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Waaka, Te Kari

by Tamati Wiremu Waaka

Biography

I whānau a Te Kari Waaka i te 6 o Maehe i te tau1916 i Poroporo, e pātata atu rā ki Whakatāne. Ko ōna mātua ko Te Wiremu Tāmati Waaka, he tangata ahu whenua nō Ngāti Pūkeko, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Whakakī Hiki o Tūhoe. Ko tana pāpara te Māori tuatahi o Whakatāne ki te whiwhi karahipi hai kura i a ia i Tīpene (St Stephen’s Native Boys’ School). E tamariki tonu ana ia i te matenga o tōna whaea, ka riro a ia nā ōna whanaunga i whakatipu. I kuraina a Te Kari ki te kura Māori o Poroporo (Poroporo Native School), ā, taihoa ake i tākaro whutupaoro a ia mō tētahi karapu o te hau kāinga.

I te tau 1931 i nuku atu a Te Kari ki Rūātoki ki te noho i te taha Tūhoe o tōna whānau. Nō Hānuere o te tau 1940 i haina ia ki te haere hai hōia i te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion), ā, tae atu ana ia ki Peretānia me Īhipa. Nā te mate tinana i whakahokia mai ia ki te kāinga, ā, nō Mei o te tau 1941 i whakamutua tana mahi hōia. Hoi anō, nō te 15 o Oketopa o te tau 1946 i moea e ia a Caroline Te Kaare Kīngi i Rūātoki. Nō Ngāti Pūkeko me Ngāti Rongo o Tūhoe a Caroline, ā, hai mokopuna a ia mā Hēmana Pōkiha, tētahi o ngā tino rangatira o Te Arawa. I Ngāhina rāua tahi e mahi pāmu ana; tekau mā whitu te nui o ā rāua tamariki, ā, ko ētahi o ngā tamariki rā he mea whāngai.

Nō muri i te pakanga, ka noho ko Waaka tētahi o ngā tāngata tokorima i kōwhiria ki te ako i te kaupapa ture, me ngā ture noa nā hoki o te Hāhi Ringatū. Ko te tohunga nāna rātau i ako ko Puke Tari. Otirā, i te mutunga ko Waaka anake te mea o rātau i oti i a ia ngā akoranga katoa. Nō te tau 1960 i whakawahia a ia hai tohunga, ā, i whakatūria anō hoki a ia hai kaiārahi mō te Hāhi mō te rohe o Tūhoe.

He tonotono tonu mai te mahi a ngā kura o te wā kāinga i a ia hai āwhina i a rātau, āwhina hoki i te taha wairua. I kuraina te nuinga o ana tamariki i te kura o Tāwera, ā, tekau mā rima ngā tau ko ia te tiamana o te komiti kura. Ko ia anō hoki te tiamana o te kura Māori tuarua ā-rohe o Rūātoki (Rūātoki Māori District High School), ā tae atu ki te katinga o te kura i te tau 1970. Hai āwhina i te mahi ki te whāngai i tana whānau, ka mahue mai i a ia tana wahine me ā rāua tamariki hai whakahaere i te pāmu, ka haere kē mai ia ki ngā wheketere i Ākarana (Auckland) mahi ai, ā, ia rua wiki ka hoki atu ia ki te kāinga. I a ia i Ākarana ka noho ia hai pakeke mō ngā uri o Tūhoe e noho ana i te tāone. Ko tētahi hiahia o Waaka he whakatū wāhi hai rauika mai mā Tūhoe, ā, tutuki ana tana moemoeā i te whakatuwheratanga i te marae tāone rā, i Te Tira Hou i Mokoia i Tāmaki (Panmure) i te tau 1973. E hia kē ngā huinga a te Hāhi Ringatū ki reira, ko ia tētahi o ngā tohunga i te whakahaere i ngā karakia.

Nā te mea he tohunga Ringatū, he karanga tonu te mahi i a ia ki te hiki i te tapu i ngā kāinga noho; ko ia tētahi o ngā pakeke he mea whakatuwhera e rātau te whare nui i te kura tuarua o Trident (Trident High School) i Whakatāne, me te whare kai i te marae o Pūkeko. I haerea anō hoki e ia ngā whare herehere, ki te whakaora i te wairua, ā, ki te whakamōhio hoki i ngā mau herehere ko wai rātau, ka whakaakona rātau e ia ki te whakapapa. I ngā haere ki tāwāhi a ngā rōpū kura, rōpū tikanga, rōpū hākinakina kē rānei, i haere a Waaka hai kaumātua mō rātau, ā, kapi ana i a ia te haere ki Ahitereiria, me te nuinga o ngā motu o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. I te tau 1983, i a ia e hoki mai ana i tētahi haere o te tīma whutupaoro o Manukau ki Amerika, ka mate mai tana wahine, a Caroline Te Kaare i Kirikiriroa (Hamilton).

E hia kē nei ngā tau i noho mai a Te Kari Waaka hai kaitohutohu mō ngā tauira anā kē te nui, ko Hugh Kāwharu tonu tētahi, taihoa ake rā ka ahorangi ia ki ngā akoranga Māori i te whare wānanga. I tino mīharotia a Waaka mō ana mōhio ki te kawa o te marae me ngā whakapapa taurea e hāngai ana ki ngā tūmomo iwi. I noho watea tonu ia ki te āwhina i ngā tari kāwanatanga, arā, i te Tari Toko i te Ora (Social Welfare Department), i Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Education Department) me te Kaporeihana Whare (Housing Corporation of New Zealand). I uru atu hoki ia ki te mahi tāpae atu i tētahi kaupapa e whiwhi ai te tangata i te pūtea taurewa hai whakatū whare mōna i rungā i ngā whenua o ngā hapū e huhua tonu ana ngā kaiwhiwhi.

I te whakatūnga i te whakakitenga toi, i Te Māori i Ākarana i te tau 1987, i muri i te whakahokinga mai i Amerika, i tonoa atu a Waaka e Kahurangi Catherine Tizard hai whakatau i te āhua o te kawa. E ai ki te kōrero, mai rānō i te taenga mai o te waka o Mātaatua ki Aotearoa, kātahi anō ētahi o ngā iwi o Mātaatua ka hui ngātahi, ā, kāore i mahue i a Waaka te wero i ngā tumu whakarae o ia iwi, me ka hurumutu tonu, aue, taukiri e. Ina koa i hangaia he waka, he mea tapa ko Mātaatua, ā, i mauria atu ki Waitangi i te tau 1990 hai whakanui i te huritau kotahi rau e rima tekau i te hainatanga i te Tiriti. Otirā, ko Waaka tonu tētahi o ngā kaumātua i te whakaako i ngā kaihoe ki ngā tikanga pure e hāngai ana ki a rātau. I taua hui anō i whakamōhiotia atu a ia ki a Kuini Irihāpeti Te Tuarua, hai uri hikahika matua mai i a Te Pīariari, te rangataira o Ngāti Pūkeko nāna i haina te Tiriti o Waitangi i Te Wharaurangi i Whakatāne. Hai koha mā te Kuini ki a ia he tokotoko whakairo, he mea tuku atu ki a ia e te Kāwana Tianara, e Tā Pāora (Paul) Reeves.

Nō Noema o te tau 1991 i whakatūria he hui i Whangaparāoa hai whakanui i te ūnga mai o ngā waka o Mātaatua me Tainui ki Aotearoa. Ko te tikanga, me tae atu a Te Kari Waaka ki reira, ēngari i mate kē mai ia i Whakatāne i te 28 o Noema. Kātahi te mihi ki a ia i te haringa atu i a Mātaatua mā runga taraka ki tana tangihanga i te marae o Ngāhina.

 

 

 

 

 


He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Obit. Whakatane Beacon. 29 Jan. 1992: 10


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Tamati Wiremu Waaka. 'Waaka, Te Kari', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5w1/waaka-te-kari (accessed 29 March 2024)