Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Karaitiana, Rangi Ruru Wānanga
1909–1970
Nō Rangitāne, nō Ngati Kahungunu; he ihu oneone, he kaiwhakatangitangi, he kaitito waiata
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Gordon Spittle, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Nō muri i te mutunga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ko te waiata a Ruru Karaitiana nei, ko ‘Blue smoke’ te waiata maioha e mihi nei ki ngā hōia e hokihoki mai ana ki te wā kāinga. Nō muri hoki i hau ai te rongo o te waiata nei hei waiata rorotu tuatahi mō te katoa o te motu nei, mō Aotearoa. Ki te whakaaro o te kaitito i muri mai, nā te waimarie pea i pēnā noa ai. Ki tāna anō, i a rātou i runga i te kaipuke mau hōia, i te Aquitania i te tau 1940, i waho mai i te takutai o Awherika, ka whakaatu mai tana hoa ki a ia i te auahi e hipahipa atu ana. Kāti rā he mea whakatakoto ki mua tonu ki te aroaro o Karaitiana. Kātahi hoki te waiata māhorahora ko tēnei! Ka rua rangi noa pea ka oti i a Karaitiana te waihanga hinengaro noa i ngā kupu me te rangi o te waiata nei, hei waiata māna i tētahi kōnohete i runga i tō rātou kaipuke.
I whānau a Rangi Ruru Wānanga Karaitiana i tētahi wāhi e pātata atu rā ki Tanewaka (Dannevirke) i te 4 o Maehe o te tau 1909, ā, nō Ngāti Kahungunu me te hapū o Ngāti Mutuahi o Rangitāne ia. Ko te tama ia a Hineiwhakaarahia Ngārūma Karaitiana rāua ko tana hoa tāne, ko Heketā. Heoi rā riro ana ia nā ōna tūpuna ki te taha o tana māmā, nā Wirihana Kaimokopuna Karaitiana rāua ko tana wahine, ko Irihāpeti Tūhokairangi a ia i whakatipu mai i Tahoraiti. Nō te whānau rongonui o ngā rangatira o Rangitāne a Karaitiana, ko rātou nei ngā Māori tuatahi o Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay) ki te huri ki te hāhi Karaitiana. I kuraina a Karaitiana ki te kura kawenati o Hato Hōhepa (St Joseph’s Convent School) i Tanewaka, ā, tekau mā rua nei tōna pakeke ka mutu tana kura, ka noho nei ia hei kaimahi ā-tau, hei kaiwhakatangitangi hoki. Tekau mā rima ōna tau ka tīmata tana purei whutupaoro mō tētahi tīma ā-rohe o Te Matau-a-Māui, me tana mahi mekemeke, puhau taumaha nei. Ko tōna reo tuatahi ko te reo Māori, ēngari he tino mārama anō hoki a ia ki te kōrero Pākehā. I tīmata mai tana ako ki te patu piana i te kura kawenati, ā, e ono noa tōna pakeke ka tīmata tana purei piana i ngā pō kanikani o ngā Hātarei; kia taea e ia te whiti atu ki ngā kī o te piana, meinga kē ana he pouaka āporo hei tūru mōna. Ko te nuinga o ōna mōhio whakatangitangi he mea ako tonu e ia, ā, tekau tau i muri mai he kitekitea tonutia ake tana mahi i ngā pēne i ngā takiwā i Te Papa-i-ōia (Palmerston North) tae noa ki Pōneke (Wellington), e whakatangi kē mai ana rānei ia i te piana, i te pūkumekume, i te ukurere me te kitā atu hoki.
I te wā o te pakanga i te Rāwhiti Pū (Middle East), he hōia noa nei te tūranga o Karaitiana i roto i te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion). Ruarua nei ngā wā i te hōhipera ia e takoto mai ana, ā, i te mutunga mai nā te kaha kore o tōna tinana i whakamutua ai tana mahi hōia. He kaiārahi anō hoki tāna mahi i te rōpū kōnohete a te ope taua, ruarua noa nei ngā mea mahue ake o tō rātou koaea, tekau mā whitu kē nei te nui. I te tau 1947, kua hoki kē mai rā ia ki Niu Tīreni, kua whakatūria kētia e ia he rōpū tokorima nei, ā, nō Oketopa o te tau 1948 i Pōneke i hopukia e rātou, ko te kaiwaiata rā ko Pixie Williams, te whakaaturanga o te waiata nei, o ‘Blue smoke’. Noho rite ana te momo puoro o te waiata nei ki te puoru o Hawai’i, ā, ko ngā taputapu whakatangitangi ko te kitā, ko te ukurere me tētahi kitā pona maitai atu hoki. Riro ana ko tēnei te kōpae puoro 78 rpm tuatahi i mahia nei ki Aotearoa, i tīmata mai i te titonga ā-kōpae noa. Noho ake ana te rekoata nei hei kōkuhunga, hei waiata rorotu hoki mō te īngoa tohu whakaatu mai, mō TANZA (To Assist New Zealand Artists), e hia kē nei i hokona mai e te tangata. Ahakoa te whakaaro o Karaitiana he āhua kore take noa te mahinga tuatahi nei, e ono wiki kē te roa o te waiata e matatihi nei i ngā whakaaturanga o ngā reo irirangi o Aotearoa, ā, nuku atu ana i te 20,000 ngā kape i hokona mai i te tau kotahi.
Pupū anō hoki te aronga nui mai o tāwāhi ki te waiata nei. I te tūtakitanga o Karaitiana ki te tokorua Ingarihi nei, ki a Anne Ziegler rāua ko Webster Booth, riro ana nā aua tokorua rā te waiata i rekoata. I te taha ki Amerika, riro ana nā Dean Martin, nā Al Morgan me Teddy Phillips te mahi rekoata, pānui hoki i te waiata nei. E ai ki ngā whakaatu mai o ngā pukapuka puoro hōhoko o New York o te tau 1951, ko ‘Blue smoke’ tonu tētahi o ngā tino waiata o te tau, arā, he puoru putunga moni, ka nui kē te whakarangona ake i te reo irirangi, i ngā pouaka whakatangi rekoata kē rānei. I waea rawa mai a Dean Martin i Amerika ki te tono waiata atu anō hoki i a Karaitiana.
Nuku atu i te tekau mā rua ngā waiata i titoa e Karaitiana; nā Netta Haddon i rekoata tētahi noa nei, arā, ko te īngoa ko ‘As others do’. Ko ētahi anō i titoa e Karaitiana ko ‘Let’s talk it over’, ko ‘Windy city’, ko ‘Ain’t it a shame’ me ‘Sweetheart in calico’, he mea rekoata katoa e Pixie Williams mā TANZA. I ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau mai i 1950, i tuhia ake, ā, i rekoatatia hoki e Karaitiana te waiata nei ‘It’s just because’, hei waiata mihi māna ki te ope taua Kayforce e pakanga mai rā i Kōrea, me te waiata nei hoki, me ‘Saddle Hill’, e kōrero nei mō tētahi tohu whenua i Ōtepoti (Dunedin). Nō te tau 1952 i meinga ko ia te tangata tuatahi o Aotearoa ki te whiwhi i te paraihe, £25 te nui, a te rōpū a te mana whakakitenga o Ahitereiria me Aotearoa (Australasian Performing Right Association) mō te hokohokonga i ‘Blue smoke’ me ‘Let’s talk it over’ (nuku atu i 10,000 ngā kape o tēnei waiata i hokona).
Nō te 27 o Oketopa o te tau 1949 i moea ai e Karaitiana a Joan Charlotte Franzeska Chettleburgh, he hēkeretari, he kaiwhakakite kākahu āna mahi. He mea mārena rāua i te tuatahi i te tari rēhita i Pōneke, ā, i muri mai i mārenatia anō rāua i runga i te marae o Tahoraiti. Whānau ake ana he tama mā rāua, ā, tokorua hoki ā rāua tamāhine whāngai. Nuku atu anō hoki i te rua tekau ngā tamariki he mea whāngai hāramuramu noa mai e rāua. He Katorika nei a Karaitiana, ā, i kaha mau tonu tana whakapono ki ngā painga o te mātauranga me ngā tikanga a te Māori. I Ōkaiha (Brighton) e tata atu rā ki Ōtepoti te whānau e noho ana, ēngari nō te whānautanga o tā rāua tama i te tau 1951, ka hoki atu nei ki Tahoraiti mō te rua tau noho ai, i mua i tō rātou nekenga atu ki Woodville. I whai tonu a Karaitiana i ngā mahi ā-tau, arā, i te mahi kutikuti hipi, mahi atu hoki i ngā whare patu mīti.
Tino mōhiotia ana a Karaitiana hei tangata whanonga pai, me tana tino rawe kē nei hoki ki ngā motokā o tauiwi. He tangata pakupaku noa nei tōna hanga, he tangata nguengue, huna nei te āhua, ēngari me ka tū mai ana ia i te whatārangi, tū mai ana he tangata rerekē. I te wā i rongo nei ia i te rōpū whakatangitangi o te motu (National Orchestra) e whakatangi mai ana i tana waiata, i a ‘Blue smoke’, me tana rongo anō i taua waiata e waiatatia mai ana i te reo Māori i runga i te reo irirangi, i tino whakahī rawa atu nei ia. Nō te tau 1964 i wehe tūturu ai a Ruru rāua ko Joan. Kāti, nō te 15 o Tīhema i te tau 1970 i mate ai a Ruru Karaitiana ki Pōneke, ā, mahue mai ana ko tana tama. He mea tāpuke a Karaitiana ki Tahoraiti. Mahue mai ana ko te waiata nei ko ‘Blue smoke’ tana tino waiata. Ka taka mai nei ki ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1990, ka riro anō ko ‘Blue smoke’ te reo puoro tangi mai o ētahi pikitia, he mea mahi mai i Aotearoa nei, anei rā ko Ruby and Rata , ko Bread and roses me An angel at my table.