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Taua, Wiremu Hoani

by Robin C. McConnell

Biography

Nō te tau 1902 i whakatūria ko Wiremu Hoani Taua (ko William Johnson, ko Johnston rānei ōna īngoa atu), hei tumuaki Māori tuatahi mō ngā kura Māori. Kāore i hapa, ko ia tonu te tumuaki tōmua o ngā kura tuatahi katoa i raro i te whakahaere o te Tari o ngā Kura (Education Department, i nāianei ko Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga). Tekau mā waru tau ia e whakahaere ana i te Kura Māori o Rangiāwhia, ā, kāore he mutunga mai o te pai o te kōrero mō āna mahi.

He kaihautū rongonui a Taua nō Te Whānau Moana, ā, he pānga anō hoki ōna ki ngā iwi o Ngāti Kahu, o Te Patukoraha, o Te Aupōuri me Te Rarawa. Puta noa i te rau tau 1800–1899 mau tonu te hononga haere o te whānau o Taua ki ngā rohe o Karepōnia, o Pēria me Whatuwhiwhi i Te Tai Tokerau. Ko Te Wheinga Taua (te tupuna o Wiremu Taua, te rangatira hoki o Te Pātū) te tangata nāna i haina te Tiriti o Waitangi i Kaitāia i te 28 o Āperira i te tau 1840.

I whānau a Wiremu ki Karepōnia, tērā pea i te 7 o Tīhema 1862, ā, ka iriiria hoki ki te Hāhi Mihinare i te 8 o Pēpuere 1863. He tangata whai mana tōna matua a Hoani (Hōne) Taua, he kaiarataki i Te Patukoraha, ā, he āteha anō hoki tāna mahi i te Kōti o te Kaiwhakawā Takiwā (Resident Magistrate's Court). Ko Ngāhuka Makinihi Kere tōna whaea. I te matenga o tōna matua i te tau 1867, riro ana nā tōna whaea tonu rāua ko tōna hoa tāne ake, ko Te Haumatanga Rewe, a ia i whakatipu. I te tau 1876, ko Taua tētahi o ngā tama tokotoru o te takiwā kāinga i tohua e Te Mākarini (Donald McLean), te minita mō ngā take Māori, kia haere ki te Kura o Tīpene i Ākarana (Auckland), ā, nō te tau i muri mai ka haere ia. Ka tae ki te wā, ka hoki anō ia ki te rohe o Pēria ki te mahi pāmu. I te 24 o Tīhema i te tau 1883 ka mārena ia i a Kane Rākena (Larkins), te tamāhine a Rākena Wī Kaitāia.

He maha tonu ngā tau, tae noa ki te tau 1900, i mahi ai a Wiremu Taua i runga i te Komiti o te Kura Māori o Pēria (Pēria Native School Committee). He Pākehā ngā māhita o ngā kura Māori, ā, ki te kī a Te Pōpi (James Pope), te kaitirotiro o ngā kura Māori i te tau 1881, he mea āta waihanga ēnei kura hei tō mai i te iwi ngangahau nei ki roto ki te mātotorutanga o te iwi Pākehā; e ai ki tāna anō, he iwi mātau te iwi Māori, ēngari he iwi kāore anō kia tohutohungia. I te tau 1900, nāna anō i whakapuaki te take kia meatia he tūnga whakamātautau i tētahi tumuaki Māori. E ū ai tāna i hiahia ai, tautoko ana ia i te kaupapa kia mahia te Kura Māori o Rangiāwhia ki Whatuwhiwhi, kei te ākau māuru o Taipā (Doubtless Bay), te wāhi e tika ana hei tūranga whakahaere i te mahi nei.

Mō ngā tau e rua, e toru rānei, i kaha te tono a te iwi kāinga o Whatuwhiwhi kia whakatūria tēnei tū kura mō rātou. I te whakaaetanga a te Tari o ngā Kura, i whakaaro kē rātou ki te whakatū i a Hōne Wī Kaitāia hei tumuaki; ko te taokete o Wiremu Taua tēnei. Heoi, i te hui i Pēria i te tau 1901, ahakoa anō ngā whakahē mō te whakatakaroa kia meatia ko wai hei tumuaki, kore rawa te iwi i rawe ki a Wī Kaitāia, he taitamariki nōna, ā, hore kau anō kia mārena noa. Hāunga anō, tatū ana tā te hui, tohua ana ko Wiremu Taua hei tumuaki. Maumahara tonu a George Hogben, te kaitirotiro matua i ngā kura, ki ngā kōrero a Te Pōpi, arā, ahakoa he mahi tauhou tērā, ki a ia hore kau atu he wāhanga tika atu i tēnei, hei whakatutuki i taua take. Riro ana te tūranga i a Taua rāua ko tōna hoa wahine hiringa.

I tīmata a Taua i tana mahi i te 27 o Hānuere i te tau 1902. I whakatakotoria kia rua tau te roa e whakamātauria ana te kura, ā, i te mutunga tutuki tika ana ngā mahi. Nō te 20 o Hūrae 1906, i whakatuwheratia e Hogben he whare hou anō i te kura i tētahi huihuinga, 300 pea te nui o ngā tāngata i reira. E ai ki ngā rīpoata ā-tau o te Tari Kura, he tino pai te wairua o te kura, te momo o te whakaako me te hanga tau o ngā tauira. Riterite tonu te nui me te tōtika mārika o ngā mahi e tutuki ana, tae atu ki ngā mahi whakatikatika a Taua i ngā papa whenua o te kura. Tāpiri atu ki tēnā, he tino mātau kē nei te mōhio o ngā tauira ki te kōrero pukapuka, ā, mō te taha ki ngā mahi Ingarihi, kīhai i kitea he kura tino toa rawa atu i tēnei o roto o Te Tai Tokerau. E ai ki ngā rīpoata a ngā kaitirotiro me ngā whakaatu o te rēhita rārangi īngoa, kāore rawa he kura kotahi o ngā kura Māori 95 o te Tari i pērā rawa te pai i te kura o Taua.

Ko Kane Taua te māhita kaiāwhina, ā, tae noa ki te tau 1902, riro noa tōna tūranga i te tuahine o Wiremu Taua, i a Hera Rewe (Sarah David), he pāpā kē rā tōna. Nā rātou me ngā mea o muri mai, nā Julia Latimer me Hēni (Jane) rāua ko Rāmari Taua (ngā tamāhine a Wiremu Taua) i tino tōtika ai te mahi whakamātautau nei. Taka atu ki te tau 1910, e rua anō ngā Māori i whakatūria hei tumuaki mō ngā kura Māori.

Rua tekau noa nei te nui o ngā tamariki e haere ana ki te kura o Taua. Nā te tawhiti hoki o ēnei tū kura, uaua ana te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero, te tiaki i te waiora, me te whiwhi waka hoki hei haerenga. Ko ngā hemohemonga o ngā tauira, ko te pōharatanga o te iwi kāinga me te pānga mai o te Pakanga Tuatahi i tino pōuri ai ngā whānau o te rohe kura. Tokorima ngā tauira taitama o te kura (ko Mātini tētahi, te tama a Taua) i haina mō te Ope Hōia Māori (i muri iho ka huaina ko Te Hokowhitu a Tū).

Āhua raruraru ana te tūnga rangatira o Taua ki tōna iwi kāinga. Arā, ko te tikanga me tae kē ia ki ngā hui a te Kōti Whenua Māori hei māngai kōrero mō tōna iwi. Ka whakahaua te Tari Kura ki te whakarite i āna mahi mā te iwi me tana painga anō hoki ki te Tari hei kaiwhakaako. Kia taea e ia ngā āhuatanga o tōna tūranga te whakatutuki, i te wā e whiriwhiria ana te poraka o Karepōnia i te tau 1909, i kōrero a Taua ki te Hēkeretari o te Tari Kura. Kei te mōhio tonu ia kāore e tika kia mahue noa i a ia te kura, ēngari me ka kore e taea e te Tari te tiaki ōna pānga whenua, ka riro tonu māna e tiaki. Hore kau te Tari i whakaae, tukua kētia ana a Taua kia haere ki ngā tūnga o te kōti whenua. I a ia e mamau ana me tētahi whanaunga ki ō rāua whenua, ahakoa te tono a te whanaunga mā te Tari te take nei e whakatau, kīhai i whakaae te Tari ki te wawao atu.

Taunga noa te kitekitea o Wiremu Taua i ngā hui ā-tau o ngā māhita kura Māori. He tangata tāroaroa nei te hanga, he ātaahua hoki. Ki ōna hoa mahi he tangata nguengue nei a Taua. Hāunga ake, he tino tangata ia i ngā hui o Te Tai Tokerau, pau noa ōna kaha ki te āwhina i tōna iwi me āna tikanga. I te wā ko ia te tumuaki o te Kura Māori o Rangiāwhia, ko ia anō hoki te kaiwhakahaere i te poutāpeta o te rohe, ā, ko ia anō tētahi o ngā minita reimana o te Hāhi Mihinare. E tiaki tonu ana a Taua i te ora o tōna iwi, karangatia ana ko Te Rata, arā, ko te īngoa tērā mō te tākuta. Ko Kane Taua te hēkeretari o te Rōpū Wāhine Māori (Māori Women's Association).

I mate a Wiremu Hoani Taua ki Karepōnia i te 29 o Tīhema 1919. I nehua ki te urupā o Kōmako; ka mahue mai ko tōna hoa rangatira me ā rāua tamariki tokoiwa. I mate a Kane Taua ki Karepōnia i te tau 1946. Kua mōhiotia ō rāua uri i ngā mahi rangatira i mahia hei painga mō te katoa; tae atu hoki ki te mātauranga.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    McConnell, R. Taua of Kareponia. Hamilton, 1993


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Robin C. McConnell. 'Taua, Wiremu Hoani', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3t7/taua-wiremu-hoani (accessed 29 March 2024)