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Bennett, Charles Moihi Te Arawaka

by Angela Ballara

Biography

I whānau mai a Charles Moihi Te Arawaka Bennett (Taare Pēneti) i te 27 o Hūrae o te tau 1913, ko ia tētehi o ngā tamariki tekau mā iwa a Pererika Ākuhata Pēneti (Frederick Augustus Bennett) rāua ko tana wahine tuarua, ko Arihia Ngārangioue (Rangioue) Hēmana (Pōkiha rānei). Nō Ngāti Whakaue, nō Te Arawa, a Pererika Pēneti. He minita Mihingare a ia, ā, i te whānautanga o Taare, ko ia te kaiwhakahaere o te Mīhana Māori i Rotorua. Nō muri mai, i whakatūria ko ia te Pīhopa Māori tuatahi o Aotearoa mō te Hāhi Mihingare. Hei tamāhine a Arihia Hēmana mā Hēmana Pōkiha, ā, he uri hikahika matua nō mai i a Mokonuiārangi, arā, he rangatira nui nō Te Arawa i te tīmatanga o te rau tau tekau mā iwa. Nō Te Pōkiha Taranui (Meiha Fox rānei) mai anō hoki a Hēmana, he rangatira nō Ngāti Pikiao, he tino kaitautāwhi ia nā te kāwanatanga i ngā pakanga o Aotearoa.

E ono marama te pakeke o Taare, ka tukuna atu a ia ki ōna tīpuna i Maketū, whakatipu ai. I noho a ia i te taha o tōna tipuna koroua, tipuna kuia, ā tekau mā toru tau tōna pakeke, ā, ka noho ko te reo Māori tonu tōna reo tuatahi. I kuraina ia ki te kura tuatahi o Maketū, ā, nō muri mai, i hoki ia ki ōna mātua i Kohupātiki, arā, i te wāhi e minita ana tōna matua. Riro mai ana i a Pēneti tētehi karahipi hei hari i a ia ki te Kāreti o Te Aute, ā, i reira i noho ia hei tauira taiea, tauira tuakana matua, ka toa kē hoki ia ki te tākaro whutupaoro. Ka mutu, ka haere ia ki te kāreti o te whare wānanga o Waitaha (Canterbury University College), ā, oti atu ana i a ia tana tohu paetahi i te tau 1936, i a ia e ako ana i ngā mahi a te kura māhita i te kāreti takiura o Ōtautahi (Christchurch Teachers’ Training College). Nō taua tau tonu, i uru atu ia ki roto i te tīma whutupaoro Māori o Te Wai Pounamu. I te tau o muri mai, i tīmata tana whakaako tamariki i te kura tuatahi o Mangateretere, ēngari nō te tau 1938, i tīkina atu a ia hei kaipāho mō te Tari o te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa (New Zealand Broadcasting Service). Kia rongo ai ōna tīpuna i a ia e pāho ana, he mea hoatu e ia tā rāua waerehe tuatahi. Ka rongo tana kuia i te reo o tana mokopuna i te waerehe, ka tīmata te kōrerorero atu o te kuia rā ki a ia, ā, kāore i ārikarika tana mahi pērā haere tonu.

Nō te pakarutanga mai o te Pakanga Tuarua i te tau 1939, i uru atu a Pēneti ki te ope hōia, arā he hōia tōna tūranga; kāore i roa i muri mai, ka whakawhitia atu a ia ki te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) (28th (Māori) Battalion), arā, te hokowhitu Māori, kātahi anō ka whakatūria. Kuraina ana ia hei āpiha i te puni hōia i Māwaihākona (Trentham Military Camp), ā, ka rere atu nei ia ki tāwāhi i Mei o te tau 1940 hei rūtene tuarua mō Kamupene B. I a ia e whawhai ana i Kariki (Greece) me Kariti (Crete) ko ia nei tētehi o te rōpū mahi a Rūtene Kānara George Dittmer. I Kariki, i te wā kua noho kē ia hei rūtene, i meinga ko ia hei kaiārahi i tētahi ope rapu mōhio he hūhunu nei tā rātau mahi i te hoariri. Nui tonu te whakamahi i a ia hei tuku atu i ngā kōrero mā te waerehe e whakaatu ana i ngā nekeneke haere o te hokowhitu Māori, inarā he mea kōrero tonu i te reo Māori kia kore ai e mōhio te hoariri he aha aua kōrero rā. Ka taka mai ki Noema o te tau 1941, kua whakanōhia kētia a Pēneti hei kāpene, hei koata-māhita hoki mō te hokowhitu Māori.

He taumauri nōna i ngā wā o te mōrearea, i maioha nuitia ai a Pēneti, ā, i te ekenga atu ki Oketopa o te tau 1942, kua riro kē i a ia te whakahaere o Kamupene B, he meiha tōna tūranga. I ngā rā tōmua o te marama o Noema, i te taotūtanga o ōna rangatira tokorua i a rātau e whawhai ana i Tel el Aqqakir, ka riro i a Pēneti te whakahaere o te hokowhitu Māori. Nō muri mai, i whakaūngia tana noho mai hei kaingārahu mō te hokowhitu, ā, whakatūngia ana a ia hei rūtene kānara; i taua wā, ko ia te mea tamariki rawa atu o ngā kaiārahi o ngā hokowhitu katoa o roto mai i te Ope Taua Tuarua o Aotearoa (Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force).

Nō Maehe o te tau 1943 i Tebaga Gap i Tunihia, i mua i te pakanga mārikatanga ki ngā io o ngā ope a Whīra Maihara Erwin Rommel, i tonoa atu e Pēneti a Meiha Arapeta Awatere rātau ko Kamupene C – ko Rūtene Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu tētehi – kia whakaekea e rātau te taumata tūtata mai – he mea tapa nei e te hokowhitu Māori ko Hikurangi – ā, kia mau tā rātau pupuri mai. Nō te rā o muri mai, i horo i a rātau te puke i kīia nei ko Taumata 209, ā, rua rau e toru tekau mā tahi ngā Tiamana i mau herehere i a rātau. Nā tēnei mahi āna, i whakawhiwhia a Taare Pēneti ki te tohu DSO, ā, tuhia ake ana e ia ngā kupu hautoa mō Ngārimu, ka mutu, ka whakawhiwhia murimatetia rā ia ki te tohu VC.

Nō Āperira, i tukua atu ki a Pēneti te mahi whakarau i a Takrouna me Djebel Berda. I te pakanga, hau ana te rongo o Haihana Iti Haane Manahi, ka pāhorotia e ia te tihi o Takrouna, me te mau atu hoki o tana pupuri. E rua ngā taupaepae a te hoariri i whakahokia e ia, ā, nā ēnei mahi āna i whakawhiwhia a Manahi ki te tohu DCM. Heoi anō, nō te pekenga atu o Pēneti ki tērā taha o tētehi waea whakahīrau i tū kē ia ki runga i tētahi maina pouaka ā-rākau, ā, tino kino kē ana tana taotū. Whakahokia tūrorotia mai ana a Pēneti ki te kāinga, ka tata ki te toru tau tana roa i te hōhipera, e whakaora ana i a ia. Ā mate noa ia, noho hauā ake ana tana waewae i tana wharatanga, hīkoi haere ai ia me te mau tokotoko, pūtu hāparapara anō hoki.

Nō tana oranga mai, ka mahi a Pēneti ki raro i a Meiha Tianara Howard Kippenberger i te Puna Kōrero Tuku Iho mō te Pakanga (War History Branch) o te Tari Taiwhenua (Department of Internal Affairs), e tuhi ana i tētehi tuhinga hukihuki mō te hītori o te hokowhitu Māori. I noho tonu ia i te Tari Taiwhenua, ā, nō Hune o te tau 1947 i kāhititia ia hei kaiwhakamāori. Nō te10 o Oketopa, i Pōneke (Wellington), i moea e Pēneti a Elizabeth May Richardson (ko Steward tōna īngoa takakau). Tokorua ngā tamariki a Elizabeth mai i tana mārena tuatahi, ēngari hore kau ana ā rāua tamariki ko Pēneti.

I te tau 1949, i whakatūria a Pēneti hei tumuaki tuarua toko i te ora Māori o te Tari Māori (Department of Māori Affairs). Ka riro nāna i whakatikatika te kaupapa o te Wāhanga Toko i te Ora Māori (Māori Welfare Division). I meinga ko ia anō hoki hei mema mō te poari mō ngā whare herehere (Prisons Board) i ngā tau 1947 ki 1951, mō te kaunihera o te motu mō te ako pakeke (National Council for Adult Education) anō hoki atu i ngā tau 1947 ki 1953. I te tau 1952, i oti i a ia tētehi tītohu mātauranga, ā, i tirohia anō hoki e ia me pēhea te āwhina atu a te kura mō te pūtaiao hāpori (School of Social Science) o te kāreti o te whare wānanga o Wikitōria (Victoria University College) i te kaupapa mō te whakaakoranga o ngā āpiha toko i te ora Māori. Nō te tau 1955, ka oti i a ia tētehi tohu paerua mō te hītori; ko te kaupapa o tana tuhinga whakapae, ko te wāhi ki te hokowhitu Māori i te pāhoronga o te io o Mareth (‘An account of the Māori Battalion’s contribution to the capture of the Mareth line’). Ā, i taua tau tonu, i hoki atu ia ki Arameina (El Alamein) ki Īhipa, hei kanohi mō te hokowhitu Māori i te huranga o te whakamaumaharatanga o Arameina. I whai wāhi atu hoki ia ki ngā hui nui o taua tau e whiriwhiri nei i ngā mahi whakaako i te Māori, ā, nō muri mai nei ka whakatūria ko te Kaupapa Mātauranga mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Education Foundation) i te tau 1961.

Kāti, nō te tau 1956, i whakatūria ko Pēneti hei tumuaki mō te Wāhanga Toko i te Ora Māori, ēngari kāore i roa i muri mai i whakaaetia kia mutu tana mahi mō te rua tau, kia āhei ia te whakapiki ake i tōna umanga mātauranga. Ka riro mai nei i a ia tētehi karahipi i te tahua ngore whakamaumahara ki a Ngārimu VC me te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) (Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund), ko tana haerenga atu tēnā ki te whare wānanga o Oxford i Ingarangi, ki te whai i te tohu tākuta; ko te kaupapa o tana mahi, ko ngā raruraru e pokea nei te Māori i a ia e urutau ana i tana momo noho. Hore kau ana i oti i a ia tana tuhinga whakapae, ka whakaae kē nei ia ki te tono mai a te Pirimia, a Waata Naahi (Walter Nash) i Hepetema o te tau 1958, kia haere ia ki te Kotahitanga o Mareia (Federation of Malaya) – ā taihoa ake ko Marēhia (Malaysia) te īngoa – hei māngai kāwanatanga mō Aotearoa. Nō te marama o te Hānuere o muri mai i tīmata ia i tana mahi hou.

Ko Taare Pēneti tonu te Māori tuatahi i whakatūria hei ūpoko mīhana, hei māngai kāwanatanga mō Aotearoa. I te tuatahi, i rangirua tonu te whakaaro o Alister McIntosh, arā, o te hēkeretari a te Tari Manatū Āhuatanga Tāwahi (Department of External Affairs), mō te whakataunga a te rūnanga matua o te kāwanatanga; e ai ki tāna, kātahi kē te mahi rerekē rawa atu ki a ia ko tēnei. Ki tōna whakaaro anō, he kino kē atu te mahi whakatoihara a ngā iwi o Āhia, tēnā i ngā tāngata o Aotearoa, ā, kātahi kē te mahi whakaiti rawa i a rātau ko tēnei. Heoi anō, nā te mea i tuhia i ngā nūpepa o Mareia he kōrero mō tētehi o ngā tēina o Pēneti, he mea whakakāhore he inu māna i a ia i tētehi hōtēra i Aotearoa, kātahi anō ka whakamā a Pēneti ki te tikanga whakatoihara. Ahakoa tonu, kāore i kitea he tangata i tua atu i a Pēneti hei māngai mō Aotearoa. Matatau ana ia ki te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori, ā, he tangata mārire, huatau hoki. I te wā ko ia te kaingārahu o te hokowhitu Māori, i mahue i a ia te āhua o te taiohi hāngū, noho kē mai ana ko te tino rangatira ā-iwi. Inarā, ahakoa ko tēhea te taiwhanga i tomokia e ia, hōrapa ana i tōna ihi. I whakaae tonutia e ngā kaimahi a te kāwanatanga o Mareia, nō aua atu kē i kotahi ai tō rātau reo ki ngā reo o ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, ā, manakotia ana a Pēneti e te tini o te tangata i Kuala Lumpur. Noho tino hoa kau kē mai ana rāua ko te Pirimia o Mareia, ko Tunku Abdul Rahman, arā, ko ia tana hoa tākaro korowha, purei whakanuka kāri i ētehi rā mutunga wiki nei. Nāwai rā kua whai taringa kē a Pēneti ki ngā kōrero muna e pā ana ki ngā mahi tōrangapū o Mareia, ā, tata ana te whakamanuhiri i a ia, anō nei ko ia tonu te teina o te Tunku. Tino hiahia ana te kāwanatanga o Mareia kia whakanōhia anō a Pēneti hei māngai, ēngari kore rawa i whakaaetia e te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa.

Nō tōna hokinga mai ki Aotearoa i Mei o te tau 1963, ka noho a Pēneti hei hēkeretari tuarua i te Tari Māori. I tonoa e ia te tūranga o te hēkeretari o raro, ēngari i riro kē tēnei tūnga i a Jack Hunn. Ahakoa ko tana wāhi mahi i Pōneke, i whakanoho kētia e ia tana whānau ki Waikanae, he kāinga pai, kāinga tau kē nei tō rātau hei wāhi mō te manaaki manuhiri ā-kawanga. Kāore i mahue i a ia te āhua o te takawaenga kāwanatanga, ka mau tonu tana whakahaere hākari, whakatū mahi whakangahau, mahi inuinu mō ana hoamahi o mua me o nāianei hoki. I mau tonu i a ia ōna herenga ki Mareia, Marēhia rānei, arā, ki a Rahman me tōna whānau tonu, ā, i mau haere tonu te rere mai o ngā kāri me ngā koha i Marēhia ki Waikanae, atu i Waikanae ki Marēhia hoki.

Nō ngā rā tōmua tonu o te tau 1969 i whakatā iho ai a Pēneti i ngā mahi a te kāwanatanga. I taua tau tonu i neke atu ia i Waikanae ki Rotorua, ki te whakataetae i te tūru pōti o Rotorua mō te Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa. Ahakoa tana whakapiki ake i te pōti tautoko i te Rōpū Reipa, hinga ana a ia. Mai i te tau 1972 ki 1976 i noho ko ia hei perehitini mō taua rōpū. I te hokinga atu i te tau 1973 ki 1974, i noho ia ki te poari o ngā kura tuarua o Rotorua (Rotorua High Schools’ Board), ā, mai i te tau 1974 ki 1976 ko ia anō hoki i te poari tukuhere (Parole Board). I whakawhiwhia a ia ki te tohu tākuta hōnore e te whare wānanga o Waitaha (University of Canterbury) i te tau 1973, ā, nō te tau 1975 i ūhia a ia ki te taitara ‘Tā’.

Ka neke a Pēneti ki Maketū, ā, i muri mai ki Te Puke. Kāti, i te mutunga, noho mai ana ia i te kāinga whakatā i Maunganui, ēngari i haere tonu āna mahi mā te iwi. I te tau 1978, i whakatakotoria atu e rātau ko ētehi atu o ngā rangatira o Ngāti Pikiao tētehi kerēme ki te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi (Waitangi Tribunal), e tono ana kia whakakorehia te kaupapa, e mea ana ki te whakatakoto i tētehi paipa hei mau atu i ngā parapara katoa – he mea whaipai ake – i te pūnaha parakaingaki o Rotorua, ka tuku atu ai ki te awa o Kaituna. Whakahē ana a Pēneti rātau ko Ngāti Pikiao i tēnei mahi ki tō rātau awa, e rere mai ana ngā wai i ngā toronga whakarunga o tō rātau rohe. Ehara i te mea ko te hauora me te hapori anake tā rātau take i whakahē ai, ēngari ko te mea nui kē atu kia kaua e takahia te taha tikanga me te taha wairua o te awa. E hia tau kē i pau i a Pēneti e mahi ana i te kerēme nei, me tana whakatakoto atu hoki i ana whakaaturanga ki te aroaro o te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi. I whakaae te Rōpū Whakamana nei ki tana kerēme i te tau 1984, ā, noho ake ana tēnei whakataunga hei tauira nui mō ngā kerēme o muri mai e pā ana ki te mana o te Māori ki runga i ngā awa, me ōna mana hī ika. Nō mai i te tau 1993, i noho a Pēneti hei ūpoko mō te komiti i ngana nei ki te whakapiki ake i te tohu DCM i whakawhiwhia ki a Haane Manahi, ki tērā kē o te VC. Kāti, i te mutunga mai kore rawa i pahure i a rātau, ā, ki te whakaaro o Pēneti, kotahi anake te take i rahua ai tā rātau tono, he kore i whakaae nō ngā mana whakahaere hōia kia noho kia rua ngā Māori i whakawhiwhia ki te tohu VC. Nō te tau 1995, i tīmataria e Pēneti rātau ko ētehi atu o ngā kaiārahi o te ao Māori he rōpū Māori hou mō te motu, i te mutunga mai i mōhiotia ko te Whakakotahitanga o ngā Iwi o Aotearoa (Māori Congress).

Kawea ake anō hoki e Pēneti te tikanga hautū ranga wairua, tino mahi tūmatanui nā tōna matua i whakatū, e whāia nei e te maha noa o tōna whānau. Ko ērā atu anō hoki o ōna tuākana, tēina rānei ko te pīhopa o Aotearoa ko Manuhuia, ā, mō āna mahi whakahau i te mātauranga Māori me āna mahi i te kaupapa kōhanga reo ko Hoani (John) tērā i whakawhiwhia ki te taitara ‘Tā’; ko tētehi atu ko te rata mate hinengaro, ko Hēnare (Henry). I mate a Tā Taare Pēneti i Tauranga, i te 26 o Noema i te tau 1998. Mahue mai ana i a ia tana wahine, a Elizabeth, me āna tamariki tokorua, arā, ngā tamariki whāngai a Pēneti. I te wā o te tangihanga i Tamatekapua i Ōhinemutu, i tae atu ngā rangatira Māori me ngā kaiārahi Pākehā o te motu. I reira ka puta te kōrero a ngā ope wawao o Aotearoa (New Zealand Defence Forces), arā, hei tohu whakanui i a Pēneti ka whakarerekētia e rātau tā rātau tohu nei, i mua atu e rua ngā hoari e mau ā-rīpeka mai ana, ēngari mai i taua wā haere ake nei whakawhiti kē mai ana ko te hoari me te taiaha. I tanumia a Tā Taare Pēneti ki te urupā o Kauae, i Ngongotahā.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    ‘The life of Sir Charles Bennett’. Kia Hiwa Ra No 17 (March 1994)–No 29 (April 1995)

    Obit. Evening Post. 3 Dec. 1998: 5


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Angela Ballara. 'Bennett, Charles Moihi Te Arawaka', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5b23/bennett-charles-moihi-te-arawaka (accessed 29 March 2024)