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Mangakāhia, Mabel Te Aowhaitini

by Angela Ballara

Biography

I whānau a Mabel (Mēpara) Te Aowhaitini Mangakāhia ki Whangapoua i te taha rāwhiti whaka-te-raki o Moehau (Coromandel), i te 4 o Hepetema i te tau 1899. Nō te moenga o Hāmiora Mangakāhia i tana wahine tuatoru, i a Meri Te Tai, tokowhā ā rāua tamariki, ā, ko Mēpara te pōtiki. Ki te taha o tōna whaea, he tino rangatira a Hāmiora Mangakāhia i roto i tōna iwi, i a Ngāti Whanaunga; ko ōna tino hapū ko Ngāti Hei me Ngāti Pare. Ko Ngāti Kahungunu te iwi o tōna pāpā. Ko te whānau o Meri Te Tai he kāwai rangatira tonu nō Te Rarawa ki Panguru i te takiwā o Te Hokianga; ko ōna hapū ko Ngāti Te Rēinga, ko Ngāti Manawa, ko Te Kaitūtae. E tamariki tonu ana a Mēpara, kitekite ana ia i ngā pakeke e taki hautū, e tūtika ana. I te tekau tau atu i 1890, ko Hāmiora te Pirimia o te Pāremata o te Kotahitanga, ā, nō te taenga ki te tau 1907, i te hāpai tonu ia i taua kaupapa. He kaihautū a Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia nō te rōpū wāhine i roto i te Kotahitanga.

I whakatipuria a Mēpara Mangakāhia i Whangapoua, ā, i haere ki te kura tuatahi i reira. Tino whakahīhī nei a Meri Te Tai ki te pai o tōna whānau, ā, nō mai i a ia e taiohi ana, i takuhe, i hākoa ai a Mēpara i a ia e pakeke haere ana. Ka tama wahine nei ia, tukua atu ana ki te kura tuarua mō ngā kōtiro o Tāmaki-makau-rau (Auckland Girls' Grammar School), kātahi mai i reira ki Wikitōria (Queen Victoria School for Māori Girls). I reira i ekea e ia ngā taumata o te mātauranga, whiwhi karahipi atu anō hoki hei akoranga nēhi. I te hōhipera o Ākarana (Auckland Hospital), i tīmata tana akoranga whānui hei nēhi, ā, nō te tau 1923 i oti ai. I te tīmatanga, he momo whakaako anō mō ngā nēhi Māori, arā, he māmā kē ake, ēngari nō te tau 1913 i whakamutua ai. Ko te akoranga i whāia e Mēpara Mangakāhia ko tērā anō i whāia e ngā wāhine katoa e ngākaunui ana ki te mahi nēhi.

Nō Hune o te tau 1925, i whakanōhia ia ki Rāwene, hei nēhi hauora kaiāwhina mō te rohe o Te Hokianga. Ko te whakaaro o te Tari o te Ora (Department of Health), me noho ngā nēhi Māori hei kaiāwhina mā ngā nēhi Pākehā kia waia ai rātou ki ngā tikanga whakahaere rohe. Hei kaiāwhina a Mēpara Mangakāhia mā Ella Leslie, kātahi kē nei te wahine matatau, ngākau hihiko rawa atu ko tēnei. Nā te mea he motokā Dodge nei tō Leslie, kāore i maha rawa ā rātou haere mā runga hōiho, paihikara rānei, ki te torotoro atu i ngā kāinga kei tuawhenua tawhiti noa atu; ēngari ko tō rāua whare he whare pakaru, haumākū hoki. Kātahi te mahi uaua ko tēnei; i te pō, i te ao, ahakoa he aha te hāora, noho tatari tonu te mahi a ngā nēhi ā-rohe kia karangatia ki te tiaki tūroro; he nui ngā wā e kino ana ngā rori, e waipuke ana hoki ngā awa. Nā rātou te mahi ki te kauwhau ki ngā tamariki i ngā kura mō ngā take hauora, ki te āta ako i ngā tikanga paru kore ki te tangata, me te tiaki tika i te hauora o te tinana, kaua ā-waha noa, ēngari ā-karu anō hoki. Tae rawa atu ki ngā tau tōmuri o te tekau tau atu i 1920, o ngā nēhi Māori ā-rohe e mahi ana i ngā kāinga o te takiwā Māori, tokotoru, tokowhā noa rānei e nēhi ana, ā, ko Mēpara Mangakāhia tonu hoki tētehi.

I tutuki i a Mēpara Mangakāhia tētehi wānanga kaiwhakawhānau i te hōhipera o Herena (St Helens Hospital) i Ākarana i te tau 1928; nō Hūrae o te tau o muri mai, ka heke ia ki reira nēhi ā-rohe ai. I Noema o taua tau, ka whakawhiti ia ki Ōtepoti (Dunedin), ki te hōhipera o Karitāne-Harris (Karitāne-Harris Hospital) whakaakona ai ki ngā mātauranga Plunket. Nō te tau 1930, i whakawhiti atu ia ki Tokaanu, ki te pokapū tūhāhā hou mō te katoa o te rohe nui o Taupō, e rere mai nei i te mira o Kapua ki Ōtoko, ka hōrapa ki Taupō, mutu rawa mai ki Mōkai. Nā te Tari o te Ora i riro mai ai tētehi wāhi whare mōna, me tētehi kaiāwhina Māori, ko te Tari o te Ora i te utu. He nui te taha manaaki a te Poari Kaitiaki o Tūwharetoa (Tūwharetoa Trust Board) i tā rātou nēhi, tae atu ki te nui o ngā tekehī ka utua nei e te poari hei hari i a ia. Nō te marama o Tīhema o te tau 1930 i tukua e te nēhi kaitohutohu, e Mary Lambie, tana pūrongo ki te Tari e whakaatu ana i te ātaahua o te tiaki a Nēhi Mangakāhia i tana kāpata puri rongoā me ana taputapu; e ai ki tāna anō, e waru ngā kura e toroa ana e Mēpara ki te tohutohu i ngā tamariki ki ngā āhuatanga hauora. Hei penapena i te pūtea, i kī atu ia he pai kē ake tana haere mā runga waka ā-mahi i te haere mā runga tekehī.

He poto noa iho te wā o Mēpara Mangakāhia i Ōtaki e rīwhi anā, ka hoki anō ki Tokaanu. I ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1930 ko ia te nēhi ā-rohe tuatahi i Te Araroa, i te takiwā o Whanga-o-keno (East Cape). I te tau 1936, whakanōhia ana a Mēpara hei nēhi hauora ā-rohe ki Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), e rua nei ngā nēhi i reira. He mea tūmanako hoki kia kapi i ngā tokorua nei te katoa o taua rohe nui rā, 13,000 te tokomaha o ngā Māori i reira; whāia nō muri mai i meinga rā kia tokotoru anō ngā nēhi: ki Kāwhia, ki Mōrena (Morrinsville) me Te Kūiti. Noho ake ana ngā nēhi ā-rohe nei i ngā whare rīhi rūma, whakaputu tonu i ā rātou taputapu ki roto i ō rātou rūma ake, tō rātou wāhi tirotiro anō hoki i ngā tūroro. I te tautohenga nei a te Tari o te Ora me te poari hōhipera o Waikato (Waikato Hospital Board) mō te rahi o te moni tāpiri e tukua mai ana e te poari hei tiaki i ngā nēhi ā-rohe, rewa ana te whakamahara atu a H. B. Turbott, te āpiha o te ora ki te poari, arā, he nui kē ngā Māori e tirotirohia ana i roto i ngā rūma o ngā nēhi, e tika kē ana kia tae ki ngā hōhipera.

Nō Pēpuere o te tau 1939, i whakaaetia a Mēpara Mangakāhia e te Tari o te Ora kia waiho i tana mahi kia whai wāhi nei ia ki tētehi wānanga tāura māhita i Pōneke (Wellington). He mea hoatu anō hoki e te Tari o te Ora he pūtea ākonga māna. Ko ia tonu pea te Māori tuatahi ki te whakatutuki i tēnei momo wānanga. Hoki rawa ake ia ki Kirikiriroa i te tīmatanga o te tau o muri mai, ka kitea kua pāngia kētia ia e te mate pukupuku. Nō te 23 o Ākuhata o te tau 1940, i mate ia ki Kirikiriroa, e whā tekau noa ōna tau. He mea whakahoki ia ki te kāinga, ka tanumia ki Whangapoua i te 25 o Ākuhata.

Kāre tonu a Mēpara Mangakāhia i moe tāne. O ngā nēhi Māori o tōna wā, ko ia anake te mea momoho, ikeike rawa ki te taumata o te akoranga nēhi. Ahakoa ngā mahi whakamātau a tōna whānau ki te taumau tāne māna, i mau ia ki tana mahi. He hokihoki tonu tana mahi ki Whangapoua ki te kite i tōna whānau. Kei te maumahara tonu ana irāmutu ki te morota i hoatu e ia hei whakakaha i a rātou, tae atu ki ā rātou mahi tākaro, mahi pikiniki, me ā rātou haere hoki ki te kohikohi pākano paina. Ahakoa kāore ia i whiwhi uri, heoi anō, nā tana pūmau ki tana mahi ka tika te kōrero, he maha āna tamariki huri noa i te motu.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    ‘Mabel Te Aowhaitini Mangakahia’. In Pan-Pacific and South-east Asia Women’s Association, New Zealand Branch. Maori women’s biographies prepared by the Maori Women’s Welfare League, 1952. qMS-1531. WTU

    Obit. New Zealand Nursing Journal 33, No 9 (Sept. 1940): 303—304


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Angela Ballara. 'Mangakāhia, Mabel Te Aowhaitini', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998, updated o Noema, 2007. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4m35/mangakahia-mabel-te-aowhaitini (accessed 29 March 2024)