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Kōrero: Scott, John Colin

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Scott, John Colin

1924–1992

Nō Te Arawa, nō Taranaki; he kaimahere

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Russell Walden, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I whānau a John (Hōne) Colin Scott ki Haumoana, i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay) i te 9 o Hune o te tau 1924; tokowhitu ngā tamariki a Kathleen Hiraani Blake rāua ko tana tāne mahi pāmu nei, ko Charles Hudson Scott, ā, ko Hōne tonu nei te mea tuatoru o wā rāua tamariki. I tō rātau whaea tonu te tino mana o te whānau, ā, nō Ingarangi, nō Airana me te iwi anō hoki o Taranaki ōna tūpuna. He tangata Koterani te pāpā o Hōne Scott, ā, he tātai heke anō hoki ōna ki a Te Arawa. Kāore tēnei whānau i tino mea rawa kia mōhiotia he taha Māori anō tō rātau.

Takaahuareka ana, whakamataku kore ana nei te momo whakatipu mai i a Hōne Scott i Te Matau-a-Māui. Kāore i rerekē atu ia i ērā atu o ngā tamariki Māori, mā runga hōiho nei rātau katoa haere ai ki te kura o Haumoana. Nō muri mai, ka haere ia ki te kāreti o Hato Hoani (St John’s College), he kura Katorika tēnei mō ngā tamariki tāne i te tāone o Heretaunga (Hastings). I a ia i reira, ko ia nei te tauira tumuaki, kāpene atu mō te tīma whutupaoro tuatahi. Nō te tau 1944, i tīmata ai tana mahi hēpara, me tana whakaaro anō kia haere ia hei pirihi Katorika. Heoi anō, he kumeroa rawa nō te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, i tūao ai tana whakauru atu i a ia ki te tauārangi. I mua o te hohoutanga o te rongo, i tarea e ia te whakaoti ana akoranga tuatahi nei i te kura rererangi o te tauārangi roera o Aotearoa (Royal New Zealand Air Force) i Taieri.

He kore kite nōna i tētahi mahi pai ake māna, i whakauru noa atu ia ki te kura hoahoanga (School of Architecture) i te kāreti o te whare wānanga o Tāmaki-makau-rau (Auckland University College) i te tau 1946, e rua tekau mā tahi tōna pakeke. I a ia i reira, hore rawa i pai ki a ia te ao mātauranga, anō nei ki tāna hoki he rāwaho kē ia. Atu ki te tau 1949, i ukiuki ia i ana mahi kura, ēngari nō te tau 1950, i harangotengote noa tana kura i a ia. Otirā ko te mutunga iho, nā tana whakaaro he kore take noa tērā tohu, i kore ai ia i whakaoti i tana tītohu hoahoanga. Kāti rā, mau ana te awe ake o tana kaiako pukenga, o Vernon Brown i a ia, ā, i tua atu i tēnā mau ana tana rawe ki tērā o ana kaiako, ki a Bill Wilson, mō te pai o tōna ngākau whakapuke me te whakahoahoa atu ki a ia. Nō te 30 o Hūrae i te tau 1951, i moea e ia a Joan Moffat i Ākarana (Auckland), te auwahine rā o Bill Wilson.

Nō tana makeretanga mai i te whare wānanga, i whakauru atu ia ki te kamupene whakahoahoa rā, ki a Structural Developments, ēngari nā te whakakorenga atu o taua kamupene i wehe atu a ia, 18 marama tana roa i reira e mahi mai ana. I mua i tō rāua hokinga mai ko tana wahine ki Te Matau-a-Māui, i neke atu ia ki tētahi atu kamupene, ki Group Architects, mahi ai mō te rua marama. Nō tōna hokinga atu ki Haumoana, kātahi hoki te kāinga rawe kē nei ko tērā hei wāhi noho, hei wāhi whakatipu i ā rāua tamariki, tokoono rawa rātau. Ka raupītia ake ai te wairua auaha i roto i a ia i reira. Kua kite noa atu ia, me ka puta he mahi i a ia, me wehe rawa mai ia i te hau takiwā whakangoikore o te tāone nui.

Ko āna mahi tuatahi he mea mahi nā tōna kotahi, he whakahoahoa whare tūmataiti. O aua kāinga nei, ko ngā whare o Savage rāua ko Falls, he mea whakatauira, hanga ake i ngā tau 1952 me 1953 i Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga (Havelock North). He mea nui ēnei mahi tīmata ake āna, ka kite nei ia i te momo whakahoahoa ake māna, ka noho nei ko ngā hanganga tuku iho o Aotearoa, pērā i te whare Māori me te whare kutikuti hipi hei whakakawekawe i a ia. I kitea tonutia te whakapakari haere mai o tōna māiatanga i te hanganga o te whare karakia iti o te kāreti o Hato Hoani i te tāone o Heretaunga i ngā tau atu i 1954 ki 1956. Nā tēnei mahi āna, i whakaritea he kōmihana māna hei whakatū i tētehi whare karakia iti anō mō te Rōpū o Maria (Society of Mary) i Te Kaha-o-ngā-rore (Karori) i Pōneke (Wellington).

Ko te māpihi maurea tēnei o āna mahi katoa, arā, ko te whare karakia iti o Futuna, nō te tau 1958 ki 1961 i hangaia ai. Ki te whakaaro o te tangata, ko tēnei te tino taumata me te whai tikanga, kaua ki Aotearoa noa nei ēngari puta noa i te ao. He huhua ngā kaupapa hanga o te whare nui, pēraka rā i te pou tokomanawa, i ngā heke e rite nei ki te rara, me ngā hiku pāpaku noa nei, i whakakotahitia ake ai ki ngā kaupapa hanga tuku iho anō o te whare karakia. Ko te mutunga iho noho ake ana te whare karakia iti nei hei whare karakia kauawhiawhi, māminga atu hoki. Piri tonu ana te mahi mai a Hōne Scott i te taha o ngā parata o te Rōpū o Maria, nā rātau nei te whare karakia i whakatū. E rua nga hōnore i riro i te whare karakia iti nei, arā, ko te mētera kōura o te rōpū mō ngā kaihoahoa o te motu (New Zealand Institute of Architects) i te tau 1968, me te tohu tuatahi mō ngā tau e rua tekau mā rima i te tau 1986.

I mau haere tonu te mahi mai a Hōne Scott i ngā kōmihana tūmataiti, ēngari he ruarua atu anō ngā whare tūmatanui hira o te motu nāna anō i whakatauira. I pērā anō hoki te whare whakamaharatanga mō te hokowhitu Māori (Māori Battalion Memorial Centre) i Te Papa-i-ōia (Palmerston North) i ngā tau 1954 ki 1964. I whakakotahitia anō e ia ngā tikanga a te Māori rāua ko te Pākehā; nui atu anō hoki tana whakamahi mai i ngā poupou whakairo me ngā tukutuku hei ariā whakapaipai. I te whakahoahoatanga o te whare mō te tari matua o te rohe pāka mō te iwi whānui o Te Urewera (Urewera National Park Headquarters), he mea mahi rā i ngā tau atu i 1974 ki 1976, e rite nei te tauira ki te wharau, kia hanumi ai ki te ngahere. Kitea ake ana te kaha o tana whakaaro ki te wāhi e tū ai, me tana tūtohutanga anō ki te āhua o te whenua, hei whakaawe ake i tana momo whakatauira. Hei tikanga whakapaipai mai i roto o te whare, nōna te whakaaro kia āta whakaritea mā Colin McCahon tētahi pikitia e peita.

I te wā e mahi ana a Hōne Scott i ana mahi mahere, he wā kē tēnei e pokea ake ana e ngā take hapori, take tōrangapū, e whakawehe kē mai nei i te Māori i te Pākehā. Heoi rā ki tana titiro, he whakakotahi kē te mutunga mai o ngā tikanga a te Māori rāua ko te Pākehā, ehara kē i te whakawehewehe. Ahakoa tana kotahi i waenganui i ōna hoa, taea ana e ia te whakakotahi ngā āhuatanga papai o ngā ao e rua ki roto i ōna whare.

Rerekē noa atu ngā whakaaro o Hōne Scott i ērā o ngā tohunga mau hutu, e mea nei kia tae tonu atu ngā tuhituhi i te wā tika. Ka mutu mai te tangata tino mātauranga, taurangi hoki, ā, i te nuinga o te wā kāore ia e mau hū. Whai noa ake ana ia i āna nei whakaritenga, mahi ake ia i ngā hāora katoa, pō atu, awatea atu. Ehara kau ia i te mea e kīia nei he menetia, ā, kāore noa iho i tino nui ngā moni i putu i a ia. Ahakoa anō, i ngā wā katoa i mau tonu tana ngākau pono ki te āhua o tana mahi. He tangata kāore ia mō te whakamenomeno, kore rawa hoki ia i pai ki ngā tikanga i tāwāhi me ngā tikanga kirimoko noa nei. Ko tāna i whai tuatahi ai, ko te āhua o te hanga, ā, ahakoa anō, ko tōna whakaaro tonu me ū tonu te tū o te whare.

Nō muri i te pokanga o tana manawa i te hōhipera i Maungakiekie (Green Lane Hospital), i Ākarana, ka mate a Hōne Scott, inarā nō te 30 o Hūrae o te tau 1992 rā i mate atu ai. I tangihia a ia ki te marae o Matahiwi ki Haumoana, ā, nō te 3 o Ākuhata i nehua ai. Ka mahue ki muri ko tana hoa rangatira me ā rāua tamariki. Ko tōna ake āhua he wairua hihiko, he wairua mānatunatu. Nō te tau 1999 ka whakawhiwhia anō ia ki te mētera kōura o te rōpū mō ngā kaihoahoa o te motu. I roto i te ao hoahoanga, ko ia anake i tōna taumata. Otirā ko tōna nei whakaawe, e kore e taea te hōrite. He mea tohutohu e ia ōna hoa mahi, ngā whakatupuranga e rearea ake nei, me ērā katoa anō hoki e rapu ana i te tuakiri Aotearoa i roto i ngā mahi hoahoa, ā, me pēhea tēnei e tino taea ai.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Russell Walden. 'Scott, John Colin', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5s7/scott-john-colin (accessed 29 March 2024)