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Solomon, Hārata Ria Te Uira

by Eleanor Ria Solomon

Biography

I whānau a Hārata Ria Te Uira Parata ki Ōtaki i te 22 o Hānuere i te tau 1925; hei tamāhine ia mā Nātanahira Te Umutapu Wī Te Kākākura Parata, he tangata mahi pāmu, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Ōriwa Tuini Horomona. He tangata tino autaia kē nei tana koroua, a Wiremu Te Kākākura Parata (Wī Parata Te Kākākura rānei), te matua o tōna pāpā, ki te whaikōrero, ā, he kaihautū mana nui hoki ki roto i ōna iwi o Ngāti Toa, o Ngāti Raukawa me Te Āti Awa. I ngā tau atu i 1871 ki 1875, i noho ko ia hei mema Pāremata mō Te Tai Hauāuru, whakatūria atu hoki a ia hei mema mō te Kaunihera Whiriwhiri (Executive Council). He kaihautū nō Ngāti Tūranga me Ngāti Huia, he hapū nei nō Ngāti Raukawa, tana tipuna wahine a Unaiki Whare Angiangi, ko ia rā te whaea o tōna pāpā.

Ko te tamaiti tekau mā tahi a Hārata o tōna whānau tekau mā rua katoa rātou, ēngari o rātou i ora ko ia te mea tamariki rawa (i mate tana whaea a Ōriwa i te wā i mate ai te pōtiki i te whānautanga mai). Hoi anō, e rua tau tōna pakeke, ka riro nā te whaea o tana māmā, nā Ria Te Uira Wīneera a ia i whakatipu. Ahakoa i pakeke mai ia i Waikanae i te wā o te korekore, he tino rangatira kē nei te momo whakatipu i a ia. Tino arohaina nuitia ana ia e tōna whānau, ā, mateohaoha tonu tana whakaaro ki ōna whāea me ōna pāpā kēkē. E hia kē nei ngā eka o tana pāpā he whakatipu kai, hipi, poaka, me tētehi māpu kau, i ora ai tōna whānau me ana karanga maha, mai i Ōtaki ki Porirua. I taki kotahi katoa mai te whānau ki te hauhake i ngā kai, mahi i ngā mahi o te pāmu, mau kai atu hoki hei utu mō ā rātou mahi. He kāinga manahau, tūpapahū tonu nei tō rātou kāinga i te kaha o te mahi. Kātahi te kāinga rawe rawa atu o ngā kāinga katoa o Waikanae ko tēnei, ā, i konei manaakitia ai hoki ngā uri o te whānau mai i Taranaki rere atu ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika; tū noa iho ana hoki te mahi a te motokā, tono ai te tangata kia tukua rātou ki te taka huri haere ki te mātakitaki i te papa whenua o te kāinga rā.

I kuraina a Hārata ki Waikanae, ā, nō muri, ka haere ki Hukarere (Hukarere Native Girls’ College) ki reira ako ai i ngā mahi toi ā-ringa huhua a te Māori rāua ko te Pākehā. Nā reira i puta ai ōna mōhiotanga ki te tuitui, mahi kaka haere tonu mā tōna whānau me ōna hoa, ā pakeke noa ia. He nui ngā wāhine moe tāne o ōna whanaunga nāna i mahi ngā kākahu mārena tino ātaahua kē nei; nuku atu ōna kaha ki te whakarākai putiputi me te whakapaipai keke mārena nei.

Ka mutu te kura a Hārata i Hukarere, i ngā tau tīmatanga o te tekau tau atu i 1940 ka haere ia ki te kāreti takiura o Pōneke (Wellington Teachers’ Training College), ā, whakaarotia nuitia ana tōna pai hei kaiwhakaako e tōna hapori. Āwhina ana ia i te mahi whakaputu moni mō te Pakanga Tuarua o Te Ao, whakahaere rā i ngā mahi whakaaturanga hīkoi. Nō te 7 o Ākuhata o te tau 1947 i moe ia i tana whanaunga tata, i a Matuaiwi Horomona (Solomon) i Porirua. Tokowaru ā rāua tamariki: tokowhā ngā mea tāne, tokowhā ngā mea wāhine. Ko tana tāne, he kaihanga te mahi, he tangata i kaha hoki ki te tautoko me te akiaki i a ia i wāna mahi katoa; he tangata tau kē nei te tāne ki ngā mahi o te kāinga, arā, ki te taka kai, me te āwhina hoki ki te whakatipu i ngā tamariki.

E rua tekau mā waru ōna tau, ka whakatapua ia hei kaihautū mō te rōpū tautoko o ngā wāhine, arā, te Rōpū Āwhina (Relief Society) i roto i te Hāhi o Ihu Karaiti mō te Hunga Tapu o ngā Rā o Muri Nei (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Nuku atu i te toru tekau tau ia e mau ana i te tūranga nei, haerea ana e ia ngā tōpito katoa o Aotearoa, tae rawa atu hoki ki te Hononga o Amerika, tūtaki ai ki ngā kaihautū o te Hāhi o reira.

Nā te kaha o ōna mōhiotanga, tae atu ki ngā tohutohu a tana kuia, i matatau ai a Hārata ki te hāpai i ngā tikanga marae o roto o Ngāti Toa, o Ngāti Raukawa me Te Āti Awa, ā mate noa ia. Ka noho a Hārata hei mema mō te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora (Māori Women’s Welfare League) ā mate noa. E hia nei hoki ngā komiti i uru ai ia e pā ana ki tana iwi me tana hapori. I uru anō ia hei mema mō ngā poari kaitiaki o Ōtaki me tō Porirua, ā, hei mema hoki mō te Kaunihera Whakatūpato Waipiro o Aotearoa (Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council of New Zealand). He mema anō hoki ia nō te komiti Māori o Porirua, me te Kaupapa Mātauranga mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Education Foundation). Nō tana tūtakitanga ki te Kuini o Tairanga, ki a Kuini Sirikit i tētehi hākari i te tau 1962, i tukua mai ai he mau taringa e rua mōna. Nā te āhua o tōna mau i a ia i ēnei tū hui i whakatata ai te tangata ki a ia. He ngākau aroha nei tōna, ā, ahakoa he aha te take he tono tonu mai tā te tangata i ōna whakaaro.

Tāpiri atu ki āna mahi hapori, i mōhiotia whānuitia hoki a Hārata mō āna mahi whakangahau. I whai wāhi anō hoki ia ki ngā mahi whakatū atamira pēraka i Porgy and Bess , i Show boat , i Awatea , i South Pacific me Waituhi , ā, arā atu anō ētehi. I puta anō ia i ngā mahi whakatū i runga i te pouaka whakaata mahi pikitia motuhenga, pikitia noa nei hoki. Ko tētehi mea whakamīharo ki a ia, ko tana waiata reo tōiritanga, i te taha o te koaea o te temepara Mōmona (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) o te tāone nui o Salt Lake, i Utā (Utah). He nui ana mōteatea kua oti te tā. I uru ia hei mema mō te rōpū kaituhituhi Māori, kaiwhakatū hoki, mema atu hoki mō te rōpū tiaki i te taiopenga mahi toi o te ao (New Zealand International Festival of the Arts Trust).

Ka nui kē nei te hāereere haere o Hārata ki te whakanui i ngā mahi toi a tōna iwi, tae rawa atu ki Hawai’i, ki Amerika me Uropi. Nō te wā i whakatuwheratia ai te whakakitenga o Te Māori i te whare taonga o te hītori taiao o Field (Field Museum of Natural History) i Chicago i te tau 1986, ka noho ko ia hei kanohi mō tōna iwi. Kohara nui ana ia ki tana taha tuku iho, ā, ka hia kē nei te roa i mau tonu tana mahi ako i tētehi rōpū Māori i tōna ake kāinga. Kua hau noa atu ōna rongo mō te ātaahua ki te tū, mō tana manawanui me tōna whakaihitanga hei kaiwhakaako. He wahine tino matatau a Hārata ki ngā kōrero o neherā me te whakapapa, ā, tukua atu ana e ia ētehi kōrero mō te wā tīmatanga o te tekau tau mai i 1990 hei puru atu ki te Papatangata o Aotearoa ( Dictionary of New Zealand Biography ).

I a ia e whakahemohemo ana, ā, ahakoa tōna ngoikoretanga i te māuiui, i mau tonu te ārahi a Hārata Horomona i tōna iwi; nō te tau 1990, i ūhia ia hei takahoa mō te Ōta Whakanui Ratonga a te Kuini (QSO). Nō te 20 o Hūrae o te tau 1993, i mate ia ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika; mahue iho ana ko te tokowhitu o āna tamariki. E rua tau i mua atu te matenga o tana tāne.


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Fyfe, J. Matriarchs. Auckland, 1990

    Obit. Evening Post. 29 July 1993: 9

    Szaszy, M. Te tīmatanga tātau tātau: early stories from founding members of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. Ed. A. Rogers & M. Simpson. Wellington, 1993


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Eleanor Ria Solomon. 'Solomon, Hārata Ria Te Uira', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5s33/solomon-harata-ria-te-uira (accessed 29 March 2024)