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Kōrero: Zister, Rachael Ngeungeu Te Irirangi

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Zister, Rachael Ngeungeu Te Irirangi

1893–1997

Nō Ngāi Tai, nō Ngāti Pāoa; he wahine whai mana, he hēkeretari, he kaiārahi hapori

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Maureen McCollum rāua ko Robert McCollum, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Nō te 10 o Oketopa i te tau 1893 i whānau ai a Rachael Ngeungeu Te Irirangi Beamish i Waiariki i Te Paina (Mercer) i Waikato, ko ia rā te mea tuatoru o ngā tamariki tekau a Richard Evanson Beamish, he tangata whai (nō muri mai he kāpene kaumoana), rāua ko tana wahine, ko Rangi Takotokino Ēmere Mākiwhara (Emily Maxwell). Hei tamāhine a Rangi mā Ānaru Mākiwhara (Andrew Maxwell) o Ngāi Tai me Ngāti Pāoa, ko ia rā te tohunga tā moko mātāmuri o Waikato, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Ngāpāoa Peti Herewini o Ngāti Naho, o Ngāti Horoua, o Ngāti Mahuta, o Ngāti Hinetū me Ngāti Pāoa. I ōna tau tōmua i whakatipua mai a Ngeungeu e ōna tūpuna, e Ānaru rāua ko Peti, i Waikato. He mea whakatipu ngātahi mai a Ngeungeu rātou ko Te Puea Hērangi – meāke nei ko ia te kaihautū o te Kīngitanga – me ōna ake tungāne, tuākana, tēina hoki. E whitu tau tōna pakeke ko tana hokinga atu tēnā ki ōna mātua, ka tīmata nei tana haere ki te kura o Te Paina (Mercer). Nō muri i uru atu ia ki tētehi kura whakaoti i te akoranga mō ngā kōtiro rangatira i te tiriti o Horotiu (Queen Street) i Ākarana (Auckland).

Mārama noa ana ki a Ngeungeu te kōrero Māori me te kōrero Pākehā. Nō te tau 1917 i tīmata tana mahi, e hia tau kē nei te roa, i te tari o ngā huānga o tōna pāpā, o Mason rāua ko Struthers mā i te wāhanga whaka-te-rāwhiti o te tiriti o Custom (Custom Street East) i Ākarana, he kamupene mātanga, he hanga mīhini miraka kau nei te mahi. Ā muri ake nei i taua tau anō i neke atu a Ngeungeu ki Whakatāne ki te whakahaere i ngā mahi mā tētehi ūmanga ture e pā ana ki te Kōti Whenua Māori. Nō te tau 1920 i tīmata ake ai āna mahi mā te Tari Tiaki Iwi (Public Trust Office) i Pōneke (Wellington), ā, nō te tau 1923 i uru atu a ia ki te peka ture o te Tari Māori (Native Department). I aua tau anō hoki i tonoa ake a ia kia tū hei mema Pāremata i te rohe pōti Māori o Te Tai Hauāuru, ēngari kāore ia i whakaae. I te tau 1926 i tino mate ia i te rewharewha, whāia i muri mai ka pāngia ake anō hoki e te mate kohi, ā, he wā roa ia e noho ake ana i te wāhi whakamāuitanga me te hōhipera atu hoki o Ōtaki. Kotahi tau i muri mai i whakatūria a ia hei kaiwhakahaere Māori mō te Kōti Whenua Māori i Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) me Ākarana, me tana noho ake anō hoki hei hēkeretari mā Te Puea, ā, tae noa ki te tau 1938 tana roa e mau ake ana i aua tūranga.

Nō te 13 o Ākuhata o taua tau anō i moea e ia a William Louis Zister, he tangata mahi pāmu nō Cargill i Ontario i Kānata. He tauira ia i te whare wānanga ka tahi, i te kura pirihi ka rua, ā, e mahi ana ia i ngā hararei i te pāmu a Nathaniel Beamish i Pukekawa. Kāore i roa, i aruarumia tō rāua hononga e te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ēngari, i te hokinga mai o William ki te kāinga ka mutu nei tana mahi hōia mā te ope taua o Aotearoa i tāwāhi, i tau ai te tokorua nei ki runga i ngā whenua tuku iho o Ngeungeu i Umupuia, i Waiariki, tae atu ki Pukekawa. I konei e whakatipu kau momo Galloway ana a William hei mīti. I tua atu i tēnā he mahi karere kawe anō tāna i Te Wairoa (Clevedon), ā, tāpiri atu ki tēnā he mahi kohikohi kirīmi, mahi pia āporo anō hoki tāna. Kāore rāua i whai tamariki.

Mai i te tau 1948 atu rā ki te tau 1968 te roa o Ngeungeu Zister e tū mai ana hei mema mō te Poari Kaitiaki Māori o Tainui (Tainui Māori Trust Board). Ko ngā iwi ko ia nei tō rātou kanohi ko Ngāi Tai, ko Ngāti Tamaoho me Te Koheriki o te rohe o Tāmaki–Wairoa. Ko ia ake tētehi o ngā mema tōmua o te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora (Māori Women’s Welfare League), ā, i te hui tuarua a te motu o te rōpū nei i te tau 1952, ka noho hei kanohi a Ngeungeu mō Te Puea Hērangi, ko ia rā tō rātou whakaruruhau. Nō te tau 1951 i whakatūria ia hei mana whakaāio. Nō te tau 1950 i āwhina ake ai rāua ko William i te mahi whakatū i tētahi whare karakia Katorika nei ki Te Wairoa, ā, atu i te tau 1963 ki 1965 i mahi ake ai a Ngeungeu Zister rāua ko te kaiārahi o Te Rarawa, ko Whina Cooper ki te kohi moni hei whakatū i te marae Katorika, i Te Ūnga Waka i Ākarana. Waihoki rā, nō te tau 1970 i whakatūria a ia ki te poari mō te pāka moana o Hauraki (Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board).

Nō te tau 1982 i tukua atu e ia tētehi wāhi o tōna whenua i Umupuia, hei whakatū marae mō tōna iwi o Ngāi Tai. Hei mahi moni māna mā te marae, i whakatuwheratia e ia ana pātiki hei wāhi nohonga mō te hunga noho puni, me tana whakahaere anō hoki i tētehi toa i te takutai. I whakatūria anō hoki e ia te komiti marae me tētehi rōpū tautiaki hei kohikohi moni me te whakahaere rā i te mahi whakatū i te whare nui. Ko te whakapono o Ngeungeu ko te marae nei hei wāhi mō tōna iwi ki te ako i ā rātou kōrero o mua, ēngari e ai ki tāna, me noho tonu te wāhi nei, hāunga ake anō mō te Māori, ēngari anō hoki mō te Pākehā. Nō Noema o te tau 1990, i tāpaea, i hākaritia hoki te marae, ka riro nā Tā Pāora (Paul) Reeves te hui whakatuwhera i whakahaere. He rā tino nui tēnei mō Ngeungeu rātou ko tōna whānau, kua tutuki rā te hiahia taumano kē nei o tōna tupuna, o Ānaru.

Ko tētehi wāhi noa te whenua o Umupuia o ngā whenua o Ngāi Tai, 60,000 eka pea te rahi, e hōrapa atu rā ki Papatoetoe, ki Ōtāhuhu, ki Waipaparoa (Howick), ki Papakura, tae atu ki Waikoupa, Waikaupa (Whitford) rānei. Tīmataria ake ana e Ngeungeu he pitihana hei whakahoki mai i aua whenua rā ki a Ngāi Tai, ēngari kāore kau i tutuki. E waru rau eka noa te rahi o te whenua i Umupuia e toe tonu ana.

Nō te tau 1989 i ūhia ai a Ngeungeu Zister ki te tohu CBE, ā, whai ake i tēnā tohua ana hoki a ia ki te mētara whakamaharatanga o Aotearoa o te tau 1990 (New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal), me te mētara mō te rau tau o te take pōti wāhine o Aotearoa (New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal) i te tau 1993. Nō te 22 o Mei o te tau 1997 i mate ai a Rachael Ngeungeu Te Irirangi Zister ki Ōtāhuhu. Kotahi rau mā toru tōna pakeke. Nō te tau 1978 kua mate kē tana hoa tāne a William, ā, tāpuketia ake ana a Ngeungeu i tōna taha i te urupā Māori o Umupuia.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Maureen McCollum and Robert McCollum. 'Zister, Rachael Ngeungeu Te Irirangi', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5z1/zister-rachael-ngeungeu-te-irirangi (accessed 30 March 2024)