Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Paikea, Tāpihana Paraire
1920–1963
Nō Te Uri-o-Hau, nō Ngāti Whātua; he kaiārahi, he āpotoro nō te Hāhi Rātana, he tangata tōrangapū
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Garry Hooker, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I te whānautanga o Tāpihana (Dobson) Paraire Paikea – he mea karanga kē ia ko Dobbie – rēhita kētia ana a ia ko Poata Paikea. Otirā, noho ake ana ia hei mokopuna hekenga tuatoru mā te tumu whakarae rā, mā Paikea Te Hekeua o Te Uri-o-Hau. Waihoki te take i honuhonu ai ōna tātai ki roto o Te Tai Tokerau, whanaunga atu hoki ki ngā iwi nui o reira, ki a Te Roroa, ki a Te Parawhau me Ngāti Whātua. I whānau a Paikea ki Rangiātea i Tinopai i te takiwā o Kaipara i te 26 o Hānuere i te tau 1920. Ko ia te mātāmua a Hinerupe Parāone Meinata rāua ko tana tāne, ko Paraire Karaka Paikea. Ko te tau i whānau ai a Tāpihana, ko te tau āno hoki i meinga a Paraire hei minita Wēteriana, ā, whāia i muri ake hei āpotoro Rātana whakaaweawe, mema Pāremata atu hoki. Uru nui atu ōna mātua ki ngā whakahaere a te iwi wehe kē nei, a Te Uri-o-Hau, e hōrapa atu nei anō hoki ki a Ngāti Whātua whānui.
I tīmata te kuraina mai o Tāpihana i te kura Māori o Tānoa i Ōtamatea, ā, nō muri i hūnuku atu ai rātou ko tōna whānau ki te pā o Rātana. I te tau 1933 ko Tāpihana tētahi o ngā tauira tumu e whakapūruru ana i te kura Māori o Rātana. I haere hoki ia ki te kāreti hangarau o Whanganui (Wanganui Technical College). Nā ngā aweawe pea o tana pāpā, i uru ai a Tāpihana hei karaka i te Tari Māori (Native Department) i Ākarana (Auckland). Nō te 4 o Oketopa i te tau 1942, i Ōrākei, ka moea nei e ia a Raiha Kāmira, hei tamāhine mā Tekau (Karu rānei) rāua ko Rina Kāmira, o te hapū o Te Ihutai o Kohukohu i Te Hokianga. Tokoiwa ngā tamariki i puta i a rāua.
I muri mai i te matenga mauri ohorere o tana pāpā i te 6 o Āperira i te tau 1943, i pōtitia a Tāpihana, ko ia te hēkeretari a tōna pāpā i taua wā, hei mema mō te Rōpū Reipa mō te tūru o Te Tai Tokerau, e 23 noa iho ōna tau. I tana kauhau tuatahitanga ki te Whare Pāremata, hāngai ana tana kōrero mō ngā tino momoho pāpori, momoho ohaoha i hua ake ai i ngā āwhina a te Māori i ngā mahi mō te pakanga. I kōrero anō hoki ia mō te mana o ngā tikanga Māori me te tika anō o te haere ōrite tonu o te momo tiaki i te Pākehā rāua ko te Māori – arā, mō ngā utu mahi me ngā moni penihana whakamaru hoki. I te mea he mema Pāremata ia e noho ana i Ākarana, i meāke tonu nei te tou atu i a ia ki ngā raruraru e pā ana ki te nekeneke mai o te Māori i tuawhenua ki ngā tāone noho ai.
Nō mua tonu atu te akiaki a Tāpihana i ana kaipōti ki te tuku petihana ki te Pāremata mō ngā takahitanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, ā, piki ana te nui o ngā petihana mai i Te Tai Tokerau ki te Whare Pāremata i ngā tau e rima o muri mai. He mea tautoko anō hoki e ia te mahi whakatū i tētahi kōmihana uiui a te Karauna hei titiro i ngā kerēme whenua a Te Tai Tokerau kua roa kē e tū ana, ā, i te mutunga atu ko te tūnga mai tēnā o te kōmihana mō ngā whenua tuwhene i raro i a Tā Michael Myers i ngā tau 1946 me 1947, e hia hoki te roa e tāria ana. Āwhinatia ake anō hoki e Tāpihana te whakatū i tētahi komiti ā-rohe mō Te Tai Tokerau hei whakataka kōrero whakaaturanga mō te pakirehua. I te mutunga atu, tūtohutia ana e te kōmihana kia £61,307 te nui o te moni kāpeneheihana hei utu. Kāore i tautokona e Tāpihana te whakataunga utu ā-rohe i te kāpeneheihana nei ki te Poari Kaitiaki Māori o Te Tai Tokerau (Tai Tokerau Māori Trust Board), inarā, ko tāna kē me tuku torotika kē atu te moni ki ngā hapū ko rātou nei te hunga i rahua.
I te wā e noho kāwanatanga ana te Rōpū Reipa tae noa ki te tau 1949, ko te kaupapa e hāpaitia ana e Tāpihana ko te whakaatu i ngā mate āhuatanga ā-iwi, mate āhuatanga ohaoha ake o te Māori. Nō te tau 1945 i whakaarahia ake e ia ngā take mō ngā kanohi Māori mō ngā komiti ā-rohe whakanohonoho hōia me te whakakorenga i te Ture Kaunihera Māori (Māori Councils Act) o te tau 1900. Nō te tau o muri tonu mai i tohea e ia me whakanui atu ngā paohotanga mai a te Māori, kia nuku atu rā i te paoho noa i ngā pitopito kōrero i te reo Māori. Mahi tahi ana ia ki te Tari Māori, ka riro mai he whenua hei whakatū whare nohoanga mō ngā Māori e mahi mai ana i te whare patu mīti i Moerewa, me ērā atu hoki o ngā Māori e noho mai rā i Mokoia (Panmure) i Ākarana. Otirā wāna i whiwhi ai, kāore i taea e ia te whakakore te aukatinga atu o te puni noho o ngā kaimahi Māori o Māngere. Nā tana mōhio tonu ki te tokomaha atu o ngā Māori i ngā tāone, he itiiti rawa nō ngā whare e mahia ake ana ka kore nei e ea te hiahia o rātou e pīrangi kāinga ana, ka tohe nei ia ko ngā rākau o runga mai i ngā whenua rāhui o te Māori, me whakamahi hei hanga whare mō rātou ake. Akiākina ake anō hoki e ia te whakangungu me te whakanui ake i te rahi o ngā tākuta me ngā nēhi Māori mō te hauora hinengaro. Mō te taha ki te mātauranga, i whakaarahia ake e ia ngā raruraru e pā ana ki ngā huarahi atu rā ki ngā kura Māori o Tānoa, o Tangiterōria me Waipoua, me tana whakahau anō hoki kia whakakurepetia te kura Māori o Mōtatau, e apiapi kē nei i te tamariki. I a ia e mahi mai ana ki te whakakaha ake i te tautiaki mai a te kāwanatanga i te toheroa, kore rawa i taea e ia te moni hei kāpeneheihana mā ngā Māori o Muriwhenua, i te matenga o ngā tumutumu toheroa i Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach), he mea tūkino nei e te ope taua i te Pakanga Tuarua. I tohutohungia atu anō hoki e ia te whakamatenga atu o ngā mātaitai o Ōrākei e ngā parakaingaki o te tāone o Ākarana. Tautokona anō hoki e ia te kaupapa ake a Ngāti Whātua, e hia nei te roa e hiahia nei i tētahi marae mō rātou ake anō ki Ōrākei.
I a ia i te taha āpitihana kē o te Pāremata atu i te tau 1949 ki te tau 1957, papahueke tonu tana whakaatu haere i te kaha kore o te kāwanatanga Nāhinara ki te whakaheke mai i te rārangi īngoa o ngā Māori e tatari whare ana, me tana whakaatu anō kua noho kē tēnei mea te whare heihei, te tēpara hōiho mahue noa, me ngā whare kōpuha o ngā māra hokohoko noa nei hei kāinga noho mō te Māori. Ahakoa kāore ia i whakahē i te āhua o te mahi tākaro i waenganui i te Māori me Āwherika ki te Tonga, i rongo tonu te rau i tana whakaatu rā i te kaha o te mahi whakatoihara i te Māori i ngā hōtēra o Ākarana, whakatoihara hoki i te mahi whiwhi whare, whiwhi mahi rānei. He mea tohe anō e ia te whakanui atu i ngā wātene Māori hei tirotiro i ngā hōtēra, me tana inoi anō hoki kia kaha ake te manawa nui me te whakaaro mahara i waenganui i te Pākehā me te Māori.
Mō te taha ki ngā take e pā ana ki ngā whenua Māori, tautokona ana e ia te whakakorenga atu o ngā poari whenua Māori – he whakamatua kē te āhua – ā, whāia, nō te tau 1954, i horaina atu e ia te petihana a Kereama Waiti o Ngāti Whātua me tētahi atu anō 379, e tono ana kia kōpania ake te Tiriti o Waitangi ki roto i ngā pukapuka ture o te motu. I a ia e āpotoro tonu ana mō te Hāhi Rātana, i tino whai ia i ngā mahi a ngā rangatahi, me ngā āhuatanga ā-iwi. Nuku atu i tēnā he mema anō hoki ia nō te komiti ā-iwi o Ōwairaka, he kohi moni nei tā rātou hei whakatū marae ki New Lynn. I noho ake anō hoki ia ki runga i te komiti kaitiaki ā-rohe o Te Tai Tokerau mō ngā moni kāore anō kia kerēmetia.
I te whakahokinga atu anō o Reipa hei kāwanatanga i te tau 1957, i whakatūria a Tāpihana hei heamana mō te Komiti mō ngā Take Māori (Māori Affairs Committee), tae noa ki te tau 1960. He tangata rekareka, paingia ana a Tāpihana e te tangata, inā kē nei tōna rahi (e ono putu, whā īnihi te roa), waiho ake tana hanga nui hei mahi whakatoi mā ngā mema o te Whare Pāremata. I ana tau i muri mai nā tana pāngia e te mate me ngā raruraru o te whānau, i potopoto haere kē atu ana kauhau ki te Whare Pāremata me te roa o te kitekite atu i a ia. Nō te 7 o Hānuere i te tau 1963 i mate ai a Tāpihana Paikea i Oneriri, i te takiwā o Kaiwaka i Kaipara. Ko ana whakareretanga ake ko tana wahine, ko Raiha, ko ana tamāhine tokowhitu me ana tama tokorua. I tanumia atu a ia i te taha o tōna pāpā me ōna tūpuna i tō rātou urupā i Kākāraea, i Ōtamatea. Ahakoa te kōrero rā mōna, arā, he tama tōtika mai ia nō te matua tōtika ake, kore rawa i pātata atu āna mahi pāremata ki wā tōna pāpā.