i te kaipuke hari hōia, i te Warrimoo atu i Aotearoa ki Īhipa i te 14 o Pēpuere i te tau 1915. Nō te tīmatanga, kāore i tika ki te kāwanatanga kia tukua ngā hōia Māori ki te whawhai; heoi, e hia kē nei ngā marama e whakaako ana i Īhipa me te tiaki anō i te puni hōia i Merita (Malta), ka tīmata te kārangirangi. Mea rawa ake, kua tonoa te Ope Taua Māori hei whakapūmau i te kaha o ngā hōia o Aotearoa i Karipori (Gallipoli); nō te marama o Hūrae o te tau 1915, ka tae atu. Rokohanga i te riri i Sari Bair i te 6 o Ākuhata, tomokia ana e rātau te mura o te ahi i te taha o ō rātau hoa Pākehā. Nō te wā i mua tonu i te pakanga, ka tū atu a Te Wainohu ki te kauwhau; whāia nō muri mai, ka tīkina atu aua kōrero rā hei take whakahuahua haere, hei kaupapa whakataukī hoki. I tohutohua e ia ngā hōia kia māia tonu ki te whawhai, kia kaua e huri te tuarā ki te hoariri me te whakamahara hoki i a rātau ki te hāpai tonu i ngā tikanga toa a te Māori; hei whakamaumahara anō māna i a rātau, i te pō haere ake nei, ka noho ko rātau hei puri i te mana, i te hōnore me te īngoa pai o te iwi Māori. Nā tāna i tino inoi ai, i manawanui ai ngā hōia.

E hia kē nei te tata hemo nei o Te Wainohu i Karipori mō ōna hoa te take. I te nui o te wā, e rere ana te matā, kei reira ia i te taha o te āpiha tākuta, i a Meiha Te Rangi Hīroa (Peter Buck), e harihari wai ana, e waha mai ana i ngā taotū, e whakaahuru ana rānei i te hunga e kumea ana ki te pō. Nō Hepetema o te tau 1915, i taotū ai tōna tuarā. I te whakatahinga mai i Karipori, ka hoki a Te Wainohu ki Parani i te taha o te Rōpū Paionia o Niu Tīreni, he mea whakauru atu rā te Ope Taua Māori ki roto.

I te wā o te pakanga ka tāngia i te nūpepa Māori, i Te Kōpara ētahi o ngā reta a Te Wainohu i tukua atu e ia ki te hau kāinga. I tētahi o ngā tānga ka whakahokia e ia te amuamu, inarā, he mea whakawehewehe haere kē ngā hōia Māori ki tēnā paratunu, ki tēnā paratunu, kātahi ka whakamahia ki te whawhai ake i roto i ngā matua Pākehā. Ahakoa tā rāua kī atu ko Te Rangi Hīroa ki a Tianara Kōtare (A. J. Godley) i te tau 1915, kia waihotia te Ope Taua Māori kia noho tahi tonu, ko te whakautu a tērā, e kore e taea tā te mea he takitahi noa ngā āpiha e matatau ana. Nō roto i ētahi o ngā reta, i kitea te āwangawanga o Te Wainohu ki te taha wairua me te taha whanonga o ngā hōia Māori; ko tāna i tino mānukanuka ai, ko ngā hōia i Ingarangi e whakaakona ana, he wā nei kāre kau ō rātau minita ake. I tautoko rawa atu ia i te tānga o ngā pukapuka karakia ki roto i te reo Māori, ā, ka tae haere ki te mutunga o te pakanga, ka haere ia ki te kite i ngā tūroro i roto i ngā hōhipera i Rānana (London). E hia nei ngā mētara i riro mai i a ia, arā, ko tētahi ko te tohu whakahōnore Ēkara Mā o Hēwia (Serbian Order of the White Eagle) o te rārangi tuarima, ā, i a ia i Parani i te tau 1918, ka ūhia atu hoki ki te pānui i roto i ngā whakatakataka.

Nō Hēnare Wēpiha Te Wainohu ka hoki mai ki Aotearoa, ka mahi ia i te rohe Māori o Te Wairoa i Te Matau-a-Māui. Ko tana mahi he hāpai kaupapa whakaemi moni hei painga mō ngā hōia me ō rātau whānau. Ka mutu, i kitea whānuitia ia i roto i ngā hui nui i te tau 1919. Toru tekau mā waru noa iho te pakeke ka pāngia ia e te mate pukupuku, ka mate i te 1 o Oketopa o te tau 1920. Ka mahue iho ko tana wahine. Kei Te Wairoa te whakapakoko o Te Wainohu e tū ana, ā, nō te 16 o Hānuere o te tau 1924, ka riro nā Te Rangi Hīroa i hura. Nā te ātirīkona o Waiapu, nā Hāpata Wiremu (Herbert Williams) te karakia i whakahaere. Ko te mano tangata tonu i tae atu, āpiti atu ki a Apirana Ngata rāua ko Tā Timi Kara (James Carroll). Nā te tere mate, i moumou noa tēnei kaihautū matatau, matatika hoki, ngaro noa ana i te Hāhi Mihinare me te iwi Māori, i te wā e hiahiatia ana te momo tangata pērā te mōhio.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Cowan, J. The Maoris in the Great War. Auckland, 1926

    Haigh, J. B. Men of faith and courage. Auckland, 1983

    Obit. Te Kopara. 30 Sept. 1920: 8--10


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Grant Nikora Wainohu. 'Te Wainohu, Hēnare Wēpiha', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3t23/te-wainohu-henare-wepiha (accessed 25 April 2024)