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Kōrero: Bidois, Louis Hekenui

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Bidois, Louis Hekenui

1899–1955

Nō Ngāti Ranginui, nō Ngāi Te Rangi; he pirihimana

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Jinty Rorke, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I Te Puna, i te kaokao tonu o Tauranga i te rohe o Ngā Kurī a Whārei ki Tihirau (Bay of Plenty), i whānau ai a Louis Hekenui Bidois i te 28 o Maehe i te tau 1899. Ko tōna īngoa kārangaranga ko Heke. Ko ōna mātua ko Haare (Charles) Bidois, he tangata ahu whenua, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Pōrina (Pauline) Faulkner. Ko ōna koeke koroua ko Louis Bidois, he Wīwī, rāua ko John Lees Faulkner, he Ingarihi. I ngā wā o mua atu i noho rāua tahi he kaihokohoko te mahi ki roto o Tauranga. Ka taka ki ana kuia, ki a Erihāpeti Kaumoana ki te taha ure tārewa, ki a Ruawahine te ūkaipō. Ko Erihāpeti nō Te Pirirākau, he hapū nō Ngāti Ranginui; ko Ruawahine nō Ngāi Tūkairangi, he hapū anō nō tērā iwi. I Tauranga a Heke e kura ana, ā, nō te mutunga ka haere ki te ahu whenua i Te Puna.

Nō te 7 o Noema i te tau 1927, i moe ai a Heke i tana wahine, i a Mere (Mary) Wynyard Garlick, i Tauranga. Ko te whaea o Mere ko Maria Tāpihana (Tapsell) nō Ngāti Whakaue. Whakatika atu a Heke rāua ko Mere ka riro ngā māhanga tāne a te tungāne o Mere hei whāngai mā rāua i te tau 1929. Waimarie ka whānau tā rāua tamaiti ake, he tāne anō i te tau 1931. I waenganui i ēnei tau he taraiwa tekehī te mahi a Heke i te tau 1928. Nō te tau 1935 noho kē mai ana hei kaimahi i ngā mahi noa iho nei. I a ia i te mahi e pātata ana ki Tauranga, he tonotono tonu te mahi a Arthur Skinner, te pirihimana o reira, i a Heke hei āwhina i a ia ki ngā mahi e pā ana ki ngā Māori o tērā takiwā. I te pai o ngā mahi a Heke, manawarū ana a Skinner, ka tohea e ia a Heke kia whakauru mai ki te rōpū o Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa (New Zealand Police Force). Kāore i roa e whakakoikoihia ana ki ērā mahi, ka tukua ki Te Whāiti i roto o Te Urewera pirihimana ai i te 13 o Mei i te tau 1936. I aua wā e whakaaetia ana te pirihimana ā-takiwā ki te whakanui atu i tana utu pirihimana ki ētahi atu mahi. Kotahi anake te here, arā, kia kaua aua mahi hou e whakararuraru i āna mahi pirihimana. He mahi kānataraki te mahi a Heke mā te Tari Rūri Whenua (Department of Lands and Survey) ki te wāwāhi tōtara hingahinga hei pōhi tereina, hei pōhi hoki. Ko ia tonu ki te waha mai i ngā poro rākau i te ngahere kia pai ai te tiki atu.

I raro paku iho i te ono putu te roa o Heke, ā, pakaua ana hoki te tinana. He tino ngākaunui atu ia ki te tākaro whutupaoro, ā, i te purei tonu i roto i te kakari i te tau 1948. Kua tata ia ki te 50 tau te pakeke i taua wā. He tangata ngākau tōngā nei tōna, rerekē noa atu i tana wahine, i a Mere. Ararā hoki he wahine ngākau mākohakoha, ngākau hari, tunu kai mai ai i runga i tana tō tahu wahie mā iti, mā teitei, arā, mā ngā kaiwhiu kararehe, mā ngā nēhi ā-rohe tae atu ki ngā Minita a te Karauna me te Pirimia anō hoki o te wā, me Pita Pereiha (Peter Fraser).

Ko te rohe tītakataka o Heke i haere atu i Kaingaroa mutu rawa atu ki kō paku mai i Waikaremoana. He rohe uaua tēnā ki te haere. Mā te hōiho rawa e tae ai ki ētahi o ngā papakāinga. He hāora me te hāwhe te tawhiti atu o Rotorua, ā, kotahi tonu te rāina waea kōrero ki ngā ratonga āwhina o waho. Ka mutu ko te nuinga o ngā raruraru i tupu mai i ngā kaimahi o ngā mira rākau me ngā kaihura huarahi.

I ngā tau 14 e noho pirihimana ana a Heke ki Te Whāiti arā noa atu te maha o ngā raruraru hei whakamātautau i a ia. I tupea e ia he pōrangi mau pū, i whakaanga atu ia ki ngā rōpū kaipetipeti, me te muru hoki i ngā waipiro takahi i te ture. He nui hoki ōna haerenga ki Maungapōhatu ki te hopu i ngā nanakia hara i reira e huna ana. Ahakoa rā, he iti nei ngā wā e whakamahia ana te whareherehere o Te Whāiti, kōrero hāngai tonu ai a Heke ki te hunga tamariki mahi hē i ō rātou kāinga, i mua tonu i ō rātou whānau.

He waoko tohunga a Heke, he kaiwhakangau tohunga hoki. Whakamahia ana e ia ōna mōhio ki te kimi i ngā mea ngaro i te puihi, kua whara rānei. Ko te kaipeita, ko Rei Hamon tētahi o ngā tāngata nāna i ora ai. I te wā e noho puni ana a Hamon i te ngahere, ia wiki, ia wiki, i a Heke e whakangau poaka ana, he pekapeka tonu atu tana mahi ki te kite i tērā, ā, he wā anō putaputa atu ai a Rei ki te kāinga o Heke noho ai. Taka rawa ki te pito o tētahi wiki, korekore ana a Rei i kitea. Te pāpouri o Heke, ka haere ki te titiro i tana puni. Rokohanga atu, e takoto rūrūtake ana tērā i te niumōnia. Ka takaia e Heke ki te paraikete kātahi ka wahaina mai ki te tāone, e whā māero te tawhiti. Kāore i neke atu i te hāora e wahaina ana ka tae. Ka riro nā Mere i tiaki kia ora rā anō.

Taka rawa ki te 1 o Ākuhata i te tau 1945 kātahi anō ka pūmau te mahi pirihimana a Heke, ēngari he pakeke rawa nōna i 'rangitahi' ai tana tūranga. Mutu kurī noa iho tana mahi pirihimana, riro ana nā ētahi tokorua haurangi nei ia i patu i te tau 1949 i a ia e hopu ana i aua tāngata. Toru marama ki te hīnaki te whakawhiu o te ture i aua tokorua nei, mō te patu tangata te take. Ka nekehia atu a Heke ki Rotorua ki reira noho whakatā, noho tūroro tūturu ai, ā, nō te 23 o Mei i te tau 1953 ka tino tukua te tūranga e ia. Kore rawa ōna whara i mahu pai i taua patunga. Nō te 24 o Mei 1955 ka mate ia i Rotorua, mahue noa iho ana ko tana pouaru me ā rāua tamariki tokotoru. I te wā i noho kōmihana ai a James Cummings mō ngā pirihimana, ka puta i a ia te kōrero ko Heke tētahi o ngā tino pirihimana Māori o te puni pirihimana.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Jinty Rorke. 'Bidois, Louis Hekenui', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4b31/bidois-louis-hekenui (accessed 29 March 2024)