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Kōrero: Ngārimu, Te Moananui-a-Kiwa

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Ngārimu, Te Moananui-a-Kiwa

1919–1943

Nō Ngāti Porou, nō Te Whānau-ā-Apanui; he hōia

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

Nō te 7 o Āperira i te tau 1919 i whānau ai a Te Moananui-a-Kiwa (Moana) Ngārimu, i Whareponga i Te Tai Rāwhiti, ā, ko Te Aitanga-a-Mate o Ngāti Porou tōna iwi. Hai tama ia mā Hāmuera Meketū Ngārimu rāua ko tana wahine, ko Maraea. He mana pū tonu nei ōna hononga atu ki Te Whānau-a-Rākaiora, ki Te Aowera me Ngāti Horowai. Nō Te Whānau-a-Apanui tōna kōkā, ā, he pānga anō ōna ki a Te Whakatōhea. Nō te taha ki tōna whaea te pānga atu o Moana ki a Mātaatua waka, ā, nō tōna tupuna, nō Te Aomoengāriki tōna pānga hoki ki a Te Arawa. Hai irāmutu hoki a Moana ki te wahine rongonui whai mana rā, ki a Materoa Reedy. Kāore i tino tawhiti atu te kāinga o te whānau, arā, o Maraeake, i Kirikiritatangi i te taha moana, te wāhi nei i whakangungua ai ngā toa taitama o tēnei whaitua ki ngā tikanga o te kawe ā-riri.

Atu i te tau 1924 te wā i haere ai a Moana Ngārimu ki te Kura Māori o Whareponga. Nō te nekenga atu o te whānau ki Pōhatukura, e rua māero me te hāwhe te tawhiti mai i te tāone paku noa nei o Ruatōria (ko Rua-a-Tōrea te īngoa tawhito), ka whakaurua atu nei a Moana ki te Kura Māori o Hiruhārama i te 15 o Hūrae i te tau 1929. Nō muri mai, arā, atu i te tau 1933 ki 1934 a ia i te Kāreti o Te Aute, ā, i reira i kitea tana tino toa ki te purei whutupaoro. I te mutunga o tana kura, i mahi ia i runga i te pāmu a tōna whānau, ā, he mema anō hoki ia nō te koaea o Hikurangi. E pakari haere mai ana tana mōhio ki te whakatipu hipi, ka tīmata te Pakanga Tuarua i te tau 1939. I taua wā anō kua taumautia kētia rāua ko Hīria Walker. Tukua atu ana e ngā mema Māori o te Whare Pāremata tā rātau tono ki te kāwanatanga kia whakaaetia te haere tūao o te Māori ki te pakanga i tāwāhi. Nō te 4 o Oketopa i puta ai te whakahau a te kāwanatanga kia whakatūria te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion), arā, te hokowhitu Māori, he mea whakarōpūpū ā-iwi. Otirā nō te 11 o Pēpuere o te tau 1940 te hainatanga a Ngārimu i Ruatōria, hai whakauru atu i a ia ki taua hokowhitu rā.

Nō te 1 o Mei i te tau 1940 i wehe hīkoi atu ai te nuinga o te hokowhitu nei i te papa whakakitenga i Te Papa-i-ōia (Palmerston North) – te papa i whakangungua ake ai rātau – kātahi atu i reira ki te teihana rerewē, rere atu ai ki Pōneke (Wellington). I te tauranga poti o Aotea ka eke atu rātau ki runga i te tima nei, i te Aquitania. Nō te rā o muri iho i rere atu ai ki Ingarangi, ā, kōwhiria ake ana ko Ngārimu hai kohi i ngā kōrero e pā ana ki te pakanga. Nō muri iho i whakatūria a ia hai rūtene tuarua, kaihautū paratunu nei hoki mō Kamupene C o te hokowhitu Māori.

Kairiritia ake ana te hokowhitu Māori ki roto i te mātatoru o te whawhai i Kariki (Greece), i Kariti (Crete) me Rīpia. I te taui mai i Tobruk (Tubruq), i whai wāhi atu anō hoki te hokowhitu Māori ki te tukinga ake nei i pakaru ai te karapoti mai a te hoariri i a rātau i Minqâr Qaim. Nō muri mai i te pakanga i Arameina (El Alamein) me te kōkiringa haere atu rā ki Tiripori (Tripoli) i Pēpuere o 1943, i tuhi atu ai ētahi āpiha, tokowaru nei, o Kamupene C – ko Ngārimu tonu rā tētahi – ki a Tā Apirana Ngata, mō te āhua o ngā aituā ake o te hokowhitu Māori. Tokorua ngā amorangi i whara, ā, e rua, e toru kē ngā taotūnga o ētahi o rātau. O rātau e taotū ana, whakamahia kētia ana ngā mea ora ake o rātau hei whakapakari mai i ngā tira hōia ake rā e kanohi tonu atu rā ki te hoariri. Ki tā ngā āpiha nei kua tae kē tēnei ki te wā ki te hiki mai i a rātau, whakatāoki ai.

Hoi anō kāore i roa i muri mai kua uru anō rātau ki te pakanga i Tebaga Gap i Tūnihia (Tunisia). I te kōkiritanga, ko te hokowhitu Māori i te taha matau, ā, ko te puke nei, ko te īngoa rā ko te pae 209, te wāhi me riro i a rātau. Kāti, kitea ana i konei te kaha pupuri a ngā Tiamana i taua takiwā, mau taruna noa te hokowhitu i te kaha karawhiu mai a ngā matā o te hoariri. I raro i te whakahaere a Kānara Peta Awatere, ka whakahaua a Kamupene C kia tomokia e rātau taua tūranga rā. E tarea ai, i mātua whakahaua e ia te karawhiu i te tauranga ikeike i mua tonu mai i te pae 209. E ai ki ngā toa o Ngāti Porou ko te īngoa o taua wāhi ko te īngoa tonu o tō rātau maunga, o Hikurangi. Ko Ngārimu tonu tētahi o ngā kaiārahi paratunu, i hoatu māna te mahi tuki i te puke rā. Kāti, anā kē atu hoki te kaha wawao mai o te hoariri i taua wāhi, kaha kē nei hoki te karawhiu o te pupuhi mai o ngā pū mōtā me ngā pū mīhini i te pae 209.

E ai ki te tuhituhinga a Rūtene Kānara Pēneti (Charles Bennett), ko ia te ngārahu o te hokowhitu Māori, i kitea i konei te hautoa me te kaha tōtika o te mahi hautū ake a Ngārimu. Ko ia tonu te mea tuatahi i eke atu i te tihi o te puke, riro ana nāna tonu hoki i karawhiu ngā tūranga pū mīhini e rua kia mate. Tokorua atu hoki ngā tāngata i kite i tana māia ko ia rā e arataki atu ana i te kōkiri e piki haere atu rā i te puke. Ahakoa te taotū o tana pakihiwi me tetāhi o ōna waewae, i mau tonu tana noho i te taha o āna tāngata. E hia kē nei ngā kakaritanga a te hoariri i a Hikurangi i te pō, ka mau tonu te wawao, whawhai atu a Ngārimu i te hoariri. Tahia whakamuritia atu ana e ia ngā kairākau, ka pūhia nei e ia ētahi ki tana pū mīhini. Kāti, nā te mate o ngā pū me te pau nei hoki o ngā pohū, kua pipiri kē te whawhai, e kurukurua ana te hoariri ki te kōhatu. Hāunga koa i mau tonu tō rātau pupuri i a Hikurangi.

Nō te ata o te 27 o Maehe i te tau 1943 i rewa anō te whana whakairi a te hoariri ka hinga nei a Ngārimu. E tū kanohi wānanga tonu atu ana ia ki te hoariri, e mau mai ana tana pū tame i tana hope ka patua nei ia. Ko te tohu o tōna māia ko te maha o rātau nāna tonu i patu, ā, tata nei tana taupokinga atu i a rātau, ka hinga nei ia. Taihoa ake i taua rā i hauraro mai ai ngā Tiamana o te pae 209. He wiki ruarua nei i mua o tana matenga tana tuhinga atu ki ōna mātua, ka moemoeā nei ia ko tana tupuna wahine, ko Hana Maraea tēraka e karanga mai ana ki a ia.

Mō te tino kōhure nei o āna whakahaere, mō tōna kaha me tana toa, te take i ūhia ai a Ngārimu ki te Rīpeka Wikitōria (Victoria Cross). I tētahi hui i Ruatōria i te 6 o Oketopa i te tau 1943 i tukua atu e te Kāwana Tianara, e Tā Cyril Newall te tohu nei ki ōna mātua. I taua hui anō ngā rangatira kāwanatanga, ngā takawaenga o ngā kāwanatanga o tāwāhi me te rauika Māori, 7,000 te nui. He mea whakaahua e te Tari o ngā Taonga Whitiāhua (National Film Unit) te hui nei, ā, ka whakaaturia ki ngā hōia o te hokowhitu Māori i Itari. Nō te pō o te rā i tāpaetia ake te rīpeka, i mate ai tana tupuna wahine, a Mākere Ngārimu.

Riro ana nā Tā Āpirana Ngata i tā ngā kōrero mō te whiwhinga a Ngārimu i tana Rīpeka Wikitōria, i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā i roto i tētahi pukapuka paku nei, he mea karanga ko The price of citizenship. He mea whakahōnore ia ki te tahua ngore whakamaumahara ki a Ngārimu VC me te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) (Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund), he mea tīmata mai rā i te tau 1945 hei hāpai i te mātauranga o te Māori, puri hoki i tōna reo, puri hoki i tōna Māoritanga. He mea tāpuke a Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu ki te urupā whawhai o Sfax (Sfax War Cemetery) i Tūnihia.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Whai Ngata. 'Ngārimu, Te Moananui-a-Kiwa', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000, updated o Hānuere, 2002. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5n9/ngarimu-te-moananui-a-kiwa (accessed 29 March 2024)