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Kōrero: Hall, Mere Haana

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Hall, Mere Haana

1880/1881?–1966

Nō Ngāti Rangiwewehi; he kaiwhakaako, he tumuaki kura

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Donna M. T. T. Hall rāua ko Sheena Leibowitz, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I whānau a Mere Haana Hall (Hooro) ki Tauranga i te takiwā pea o te tau 1880, 1881 kē rānei; ko te mea mātāmua ia o ngā tamariki tekau mā tahi a Rangimākehu Ainsley rāua ko John James Henry Hall, he karaka i te Kōti Kaiwhakawā Takiwā (Resident Magistrate's Court) i Ōhinemutu. Kua tae noa mai te pāpā Ingarihi o Mere ki Aotearoa nei i te tau 1867, kātahi ka whakauru atu ki ngā Pirihimana Mau Pū (Armed Constabulary). Ko tōna whaea hei tamāhine mā Edward Ainsley rāua ko tana wahine, ko Haana Ngaki Te Kāpaiwaho, ā, hei mokopuna anō hoki ki te rangatira rā, ki a Te Kāpaiwaho o Ngāti Rangiwewehi. Tērā atu anō ngā toronga o Mere ki a Ngāti Whakaue.

I rite te whānau o ngā Hall ki ētehi atu o te rohe, he whakaaro nui nō rātau ki te tukutuku i ā rātau tamariki ki ngā kura noho, ako ai. Inarā hoki a Mere, he mea tuku ki Hukarere (Hukarere Native Girls' School) i Ahuriri (Napier) i te tau 1893; i tērā wā, e whakahaerea ana te kura nei e Anna Maria Wiremu (Williams) rātau ko ōna tāina, ko Lydia rāua ko Marianne. I reira, ka puāwai ngā māramatanga o Mere, pihipihi ana te mātauranga. Nuku atu i te 50 ngā tau i pā kau ai ia ki te kura nei, he ākonga rā i te tuatahi, ā, nō muri mai hei ākonga-kaiwhakaako; mutu rawa ake, kua tumuaki ia.

Nō tana tau whakamutunga e akona ana i te kura, ko ia nei te tauira tuakana, ka whakatūria ia hei ākonga-kaiwhakaako. Kātahi ka haere ia ki te kāreti whakaako kura o Ākarana (Auckland Training College) ā, nō te tau 1912, i puta ia hei kaiwhakaako māraurau. I whakauru atu anō hoki ia ki te rōpū mahi i Hukarere, ā, nō te tau 1927, ka whakatūria ia hei tumuaki mō te kura, whai ake nei i muri i ōna kaiwhakaako, kaiako pono, i a Jane rāua ko Emily Bulstrode, nā rāua i whakahaere te kura nei mai i te tau 1900. Riro ana ko Mere te tauira tuatahi me te tauira anake o te kura nei i noho hei tumuaki mō Hukarere; ka mutu ko ia anō te wahine Māori tuatahi hei tumuaki i tētehi o ngā kura tuarua nui mō ngā kōtiro i Niu Tīreni. I a ia i Hukarere i mau tonu tana whakapāpā atu ki tōna whānau, ā, nāna anō hoki te maha o roto o Te Arawa me ōna whanaunga hoki i taki ki Hukarere, kura ai. Whakahīhī rawa atu te whānau o Mere ki tōna kaha me ngā mahi i tutuki i a ia.

Ka noho nei a Mere Hall hei tumuaki mō Hukarere, he mea pupuri tonu e ia ngā tikanga tuku iho me ngā uaratanga o te kura, me te tino hononga ake anō o te kura ki te Hāhi Mihingare. Ko tētehi tikanga nui a te kura, ko te haere ki te whare karakia o Ōmana (Ormond Chapel) e pātata tonu ana ki te kura. Whakataua ana hoki me ū ki ngā ture whakahaere o te kura me te mahi tiaki whare hoki. Hoi anō, whakarerekētia ana te āhua o ngā whakahaere i te wā o te tekau tau atu i 1930, inarā ko te whakawhānui tonu tētehi i te marau mātauranga me te whakarata mai o te tangata ki te pai o ngā tikanga a te Māori. Ko tētehi o aua mahi hou i ahu kē mai i ngā whakapanonitanga o ngā kaupapa a te kāwanatanga. Ahakoa anō, nā Mere Hall tonu ētehi i whakaari. Ko tā te kāwanatanga i tērā wā, kāre he hua o te ako i te reo Māori. Kore rawa a Mere i whakaae ki tēnei kōrero, riro ana ko ia tonu hei tohutohu i ngā tauira kātahi anō ka tīmata te ako.

Ki te titiro a Mere ki te whāiti noa o ngā mahi mā ngā wāhine Māori he wero kē tāna i ngā āhua o taua wā; kei roto i ana tuhituhi i kitea tōna hiahia kia nuku ake te tōtika o āna tauira i te noho kē ai hei kaimahi kāinga, whakatipu tamariki rānei. Ko te tono a ngā tumuaki o Hukarere o mua atu, me ako rātau ki te mahi nēhi, mahi whakaako rānei; ēngari, kāre te nuinga o ēnei whakamātau i tutuki he kore e tautokona e te kāhui mana. Ka whāia anō e Mere Hall te take nei, ka akiākina e ia ana ākonga kia noho tonu i te kura, ki te whakatika i a rātau mō te whakamātauranga uru atu ki ētehi wānanga whakaako. Nā te kore kaha o te nuinga o ngā mātua ki te utu i ā rātau tamāhine kia mau haere tonu te noho ki te kura tuarua, i waimarie, nā ngā karahipi tonu a te Tari Kura (Department of Education), hei whakaū i te roanga atu o te akoranga tuarua, i tutuki ai tōna whakaaro. I whakapā atu anō hoki a Mere Hall ki te kotahitanga o ngā tamāhine o mua o Hukarere (Hukarere Old Girls' Association), me ētehi atu rōpū e aroha mai ana ki te kohi moni hei whakatū i ngā karahipi tūmataiti. I roto i tana rīpoata whakamutunga me tōna harakoa anō, i mea ia pēnei: 'i te tau 1939, i uru atu ai ā mātau kōtiro tuatahi ki te kāreti whakaako kura, ā, tae mai nei ki tēnei wā kua rua tekau ā mātau kōtiro i reira. He maha hoki ngā kōtiro e whakauru ana hei nēhi i roto i ngā hōhipera. E koa ana hoki au ki te kī, e tatari ana ētehi atu ki te whakauru atu, kia akona ai.'

E hia kē nei ngā raruraru nunui e pā ana ki ngā whakahaere o te kura, nā Mere Hall i whakatikatika i roto i ngā tekau tau e rua atu i 1930 me 1940. Ko tētehi raruraru aroha rawa atu, ko te rū i Te Matau-a-Māui i te 3 o Pēpuere i te tau 1931. Nā te kore o ngā karaehe i te kura i taua rā o te rū, i kore ai he mea kotahi i whara, ēngari ka kino kē hoki te tukitukitanga o ngā whare kura. Nā te mea me whakatikatika anō ngā whare, me te tūpono kei rū anō, i nekehia te kura ki Ponsonby i Ākarana tatari ai kia tīmata anō te ako i te tau 1932. Ka pakaru mai te riri o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ka raruraru anō ngā mahi ako a ētehi o ngā tamariki, he mina kē nei ki te whakarere i te kura kia wātea te haere ki ngā mahi o te pakanga. Ko ētehi o ngā kōtiro kua māraurau kē ki te ako hei nēhi heoi anō whakamahia kētia ana kia mahi i te mahi kē. Hāunga rā mutu noa ana aua whakapōrearea nei, ā, i te taenga ki te wā o te tiupiri taimana i Ākuhata o te tau 1940, i āhei te kura ki te whakanui i ngā mahi i tutuki i roto i ngā tau i tā rātau hui karanga i a rātau. Tae mai ki taua wā, kua 1,500 kē te nui o ngā kōtiro i kuraina ki Hukarere.

He wahine a Mere Hall i mīharotia, i arohatia e ana tauira, ā, hoki ana te mahara ki a ia, ka kīia he wahine pākaha, he tōkeke, ā, he ngākau aroha. Ahakoa ko ia te kaiwhakaako, te tumuaki hoki, ko tā te whaea nei tana tiaki i ngā kōtiro, whai haere atu hoki i te āhua o ā rātau mahi ka mutu nei te kura. Nā te kore tauhou ōna ki te whakamomori o ngā kōtiro hou o te kura ki te kāinga, whakamāmātia ana e ia tō rātau momo noho. He mea akiaki rawa hoki e ia te āhua o te noho whānau, tohua ana e ia ngā kōtiro pakeke hei tiaki i ngā mea tamariki, ā waia noa rātau.

Nō tana tukunga iho i tōna tūranga i te paunga o te tau 1944, ka haere a Mere Hall ki Rotorua noho ai, i te whare tonu i nōhia rā e aua tumuaki anō rā o Hukarere, e Jane rāua ko Emily Bulstrode. Kātahi ka tīmata tana whakaako i te reo Māori i te Kura Tuarua o Rotorua, ki te whakatangitangi i te ōkena i ngā wā karakia i te whare mīhana i Te Whakarewarewa, ā, i reira anō hoki ia e whakahaere ana i te kura Rātapu. I ūhia a ia ki te tohu MBE i te tau 1952 mō āna mahi ki te whakakaha ake i tōna ake iwi, me te hapori whānui tonu hoki.

Nō te takiwā pea o te tau 1958, ka tipuheke tōna ora, ka hoki anō a Mere Hall ki Ahuriri. I hemo ia i te 23 o Ākuhata i te tau 1966, i whakahaerea te tangihanga i Tarimano marae i Te Awahou. I nehua ia ki te urupā o te whānau e noho pātata atu rā, ko Puhirua te īngoa.

I mōhio nuitia a Mere Hall mō ngā mahi i tutuki i a ia, me te tōtika anō o te tauira i mahue mai i a ia. Whakahirahira ana te taonga i waiho ake e ia mō te mātauranga me te mahi hautū e whāia nei e ngā wāhine kōhure o Ngāti Rangiwewehi.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Donna M. T. T. Hall and Sheena Leibowitz. 'Hall, Mere Haana', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4h5/hall-mere-haana (accessed 28 March 2024)