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Kōrero: Ehau, Kepa Hāmuera Ānaha

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Ehau, Kepa Hāmuera Ānaha

1885–1970

Nō Ngāti Tarāwhai, nō Ngāti Whakaue; he kaihautū, he karaka ture, he kaiwhakamāori, he hōia, he tumu kōrero, he pūkōrero

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

Nō te 5 o Noema o te tau 1885 i whānau ai a Kepa Hāmuera Ānaha Ehau, ki Ōtewā, he iwi kāinga paku nei kei te tonga mā rāwhiti o Ōtorohanga i te Rohe Pōtae. I te wā i whānau ai a Kepa, i Ōtewā a Te Kooti rātau ko āna pononga Ringatū e taki noho ana. I waenganui i tēnei iwi te pāpā o Kepa e noho ana, arā, a Ehau Puka Ānaha o Ngāti Tarāwhai, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Te Kirikauri o Ngāti Hurungaterangi. I heke iho a Te Kirikauri i a Hurunga Te Rangi o Ngāti Whakaue, ka taka mai ki a Pango Ngāwene, he tohunga nō Te Arawa, kia puta ko Poniwahio Pango, nāna ko Te Kirikauri. I heke iho a Ehau Puka Ānaha i a Te Rangitakaroro rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi, ko Rangipare. He tama a Ehau nā Ānaha Kepa Te Rāhui, he rangatira mana nui, he tohunga whakairo nō Ngāti Tarāwhai. Whānau mai ana a Kepa ka tūātia hei Ringatū. Nā Te Kooti tonu i tūā, ā, nāna anō hoki ia i whakaīngoa ko Te Ngārara a Te Kooti.

I tōna taiohinga, ka tukuna a Kepa ki Whanganui noho ai; e iwa tau pea te roa. I reira ka ūhia atu e te kāhui a Metekīngi te īngoa o Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui ki runga i a ia, hei whakamaharatanga ki tō rātau tipuna, ki a Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (Meiha Kemp). Ko tana kura tuatahi ko Tīpene (St Stephen's Native Boys' School) i Tāmaki-makau-rau (Auckland). I konei ka pū tōna pai ki te reo Ingarihi, inā anō te nui o te mōteatea Ingarihi i mau i a ia. I muri iho ka haere ia ki te Kāreti o Te Aute i Heretaunga i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). I te mutunga o te kura i reira, ka haere hei karaka ture mā tētehi rōia i Rotorua. I te tau 1906 ka riro mai tana raihana whakamāori.

I Rotorua, i te 2 o Āperira o te tau 1908, ka moea e ia a Wikitōria Ngāhirapu Ārama Karaka o Ngāti Tūteniu (he hapū nō Ngāti Rangiteaorere o Te Arawa) me Ngāti Rauhoto (he hapū nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa rāua ko Ngāti Raukawa). Tekau ā rāua tamariki, tokorua e kōhungahunga tonu ana ka mate. He wahine manawa kaha a Ngāhirapu, he wahine matatika tū teitei. I heke iho ia i a Īhakara Kahuao, he rangatira tino kaha nei nō Ngāti Rauhoto, he haumi, he toa rangatira whawhai nā Te Rauparaha. Ko te pāpā o Ngāhirapu ko Ārama Karaka Hutuha, ka riro nā rātau ko te taua a Te Arawa i pakanga ki a Te Kooti. Nō te tau 1947 i mate ai a Ngāhirapu.

Nō te 17 o Hune i te tau 1915 ka whakauru a Kepa ki roto i te ope hōia i haere rā ki te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. Kua 29 tau tōna pakeke i taua wā, kua tokowhā kē āna tamariki. Nō te 19 o Hepetema o taua tau ka whakawhiti rātau me te Taua Māori Tuarua, ka rongo i te wera o te ahi pakanga i Īhipa me Wīwī i roto i te Rōpū Paionia o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Pioneer Battalion). I reira ka eke ia ki te tūranga rūtene. Nō tana tino wharatanga ka tukuna ki Ingarangi opeope ai, i te marama o Tīhema i te tau 1916. Nō Hune rawa o te tau 1917 i hoki ai ia ki tana puni taua. I te 4 o Ākuhata, i Basseville (Bassevelde), i Flanders, ka taotū kino nei ōna waewae i ngā kongakonga o te matā pūrepo, ā, whakahokia mai ana ki te wā kāinga i te marama o Tīhema. I a ia i tāwāhi ka tino mōhio ia ki te kōrero Wīwī, i muri mai ka ako i te reo Tiamana me te reo Itāriana.

I tana hokinga mai ki te kāinga ka pau i a ia te 50 tau e kōmārohi ana i ngā mahi a te rangatira i roto i tōna iwi, i a Te Arawa. I ngā tau tōmua i a ia e tipu haere ake ana, e hia kē nei te nui o ngā kōrero tuku iho, o ngā whakapapa me ngā tikanga i tukua ki a ia e ōna koeke. He haere tonu te mahi a ngā rangatira pērā i a Āpirana Ngata mā, ki te kite i a Kepa, ka whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro ai. Ki tā Āpirana hoki, kāore he tangata i kō atu i a Kepa ki te whakamāori kōrero. Nāna ētehi o ngā kōrero he mea tāpiri ki te puna waiata a Āpirana e mōhiotia nei ko Ngā mōteatea.

I roto i ngā Kōti Whenua Māori, ka whakatakotoria e Kepa te matū o ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā whakapapa o Te Arawa, rite tonu ki te mahi a tōna tipuna, a Ānaha Te Rāhui. Ka rangona tōna tohungatanga, ka puta ngā tono a ngā iwi pērā i a Waikato, i a Hauraki me Tauranga kia riro ko Kepa hei māngai kōrero i ā rātau take whenua. He tohunga ia ki ngā taitara whenua Māori, ā, whakakotahitia atu ana ki tōna mōhio ki ngā tikanga o nehe rā me ngā ture whenua. I roto i āna haere i waenganui i ngā iwi, paiherea ana e ia ngā rangatira akiaki o te wā, pērā i a Pei Te Hurinui Jones o Ngāti Maniapoto, i a Kīngi Korokī, i a Turi Kara (Carroll) me Āpirana Ngata.

E hia tau a ia e noho māngai ana mō Te Arawa ki te tohe ki te Karauna mō te āhua o ngā roto me ngā whenua Māori o te rohe o Rotorua. Ko ia tonu te kaikōkiri i te kaupapa whakarāhui i te moana o Okataina me ngā whenua o Ngāti Tarāwhai i te taha o taua moana, he mea takoha atu rā hei whenua tirotirohanga i te tau 1921. I te tau 1924 ka tohua ko ia tētehi o ngā mema tūturu whakaara i te Poari Kaitiaki ā-Rohe o Te Arawa (Arawa District Trust Board) – i muri mai ko te Poari Kaitiaki Māori o Te Arawa (Te Arawa Māori Trust Board) – he tūranga i mau i a ia mō nga tau e 23.

Ko tētehi anō o āna mahi, ko te mahi moni mā te Tahua Hōia Māori i Ōhinemutu i te tau 1918; ko ia hoki tētehi o ngā mema whakatū i te rōpū mō ngā hōia mōrehu o Te Arawa (Te Arawa Māori Returned Services League). Ka taka ki te tau 1938 ka whakawhiti atu ia i te taha o ngā hōia ki Poihākena (Sydney), hei māngai mō Aotearoa i te hui whakamahara ki ngā hōia o ANZAC, ā, i te tau o muri mai ko ia tētehi o ngā kaiwhakaara i tū ai te hui maruata a ngā mōrehu a Tūmatauenga, i Rotorua. I te muranga o te ahi o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ka puta tana kupu kia whakaaratia he taua Māori, ko ngā Māori anō hei āpiha.

Ko tōna rongo i mūrautia, ko tōna kaha toa ki te whaikōrero. E 50 tau a ia e tū ana i ngā hui ki te pōwhiri i ngā kāhui roera, kāhui tāngata rongonui rānei ki te rohe o Te Arawa. I ētehi wā, ko ia hei whakapākehā i ngā kōrero a ngā rangatira Māori kāore i matatau te arero ki te reo Pākehā. I te tau 1901, e ai ki tana kōrero, nāna i whakaoho te Tiuka o Cornwall me York, ka rewa i a ia tana tangi o te ata i te Hōtēra Grand o Rotorua. Nāna anō hoki i pōwhiri a Whīra Maihara Waikaute Montgomery ki Rotorua i te wā i tahawhenua ai taua āpiha i Aotearoa i muri mai i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, me Kuini Riripeti Te Tuarua taiohi hoki, i te tau 1954. I paohotia ki te motu āna kōrero whakanui i te whakawahinga o te Kuini i te tau 1953.

Ka huri nei ia ki te reo Pākehā, ātaahua, rangatira tonu nei tana whakaniko i te kupu. Mau ana ki tōna hinengaro ngā rārangi kupu a Hakipia (William Shakespeare) me ētehi atu tohunga toikupu, ka whakamāoritia e ia hei tuku māna i ana whaikōrero. Tumeke ana i a ia ngā Pākehā ka mahue i a ia te whakapākehā ngā kōrero Māori, whakawīwī kētia ana e ia te kupu Māori.

I tōna koeketanga, ahakoa te tapahia o ana waewae i whara rā i te pakanga, i mau tonu tōna mana i ngā hui Māori. He tūī tangi nei tana tuku i te kōrero, he reo kaha, he reo whakamīharo, he tūru wīra nei tōna ahurewa. I tētehi hui tautohe nui i waenganui i a Tūhoe rāua ko Te Arawa i Rotorua mō te whakaīngoatanga i te whare kai o te marae o Mātaatua ki a Te Aroha-o-Te Arawa, ka wehea e ia ngā iwi e rua nei ki tana tūru wīra, ka tahuri ki te tātā i a rāua tahi.

Ko te nuinga o ana whaikōrero i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā, he mea ako ā-kākā e ngā Māori i whakamīharo i tōna tohunga ki te whaikōrero. Kei te kōrero tonutia tētehi o aua whaikōrero, i kōrerotia ai e ia i te tau 1937, i te nehunga o tētehi hōia i hoki mōrehu mai. Anei pea hoki aua kupu rā (he mea kōrero i te tuatahi i te reo Pākehā): 'i te urunga tē taka, i te moenga tē neke, moe mai koe i te moe kua whakaaritia, kua whakaritea mai, te otinga atu o tāua, te tangata ko Hawaiki-nui, ko Hawaiki-roa, ko Hawaiki-pāmamao. Haere rā i a koe ka kōpikopiko atu ki Te Hono-i-wairua, ki te kāpunipunitanga o te wairua'.

I mate a Kepa Ehau ki tana kāinga i Ōhinemutu i te 10 o Pēpuere i te tau 1970; 84 ōna tau. E toru rā ia e takoto ana, tae ana ngā ope o ngā iwi nui o Aotearoa ki te poroporoaki i tētehi o ngā tino tāngata o ēnei rā ki te whaikōrero. I tanumia ia i te taha o tana wahine me ētehi o tōna whānau i te urupā o Kauae i ngā auheke tāhinga o raro mai i te maunga o Ngongotahā.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Manu H. Pene. 'Ehau, Kepa Hāmuera Ānaha', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4e5/ehau-kepa-hamuera-anaha (accessed 28 March 2024)