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Kōrero: Jones, Michael Rotohiko

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Jones, Michael Rotohiko

1895–1978

Nō Ngāti Maniapoto; he kaiwhakamārama reo, he āpiha whenua, he kaitākaro, he kaiwhakahaere tūmatanui, he hēkeretari a te Minita Māori, he kaipāho

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

Nō te 14 o Hepetema 1895 i whānau ai a Michael Rotohiko Jones i Poro-o-Tarao i te Rohe Pōtae. Hei tama ia mā tētehi Pākehā, mā Daniel Lewis, rāua ko Paretekōrae o Ngāti Maniapoto. I tētehi wā i muri i te whānautanga o ana tēina (ko Pei Te Hurinui tonu hoki tētehi), ko te wehenga atu tēnā o Daniel Lewis i Aotearoa nei, i te taha o ana tuākana, tēina rānei, whanatu ai pea ki te pakanga i Āwherika ki te Tonga. I tana haerenga atu, mahue noa ana a Paretekōrae, noho kē atu ana a Daniel i Ahitereiria, ā, i reira ka toa kē nei ia hei kaiwhakaako hōiho rērehi. (Kāti, i tūtaki tuatahi a Rotohiko ki tana pāpā, mai i tana tamarikitanga, i te tau 1945, i te taenga mai o tōna matua ki Māwaihākona (Trentham), he hoko hōiho tau tahi nei te mahi.) Hoi anō, taihoa nei moe ai a Paretekōrae i a Rāwiri (David) Jones o Ngā Puhi, mau ake ana i ngā tamariki te īngoa o tō rātou matua whakaangi.

I tae a Rotohiko ki ngā kura tuatahi o Ōngarue me Te Kūiti, me tana kuranga tuaruatanga i Paerata (Wesley College) i Te Tātua (Three Kings) kei Ākarana (Auckland). Ā, i tae anō hoki ia ki te kāreti ahu whenua mō ngā taitama Māori i Manunui (Manunui Māori Boys' Agricultural College) i Taumarunui. Nāwai rā uru kē atu ana ia ki te Ope Taua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Expeditionary Force) tuatahi, tae atu ana hoki ki te mura o te ahi i te kauhanga riri ki te hauāuru o Parani. Nō te tau 1916 ki te tau 1919 tana roa ki reira, ā, whakatūria ana ia hei haihana mō te rōpū whakahaere i te Rōpū Māori (Paionia) o Aotearoa (New Zealand Māori (Pioneer) Battalion). Ahakoa te pakū tonu mai o ngā pū, i whakaoratia e ia tētehi hōia taotū, ā, whakawhiwhia ana ia ki te Mētara mō te Toa (Military Medal).

I tana hokinga mai ki Aotearoa nei, i mahi ia i te taha o te kaihoko whenua, o Rīhari Ōmipi (Richard Ormsby) i Te Kūiti. I reira ka tūtaki rāua ko Kahuwaero Hētete (Hetet), te pōtiki a Hēnare Matengaro Hētete rāua ko Te Rūwai Otimi. Nō te 14 o Hānuere 1920 ka moea e ia a Kahuwaero i Ōngarue. Tokowhitu ā rāua tamariki: tokowhā ngā mea tāne, tokotoru ngā mea wāhine.

Nō te tau 1922 i whakatūria e Rotohiko tāna ake mahi hei kaiwhakamārama reo whai raihana, kaihoko whenua whai raihana anō hoki i Te Hāwera. He mema anō hoki ia nō te kaunihera takiwā tāone o Te Hāwera (Hāwera Borough Council) me te poari hōhipera o Te Hāwera (Hāwera Hospital Board). Ki tā te kōrero hoki ko ia te Māori tuatahi kia uru ki te rōpū Rotari (Rotary), ā, ko ia hoki te kaitiriwā ki te Tumuaki mō te karapu Rotari o te rohe kāinga. Ko ia anō hoki te perehitini mō te rōpū mō ngā hōia mōrehu o Aotearoa (New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association), arā, mō te peka o Taranaki ki te tonga, ā, i eke atu hoki ki te komiti whakahaere o te motu. He tangata kaingākaunui a Rotohiko ki ngā mahi tākaro, ā, i te komiti whakahaere hoki ia o te Rōpū Tēnehi Māori o Aotearoa (New Zealand Māori Lawn Tennis Association); i te tau 1928 ko rāua ko tana teina, ko Pei Te Hurinui, ko ia te toa Māori o Aotearoa mō te tēnehi takirua. He toa korowha anō hoki ia, ā, he mema nō te Rōpū Korowha Māori o Aotearoa (New Zealand Māori Golf Association).

I te tekau tau atu i 1920 i kōwhiria e Apirana Ngata a Rotohiko hei kaihautū mō te iwi Māori. Kāti rā ko ia tonu te kaitohutohu a Ngata mō te taha whakatōpū whenua i te Rohe Pōtae. Atu i te tau 1928 i riro rāua ko Pei Te Hurinui hei kaitohutohu mā Te Puea me te Kīngitanga. Mutu kau mai i a rāua te mōhio ki te reorua, te pai noa iho o te whakaakoranga, ka tino taunga rāua ki te taka i waenga i te ao Pākehā me te ao Māori. I te tau 1940, nā runga i te tūtohutanga a Ngata me te Kaiwhakawā Tumuaki o te Kōti Whenua Māori, i whakatūria a Rotohiko hei hēkeretari mā te Minita Māori, mā Frank Langstone; nō muri mai i a Te Raumoa Balneavis ko Rotohiko. I tōna ekenga atu, pōhēhē tonu ana te tangata ko ia kē te Minita Māori, nō tōna whakaaweawenga i ngā kaupapa o te tari. I a ia i reira, ka piki haere anō te manawanui o Te Puea ki te mahi a te Tari Māori, kua memeha kē atu rā i te rīhainatanga o Apirana Ngata i te tau 1934.

I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua, nō te piri rawa a Rotohiko rāua ko Pei ki a Te Puea, i āta whakawāwātia rāua, i āta tirohia rāua nā te kaha o te rongo kōrero he whanaunga Tiamana nei nō Te Puea. Kitea tonutia te mana o Rotohiko ki roto ki te Kīngitanga i te tau 1947, i te mea kua riro nei i a ia te whakahaere i te tira o Waikato i haere rā ki te mārenatanga o te kāhui ariki i Tonga, peka atu hoki ki ētehi atu o ngā whenua o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. I haere anō hoki a Rotohiko, a Te Puea me te ariki taitamāhine rā, me Piki, ko ia nei te Ariki Nui o muri mai, arā, a Te Ātairangikaahu.

Ka mutu te pakanga, e kōingo tonu ana te Pirimia a Pita Pereiha (Peter Fraser) ki te whakatau i te kāpeneheihana a Tainui mō ngā whenua raupatu. I tīmata nei ngā whiriwhiri a Tainui me te kāwanatanga i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1920. Nā te pakanga i āta hikitia i runga i te whakaae a ngā taha e rua kia waiho noa te take nei mō tētehi wā. Nō te tau 1945 i tīmata anō ngā whiriwhiri. Kātahi nā te kaiuku kaha, hinengaro koi o Waikato, ko te tangata nei ko Rotohiko. I tana taenga ake i te taha o Pereiha rāua ko te Minita Māori, ko Te Meihana (H. G. R. Mason) ki te marae o Tūrangawaewae i Ngāruawāhia, ko Te Puea, ko Pei Te Hurinui me ngā kanohi o Waikato e tatari atu ana. Whakahaerea noatia ana ngā kōrero whiriwhiri i te rūma moe o Pereiha i tana hōtēra, ā, nō te rangi i muri mai i tukua ai te whakataunga ki te marae, whakaaetia ana hoki.

Anā anō tētehi take nui a te kāwanatanga a Pereiha i whai wāhi atu anō a Rotohiko, whakatūria ana rāua ko Rangi Roera (Royal) ki te whakatutuki i te Ture Toko i te Ora me te Pai mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act) o 1945, arā, i te hauwarea o Te Meihana kāore i tutuki pai i a ia. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua ko Rotohiko tonu tētehi o ngā kaihanga o te kaupapa a Te Meihana ki te whakahāngai ake i te Ture Kaunihera Māori (Māori Councils Act); inarā ko te take nei e tauwhāinga kē ana ki te hiahia o Eruera Tirikātene, arā, ki te whakapakari i te rōpū Māori mō ngā Mahi mō te Whawhai (Māori War Effort Organisation); he wā poto nei i raro i tēnei kaupapa, nui kē atu te whiwhi mana o te Māori. Ka whakatūria nei te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora (Māori Women's Welfare League) i te tau 1951, ko Rotohiko nei te kaitātari kaute, i whai wāhi nui ia ki te whakatinana mai i te kaupapa o te rōpū nei. Atu i te tau 1950 tae rawa ki te wā whakatānga i te tau 1962, ko Rotohiko tonu te tiamana o te Rōpū Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Māori Association).

He tangata kaingākau rawa atu a Rotohiko ki te whakakaha i te reo Māori kia mau tonu, ā, e hia ngā tau ia e pāho ana i ngā pitopito kōrero ki te reo Māori i runga i te reo irirangi o te motu. Riro ana nā rāua tahi ko Pei Te Hurinui te mahi ki te tiro, whakahou, whakarahi ake hoki i ngā kohinga waiata nei a Ngata, i Ngā mōteatea. Nuku atu i tērā, ko ia anō te kaiwhakamātau i te whakamātautau Māori mō te tiwhikete hei uru ki te whare wānanga, te tiamana hoki o te komiti whakahou i te pukapuka taki kupu Māori a Te Hāpata (H. W. Williams), tētehi o ngā mema atu hoki o te komiti whakahaere o te pukapuka Māori nei, o Te Ao Hou. I kō atu anō, i noho ake ia hei mema kaunihera mō te Rōpū Poronihiana (Polynesian Society) atu i te tau 1939, hei perehitini atu hoki i 1955. Nō te tau 1963 i Waitangi i tukua atu ai a Rotohiko ki te aroaro o Kuini Riripeti Te Tuarua.

He tūnga kātipa tonu nei tō Rotohiko i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1940, arā, ko ia te āpiha takawaenga ki te Minita Māori atu i 1947 ki 1949, pērā anō i ngā tau 1959 ki 1962. I te tau 1950 noho ake ana ia hei kaiwhakahaere tuarua mō te wāhanga toko i te ora (Welfare Division) o te Tari Māori. I ngā tau atu i 1950 ki 1953 he āpiha whakatatū mahi tāna mahi, ā, atu i te tau 1953 ki 1955 ko ia te kairēhita kaitiriwā o te Kōti Whenua Māori, huri ana i ngā whaitua o Ikaroa me Te Waipounamu. He mema anō hoki a Rotohiko nō te komiti tohutohu o te Poari Whakaako o Ākarana ki te Tonga (South Auckland Education Board) mō te whakaakoranga Māori.

I te hokinga atu o Rotohiko ki te pāmu a te whānau i Ōtewā i te tau 1962 whakatā ai, i mau haere tonu tana mahi mā te Kīngitanga me ngā mahi anō hoki a te rohe kāinga. Nō te 24 o Hānuere o te tau 1978 i mate ai a Rotohiko i Ōtorohanga, arā, i mate rawa i te tangihanga o tana mātāmua, o Tūtahanga. Hui rua rāua, ā, i nehua i tōna taha i te wāhi mō ngā hōia i te urupā o te marae o Tokanganui-a-noho i Te Kūiti. Tokoono āna tamariki i mahue mai me tana wahine, me Kahuwaero. Nō te tau 1994 rawa ia i mate ai.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Reimana Rotohiko Jones. 'Jones, Michael Rotohiko', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4j10/jones-michael-rotohiko (accessed 19 March 2024)