Ka mutu te kaihautū i anga whakamua te titiro ko Eruera Riini Mānuera, arā, ka tata atu ki te ono tekau tau tana noho hei waha kōrero mō Ngāti Awa ki te taha o ngā mahi mō ō rātau whenua, mō ngā mahi whakahaere o te kōti, tae atu ki ngā mahi pāpori, mahi tākaro a tōna iwi. Ko ēnei mahi āna me ngā honohononga kaha i hangaia e ia ki te ao Pākehā, ngā mahi pū i tutuki i a ia.

I whānau a Eruera i te 6 o Hānuere i te tau 1895, i tētahi whare wharau noa i Te Waea, he wāhi kāinga i te awa whakararo atu i Te Teko, whaka-te-rāwhiti atu rā i Te Moana-a-Toi-te-huatahi (Bay of Plenty). Kitea ake te kāwai arikitanga o tōna whaea, o Maata Te Taiawatea Rangitūkehu, te tamāhine rā a Rangitūkehu Hatua, tētahi o ngā rangatira rongonui o Ngāti Awa. Ko te koroua o Maata Te Taiawatea ki te taha o tōna whaea, ko Rangiheuea, he rangatira nō Ngāti Tāoi, tētahi o ngā hapū kārangaranga o Tūhourangi, e tūtata atu ana tōna mana ki ngā rohe o ngā moana o Tarawera me Rotomahana. Poururu ana ngā rae o ngā kaumātua i te moenga o Maata i a Te Hāroto Whakataka Riini Mānuera. Hei tama a Te Hāroto mā Mānuera Te Pohokotia, e kīia nei ko ia te rangatira whakamutunga o te hapū o Warahoe o Ngāti Awa. He whakaaro nō ngā pakeke o Tūhourangi he kore rangatira rawa nō ngā kāwai o Te Hāroto kia moea e ia a Maata, ā, he mea kanga e rātau tō rāua moenga kia kore ai e whai tamariki.

E hia kē nei ā rāua tamariki i whānau mate kē mai, ā, hei āwhina i a rāua, i haere a Maata rāua ko Te Hāroto ki te kite i a Pētera Te Kōhatu o Ngāti Hineuru, arā, ko te hoa mahi ia o te matakite rā, o Te Kooti Arikirangi. Ko tāna i whakatau ai, me ka whānau mai he tamariki, me tuku atu mā ētahi kē e whakatipu mai, ina koa rā te take i riro tamariki whāngai atu ai ā rāua tamariki. I tukuna atu a Eruera ki ōna mātua kēkē, ki a Titihoia Rāwiri Mānuera rāua ko Ākutina Te Urukehu Hīpirini, ko rāua ngātahi nō Warahoe, nō Ngati Hāmua me Ngāti Whare. Ahakoa te pōhara, ka mutu mai i ngā mātua whāngai o Eruera te kaha o te pukumahi, me te pūmau o te hāpai i te Hāhi Ringatū. Kāti koa, kātahi te hūmārie, te aroha me te māhaki o ngā tokorua ko ēnei, he mea ako a Eruera e rāua ki ēnei tikanga.

I kuraina a Eruera i te kura Māori i Te Teko (Te Teko Native School), ā, nō tana whiwhinga i tētahi karahipi mō te rua tau, ka haere ia ki Tīpene (St Stephen’s Native Boys’ School). Ka mutu tana kura i reira, ka whiwhi mahi ia i te pāmu a ngā Wakelin, he whānau e ahu whenua ana i Kamo, ā, nō te tau 1914, i hoki atu ia ki Te Teko. Nā tōna pai ake ki te kōrero Pākehā, ka tīmata a Eruera ki te āwhina i ngā mea o tōna iwi kāre anō kia pakari te reo Ingarihi.

I moea e Eruera a Te Pareake Te Uamairangi Kapua o Ngāi Tamaoki me Ngāti Tarāwhai i Te Teko, i te 13 o Oketopa o te tau 1916. O ā rāua tamariki tekau mā rima, tekau mā tahi i ora; tokoono ngā mea wāhine, tokorima ngā mea tāne.

I a Eruera e whakamātau ana ki te mahi pāmu i ētahi maramara whenua e rua, he mea tuku mai ki a ia e ōna mātua whāngai rātau ko ōna mātua ake, ā, i tua atu i tēnā, ko āna mahi anō he kari wāra, he hanga huarahi, he autaki atu hoki i te rere o ngā wai o ngā repo o Rangitāiki mā te kāwanatanga. I mahi āno hoki ia mā te poari rāpeti o Te Tai Rāwhiti (East Coast Rabbit Board). Nō muri mai ka riro nā te pāmu i whāngai tana whānau e tipu tonu ake nei.

Nō tōna ekenga ki te 28 te pakeke ka noho mai ia hei mema mō te komiti kura o Te Teko mō te whā tekau tau te roa, tekau mā rima hei tiamana. Ko te mea nui rawa atu ki a ia ko te mātauranga, ā, nō reira ka rite tonu tana akiākinga i tōna iwi ki te tuku i ā rātau tamariki ki te kura. I kaha a Mānuera ki te āwhina i ngā mahi a ngā whakanōhanga mātauranga katoa, ka hia kē nei ōna takahitanga atu i te huarahi ki te kura o Tīpene hei pou toko i ngā mahi; ka mutu, ka whakawāteatia atu e ia tōna marae mō ngā wānanga me ngā huihuinga mātauranga. Nō te matenga o tōna whaea tūturu ake i te tau 1929, i whakatenetene te noho mai a Mānuera – te mōrehu o ngā tama i mahue ora mai – hei kaihautū mō te hapū o Te Pahīpoto.

Ki tāna i pono ai me whakawātea atu tōna iwi i ngā tikanga he whakakōroiroi kē te mahi i te haere whakamua o te iwi. Tokoitiiti noa ngā kaumātua e mau ana ki ngā tikanga o mua, i pērā rawa i a ia te takahi i ngā tikanga, koirā i kīia a ia ‘he tangata wāwāhi tahā’. Noho mai ana te nuinga o ana whakarerekētanga ki runga i ana mahi whakahou ake i te tikanga o te takoto o te marae o Kōkōhīnau me ōna whare, ā, whai atu i tēnā ko tana mahi anō ki te hanga papa tākaro, papa purei tēnihi i te marae tonu tae atu ki te hanga whare kai, whare paku, whare horoi ringaringa tōtika ake. Ko tētahi mahi rerekē anō āna ko te whakamau atu i tētahi kūaha ki te tuarongo o te whare nui, me te whakahuri ake i te urupā hei papa kareihe, i mua rā e māheuheu, e mahue noa ana. Ahakoa te ohorere o te hinengaro o ētahi o ōna pakeke ngākau kē, ko tā Eruera anō, he māharahara nōna ki tana iwi te take i pērā ia. Mai i tērā wā, ka hia kē ngā marae kei te whai i tāna.

Ko tētahi atu o āna mahi nui he whakakaha ake i ngā hononga tata i waenganui i ngā tāngata, ahakoa he hapū kē, he iwi kē, he momo iwi kē, he hāhi kē, he rōpū kē, me ngā whakatupuranga rerekē rānei hoki. I oti i a ia te whakauruuru haere i tēnei tikanga ki roto ki ngā momo rōpū ōna pērā i te Hāhi Ringatū, i te kaupapa Kotahitanga, i te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o ngā Komiti Tōpū o Waiariki (Waiariki District Council of Tribal Executives), i te Poari Kaitiaki o Waitangi mō te Motu (Waitangi National Trust Board) me te Rōpū o te Ora (Women’s Health League). Ko tētahi mahi anō āna, ki te whai i te tikanga o Tainui ki te karanga hui Poukai ki tana marae. I mau tonu tana whakaatu i te tikanga rā, ko ia nei hei waha kōrero mō te iwi Māori, ina tae mai ana he manuhiri rangatira ki Whakatāne, haere rānei ia ki ngā hui Māori puta noa i te motu. Āpiti atu ki tēnā i āwhinatia anō e ia te tangata noa, te whānau rānei, ka haere atu nei ko rātau ki te maha noa atu o ngā hui puta noa i te rohe o Te Moana-a-Toi-te-huatahi, i te motu nui rānei. Nā runga i tōna matatau ki te whakahaere i ngā take whenua Māori, ki te tātari hoki i ngā raruraru o ngā tamariki Māori me te ao Māori tonu hoki, i pū ai tōna rongo.

Ahakoa kāre he tangata i tata atu ki a ia te whakapapa, ehara kau ia i te tangata whakahauhau noa nei. Ko tāna kē he pōkai ake i ngā ringaringa o tana hāte ka hou atu ki te mahi ahakoa he aha. E ai ki tāna, hoki atu, hoki atu te kōrero, kia rite tonu te kaha o ngā ringaringa o te tangata ki te kaha o tōna waha. He ngākau iti nōna, me te kore e parahako iho o tana momo kōrero atu ki te tamariki, ngā take i pū ai te aroha o te rangatahi ki a ia. Rite ana te kaha o tana titiro ki te kaha o tana hanga. E hia tau kē nei i mau tonu te karanga i a ia ko te ‘Tangata Nui’ (‘Big Man’), ā, whāia ka pau haere ōna rā ka karanga kētia a ia ko ‘Koro’.

I tino tohungatia a Mānuera ki te whaikōrero. Heoi anō, ehara a ia i te tangata taikaha ki te kōrero, kāore i tohu ki tōna tokotoko, i neke haere rānei i te marae i a ia e kōrero ana. Nā te whai kiko o ana kōrero i mau tonu te whakarongo a te tangata ki a ia. Kitea ana te hōhonu o ōna mātauranga, whakaataria e ia ngā take o ana kōrero, ki te whakataukī, ki te kōrero whakarite, ki te whakapapa me ngā kōrero whakahua o te Paipera. Kīhai ia i ahaaha ki te whakatau ko tēhea te waiata e hāngai ana ki ngā whaikōrero o ngā hui aha noa rā.

He heipū tonu ana kōrero ki te rae o te tangata, ahakoa ki ngā taitamariki tou tere nei i runga i te marae, ki te Kāwana Tianara rānei. I ohorere katoa i a ia ngā iwi i Whakatāne i te pōwhiritanga i a Tā Perenata Whēkihana (Bernard Fergusson) i te tau 1963, i tana meatanga he ‘poko kohua’ noa te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa (kātahi te kōrero hakirara ki te Māori ko tēnei!), ā, ka tono atu ia i te Kāwana Tianara, arā, i te mea ko ia hoki te kanohi o te Kuini, kia whakahokia mai ngā whenua o te Māori, arā, ‘ngā whenua i whānakotia’. Hei ahakoa, i te mutunga iho, piri hoahoa ana a Tā Perenata rāua ko Eruera, ka peka atu ki te kite i a ia i te marae i Kōkōhīnau, ā, nō tōna hokinga ki Ingarangi, ka tuhituhi mai anō ia.

Nō ngā tau pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1960 i whakatakotoria iho e te kamupene o Tāhimana (Tasman Pulp and Paper Company) he kaupapa hei whakawhiti atu mā Ngāti Awa i te mana o ō rātau whenua i te kōawaawa o Tarawera ki tētehi kamupene hou, ko te īngoa rā ko te kamupene ngahere o Tarawera (Tarawera Forests Limited). Ka mutu ko te utu mā Ngāti Awa ko tētahi wāhi o ngā hua o ngā rākau e tupu mai ana i te whenua. Whakaaetia ana e ngā tāngata whai pānga te take nei i tētehi hui nāna i whakahaere i Kōkōhīnau, ā, nō te tau 1967 i whakamanatia tūturutia e te ture ngahere o Tarawera (Tarawera Forests Act). Kitea rawatia ake, kua riro kē a Pūtauaki (Mt Edgecumbe), ā, mea ake ana tana tino pāpouri i te rironga o tēnei tohu whenua. Pau noa te rua tekau mā rima tau e ngana ana a ia kia whakahokia mai te maunga rā, ēngari, ahakoa āna tono atu ki ngā Minita Māori o aua tau, i te mutunga mai he aha te aha. Nā noa i waiho mai e ia tēnei kōrero, ‘ina koa i ōku tūpuna e kaparangi karekare mai ana i te poho o tō tātau maunga, e kore e taea e au taku moe i te pō, kia hoki tika mai rānō te maunga ki a tātau’. Nō te 15 o Hune o te tau 1990 i mate ai a Eruera Mānuera i Te Teko, 95 ōna tau; nō mua atu te matenga o tōna hoa wahine, arā, nō te tau 1980.

E hia kē nei ngā tohu i ūhia ki a Eruera mō āna mahi mā te iwi; nō te tau 1955 i whakatūria a ia hei mana whakaāio; nō te tau 1974, i whakawhiwhia a ia ki te tohu MBE, me te tohu OBE hoki i te tau 1977; ka mutu, nō te tau 1979, i ūhia a ia e te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui (Victoria University of Wellington), ki te tohu hōnore LittD. E ai ki tāna, ko tā te Pākehā he whakahōnore i a ia e ora tonu ana, kāti, ko tā te Māori, kia mate rawa, kātahi anō ōna anō ka tahuri ki te whakanui i a ia. Inarā hoki, i te wā o te tangihanga, maru ana te marae o Kōkōhīnau i ngā mano tini i tae ake ki te whakarangatira i a ia.