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Meha, Stuart

by Peter J. Lineham

Biography

Nō te tau 1878 pea, i te 29 o Tīhema, i whānau ai a Te Tūati (Stuart) Meha i Wanstead i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). He tangata whakarae anō hoki tōna pāpā a Arapata Meha nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāti Ruatōtara o Rangitāne. Nō Te Tapairu e pātata atu rā ki Waipāwa a Arapata Meha, ā, he tangata tino tōtika kē nei ia ki te pāmu hipi, he tangata whai whenua. Nō Ngāti Rākaipaaka te whaea o Tūati, a Mere Te Hau. He tūpuna rongonui ngā tūpuna o Tūati, ā, i mua i tana whānautanga i poropititia, māna e ora mai ai ōna tūpuna; taihoa kitea ai ko te mahi iriiri a te Hāhi o Ihu Karaiti mō te Hunga Tapu o ngā Rā o Muri Nei (Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints), arā, a te Hāhi Mōmona i te hunga kua mate kē noa atu te tikanga o te kōrero nei.

Whati tere ana te papā iho o te Hāhi Mōmona ki runga i a Ngāti Kahungunu, ka tae ake nei ōna mihinare ki Te Wairarapa i te tau 1883. Nō te 15 o Hūrae i te tau 1885 i iriiria ai ngā mātua o Tūati ki roto i te Hāhi Mōmona, e rua wiki noa i muri mai i tō rāua rongotanga i a George S. Taylor rāua ko Edward Newby, e kauwhau ana i te taha tonga o Te Matau-a-Māui. E waru tau te pakeke o Tūati ka iriiria ia. E ai ki ngā whakaatu i ngā rātaka a ngā mihinare Mōmona, ahakoa te hari koa o ngā takahuri tōmua ki ngā tohutohu a te Hāhi, kāore tonu rātou i whakaae ki ngā whakaritenga katoa a te Hāhi Mōmona, ā, he maha tonu nei ngā tikanga Māori i puritia tonutia e rātou. Hāunga koa, i tino whakahāwea tonu nei ngā Māori o reira ki ngā Hāhi tuku iho. Koinei rā te āhua o te aotūroa i tupu ake ai a Tūati Meha.

Ka mutu te kura o Tūati i te Kāreti o Te Aute ka tīmata tana āwhina ki te mahi i te pāmu iti a tōna pāpā. I muri mai ka riro i a ia te pāmu. Tū ana ia hei tiamana mō te komiti marae o Waipāwa me ērā atu hoki o ngā rōpū Māori, ā, tino mau tonu te whakanui a tōna iwi i a ia. I runga anō hoki ia i tētahi komiti i whakatūria hei whiriwhiri i te taha rēti o ngā whenua Māori. Tekau mā iwa tana pakeke ka moea e ia a Meri Hineitūrama Tāpihana (Tapsell) o Te Arawa ki Tāmakinui-a-Rua (Dannevirke). Tokotoru nei ā rāua tama, kotahi tā rāua tamāhine. Nō te marama o Hūrae 1912 i mate ai a Meri, ā, ka taka mai nei ki te 28 o Āperira 1914, ka moea e Tūati a Rosina Jane Edith Morris o Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki me Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti i Waipāwa. Tokotoru ā rāua tama me te tamāhine kotahi, ka mate nei a Rosina i te marama o Hūrae 1920. Nō te 5 o Oketopa i te tau i muri mai ka moea e Tūati te taina o Rosina, a Ivory Tēpora Morris ki Tāmakinui-a-Rua. Tokowhā ā rāua tamāhine, tokotoru ā rāua tama; nō te marama o Pēpuere 1937 i hemo ai a Ivory.

He tino nui te hunga i whai i te Hāhi Mōmona e noho ake ana i waenganui i ngā Māori o te tonga o Te Matau-a-Māui. Nō te tau 1913 i heipū ai ko taua takiwā te papanga kāinga mō te Kāreti Ahu Whenua Māori, nō te tau 1931 i turakina ai e te rū. Atu i te tau 1913 ki 1924, i hēkeretari ai a Meha mā te poari whakaako o te kāreti, ā, ko te hēkeretari āwhina anō hoki ia i te tau 1931. Nō te tau 1925 ki 1929 te wā i noho ai ia hei mema mō te poari.

Ko Meha tētahi o ngā Māori ruarua noa rātou i tae ki te tāone nui o Salt Lake i mua atu i te tau 1920: i reira anō hoki ia me ētahi atu i te tau 1913, tokorima katoa nei rātou e whakarongo ana ki ngā pure i te temepara mō te iriiri i te hunga mate. He mea tino whakahirahira rawa atu ki a ia te whakapūmautanga i a ia i te temepara, ā, taihoa ake whakatūria ana a ia hei pirihi matua. Mai i te marama o Tīhema o te tau 1916 i uru atu ia ki tētahi mīhana, toro haere ai i ētahi kāinga nohoanga. Ēngari ko te mea rerekē hoki, e kore kē ana e tika kia whai wāhi te Māori ki te mahi a te mīhana nei. Atu i te tau 1917 ki 1919 ka riro nā rātou ko tana hoa, ko tana kaitohutohu rā ko William Duncan, me te mihinare Marikena me Matthew Cowley, i whakatika te mahi whakamāori i The book of Mormon me ngā tino tuhituhinga Mōmona e rua atu anō, arā, i te Doctrine and covenants me The pearl of great price. I te toronga mai o tētahi o ngā āpotoro Mōmona ki Niu Tīreni nei, ā, ki te hui anō hoki o te Aranga ā-tau i te tau 1921, ka riro nā Meha i whakamāori ana kōrero.

I te tekau tau atu i 1920 mahue ana te Hāhi Mōmona i te tinitini o te tangata, whai kē ana i a T. W. Rātana. I te hui a te Hāhi i te tau 1929 i riro nā Meha i pānui te kawenata Rātana. I te meatanga a Rātana kia tūhonotia ngā Hāhi e rua nei kore kau i whakaaetia e te perehitini mīhana. Kāti, i pūmau tonu a Meha ki tōna Hāhi. Whakatūria ana hoki a Meha hei kaitohutohu tuatahi i a Eriata Nōpera, te perehitini Māori tuatahi o tētahi rohe Mōmona ki Niu Tīreni nei; i whakatūria anō hoki a Nōpera hei perehitini mō te rohe o Te Matau-a-Māui i te tau 1928. Nāwai rā tū ana ko Meha ki taua tūranga rā.

Nō muri mai i te tau 1928 i āta riro ai i ngā Māori o ngā takiwā kāinga te whakahaere o te Hāhi o Ihu Karaiti mō Te Hunga Tapu o ngā Rā o Muri Nei. I noho tonu ko Meha te tino kaiwhakapānga atu a ngā kaihautū Marikena o te Hāhi, ā, he whakahonohono tonu tāna mahi i te Hāhi ki te ao Māori. He mea tino aronui ki a Meha ngā tikanga Māori, ā, whakamāramatia ana hoki e ia aua tikanga rā ki ngā uaratanga o te Hāhi Mōmona. Kia mau ai i a ia ngā pakiwaitara me ngā kōrero tuku iho a ngā tūpuna o tōna iwi, he maha ngā tohunga koroua i toro haere a Meha ki te rapu kōrero. I te tau 1932 whakatūria ana a Meha hei kaiwhakahaere mō tētahi komiti whakapapa a te mīhana; ko te mahi a taua komiti he akiaki i ngā Māori ki te tiro i ō rātou whakapapa hei whakahohou atu ki roto i ngā tikanga temepara a te Hāhi Mōmona whakamahi ai: piki haere tonu te nui o ngā Māori e whakawhiti ana ki te temepara Mōmona i Laie i Hawaii, arā, ki te mea tata ake o ngā temepara ki Niu Tīreni. Nā tōna kaha tonu i taea ai te whakatakoto e hia mano kē nei ngā īngoa o ngā tūpuna ki roto ki ngā temepara Mōmona. Aua atu hoki te mahi nui ko tēnei i oti i a ia mō te Hāhi.

Nō te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua Nui o te Ao, tino piri ana a Meha rāua ko te perehitini mīhana, ko Matthew Cowley, nāna nei i whakapakari mai te kanohi Māori o te Hāhi Mōmona. I ngā tau i muri ake i te pakanga noho ake ana hei kaumātua rongonui a Meha ki ngā Māori o te Hāhi Mōmona: i te wā e whakaritea ana e te perehitini Hāhi he wāhi tū mō te temepara mō Niu Tīreni i te tau 1955, tukua ana ki a Meha te mana ki te whakahua anō i te poropititanga i mea ai, ko Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) tonu hei papa kāinga. Hāunga i konei, i kite ia i huri mārika te kaupapa a ngā kaiārahi Marikena o te Hāhi, ka mutu tā rātou whakanui i ngā tikanga Māori. I muri tata tonu mai i te taenga ake o te perehitini hou, o Gordon Young i te tau 1948, panaia ana a Meha me te nuinga o ngā perehitini Māori taipakeke o ngā rohe. Hei whakatau i te puehu, tohua ana e rātou a Meha me ērā atu rangatira tokotoru anō o te Hāhi hei mihinare 'Nephite', taka haere ai i waenganui i ngā Mōmona Māori, ka nui nei tā rātou mihi aroha ki a Meha.

Nō te 7 o Noema 1963 i hinga ai a Te Tūati Meha ki Waipukurau; mahue ake ana tekau āna tamariki. He poto, he tūmārō te hanga tinana o te tangata mahi pāmu nei, o Meha, he rangatira te āhua, ā, he tohu hoki nō te wā he hāhi Māori te Hāhi Mōmona i Aotearoa nei.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Barber, I. 'Between biculturalism and assimilation: the changing place of Maori culture in the twentieth-century New Zealand Mormon church'. New Zealand Journal of History 29, No 2 (Oct. 1995): 142--169

    Britsch, R. L. Unto the islands of the sea. Salt Lake City, 1986

    Hunt, B. W. Zion in New Zealand. Temple View, 1977

    Obit. Church. 18 Jan. 1964: 6


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Peter J. Lineham. 'Meha, Stuart', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4m50/meha-stuart (accessed 28 March 2024)