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Kōrero: Kapa, Mutu Paratene

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Kapa, Mutu Paratene

1870–1968

Nō Te Aupōuri, nō Waikato; he kaihautū, he kaitākaro, he minita Mihinare

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

He kaumātua, he pūkenga Māori, he tangata whaikōrero rongonui, he kaitākaro, he pirihi hoki te tangata nei a Mutu Paratene Kapa. Nō te tau 1870 ia i whānau ai ki Ōhinepū i Te Kōpua, e pātata atu rā ki ngā maunga tapu o Pirongia me Kakepuku. Ko Waimārama Pene Ruruanga tōna whaea, he wahine nō ngā kāwai rangatira o Ngāti Maniapoto me Waikato. He tangata mahi pāmu tōna matua a Paratene Kātene Kapa o Te Aupōuri, ā, he tama nā Hēmi Rēweti Te Kapa rāua ko tana wahine, ko Ruta (Ruth). E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a Te Aupōuri, ko Hēmi Rēweti tonu (e mōhiotia whānuitia ana ko Te Kapa) te Māori Karaitiana tuatahi, ā, ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā mihinare Māori tuatahi i te rohe o Te Tai Tokerau. He irāmutu anō hoki a Kapa nā Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa, ko ia rā te Mema Pāremata mō Te Tai Tokerau atu i te tau 1891 ki 1893. He mokopuna tuarua a Kapa nā te rangatira rongonui rā, nā Patuone, ā, he uri anō hoki nō te tupuna nui, nō Mirupōkai. Hei 'matua kēkē' anō hoki a Kapa mō te Kīngi Māori tuarima, mō Korokī, rāua ko te kuia rā, ko Te Puea Hērangi.

I a ia e taitamariki tonu ana he toa a Kapa ki ngā mahi tākaro nei, arā, te hoe waka, te whutupaoro, te poiwhana, te hōkī, te tēnehi, te poroporo rākau hoki. Hau ana tōna rongo ki te motu hei toa kōue takitahi mō te mahi hoe waka, ā, i te tau 1905 tohua ana ia hei kaiwhakataetae mō te tīma whutupaoro o Aotearoa, arā, mō ngā All Blacks. Tekau mā whitu pea tōna pakeke i tana taenga tuatahitanga kia kite i ōna whanaunga i Te Tai Tokerau. I a Kapa i tētahi rēihi hoe waka i Takapuna, tūpono ana i reira te matua kēkē o tana pāpā, mōhio tonu atu tērā ko tana tamaiti tēnei, haria atu ana e ia a Kapa ki Kaikohe. E hia tau kē nei i muri mai, i pāngia tōna matua e te mate, i hūnuku atu te whānau Kapa ki Te Kao ki te takiwā o Muriwhenua, i reira rā e noho mai ana ō rātou whanaunga o Te Aupōuri.

Nō te 17 o Oketopa 1900, i moea ai e Kapa a Makarita Kaimanu Wikitahi Rēnata Wī o te hapū o Te Riumākutu o Te Aupōuri; rua tekau mā iwa te pakeke o Te Kapa i taua wā; tekau mā whā ngā tau o Kaimanu. I mārena pea rāua i Te Kao. Tokoiwa ā rāua tamariki i ora: tokoono ngā tama, tokotoru ngā kōhine. Nō te 15 o Ākuhata i te tau 1919 i hinga ai a Kaimanu, ā, i Te Kao anō i te 14 o Hepetema 1920, i moea e Te Kapa a Matehaere Pōpata, arā, ko Matekino anō tētahi o ōna īngoa; hore kau ana ā rāua tamariki i ora.

Hei whakatutuki i ngā whakaari a ō rātou tūpuna me ngā hapori tuatahi o te hunga Karaitiana Māori, pūmau ana ngā tāngata o ngā kāinga maha o Te Tai Tokerau ki te tuku tāngata atu hei pirihi mō te Hāhi Mihinare. He mea akiaki a Mutu Kapa e ōna rangatira, arā, e tana tupuna koroua e Te Kapa, e tana matua kēkē e Hōhepa Matiu Te Kapa (he pirihi Mihinare nei tēnei) me ētahi atu hoki, kia whakaaro ki te haere hei ākonga mō te minitatanga. E rima tau tana roa e akona ana i te Kāreti o Te Rau Kahikatea (Te Rau Theological College), i Tūranga (Gisborne). I reira hoki hei hoa mōna a Rēweti Kōhere rāua ko Eruera Erihana (Edward Ellison) e ako ana. Nō te tau 1907 i momotuhia a ia hei rīkona, ā, nō te tau 1911 hei pirihi hoki.

I mua i tana rironga atu ki Tūākau noho ai, atu i te tau 1936 ki 1960 e minita ana a Kapa i ngā pārihi o Waikato, o Ahipara me Waitara. I mahi ake ia i raro i ngā pīhopa e rima o te rohe pīhopatanga o Ākarana (Auckland). Atu i te tau 1940 he maha ngā tau i noho ake ia hei minita hōnore ki te pīhopa o Ākarana. E mahi ake ana anō hoki ia i raro i ngā pīhopa Māori tuatahi e rua o Aotearoa. Ka eke nei ōna tau ki te 90 i āwhina tonu ia i ngā minita ki te whakahaere i ngā karakia. He tino mātau a Kapa ki te pukapuka karakia a te Hāhi Mihinare me ngā rārangi kōrero mai i te Paipera, ā, ahakoa te roa, tarea noatia ana e ia te kōrero. I kō atu anō i tēnā, tino matea nuitia ana hoki e ia ngā waiata o te Paipera. I tana whakawāteatanga mai i a ia i tōna tūranga pirihi i te tau 1960, hore kau he minita Mihinare i rite te pakeke ki a ia e hāpai tonu ana i ngā mahi a te Hāhi.

Nō te tau 1964 i ūhia a ia ki te tohu hōnore MBE. Kāti, hore rawa ia i whakaae ki te haere ki te hui kātipa i te whare o te Kāwana (Government House), tono kē ana ia kia tukua te hōnore ki a ia i runga tonu i tōna ake marae i Te Kao. Whakatau tonutia atu ana e Te Whēkihana (Bernard Fergusson) rāua ko tana hoa rangatira, ko Reiri Whēkihana te tono mai a Kapa, ā, nō te 3 o Pēpuere 1965 i haere tika atu rāua ki Te Kao ki te marae o Waimirirangi whakarite ai i a ia. I te wā anō o te whakanuitanga i a ia, te waihangatanga a tētahi kaiwhakairo Pākehā i te poho o Kapa.

Pērā hoki i tōna pāpā me ōna mātua kēkē, hei kaumātua a Kapa ki te hapū o Te Whananaki o Te Aupōuri, ā, ki a rātou hoki, ko ia tonu tētahi o ō rātou rangatira. He tino hōhonu nei ōna mōhiotanga ki ngā kōrero ā-waha tuku iho, ki ngā kōrero ā-iwi tae atu ki ngā whakapapa o ngā iwi o Waikato, o Ngāti Maniapoto me Te Aupōuri; tāpiri atu ki tēnā ko ōna mōhio anō hoki ki ngā whakaakoranga o te whare wānanga onamata rā. He tangata rongonui ia ki te whaikōrero, ā, e hia kē nei te roa ia e kōrero ana, kāore he kupu tuhi, he aha rānei hei whai māna. I te nehunga o Te Puea i te tau 1952 nā Kapa i āwhina te tuku i a ia.

I te hui rau tau whakanui i te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1940, i tauwhāinga tana taha Aupōuri ki tana taha Tainui. Riro ana ko Kapa hei kaiwhakahaere, he waha hautū i ngā kaihoe o te waka whakamahara nei, o Ngā-toki-mata-whao-rua, ko te mauri o te waka nei hei pupuri i te hau o Te Tai Tokerau. I te tuatahi i tautāwhi tonutia e ōna whanaunga o te Kīngitanga te hui whakamahara nei, ēngari nō muri mai, i mahue i a rātou te hui nei.

I mau haere tonu te hāpai a Kapa i te mahi a tōna whānau me tōna iwi ki te whakarangatira i te tikanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi. Nō te tau 1943 i petihanatia e ia me ērā atu o ngā kaumātua te Pāremata mō te take a Te Aupōuri rātou ko Te Rarawa ki te rangatiratanga o Te Whāro Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach). I te tau 1946 ka tonoa anō e ia te take nei kia uiuitia. I te whakapuakitanga i te kerēme ki te aroaro o te Kōti Whenua Māori tae rawa atu hoki ki te aroaro o te Kōti Matua (Supreme Court) i te tekau tau mai i 1950, i riro nā rāua tahi ko Hoera Wī Kānara o Te Kao i whāriki atu ngā whakaatu tohu tuku iho. Atu i te tau 1958 i tū ai a Kapa i te Poari Kaitiaki Māori o Te Aupōuri (Te Aupōuri Māori Trust Board).

Nō te 10 o Noema 1968 i pahemo ai te koroua nei a Mutu Kapa i Ākarana, e 98 tōna pakeke. Tino tautohea ana e Waikato rāua ko Te Aupōuri me tāpuke ki hea. Heoi anō, i te mutunga riro ana i a Waikato, ā, nehua ana ia i te urupā e pātata atu rā ki te marae whakamaharatanga ki a Te Puea i Māngere. Kei te taha tonu ia o tana hoa o te Hāhi, o Wiremu Pānapa – ko ia te Pīhopa tuarua o Aotearoa – e takoto ana. Mahue mai ana ko tana tamāhine, ko āna tama tokorua, me tana wahine tuarua hoki.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Manuka Henare. 'Kapa, Mutu Paratene', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4k2/kapa-mutu-paratene (accessed 29 March 2024)