Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Tāhiwi, Pirimi Pererika
1890–1969
Nō Ngāti Raukawa, nō Ngāti Whakaue; he kaiwhakaako, he kaitākaro whutupaoro, he hōia, he kaiwhakatangitangi, he kaiārahi hapori
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Rupene M. T. Waaka, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau a Pirimi Pererika Tāhiwi i te 16 o Hepetema 1890 i Ōtaki. Ko Rāwiri Rota Tāhiwi te īngoa o tōna pāpā. Nō te hapū o Ngāti Maiōtaki o Ngāti Raukawa a Rāwiri, ā, he āteha tāna mahi i te Kōti Whenua Māori. Nō ngā iwi o Ngāti Whakaue, o Ngāti Pūkākī, o Ngāti Tahu me Ngāti Whaoa o Te Arawa tōna whaea a Keita Koa, ā, ko ōna īngoa anō ko Kapu Meaha, ko Keita Pera. Ko Pirimi tētehi o ngā tamariki o te mārena tuarua o tōna pāpā, ā, he tuahine pakeke ake tōna o te moe wahine tuatahitanga a tōna pāpā. Kāti, ko tētehi anō o ōna tuākana ko te tangata rongonui tonu nei, ko Kīngi Te Ahoaho Tāhiwi, arā, he kaiwhakamārama kaiwhiringa reo, kaiwhakatangitangi rā ia.
I tonoa a Pirimi ki te kura kāwanatanga i Ōtaki, ki te Kāreti Māori o Ōtaki (Ōtaki Native College) me te Kāreti o Te Aute. Ka mutu mai tana haere ki te kāreti takiura (Teachers' Training College) i Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) ko tana hokinga atu tēnā hei kaiwhakaako ki te Kāreti Māori o Ōtaki, noho tonu ai i te kura. He tangata kaingākau a Pirimi ki ngā mahi tākaro. Atu i te tau 1901 ki 1912 tana roa e purei ana mō te uniana whutupaoro o Horowhenua (Horowhenua Rugby Football Union), ā, nō te tau 1913, i uru ia ki te tino tīma whutupaoro Māori (Māori All Blacks). Āpiti atu ki tēnā he tangata purei korowha, purei tēnehi a Pirimi.
Nō te marama o Mei o te tau 1911 te whakaurunga atu o Pirimi hei hōia ki te ope hōia ā-rohe (Territorial Force), arā, ki te rangipū hōia tuawhitu o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, o Te Tai Hauāuru, arā, te 7th (Wellington West Coast) Regiment. I te marama o Ākuhata 1914 ka whakatūria ia hei haihana, ā, i te paunga atu o te marama o muri mai kua noho kē mai ia hei rūtene tuarua. I te pakarutanga mai o te Pakanga Tuatahi ko tana hainatanga tēnā ki te haere ki te whawhai mō te Taua Māori (Māori Contingent) o te Ope Taua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Expeditionary Force). Nō te marama o Pēpuere 1915 i tae atu tō rātou ope taua ki Merita (Malta), he noho tautiaki te mahi. Nō te marama o Āperira i whakakakea a Pirimi hei kāpene.
Nō te marama o Hune o te tau 1915 i tere atu ai te Ope Taua Māori ki Karipori (Gallipoli). I te pakanga o Sari Bair i te 6 o Ākuhata ka riro nā Kāpene Roger Dansey rāua ko Tāhiwi i hautū te Kamupene A. Ka tīmata te kōkiri, karawhiua ana e rātou te haka a Te Rauparaha, a 'Ka mate, ka mate'. Karawhiua ana hoki te whakawāteatea atu i te hoariri, i ngā Tāke i ō rātou kōruarua. Nō te rangi o muri mai i taotū ai a Pirimi. Ka kino kē nei te whara o tana kakī, haria atu ana ki te hōhipera i Ingarangi whakaoratia ai. I a ia e whakaora ana ka tae atu te pōwhiri a te māngai kāwanatanga o Niu Tīreni ki a ia, me ētehi anō o rātou e hōhiperatia ana kia riro mā rātou e kawe atu ngā mihi o Aotearoa, whakanui nei i te rā whānau o Pirinihi Mere (Mary). I te whakatūtū tuatahi i whakahaerea hei whakanui i te Rā Whakamahara ki ngā Hōia o Ahitereiria me Aotearoa (Anzac Day) i Rānana i Āperira o 1916, riro ana nā Pirimi i tātaki te kāhui hōia o Niu Tīreni.
Nō te marama o Noema o te tau 1916 ka hoki mai a Pirimi ki Niu Tīreni ki te whakaako i ngā hōia tānga Māori. Nō te marama o Hūrae o 1917 ka hoki anō ia ki tāwāhi, rātou ko te Tānga Rua Tekau (20th Reinforcements) o te Taua Māori, ā, tae atu ana ki Ingarangi i te marama o Hepetema. I te marama o muri mai ka uru atu ia ki te Rōpū Māori (Paionia) o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Māori (Pioneer) Battalion) kua tae kē atu rā ki Parani. Mai i Maehe ki Hepetema o 1918 te wā i noho ai a Tāhiwi hei āpiha whakahaere i ngā rōpū paionia Māori (Māori Pioneer Details) o te kōpapa tuarua mō ngā kaipūkaha o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Engineer Reserve Depot) i Dorset kei Ingarangi. Ka mutu tana mahi i konei ka hoki atu ia ki te hokowhitu Māori i Parani, ā, nō te marama o Tīhema ka riro i a ia te whakahaere o te Kamupene D.
Nō te marama o Āperira o te tau 1919 i hoki mai ai te hokowhitu Māori ki Aotearoa, ā, nō te marama i muri mai i whakamutua ai te mahi hōia a Tāhiwi. Ahakoa rā i whai wāhi haere tonu ia ki ngā mahi a te ope hōia ā-rohe, ā, i te tau 1929 whakawhiwhia ana ia ki te tohu toa mō ngā āpiha o ngā ope tāpiri o ngā koroni (Colonial Auxilliary Forces Officers' Decoration.) I te hokinga atu o Pirimi ki tana mahi whakaakoranga i te Kāreti Māori o Ōtaki, ka tīmata anō tana tākaro whutupaoro, ā, nō te tau 1924 i purei ia mō te tīma o Manawatū–Horowhenua. I te tau 1927 ka noho ia hei mema kōkuhu i runga i te komiti o te karapu kauhauora o Ōtaki (Ōtaki Surf Lifesaving Club).
Ko tētehi mahi pai anō a Pirimi ko te mahi puoro. Otirā i te tau 1915 riro ana nāna i whakatū te pēne o te Taua Māori, ā, noho ana ko tērā o rāua, ko Kāpara Hēnare Tāhiwi hei kaiwhakatangi piukara. Atu i te tau 1921 ki 1924 he mema a Pirimi nō te rōpū waiata tira o Ōtaki (Ōtaki Choral Society), ā, i te tau 1923 he mema anō hoki ia nō te komiti, hei kaiwhakatangitangi anō hoki mō te pēne parāhi Māori o Ōtaki (Ōtaki Māori Brass Band). He tino tau rawa atu a Pirimi ki te whakatangi hero, ā, ka rua nei ngā whiti o te waiata 'E noho e Korokī' nāna tonu i tito. E iwa ngā rekoata o te waiata nei nā ōna tuāhine, nā Ria rāua ko Weno, me tō rāua tungāne, me Hēnare i mahi mai i Ahitereiria i te tau 1927.
Nō te marama o Hānuere o te tau 1920 i whai raihana a Tāhiwi hei kaiwhakamārama reo o te tohu tuatahi. Nō te marama o Hūrae 1928 i whakatūria a ia hei mema mō te Kaunihera o Raukawa (Raukawa Māori Council), ā, e rua tekau tau tana roa ki tēnei tūranga. Nō te tau 1936 i whakaurua atu ia ki te rōpū kaitiaki marae o Raukawa hei kanohi mō Ngāti Maiōtaki. I te katinga o te Kāreti Māori o Ōtaki i 1939 ko te whakatānga tēnei a Pirimi i te mahi whakaako, ā, whakawhiwhia ana ia e te poari kaitiaki o te kāreti o Porirua ki tētehi utu whakatānga māna.
I te pakarutanga mai o te Pakanga Tuarua ka whakatūao anō ia ki te haere ki te whawhai. Ina koa rā nō te marama o Noema 1939 tana kuhunga atu ki te puni hōia i Māwaihākona (Trentham Military Camp) ka whakanōhia hei āpiha āwhina mō te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion). I te marama o Mei 1940 ka riro atu ia ki roto ki te rōpū taupua o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Temporary Staff), he kāpene nei tōna tūranga. I muri mai ka whakatūria atu a ia hei kaingārahu kamupene mō te hokowhitu whakawai (Training Battalion) i te puni hōia i Papakura (Papakura Military Camp). I te takahanga mai ki te marama o Ākuhata 1943 ka meinga atu ia ki runga i te rārangi whakatānga.
Nō te 19 o Hune o te tau 1943 i moe ai a Pirimi i a Mairatea Pitt-Pōrutu o Te Āti Awa i te whare karakia o Rangiātea i Ōtaki, ā, horahia ana te kai kōtore i runga i te marae o Raukawa. Ka neke nei rāua ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara noho ai, ka whai mahi a Pirimi i te tari matua o te Hōhipera o Pōneke (Wellington Hospital), ā, nō te tau 1958 i whakatā ai. I ngā tau o taua wā e hia kē nei ngā rōpū hapori he mea hihiri e ia: inarā, noho ake ana ia hei tiamana mō te komiti ā-iwi o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Tribal Committee), ā, hei mema anō hoki mō te Karapu mō ngā Rangatahi Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club). I kō atu i tēnā riro ana i a ia te nuinga o ngā tūranga whakahaere o te mīhana mō ngā Māori Mihinare o Pōneke, ā, ko ia anō hoki te hēkeretari a te peka ā-rohe o te Rōpū Nāhinara o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand National Party). I meinga anō hoki ia hei āpiha Māori toko i te ora, arā, he tūranga whakahōnore. Ka taka mai ki te marama o Maehe 1957 ka whakanōhia ia hei kaiwhakawā tūmatanui. I te marama o Noema 1958 ka whakatūria ia hei tiamana mō te karapu Māori o te Tōpūtanga i ngā Rōpū Whakarite Mātauranga mō te Hunga Mahi (WEA). Ko tētehi mahi atu anō a Tāhiwi i tēnei wā he whakaako i te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori. Kāti koa, mō te taha ki tana hoa rangatira, hau ana te rongo mō āna mahi i roto i te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora (Māori Women's Welfare League).
I te tau 1965 ka riro nā te rōpū mō ngā pāraeroa o Aotearoa (New Zealand Returned Services' Association) me tōna rōpū hoa o Ahitereiria i whakatū te hākari whakanui i te ūnga atu ki Karipori, ka 50 tau kē nei te horinga atu. Ko Tāhiwi anake te āpiha mōrehu e ora ana, ā, i haere rawa rāua ko tana hoa ki Karipori, hari atu ai i te mere a te Whare Taonga o te Tominiona (Dominion Museum) hei whakatakoto māna ki runga i te whakamaharatanga ki ngā hōia i Chunuk Bair. Nō te 30 o Hūrae o te tau 1969 i mate ai a Pirimi Tāhiwi i Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Mahue mai ana ko tana wahine, ko tana kotahi, kāore hoki ā rāua tamariki. Ka mutu te karakia i te whare karakia matua o Pāora (St Paul's Cathedral), ko te terenga atu tēnā o ngā waka ki te raki, hari atu i a ia ki te marae o Raukawa. Kei te urupā o Rangiātea kei Ōtaki a Pirimi Tāhiwi e tāpuke ana.