Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Smyth, Patrick
1893–1954
Nō Ngā Puhi; he kaiwhakaako, he tumuaki kura, he kaihāpai akoranga
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Steven Oliver, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Nō te 21 o Oketopa o te tau 1893 i whānau ai a Pātariki (Patrick) Smyth i Pungaere, i Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands). Ko te tamaiti tuaiwa ia o ngā tamariki mōrehu a Patrick Francis Smyth rāua ko tana wahine, ko Katherine Mangu Wheoki, tekau mā tahi nei rātou. I whānau tōna matua ki Airana, ā, he tangata ahu whenua nei tana mahi. Nō Waihou, wāhi o Te Hokianga, te whaea o Pātariki; he wahine rangatira ia ki roto i a Ngāpuhi. Ahakoa he Māori tūturu ia, noho kē ana ko te reo Ingarihi anake te reo kōrero i te kāinga o te whānau nei.
Ka eke ōna tau ki te 16, ka mahue i a Pātariki te kāinga mōriroriro nei o Pungaere ki te haere ki Tīpene (St Stephen's Native Boys' School) i Panēra (Parnell), i Ākarana (Auckland). Kīhai ia i tino mōhio ki ngā āhuatanga o te noho tāone, ā, i tētahi wā i a ia i runga i te taramu, tarapeke atu ana ia ki tērā taha o te ararua, he pōhēhē nōna e rere tika tonu mai ana he pou raiti ki te karawhiu i a ia. He tauira pukumahi ia i Tīpene, ā, whakatūria ana ia hei tauira tuakana ka mutu nei te wāhanga tuatahi o te tau kura. Nō te tau 1910 i tū ai ia hei haihana kara mō ngā tauira hōia, ā, whakaritea ana ko ia te taitama matua me te tauira tino mōhio hoki o te kura. Nō muri i tana putanga i te whakamātautau mō te tari kāwanatanga, ka noho nei ia i ngā tau 1911 ki 1912 hei kaiwhakaako–tauira ki te kura o Te Tītūtahi (Newmarket School).
Ahakoa te whēuaua, whakawherea ana ia e te tumuaki o Tīpene, e Arapeta Wirihana (Albert Wilson), kia hoki mai ki te kura hei kaiwhakaako iti; ko te utu i meinga atu e Wirihana māna ko £30 mō ia wāhanga o te tau kura, me tana noho kore utu hoki i tōna wāhi noho. Nā konā ia i mate ai, nā te mea me ako rawa ia i te reo Māori, kātahi anō ka taea e ia te whakaako te reo Ingarihi ki ngā taitama Māori. Ahakoa he paku mōhio nei tōna ki te reo Māori i a ia e taiohi ana i Pungaere, i taua wā kore rawa ia i hiahia ki te whakatata atu ki te Māori. I a ia e tamariki ana he horoi tonu tana mahi i tōna kanohi kia kiritea kē ai, ā, nō muri i tana taenga atu ki Ākarana, whakawhiti kē ana ia i te tiriti tē whakapā kau kē atu ai ki ngā taikuia Māori e taki noho ana i te ara hīkoi. Heoi, nā āna mahi whakaako i tipu ai tōna hiahia ki te reo Māori, ki ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā tikanga anō hoki a te Māori.
Nō te 5 o Pēpuere 1916, i Ākarana, i moea ai e Pātariki a Marion Cooper, he wahine tuitui kaka. I ngā tau i whakatipu mai ai rāua i tā rāua whānau – tokotoru ngā tama, tokorua ngā tamāhine – i haere a Pātariki ki te Kāreti o te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki-makau-rau (Auckland University College). Nō te tau 1934 i riro mai i a ia tana tohu paetahi BA. I aua tau nei, he mema ngangahau ia nō te Rōpū Māori o Ākarana (Te Ākarana Māori Association), noho hēkeretari atu hoki mā te rōpū nei i te tau 1927 ki te tau 1931. Nō te tau 1930 i tāia e ia tētahi pukapuka whakaako, he mea karanga ko Māori pronunciation, ā, i te Kāreti o te Whare Wānanga tukua ana e ia tana kauwhau tūmatanui, e mau tonu ai te reo Māori me te hiahia hoki o te whakahua tōtika i ngā īngoa takiwā. Nō te tau o muri mai, i nekehia te kura o Tīpene ki Pukewhau (Bombay), whaka-te-tonga o Tāmaki-makau-rau, he pāmu nei tā te kura i reira. Taihoa ake, rīhitia ana e Pātariki te whenua nei hei whakahaere wānanga ahu māra mā te kura, ahakoa tāna i mea ai, ehara ia i te tangata ahu whenua.
Eke ana ki te tau 1936, kua noho kē ia hei māhita āwhina matua, hei kaingārahu mō te tira o ngā tauira hōia, hei kaiwhakaako taka porepore, hei māhita tākaro anō hoki. Nō te tau 1939 i tuhia e ia tana pukapuka tuarua, ko Te reo Māori, uru atu ana hoki ki te komiti e whakarite ana i te hui a ngā Rangatahi Māori (Young Māori Conference) i Ākarana. Ka eke nei ki te tau 1942, katia ana te kura o Tīpene kia riro ai i te Poari Hōhipera o Ākarana hei hōhipera tāpiri. Haere kē ana te nuinga o ngā taitama ki Te Aute kura ai, ā, uru atu ana a Pātariki ki te ope hōia. Nā te mea he taipakeke rawa ia mō te haere ki tāwāhi, noho kē ana ia hei rangatira mō te puni hōia Māori ki te ope tautiaki i te haukāinga (Home Guard) i Kamo.
Nō Pēpuere o te tau 1947 i tuwhera anō te kura o Tīpene, 26 ngā taitama i te kura. Whakatūria ana a Pātariki hei tumuaki whakakapi, ā, nō te tau 1948 i tumuaki tūturu ai ia. Hei whakanui ake i te kaute o ngā tamariki i te kura, he mea whakaputa e ia tētahi pukapuka pānui hei whakaatu i ngā nūpepa, me tana huri haere anō hoki ki te kimi tamariki kura i Waikato, i te takiwā o Te Moana-a-Toi-te-huatahi (Bay of Plenty), me Te Tai Tokerau. Eke ana ki te tau 1952, kua eke kē te nui o ngā tamariki o te kura ki te 100. Heoi anō, nā te raruraru o te kore e whai moni, nō te tau 1953 i whakapikihia te utu mō ia tauira atu i te £75 ki te £135. Nā konā, i tere heke ai te kaute o ngā tauira a te kura.
I ngā tau i noho ai a Pātariki Smyth i te tūranga tumuaki nei, i whai tonu ia i te kaupapa, mā tōna kaha tonu te kura e pū tonu ai, arā, ka riro nei mā ngā tamariki tonu te mahi tiaki whare, mahi kāri hoki. Ko tāna tikanga raupapa hei whakahaere māna i ngā tauira he pākaha, pērā tonu i te raupapa whakahaere hōia. Tokorua ngā kaiwhakaako āwhina o te kura, ā, 37 ngā wāhanga karaehe ia wiki i riro nāna i whakaako. Āpiti atu ki ēnei mahi, tērā atu anō āna mahi pērā i te whakahaere i te pūtea ākonga mō te pakanga me te tiaki niho, i te takuhe toko i te ora noho whare, whakawhiwhi kākahu, tae atu ki ngā mahi tiaki i te kura. Āwhinatia ana ia e tana hoa wahine ki te mahi i te kīhini, i te whare horoi me te whare tūroro. E rua ōna haerenga i te wiki ki te Kāreti o te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki-makau-rau ki te kauwhau i te akoranga Māori. Heoi anō, nā te taumaha rawa o ngā mahi nāna i waha i pāngia a ia e te mate i te tau 1950. Ahakoa i meatia atu me tāoki tūturu ia, nō tana putanga mai i te hōhipera ka tīmata anō tana mahi. Nō Hānuere o te tau 1954, i meatia ia e te poari o te kura me tuku i tōna tūranga, ā, nō taua tau tonu i mate ia ki Ākarana i te 29 o Mei. Mahue mai ana ko tana wahine me ā rāua tamariki.
Ka mutu nei tana ākiri o mua rā ki tana taha Māori, ka puta a Pātariki Smyth hei tino kaihāpai Māori i te mātauranga. Ahakoa rā, i puta tonu ana whakahē mō tōna iwi. I tāna pūrongo o te tau 1949, ka kī ia he nui rawa ngā Māori e awhero noa ana, ka mahue te mahi pau kē ana ngā kaha ki te kōrero. I tua atu i tēnā he tokomaha rawa ngā tamariki kāore e tika ana te whāngaia. Heoi anō, ka noho ake nei ko āna pukapuka pānui hei tino taonga whakaako i te reo Māori.