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Hayward, Ramai Rongomaitara

by Deborah Shepard

Biography

I parā e Rāmai Hayward he ara hou mō te waihanga i te pakipūmeka me te kiriata. I whakangungua ia hei kaiwhakaahua i ngā tau waenga o te 1930, me tana whakatū i tāna ake taupuni mahi ki Tāmakimakaurau i a ia ka tū hei kiripuaki i te kiriata hira a Rudall Hayward, a Rewi’s last stand (1940). Koia tēnei te tīmatanga o tētahi hononga waihanga kiriata ki a Hayward mō te 34 tau. Ko Rāmai te ringa kaha i muri o tētahi raupapa kiriata mātauranga i ngā tau 1950 me ngā tau 1960, ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā kaihanga kiriata tuatahi o te uru kia haere ki te Mana Tōpūtanga o Haina. Hōparatia ana e ētahi o ana kiriata te porihanga Māori, me te whakamiramira anō i te whakatoiharatia o ngāi Māori. He tūhāhā tonu a Rāmai i te ao hanga kiriata o ērā wā – he tāne, he Pākehā te nuinga, ko Rāmai ia, he wahine, he Māori.

Tau tōmua

E ai ki a ia, i whānau mai a Rāmai Rongomaitara Te Miha ki Pirinoa ki te Wairarapa i te 16 o Noema 1916, heoi, ki tā ētahi atu nō te tau kē o mua atu. Hei tamāhine ia mā Roihi Te Miha o Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāi Tahu, rāua ko Frederick William Mawhiney, tētahi kaiahuwhenua nō Airangi ōna tātai. Ka whānau mai tā rāua kōtiro tuarua, a Wikitoria (Vicky), i te 6 o Ākuhata 1917, e rua marama i mua i te hinganga o Frederick ki te pakanga i Pehiamu i te 13 o Oketopa 1917.

Ka moe a Roihi Te Miha i tētahi hōia a James (Jim) Miller i te Tīhema 1917, kātahi ka hūnuku ki Ōtautahi, ka puta ētahi atu tamariki tokorima ki reira. Ko ētahi o ngā tau tōmua o Rāmai i noho ki Waitaha, ko ētahi ki Wharekaka i te taha o tana kuia, a Huria Te Miha. Ka ono ōna tau ka hūnuku atu ki Pirinoa, ki te taha o tana tupuna tāne, a Hemi Te Miha. Matatau ana ia ki te reo Māori, engari kāore i whakaaehia te reo Māori i te Kura o Pirinoa. I te matenga o tana kuia i te whakamutunga o ngā tau 1920, ka hoki ia ki Ōtautahi, ka kuraina ki te Kura o New Brighton i te taha o ana teina me tana tungāne. Ko rātou anake ngā tamariki Māori i te kura, ka hē te haere ki te kura i tā rātou rongo anō i te aukati iwi, i te pōharatanga me te matekai.

He tauira ihumanea a Rāmai, ko Patricia Miller nei tōna ingoa i taua wā. I New Brighton ko ia tētahi o ngā kiripuaki i A midsummer night’s dream, ka mutu, hei hāpai i tana whai oranga ki tua, ka manaakitia e tētahi kiritata, e te kaituhi a Mona Tracy, nāna nei a Rāmai i ārahi atu ki te ao o te pukapuka, me tana whakahau i te whānau kia tukua tā rātou tamāhine ihumanea ki te Kāreti o Kuīni Wikitōria mō te Kōhine Māori i Tāmakimakaurau. Puāwai ana a Rāmai taha toi nei i taua tau, ka tū ia hei kiripuaki i te Merchant of Venice, ka mutu, nāna anō i peita te tuarongo māra Itāriana. Ka karangahia kia hoki ki te kāinga ki te tiaki i tana whaea e māuiui ana, ka rua tau ia ki te Kura Tuarua o Ōtautahi ki te Uru (ko Hagley College ināianei). I reira ka ako ia i ngā pūmanawa o te tuitui me te hoahoa kākahu, he pūmanawa i whakamahia e ia ki te waihanga i ana kākahu huatau.

Whakangungutanga ki te whakaahua

I te tau 1935 ka hūnuku a Rāmai ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, ka noho hei pia mā te kaiwhakaahua, a Henri Harrison, mō te rua tau. I tana taupuni mahi i te Ara o Cuba, ka āta whakangungua a Rāmai ki ngā āhuatanga o te whakaahua: te taha rama, te whakawhanake āhua, te whakapai ake i te āhua, me te kauruku ā-ringa i te whakaahua pango me te mā. I taua wā anō ka haere ia ki te akoranga pō mō te toi me te whakaahua i te Wellington Technical College, nā wai ka mātau ki te peita, tētahi pūmanawa i whakatinanahia e ia i ngā hoahoa pae whakaari a Hayward Films, i ngā whakairoiro mō ā rātou pānui kiriata, me ngā kōrero ārahi kaiwhakaako. Ka uru atu hoki ia ki te Karapu Taiohi Māori o Ngāti Pōneke, ka ako i ngā waiata me ngā haka i a Apirana Ngata, i whakaū nei i tana whakahī ki tōna Māoritanga.

I te tau 1937, te 1938 rānei, ka hūnuku a Rāmai ki Tāmakimakaurau, ka whakapaua e ia tētahi pūtea whakarere iho iti ki te whakatuwhera i tētahi pakihi whakaahua, te Patricia Miller Studio, ki Devonport. Momoho ana tana taupuni i ngā tau o te pakanga; ko te maha atu o ana kiritaki he āpiha nō Peretānia me Amerika nō te papa taua moana e pātata ana. I te tau 1940 ka tuwhera tana taupuni tuarua ki Queen Street, tae rawa ki te tau 1946, tokowaru ana kaimahi e whai oranga ana i a ia.

Rewi’s last stand me te mārena

I tūtaki a Rāmai ki te kaihanga kiriata para huarahi hou o Aotearoa, a Rudall Hayward i te tau 1938, i tana whakamātautanga mō te kiripuaki wahine matua i tana kiriata, a Rewi’s last stand (1940). Ka tohua ia mō Ariana, ka mutu, ko tōna ara ki te angitu tēnei, ahakoa tana kī tonu nā tana pukumahi kē me tā te wā i tohu ai i angitu ai ia.1 Nā ōna pūmanawa maha me tōna ātaahua anō, ka tino tika a Rāmai – i kīia i ngā kōrero whakatairanga ko Rāmai Te Miha, kaua ko Patricia Miller – mō tēnei kiripuaki. Papai ana ngā kōrero mō te kiriata, ka hiahia a Peretānia ki te hoko, ko te hoko ki te ao tuatahi tēnei mā Rudall. I tētahi o ngā arotakenga ka whakaritea a Rāmai ki te whetū o Hollywood, a Dorothy Lamour, me te matapae ake: ‘Ina whai huarahi ka hau tōna rongo ki te ao kiriata’.2 I hau tonu te rongo o Rāmai engari kaua hei kaiwhakaari: mō tana noho kē hei ringatohu kiriata ki te tohutohu i ngā mahi i muri o te kāmera.  

I mārena a Rāmai rāua ko Rudall Hayward ki te tari rēhita i Tāmakimakaurau i te 29 o Noema 1943, e whitu rā i muri mai o te mahuetanga tūturu o Rudall rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi. Koia nei te mutunga o te hononga auaha a Rudall rāua ko Hilda Hayward, i mahi tahi nei ki a ia i ana kiriata tōmua. Koia nei anō te tīmatanga o te hononga whai painga auaha ki a Rāmai. Nā te mārena nei anō i āhei ai te tiki atu a Rāmai i ana tēina me tana tungāne, a Hera rātou ko Rangimarie, ko Tahi, i whāngaihia i te matenga o tō rātou whaea i te tau 1935.

Rānana me Ahitereiria  

He tau tukuroa ngā tau o te 1940 i te ao kiriata o Aotearoa i, nō reira i te tau 1946, ka hokona atu e Rāmai ana taupuni whakaahua e rua, kia whai pūtea ai rāua ki te haere ki Rānana ki te rapu i te whai rawatanga i te mākete nunui. Ka kaha pīrangitia a Rudall me tana kāmera oro kawe kāore nei i tino kitea, mō ngā hōtaka e pā ana ki ngā rongo o te wā me ngā pakipūmeka a te BBC. Ko Rāmai tana kaiāwhina i te tīmatanga ki te whakahaere i ngā kāmera me te āpiti reo, engari kāore i roa ka mātau ia ki ngā āhuatanga katoa o te hanga kiriata, me te noho hoa auaha mōna. I mahia e rāua ētahi kiriata e rua, The Goodwin Sands (1948) mā Warner Brothers me A Yank comes back (1949), me tā rāua whai wāhi atu ki tētahi pakipūmeka kāore nei i oti, mō te whakawhanaunga ā-iwi. Nā tēnei mahi i whakatōkia ai te kākano ki te hinengaro o Rāmai mō ētahi kiriata ki tua, ki te whakanui i te iwi Māori.

I hiahia tonu te tokorua nei kia noho tonu ki Rānana, te wāhi e nui ana te mahi, engari ka mate tā rāua hoki mai ki te kāinga i te tau 1950, ki te whakarite kaitiaki mō te whaea o Rudall e māuiui ana. Kātahi rāua ka haere ki Ahitereiria, ka toru tau ki reira e whai ana i ngā mahi kāore nei i tino angitu i mua i te hokinga tūturu mai ki Tāmakimakaurau. I te tau 1954 ka whakapaua e Rāmai tētahi pūtea whakarere iho hei hoko i tētahi whare Wikitōriana nunui e iwa nei ōna rūma, i 55 Esplanade Road ki Maungawhau. Ka hurihia te whare hei taupuni kiriata whai rūma pōuri, rūma ētita me tētahi rūma iti mō te whakaatu pikitia. Noho ana te whare nei hei papa waihanga mō rāua mō te 13 tau uruhau. 

Rāmai te kaihanga kiriata  

Nā te hanganga o te taupuni kiriata ki Maungawhau i whiwhi wāhi papai ai a Rāmai, tētahi 'rūma mōku ake', hei whakawhanake i tana whai oranga i te ao kiriata. Kāore i roa ka kitea he huarahi e hangaia ai tana kiriata tuatahi. I te tau 1956 ka pōwhiritia te tokorua nei e tō rāua hoa, e te toikupu a R.A.K. Mason, kia tāpoi haere mō te toru marama ki Haina i raro i te maru o te Chinese People's Association for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Ko rātou tētahi o ngā kāhui kiriata tuatahi o waho o te ao ki te tomo atu ki reira i muri i te whananga mana tōpūtanga me te katinga o ngā rohenga o Haina i te tau 1949. I taua haerenga ka rongonui a Rāmai i te whakaahuatia ōna e Rudall e mau piupiu ana, me tana tāpae i tētahi korowai ki a Mao Zedong, he koha nā King Korokī me te iwi Māori o Aotearoa. I kī atu ia ki te ariki o Haina, ‘Ko te iwi iti katoa o te ao tēnei e tuku koha atu nei ki te iwi nunui katoa’. Ko te whakahoki ki a ia, ‘E rite ana te rangatiratanga o te iti ki tō te rahi.’3

I Haina, ka whakaahua tahitia e rāua ngā pakipūmeka a Inside Red China me Wonders of China, ka mahia e Rāmai tana pakipūmeka mātauranga tuatahi, a Children in China (1961), i kukume nei i te tangata o te ao e karapa atu ai ki te noho a te whānau i te porihanga kua katia atu. I mua i te haerenga, ka hokona e Rāmai tana kāmera kiriata tuatahi, ka matapakina te āhua o te pakipūmeka hou o te ao mātauranga, ōna kōrero, te taera me te hanganga, ki a Walter Harris o te whare rokiroki o te National Film Unit. Koia nei te tīmatanga o tētahi hononga roa whai painga ki te Unit nei. I tīmata anō i konei te piki ake o te whai taituarā o te tokorua nei taha ahumoni. I orua atu te totoro haere a Rāmai ki te hanga kiriata mātauranga, ki te kaingākautia o tēnei momo kiriata i te ao, i āhei atu ai ngā Hayward ki te mākete o te ao, i muri mai ki te hokohoko haere ki Amerika, ki Peretānia, ki Airangi, ki Tiamani ki te Uru, ki Pehiamu, ki Itāria me Ahitereiria.  

I waenga i te tau 1960 me te 1971, 12 atu anō ngā kiriata mātauranga i mahia e Rāmai, ko tēnā me tēnā e whakaatu ana i tana kaha ki te rapu haere i te kaupapa pārekareka. Kātahi ka pārekareka kē atu, ka whai kiko kē atu ngā kōrero, i te haere tahi o te kupu āwhina me ngā kōrero a te tohunga, i te ngahau o ngā pikitia i rite tonu nei te whai wāhi atu a te tamariki, me ōna anō wāhanga e whakaari ana i ētahi kōrero hītori. Ko te nuinga atu o ngā kiriata i arotahi ki ētahi āhuatanga o te porihanga me te ahurea o Aotearoa. E toru i whakamiramira i te noho taiwhenua: The little shepherdesses (1960), te pāmu hipi i te ika whenua; A North Island dairy farm (1964); me Alpine shepherds of New Zealand (1967), mō te Teihana o Mesopotamia i Waitaha. E rua i arotahi ki ētahi kīrehe o Aotearoa: Eel history was a mystery (1968), mō te mataora o te tuna, ko ētahi wāhanga e whakaatu ana i te whaea kēkē Māori o Rāmai e whakaauahi tuna ana i Kaitorete te tūpahipahi i waenga o Te Waihora me Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa; me This living fossil: the tuatara (1963), mō Tawhiti Rahi me tana ngārara taketake rongonui. Hōparatia ana i A village in Samoa (1964) me A French family in New Caledonia (1967) te noho ki Te Moana-nui-a-kiwa, ko The young Albanians (1972) e mātai ana i te porihanga ao hou o Arapeinia. Ko tā Playing safe in small boats (1963) he kōrero mō te haere haumaru i te wai.

I te wā katoa e mahi kiriata ana a Rāmai, i kaha ia ki te whakaatu i te Māori, ki te whakanui i ētahi āhuatanga o te ao Māori me te whakaoho i te tangata ki ngā pānga kino o te aukati iwi. He maha ana kiriata i arotahi ki te ao Māori: te Eel history was a mystery, te Arts of Maori children (1962), te English language teaching for Maori and Island children (1971), me Matenga: Maori choreographer (1972), ko Rāmai te tumu whakaputa, ko Arthur Thompson te ringatohu.  

I maea ake te kiriata To love a Maori (1972) i ngā mahi a Rāmai i tētahi kaupapa whai mahi mā te rangatahi Māori i te Auckland Technical Institute. Ko te kiriata nei te hōtaka kaha katoa ki te kōrero mōna anō, ka mutu, ko ia tonu tētahi o ngā kiripuaki. I te whakaatuhia o  ngā uauatanga kei te aroaro o te Māori ina mārena i te Pākehā, e whakaatu ana ia i ngā uauatanga o te tūtohia, o te whakaaetia ki te porihanga whakakake i te tane kiritea, i pā nei ki a ia. Nā ēnei tātaritanga o te aukati iwi i te porihanga me tana whakahoki mai i te uara o ngā mahi toi me te ahurea Māori, ka whai wāhi atu ia ki te tupu mai o te tikanga hou i kōkiritia e ōna hoa toi auaha, e Barry Barclay, e Patricia Grace, e Witi Ihimaera, e Selwyn Muru, e Don Selwyn me Jacquie Sturm.

He wahine para huarahi hou

I tana noho hei wahine Māori waihanga kiriata i te wā e whakakakea ana ko te tāne i te ao hanga kiriata o Aotearoa, ka pūruatia te aukatia atu o Rāmai Hayward. Ko tana hoahoa mō te waitohu kiriata Hayward, e whakaatu kōtaha ana i te tokorua nei, ko Rudall kei te pupuri i te kāmera, ko Rāmai kei te mau kāmeta i mua. E whakaatu ana tēnei i ōna ake whakaaro ki te katia atu o te tangata nā runga i tōna ira, me tana oke tonu kia mōhiotia ia. Pērā anō i ētahi atu o tōna aropā, ngā ringatohu kiriata a Margaret Thomson rāua ko Kathleen O’Brien, i rite tonu te kīia he hauwarea ana mahi, me te whakaharaharatia e te ao pāpāho, tae atu ki ngā kōrero hītori o muri mai. I te tau 1970 ka kīia a Rāmai e tētahi kairipoata ko te ‘kaiāwhina noho taonga’ a Rudall. Ko te kōrero tika kē ia mō tō rāua hononga, ko te kī ake he ringa mahi ngātahi rāua i ā rāua kiriata, me te noho kaiwhakakapi a tētahi mō tētahi. Ka kaumātua haere hoki a Rudall, ka kaha ake te mahi a Rāmai i ngā mahi. Kei ngā kōrero kē a Rudall i tētahi uiuinga o te tau 1970 i te New Zealand Listener ngā whakatau pono mō ana mahi. I te kōrerotanga mō te waihanga i te Children of China, ka kī ake ia: ‘Mai i taua wā ko ia i muri o te kāmera … Kua mahi tahi māua me te haere kōtui mō ngā tau tekau mā rua ka hori nei, ki te hanga i ngā kiriata mātauranga nāna nei i tīmata.’4

Tau tōmuri

I mate a Rudall Hayward i tētahi mate i tana manawa i te 29 o Mei 1974, i a ia e tāpoi haere ana ki te whakatairanga i te kiriata To love a Maori. Koia nei te tohu o te mutunga o tētahi hononga hanga kiriata hihiri, hononga hira, koia nei anō te mutunga o te hanga kiriata a Rāmai. I tahurī kē ia ki ngā take whenua Māori i te Wairarapa, tōna ūkaipō. I roa ia e noho mema ana mō Ngā Wāhine Toko i te Ora, me tana noho tumuaki mō te Maori Artists and Writers Association mō te rima tau. 

I whai tūnga whakaari iti anō ia i te pouaka whakaata me ētahi kiriata, pērā i te Billy T James show, i te kiriata a Front Lawn, a Linda’s body (1990), ko ia hoki te kuia i Roimata: E tipu e rea (1989), i tohutohua e Riwia Brown. I taua tau anō ko ia te kaupapa o tētahi pakipūmeka a Koha , ‘Rāmai: ray of light’, i kitea nei tōna hau kārohirohi, tana ngākau rauhanga me tana hinengaro kakama. I taua wā e mahi ana ia i tētahi haukiri, ko tētahi upoko i whakaurua atu e ia ki te New Zealand Film Archive (ko Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision ināianei) i te tau 2006. I runga i te whai i te tikanga Māori e pā ana ki te whakapapa, ka arotahi ngā kōrero a Rāmai mō tōna koioratanga, i tino whakapotohia nei, ki tētahi hononga hira tōmua ki tētahi tino whanaunga, ki a Mihi Te Whāiti.

I te tau 2005 ka whakawhiwhia a Rāmai ki te Lifetime Achievement Award tuatahi mō āna mahi waihanga kiriata Māori i te Wairoa Maori Film Festival, i te 2006 ka tohua ia hei Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. I mate a Rāmai Hayward ki te Forrest Hill Home, te hōhipere o Takapuna i Tāmakimakaurau i te 3 o Hūrae 2014, e 97 ōna tau.

Footnotes
  1. Ramai Hayward. Interview by Deborah Shepard, 5 May 1990. Transcript, pp.33-34. Nga Taonga Sound & Vision. Back
  2. 'A new look at Rewi', New Zealand Listener, 3 April 1970, p.9. Back
  3. Tom Newnham, New Zealand women in China. Auckland, 1995, p.98. Back
  4. New Zealand Listener, p.9. Back

He whakaaturanga anō

Rārangi pukapuka

    Coney, S. Standing in the sunshine: a history of New Zealand women since they won the vote. Auckland, 1993

    Newnham, T. New Zealand women in China. Auckland, 1995

    Shepard, D. ‘Shadow play: the film-making partnership of Rudall & Ramai Hayward’. In Between the lives: partners in art. Ed. D. Shepard. Auckland, 2005, pp.113–135

    Shepard, D. Reframing women: a history of New Zealand film. Auckland, 2000

Pae tukutuku


Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Deborah Shepard. 'Hayward, Ramai Rongomaitara', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2019. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/6h2/hayward-ramai-rongomaitara (accessed 29 March 2024)