Dictionary of New Zealand Bography logo

Kōrero: Robin, Īhakara Te Tuku

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Robin, Īhakara Te Tuku

1886–1968

Nō Ngāti Kahungunu, nō Ngāti Raukawa; he kaikuti hipi, he kaipānui reimana, he tangata whātōtō

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

E ai ki te kōrero i whānau a Īhakara Te Tuku Rāpana (Robin) i Te Wairoa i te 8 o Noema o te tau 1886. Ko tōna īngoa i tino mōhiotia whānuitia ko Ike Robin. I heke iho tōna māmā a Riripeti Te Auē Roberts (McRobert rānei) i a Ngāti Kahungunu. He taha Kōtimana hoki tōna. Ahakoa i whānau mai i Te Wairoa, nō Ngāti Raukawa kē te pāpā a Īhakara Rāpana, he tama nā Īhakara Te Tuku rāua ko tana wahine ko Māta. Ko Ike te tuarua o ngā tamariki tokowhā a Īhakara rāua ko Riripeti. Whānau mai ana a Ike, ka hūnuku tōna whānau ki Kohupātiki. I noho ake nei a Īhakara ki reira ā mate noa.

Ahakoa te haere a Ike, arā ko Īhakara Rāpana te tuatoru, ki te kura tuatahi, he tauira whakawhēuaua nei ia. I te ekenga o ōna tau ki te tekau mā rima, papau ana te rere hei kaitaraiwa kaiaka mīhini mā George Donnelly o Ahuriri (Napier). I te tau o muri mai haere atu ana ia i te taha o tana pāpā kutikuti hipi ai i te teihana o Te Mata o te whānau nei, o ngā Chambers. He huhua ngā mahi i mahia e Īhakara i tēnei o ngā teihana hipi nui i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay). Nā te werawera o te rae, i tere pakauauatia te tinana o te taiohi tipua nei. Inā anō te nui – tekau mā whitu tōne te taumaha, neke atu i te ono putu te roa. E rua tekau tau te pakeke ka tīmata tana kutikuti hipi. I te tau tuatahi, eke atu ana ki te 150 te nui o ngā hipi i oti i a ia te kuti i te rā kotahi. Ēngari i te tau o muri mai ka piki ki te 200, ā, taka noa ki te tau tuatoru, kua riro kē i a ia te īngoa 'toa kuti hipi', e 300 ngā hipi i oti i a ia te kuti i te rā kotahi.

I muri iho ka wehe atu a Īhakara i Te Mata haere rawa atu ki Whanganui, ki Turakina rānei mahi ai mā ngā kaikānataraki kutikuti. I te teihana o Mangaōhane i Taihape, 358 te nui o ngā hipi i kutia e ia, e 8 hāora 20 meneti ka oti i a ia. Otirā ka mutu mai i konei te nui o ngā hipi i kutia e ia i te rā kotahi. Mau tonu tana whakauruuru haere ki ngā whakataetae kuti hipi a te rōpū mahi pāmu o Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society). I tana tau i tino toa ai ia, e whitu ana toanga tuatahi, e toru i tuarua, kotahi te mea tuatoru.

Kāore i roa kua riro kē a Īhakara hei rangatira kaikānataraki kutikuti. I te pai o tāna whakahaere i tana rōpū kutikuti hipi, kāore i roa he whāia haere tonutia te mahi a tāna rōpū mai i te rohe o Te Matau-a-Māui, haere atu i Te Wairarapa, tae noa ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Nā konei, i hari nui ai te hunga o ngā teihana maha kia tae ake rātou ki te mahi. Ahakoa he tangata hoahoa ngāwari tōna āhua, he tangata tino whakapono hoki. Me tūpato tonu ngā kaimahi i ngā wā katoa, kia kaua rawa e poro hīanga. Ahakoa tērā, pārekareka ana ki a rātou te waiata me te puoro.

I te wā i eke ia ki te taumata o āna mahi kānataraki, neke atu i te 100 āna kaimahi. Ko ia ki te hoatu mahi, whakaruruhau hoki i ngā taitamariki Māori kore kāinga. Nā ēnei mahi whāia mai ana ia e ngā tari toko i te ora o Ahuriri me te tāone o Heretaunga (Hastings). Nāna anō hoki ētahi rōpū mahi e wātea ana hei kaimahi noa i runga pāmu. Nā te ara haere ake o ngā mahi patu mīti i Whakatū me Tomoana ka mimiti haere āna mahi kuti hipi. Inarā kua whai kē āna kaimahi i te tīni mīti, mahue atu ana te papa kuti hipi.

Ko te wahine tuatahi a Īhakara Rāpana ko Māta Kato; tokorua ā rāua tamariki, ā, e kōhungahunga tonu ana te tokorua nei ka mate rāua. Ka mate te whaea i te tau 1917. Nō te 27 o Mei i te tau 1918 i moe ai a Īhakara rāua ko Mei Pere i Kohupātiki. Ka puta ā rāua tamariki, tokorima ngā mea tāne, kotahi te mea wahine. He tamaiti tāne anō tā Īhakara rāua ko Mare Hape. I Tanewaka (Dannevirke) i te rohe o Tāmakinui-a-Rua tēnei o ngā tama e whāngaitia ana. Tokorua anō hoki ngā tamariki whāngai a Īhakara i tua atu i āna ake. He rōpū kuti hipi anō hoki wā Mei. Ko āna teihana i mahi haere ai ko ērā kei te taha rāwhiti o te takutai moana, haere atu i Haumoana ki Te Tūtae-o-Maahu (Clifton), ahu whakaroto mai ki Taihape.

He tangata kaha a Īhakara ki te whakataetae i ngā rā hākinakina o Karetōnia (Caledonia). I tētahi o aua rā whakataetae i Ahuriri, whakataetaetia ana e ia te whiu pōro maitai, te whiu hama, te whiu pou, te hūpeke teitei, te kukume taura, me ngā momo whātōtō e rua. Toa atu hoki ia i te nuinga o aua whakataetae, e £26 te moni paraihe i whiwhi ia. Ahakoa te pakari o te tinana, nō te taenga ki ngā whakamātautau hauora kia uru atu ai ki te Ope Taua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Expeditionary Force), kei raro e putu ana; nā te papatahi o ōna waewae i kore ai i whiriwhiritia. Kātahi te mate nui i pā ki a ia, ā mate noa ia.

Nā ngā mahi whātōtō i tino puta ai te rongo nui o Īhakara Rāpana, arā, i te mārohirohi me te rite o te hanga o tōna tinana ki te taura wepu. I Ākuhata o te tau 1924 ka hinga i a ia te toa o Te Waipounamu, ā, ka noho ko ia te toa o te motu. I te tau 1926, i Poipiripi (Melbourne), papahoro ana i a ia a Clarence Weber, te toa taumahamaha o Ahitereiria. Kia kore ia e whara, e mōrearea noa, koropiko rawa a Īhakara ki te Runga Rawa. Nā tona tere me tōna mārohirohi e toru noa ngā rāuna ka hinga i a ia tana kaitauwhāinga. I te hokinga mai ki Ahuriri ka whakawhiwhia ki te mētera kōura hei tohu i tōna toa. Inarā, koirā rā te kōrero. I te kaha hau o tōna rongo, ka hangā he waea tereina mahi taiapa, āraitia ana hoki, tapaina ana ko te 'Kākati a Ike' (Ike Grip).

Ko Īhakara te toa whātōtō tuatahi o Aotearoa, ēngari moumou ana i te mea he mahi tauhou tonu taua mahi ki tēnei motu. Tino tokoiti nei ngā tāngata o tōna taumata hei whakamātau i a ia, ēngari ahakoa ko wai te toa o tāwāhi whakapātaritaritia ana e Īhakara. Kore rawa ia e koropiko ahakoa ko wai te toa, kia tae rawa mai ko te toa rā ko Stanislaus Zbyszko, he Pourihi–Iukereiniana, he tūmārō te hanga, ā, he toa nō te ao i mua tata atu. I te whawhai tuatahi ka hinga a Īhakara i runga i ngā kaute, i te whawhai tuarua i ōrite, ā, i te mea tuatoru kei raro anō a Ihakara, kotahi te hinganga i mate ai ia, ka rahua. I ngā rauna 22 o te whātōtō, e rua noa ōna hinganga i whakaae atu ai ia, ae, kua hinga, kotahi noa te hinganga i riro i a ia. E ai ki a Zbyszko, he tokoiti noa ngā kaiwhātōtō pērā te kaha o te tinana o tō Ihakara, me tana kī anō me ka āta akona ana a Īhakara mō ngā marama e rua, ka noho ia hei toa mō te ao. E hia kē nei te roa o te mutunga mai i ngā mahi whātōtō a Ihakara, kua hē kē te tinana i te rūmātiki me te mate kaikōiwi, e taetae tonu ake ana ngā toa whātōtō o te ao ki tōna kāinga ki te mihi ki a ia.

I te tau 1911, kua noho a Īhakara hei reimana kaipānui mō te Hāhi Mihinare. Tata tonu ki te 60 tau tana roa ki tēnei tūranga. I ēnei tau, tokorua ngā pīhopa Māori – ngā mea tuatahi tonu – i whakahoahoa ai ia, i noho ai hoki ko ia hei kaitohutohu. I tua atu i ēnei, ka mahi ia i raro i ētahi minita rongonui o te Hāhi. He maha ōna karangatanga hei whakakī whārua ina tūpono ngā minita he mahi kē a rātou. Ki te whakatōngā te minita, ka riro mā Īhakara e tīmata te karakia. Ka tae mai te minita, kua whakamahia e Īhakara kia tīmata ngā karakia i te wāhi tika, arā i te tīmatanga anō. Kore hoki e hapa tana karakia ahiahi, kotahi hāora te roa, i tōna kāinga. I tētahi wā, i te kaha o tōna tapatahi ki tana kauhau, ka wareware i a ia kotahi anake te hipi o tana whakaminenga e whakarongo ana ki a ia – ko tana kurī noa, ko Hui Tōpū.

E hia hoki ngā hui a te Hāhi i tū tōtika ai i ngā koha ake a Īhakara. He hoatu tonu tana mahi i te mīti, i te hua whenua, i te waka heri tangata, aha atu hoki. He rite tonu hoki tana haere i te taha o tōna tino hoa, o Pīhopa Pererika Pēneti (Frederick Bennett), ki te tautoko i āna mahi puta noa i te motu. Ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā kaiwhakatū, pou hoki o te tira waiata Māori o Heretaunga (Heretaunga Māori Choir), ā, pau katoa i a rātou Te Ika-a-Māui te haere. Uruuru tonu te mahi a taua rōpū waiata ki roto i ngā whakataetae tira waiata i ngā hui nui.

Taunga noa ana a Īhakara hei kanohi takawaenga. He mea nui ki a ia tana pāpānga ki a Te Puea Hērangi; ko tētahi o ōna tino hoa ko Tā Turi Kara (Carroll). Ko Īhakara Rāpana hoki te māngai o ngā iwi o Heretaunga i ngā haerenga mai o ngā kāwai roera. He hoa tuhituhi nōna ngā kāwana tianara, ngā pirimia, ā, riro tonu nāna i manaaki ngā rōpū whakangahau pērā i te whānau kaiwaiata Trapp (Trapp Family Singers) i Kohupātiki. I whai hoki a Īhakara i ngā whakaaro o Apirana Ngata me te Rōpū Taitamariki Māori (Young Māori Party), ā, wātea ana tōna kāinga i Kohupātiki hei nohoanga mō ngā taitama tāne o te Kāreti o Te Aute me ngā kōtiro o Hukarere. Kātahi tonu te mea whakahīhī rawa atu ai a Īhakara ko te rironga o tana mokopuna, o Maisie hei tauira mō te whakapakoko o Pānia e tū mai rā i Marine Parade i Ahuriri.

He tangata whaikōrero a Īhakara i ngā huihuinga, ahakoa pāngia ana ia e te rūmātiki ka pakeke nei ia. Taro rawa, nā tēnei mate ka oke i tana moenga; i te weranga o tana rūma moe, nā tana mokopuna tāne i ora ai. Nō te 21 o Hune i te tau 1968 i mate ai a Īhakara Rāpana i tana kāinga i Kohupātiki, ka mahue iho ko tana hoa wahine me ā rāua tamariki, tokotoru ngā mea tāne, kotahi te mea wahine. He tangata i whakaaro nuitia e tōna iwi o Kohupātiki, e waiata tonu nei rātou i tana waiata 'Tuku whakarererere'.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Matthew Bennett. 'Robin, Īhakara Te Tuku', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4r24/robin-ihakara-te-tuku (accessed 29 March 2024)