Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Ngāwai, Tuini Moetū Haangū
1910–1965
Nō Ngāti Porou; he kaitito waiata, he kaiwhakaako, he wahine kutikuti hipi, he kaitohutohu tikanga Māori
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Anaru Kingi Takurua, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Nō te 5 o Mei o te tau 1910 i whānau mai a Moetū Haangū Ngāwai i te kāinga o tōna whānau, he mea karanga rā ko Enihau, ā, kotahi māero te tawhiti atu i te taha raki o te tāone o Tokomaru i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ko Te Rā Haangū Ngāwai, he tangata ahu whenua ia, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Te Ipo Hārata Te Awhi Kaahi Parata ōna mātua, ā, ko rāua ngātahi nō Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare o Ngāti Porou. Ka mōhio a Te Ipo kua hapū anō a ia – kua tokoono kē nei wā rāua tamariki – ko tana haerenga atu tēnā ki te kite i te tohunga Ringatū hai whakapai i a ia ki tā te Hāhi tikanga. E ai ki tā te tohunga i kite ai, tērā pūmanawa ai tana tamaiti ki tētahi momo ārahi tangata. Ā muri ake nei, i tana mōhiotanga he māhanga kē wāna e waha ana, ka whakaaro ia ko tēhea rā o wāna pēpi te mea hai mau i te poropiti a te tohunga rā. Otirā, i te whānautanga, tokorua he kōtiro, he mea tapa ko Moetū Haangū me Te Huinga; waihoki rā, tekau mā rua marama noa te ora o te mea tuarua o ngā tamariki ka mate, ā, ina hoki i mahue mai ngā kōrero a te tohunga ki te mea pakeke o wāna tamariki, ki a Moetū. Kia mau tonu te mōhio o tana tamaiti he māhanga a ia, i tapaina a ia ko Tuini, arā, te whakawhitinga kupu mō te kupu Pākehā nei, mō ‘twin’.
I kuraina a Tuini Ngāwai i te kura Māori o tōna takiwā, i te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. Nā te kore i whakaaetia ki te kōrero Māori i uaua ki a ia te kura, ēngari kāore i roa kua mātau ia ki te kōrero Ingarihi, ā, nui kē atu ki a ia ngā painga o ana reo e rua, ki te whakarangatira, whakapakari ake i a ia. Tekau mā whā te pakeke o Tuini ka whakapuorotia e tōna kōkā te waiata nā Tuini tonu i tuhi. Nō muri mai i taua tau anō i mate a Te Ipo, arā, nā te rawe o te whiti o ngā kupu kōrero a tana tamāhine i mōhio ia ka tutuki te poropititanga a te tohunga rā. Hore kau ana i ora taua waiata, ēngari atu i te tau 1931, i nuku atu i te rua rau ngā waiata i titoa e Tuini e maumahara tonutia ana i nāianei; inarā, he ranga wairua kē te nuinga, ā, he tino kaupapa, take whai kiko tonu nei te take i titoa e ia ia waiata, ia waiata.
He mīharo rawa atu nō Apirana Ngata ki te mea tuatahi o ana waiata e waiatatia tonutia ana, arā, ko ‘He nawe kei roto’, i whakamahia a Tuini e Āpirana ki te waiata i tāna anō waiata i te whakatuwheratanga i te whare nui whakairo rā, i Te Hono ki Rarotonga i te kokoru o Tokomaru, i Hānuere o te tau 1934. Ko ētahi atu o ana waiata rongonui i tuhia e ia i mua atu i te tau 1939, ko ‘Awhitia au’, ko ‘Mā te aha rā e tama’, me ‘Mai ngā rā o mua e Ari’, ā, noho ana hai waiata whakanui tā ngā waiata nei i te paraihe hōkī a Reiri Arihia Ngata.
Nō te tau 1939 i nuku atu a Tuini ki Ākarana (Auckland) mō te wā poto, ā, i reira ka hono atu ia ki tētahi tira waiata, he nui te mahi pāho mai i te reo irirangi. I a ia i reira ka tahuri a ia ki te whakapai ake i te tikanga o tana tito waiata, ka noho ka titoa e ia ngā kupu mō ngā mahi waiata a te rōpū. Nō te tīmatanga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao i hoki atu a Tuini ki Tokomaru, ki te whakatōpū, ārahi hoki – he reo kaha, reo hōhonu nei tōna reo – i te kapa waiata, i Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū, kātahi ka āwhinatia e rātau ngā mahi a Āpirana ki te kimi hōia mō te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion). Nō te tekau tau atu i 1940, nuku atu hoki, i tū ai te mahi whakangahau a te rōpū nei, mau ake rā i ngā waiata a Tuini ki ngā hōia i ngā hōpuni whakaako hōia, ki ērā o rātau e whakawhiti atu ana ki tāwāhi, ki ngā whanaunga me ngā hoa i mahue mai ki te kāinga, taihoa ake ka noho hei waiata mā ngā uri. Nō te wā o te pakanga tonu i titoa e Tuini te maha o ana tino waiata, pērā i tana waiata ‘Haere rā e Roa’, he poroaki rā ki tana tuakana, ki a Materoa i uru atu ki te ope taua, me te waiata, me ‘Arohaina mai e te Kīngi Nui’. Ko te mea tuarua o ēnei waiata i titoa e ia i te tau 1940 i te mutunga o tētahi karakia mō te hokowhitu Māori, ā, ko te whakaaro tonu, ko te waiata nei te puāwaitanga, tauira hirahira kē nei o ana waiata. Tāpiri atu ki tēnā, he tino tauira tēnei waiata mō te tūmomo tito waiata a te Māori. Nā te pai o tana waiata i mihia a ia e Āpirana Ngata, kātahi kē te tipua kaitito waiata ko ia. I waiatatia taua waiata i tētahi poroporoaki ki te hokowhitu Māori, ā, meinga ana e te hokowhitu hai hīmene manakore mā rātau.
Nō te tau 1943 i whakaritea e Āpirana he tūnga mō Tuini, arā, hai kaiwhakaako ake mō ngā tikanga Māori i ngā kura e ako ana i ngā tamariki Māori i te takiwā e haere atu rā i Te Karaka i Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay) ki Whangaparāoa (Cape Runaway). I taua tau anō i te hui whakanui i a Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu mō te rironga i a ia o te Rīpeka Wikitōria (VC), whakamahia ngātahitia ana e Tuini ngā tamariki o ngā kura katoa ki te waiata i te waiata rongonui rā, i ‘Karangatia rā’, he mea tito e Āpirana mō te hokinga mai o ngā hōia i te mutunga o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. I waiatatia e Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū ētahi o ngā waiata a Tuini, me te waiata ‘Kei tawhiti pāmamao tō tinana’, he mea āta tito e ia mō taua hui tonu.
Ka mutu te mahi whakaako a Tuini i te tau 1946, ka noho mai ia hai kaihautū mō ngā rōpū kutikuti hipi, ā, kia pai tana taki i te mahi te take i ako ia i a ia tonu ki te kutikuti hipi. Kāore i mutu te whakahau a Tuini i āna kaimahi kia tōtika mārika tonu ā rātau mahi, ā, ko ia ka toa i te whakataetae kutikuti hipi a ngā wāhine. Ka nui kē ngā waiata a Tuini he waiata whakamahara ki ngā rōpū kutikuti hipi kei te mau tonu te waiata ake i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Nō te tau 1946 i uru atu a ia ki te rōpū Kotahitanga, ko tana kaupapa he whakahiwa ake i ngā tikanga Māori kia hau anō te hihī me te tuakiri o te tangata. I āwhinatia anō e ia ngā mahi whakaora tūroro a Hōri Keeti (Gage), me ngā mahi ki te whakawhānui atu i te mōhiotanga ki te Tiriti o Waitangi. Kāore i rerekē atu tana whakaatu mai i te honu o te tangi o tana whatumanawa, e mau mai ana i ngā kupu o ngā waiata pērā i tana waiata, i ‘Te Kotahitanga rā e’.
Nō ngā tau pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1940 ki te tau 1963 i whakamahia e Tuini ōna mōhio ki te whakatangi i te maha o ngā whakatangitangi, inarā te pūtohe tonu, ka noho ia hai kaiārahi mō tētahi pēne, tokoono rātau, he mea tapa e ia ko te pēne ATU (ATU Orchestra). Ahakoa i whai te nuinga o ngā waiata a Tuini i ngā rangi i pai ki te katoa, ko te mea nui kē atu ki a ia ko te kiko kē o ngā kupu kōrero, ehara ko te rangi. I tua atu i tēnā, me ka tū mai ana he mahinga waiata kia tere tonu te ako o ngā kaiwaiata i ngā kupu.
Atu i te tau 1953 i tīmata te whakauru atu a Tuini i tana kapa matua i Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū ki ngā whakataetae tikanga Māori a Tamararo, he mea whakatū ki Tūranga (Gisborne). E rua hoki ngā rōpū rangatahi nāna i ako, whakauru atu hoki ki ngā whakataetae ā tau, ka noho ko ngā rōpū e toru nei hai kanohi mō Tokomaru. He nui ngā waiata i titoa e Tuini mā ngā whakataetae nei, arā, ko ‘Piki mai kake mai’ tētahi, he waiata whakanui tēnā i te tupuna nōna te īngoa o ngā whakataetae. I te toronga mai o Kuini Irihāpeti Te Tuarua i te tau 1953 ki 1954, he mea waiata atu e rātau mā ko Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū tana waiata, ko ‘Te Tiriti o Waitangi’. Ko tētahi o ana waiata rongonui o te takiwā o te tekau atu i 1950, ko ‘Nau mai, haere mai’, i titoa e ia i te tau 1956 hai pōwhiri i te tīma o Āwherika ki te Tonga, ka tae ake nei rātau ki Tūranganui.
Hore kau a Tuini Ngāwai i moe tāne, ēngari kāore i ārikarika te maha o ngā tamariki i whakatipua e ia. He wahine paku noa te hanga o Tuini, ēngari, he māia nōna, hūmārika anō hoki, tae atu ki tōna aroha ki te tangata, pōhēhētia inā kē noa atu tōna nui. Nuku atu i tēnā, i pau i a ia ōna rā e tautiaki, e aronui ana ki te tangata. Ki tā Tuini tonu, me tino tōtika te mahi, ā, kāore i autia e ia te āhua ake o te mahi a ia tangata. I tua atu i tēnā kāore ia i whakaae ki tana rōpū kapa waiata kia tārua te ako i ngā waiata. Ahakoa he Ringatū a Tuini, i wātea tonu ia ki te āwhina i ngā koaea o ērā atu o ngā Hāhi, āwhina hoki i ā rātau karakia tukutahi, mahi tikanga Māori hoki. Ko tana mahi nui rawa atu mā ngā Hāhi, ko te rironga nāna i taki te kapa waiata Mihingare i te Hui Tōpū Māori o Aotearoa i te marae o Tūrangawaewae i te tau 1962. Titoa ana e ia te waiata rā, ko ‘Matariki’ mō te rā nei, tētahi o ngā waiata e rua hai mihi māna ki te tangata whenua o reira, arā, o te Kīngitanga.
Nō te tīmatanga o te tau 1965 i pāngia a Tuini Ngāwai e te mate pukupuku, ā, nō te 12 o Ākuhata ka hinga ia i Tokomaru. Nō muri mai ka riro nā tana irāmutu, nā te kaitito waiata rā, nā Ngoi Pēwhairangi, i whakakao haere, whakapukapuka atu hoki i ana waiata. Mahue mai ana āna mahi, arā, te mahi ārahi i te iwi me ana waiata – ka mau kē te wehi o tana waihanga mai – hai tino taonga tuku iho.