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Kōrero: Grennell, Airini Ngā Roimata

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Grennell, Airini Ngā Roimata

1910–1988

Nō Ngāti Mutunga, nō Ngāti Tama, nō Ngāi Tahu; he kaiwaiata, he wahine purei piana, he kaiwhakapaoho

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Airini Payne, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. I whakahoutia i te o Mei, 2002. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Nō te 11 o Pēpuere o te tau 1910 i whānau ai a Airini Ngā Roimata Grennell, i Waitangi, i Wharekauri (Chatham Islands, arā, ko te īngoa Moriori ko Rēkohu). Ko ia te mātāmua o ngā tamariki tokorima a William Henry Grennell, he tangata mahi pāmu, hī ika nō Matarākau kei te taha whaka-te-raki o te moutere matua. Kō Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāti Tama ōna iwi, ā, he taha Airihi, taha Merikana anō hoki tōna. Ko te māmā o Airini ko Mary Hazel Teripa Tīkao, hei tamāhine mā Teone (Hōne) Taare Tīkao rāua ko tana wahine, ko Māta Hana Tōku Horomona (Martha Hannah Solomon-Score). Nō Ngāi Tahu – ko te īngoa ā-takiwā ko Kāi Tahu – te tokorua nei.

I ērā takiwā ki te tau 1920 ka hūnuku te whānau Grennell ki Akaroa ki Te Waipounamu, ki te kāinga o Mary noho tatari ai kia oti rā anō tō rātou whare i Koukourarata (Port Levy). He mea tuku a Airini ki te kāreti Katorika mō ngā kōtiro o Ōtautahi (Sacred Hearts Girls’ College, Christchurch). I reira tino whāia ana e ia ngā mahi hākinakina, ka tū nei ia hei kanohi purei korowha, purei pāhiketepōro mō Ōtautahi; pū anō hoki ia i reira ki ngā mahi puoro. Ka eke nei pea ōna tau ki te 18, ka wehe atu ia ki Ingarangi kia āta akona kia tohunga ki ngā mahi puoro. I reira ka riro mai i a ia te tohu LTCL me te tohu LRSM mō te whakaako i te piana me te waiata.

Nō te 11 o Pēpuere o te tau 1931, i Ōtautahi, i moe a Airini i a Hōne Weretā, he tangata mahi pāmu nō Ngāti Raukawa. Nō te paunga o te tau i whānau ai tā rāua tamaiti, he wahine. I te tekau tau atu i 1930, ka wehe rāua ko Hōne, ka hoki tūturu a Airini ki te mahi ako puoro. Nā rātou ko ōna mātua i whāngai tana tamāhine.

Ko te whānau Grennell ētahi anō hoki o ngā kaihaka o te rōpū kōnohete i whakahaerea rā e Rāhera Tainui, he whaea kēkē nō Airini. Auau tonu tā rātou whakatū i ō rātou pō whakangahau i Hakaroa (Banks Peninsula, arā, ko Horomaka he īngoa anō mō te kūiti rā), hei mahi moni hei tuku mā te hunga kāinga i te wā o te korekore, ā, i muri iho hei āwhina i ngā hōia me ō rātou whānau i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao. I te tau 1935 ka whakauru atu rāua ko tana teina, ko Hinemoa ki te Tira Waiata Māori (Waiata Māori Choir) a te minita rā, a Te Hīmoa (A. J. Seamer). Nō ngā whānau rangatira ētahi o ngā kaiwaiata, pērā i a Te Uira Mānihera rāua ko Īnia Te Wīata. He nui ngā haere a taua tira, ā, nō Tīhema ka tīmata tā rātou huri haere i Ahitereiria. Nō te tau 1937 i taiāwhiotia e rātou te whenua o Ingarangi. Nō muri tonu mai i te whakaritenga i a Hōri Te Tuaono hei kīngi, i tukua atu ai taua tira ki tōna aroaro. Nō te mutunga o tā rātou haere ki Īnia i te tau 1938 i wehewehe ai rātou.

Heoi anō tahuri atu ana a Airini ki ngā mahi reo irirangi. Nō Oketopa o te tau 1938 ka tīmata taua mahi rā mā te reo irirangi o 4ZB i Ōtepoti (Dunedin), he kaiāwhina whakatū kaupapa nei tana mahi. Tau ana ia ki te mahi rā nā te pai o tana whakahuahua kupu me te tangi o te reo i āta whakaakona nei, ahakoa he kōrero Māori, he kōrero Pākehā kē rānei te kōrero. I te tau 1940 he nui te whakarangona o tana kaupapa paoho i ngā waiata o ngā moutere (‘Songs of the Islands’). I te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao i haere rātou ko ngā kaipaoho irirangi hei kaiwaiata, patu piana hoki, i ngā kōnohete hapori, kohikohi moni. He wahine pū manawa tōiri nei tōna reo, ā, tapaina ana ia ko ‘te tūī o Wharekauri’ (Chatham Islands Nightingale), ina koa tō rātou īngoa aroha mahara mōna.

I te mutunga o te pakanga kua nuku kē a Airini ki Ākarana (Auckland) noho ai hei kaiāwhina mahi kaupapa mō te reo irirangi, mō 1ZB. Ka taka ki te tau 1949 kua hoki kē mai ia ki Ōtautahi ki 3YA me 3ZB, he kaipaoho nei tana mahi. I āwhinatia anō e ia te mahi whakatū kaupapa rārangi kōrero mō ngā wāhine i runga i a 3YA, me tana kōtuitui haere atu hoki i ngā take wāhine ki runga i te reo irirangi o te motu. Ko Airini te kaipaoho i ngā haerenga mai e rima o te kāhui ariki o Ingarangi.

Nō Maehe o te tau 1958 i mate ai tana tāne a Hōne, ā, nō te 25 o Noema o taua tau, i moea ai e Airini a Rudolf Gopas i Ōtautahi. Nō Lithuania a Gopas, he tangata i hau ōna rongo nā ana mahi peita, mahi whakaahua anō hoki, he pūkenga hoki nō te kura toi (School of Fine Arts) o te whare wānanga o Waitaha (University of Canterbury). I haere tonu ngā mahi irirangi a Airini taka rawa atu ki te tau 1966 ka whakatā nei ia. Rua tekau mā waru ngā tau a ia i tēnei tū mahi. Paku nei tōna kitea i te pouaka whakaata, ko ia nei tētahi o ngā wāhine Māori tuatahi pēraka te mahi.

Pai ana te whakatānga a Airini i waenganui i tōna iwi, ka eke nei ia ki ngā tūnga manukura mō Kāi Tahu ki Horomaka me Ngāti Mutunga o Taranaki me Wharekauri. Tae noa hoki tōna pai ki te purei i te piana i ngā hui whānau me tana kaha ki te pupuri i te taumata kōrero i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā. Kia eke tonu a rūhī, ka mutu tana purei korowha. He maha ngā whakaahua o tōna whānau i putu i a ia. Nō mua atu i a ia i mate ai tana tāne rāua ko tana tamāhine; nō tōna matenga i Ōtautahi i te tau 1988, i te 8 o Tīhema, ka tanumia ōna pungarehu i te taha o ērā o rāua i te urupā o te whānau i Rāpaki.

He wahine ngutu atamai, mātauranga uiui, ngākau māhaki nei a Airini. Ko ia tētahi o ngā kaiwhakaara mai i te Māoritanga.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Airini Payne. 'Grennell, Airini Ngā Roimata', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000, updated o Mei, 2002. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5g20/grennell-airini-nga-roimata (accessed 29 March 2024)