I nui te kauanuanutia me te awe o Matiu Rata, te Minita Take Māori, Minita Whenua o te kāwanatanga tuatoru a Reipa, ko ia hoki te kaiwhakawaha o te Taraipiunara o Waitangi me te rōpū Mana Motuhake. I whakapaua te nuinga o ana rā ki te kōkiri i te mōtika Māori, ka mutu, i kī ake te maha atu o ana hoa o tōna wā he tangata whakaaro ki tua, e kore e rite ngā tāpaenga a tētahi atu ki a ngāi Māori ki āna. He tangata matatini, he tangata rongorua a Rata: he āpōtoro kōkiri mana hapori, he matawhāiti aru tikanga hou, he ihu oneone i huri hei minita rūnanga, he manawanui ki te whakatikatika me te aru i te whakaaro ka toko noa ake. I raro i tōna tuakiri wahawaha e hū ana te hiahia aru tikanga hou, i hurihia ai ngā mamaetanga o ngāi Māori hei aruaru māna, i huri kē ai te ahunga tāmi tangata whenua o Aotearoa.
I whānau mai a Matiu Waitai Rata ki Te Tai Tokerau i te kāinga o Te Hāpua i te 26 o Māehe 1934. Ko ia tētahi o ētahi tamariki tokowhā a Āta (Arthur) Rata rāua ko tana wahine a Mereana Holloway, he tātai ōna ki a Ngāti Kurī, ki Te Aupōuri me Ngāti Whātua.
Ko te kōrero a Rata mō tōna ohinga, he harikoa engari he uaua. I Te Hāpua ia i tōna tamarikitanga i mua i te hūnukutanga o te whānau ki Dargaville, i āhua rima nei ōna tau. Ka 10 ōna tau ka mate tana matua, ka nukuhia e tana whaea ana tamariki tokowhā ki Tāmakimakaurau, ko tana mahi i reira he tahitahi whare i te Poutāpeta. I noho tahi te whānau ki ētahi atu whānau 11, kōpā ana tā rātou noho i tētahi whare i te puku o te taone, kia nuku rawa rātou ki tō rātou ake whare kāwanatanga i Panmure. Nā tēnei āwhina a te kāwanatanga, tētahi kaupapa a te Rōpū Reipa, i pai ake ai te noho me ngā tūmanako o tana whānau, ka ara ake tana ngākaunui ki te ao tōrangapū. Hei tāna, ‘Kīhai te tōrangapū i ariā noa ki a mātou.’ ‘I tino tūturu’, e tohu ana hoki i ‘te ara e puta ai, e aruarutia ai he huarahi hou, he taiao hou, he kāinga hou, he tīmatanga hou.’1
I haukotia te haere a Rata ki te kura i te pakarutanga mai o te mate whakamemeke i a ia ka 12 ngā tau, ka mutu, kīhai ia i hoki ki te aru ōkawa i te mātauranga. Ko tāna kē he mahi i tētahi pāmu me te haere hei kaumoana kaipuke rawa i te tau 1950, ka whiwhi i tana tiwhikete kaumoana mātau me te hono atu ki te Uniana Kaumoana. I whai wāhi atu ia ki te tāpetupetu a ngā kaimahi wāpu i te tau 1951, ka hono atu ia ki te Rōpū Reipa i taua tau anō.
I te hokinga mai ki Aotearoa i tana mahi kaumoana rawa i te tau 1954, he nui ngā momo mahi a Rata, pērā i te kaipeita rehu i ngā Whare Rerewē i Ōtāhuhu atu i te 1960 ki te 1963. I reira ko ia te kaiwhakariterite uniana, he mema anō ia o te mana whakahaere o te Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants ki Ōtāhuhu. Ka pōtingia ia hei heamana mō te pekanga o tōna rohe o te Rōpū Reipa, hei kaiwhakarite takiwā anō mō Reipa ki Tāmakimakaurau mō te mema pāremata o Te Tai Tokerau, a Tapihana Paikea.
I moe a Rata i a Nellie Eruera (nō Ngāpuhi) i Tāmakimakaurau, i te takiwā pea ki te tau 1957, tokorua ā rāua tama, kotahi te tamāhine. He mema pono ia nō te Hāhi Rātana. I noho ana mātua mō tētahi wā ki Rātana Pā, ka mutu, i roto i te wā ka tohua a Rata hei Āpōtoro Rēhita, hei heamana o te pekanga ki Tāmakimakaurau o te Hāhi Rātana, hei heamana tuarua hoki o te Rātana Youth Movement. I pai anō ki a ia te tauomaoma hōiho me te whutupōro rīki.
I te whakatupu tahitia o Rata ki te hāhi Rātana, i ana hononga ki a Reipa, i te tautokohia ōna e te uniana me ana hononga tata ki te mema o Te Tai Tokerau o taua wā, ka tae atu ia ki te Pāremata. I te matenga o Paikea i te Hānuere 1963, ka tohua a Rata e ana hoa uniana kia whakataetae mō te tūru, ka kōwhiria ko ia mai i tētahi kāhui tāngata pai tonu. I ohorere a Rata i tēnei; tē aro i a ia mehemea ‘me wehi rānei, me ngākau whakahī rānei, me pōkīkī rānei’.2 Ka toa ia i te pōtitanga kimi kaiwhakakapi, ka hou atu ia ki te Pāremata i te Maehe o te tau 1963, e 28 ōna tau.
Neke atu i te toru tau a Rata ki te rōpū tauaro, me tana tū pakari ki te whakahē i te kāwanatanga o Nāhinara, hei reo kaha anō mō ētahi take whānui. Ka arahina e ia te tohe i te pire whakarihariha nei, te Māori Affairs Amendment Bill 1967, me tana oati ka pīrahia ina taea e ia. I āta kōkiritia e ia te whakanui i te Rā o Waitangi, te puritia tonuhia me te whakawhanaketia o te whenua Māori, te whakatikatika whare, me ngā huarahi aru i te mātauranga mō ngāi Māori me ngā iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ngā mōtika o te kaimahi me ngā uniana. I tū pakari a Rata ki te whakahē i te whakamātautanga karihi a ngā Wīwī ki Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ka haere i te kahupapa waka rongomau ki te mātaki i ngā whakamātautanga i Moruroa i te tau 1972, ka whakahē i ngā hononga hākinakina a Aotearoa ki Āwherika ki te Tonga.
Ka toa a Reipa i ngā pōtitanga o te tau 1972, ka kopoua a Rata hei Minita Take Māori, hei Minita Whenua anō, ētahi kaupapa i noho kaha mai ai ia ki te whakahou i ngā ture whenua Māori. Hei tāna i oati ai, ka pīrahia e ia ngā tekiona kino o te Ture 1967. Ka whakatinanahia e ia ngā whakahounga e whakahau ana kia puritia tonuhia, kia whakawhanakehia te whenua Māori, kia kaha ake te mana whakahaere o ngāi Māori i ō rātou whenua, ka mutu, hei tāna i tatau ai, i whakahokia e ia te rangatiratanga o ētahi eka e 56,000 ki te Māori. He huringa tauaro hiranga tēnei o ētahi kaupapa here konihi a te kāwanatanga, heoi, kīhai tēnei i whakarata i a Rata tonu, i te kaupapa mana whenua a ngāi Māori rānei i tupu ake i te wā ki a ia. Ka tahuri ia ki te whakawhanake i ‘tētahi huarahi e whai ara ai te iwi Māori i raro i te ture ki te kimi puretumu.3
I noho te Ture o te Tiriti o Waitangi 1975 hei taonga tuku iho mā Rata. Ko tana whakakitenga tuatahi ko te āta whakapau kaha kia whakamanahia te Tiriti o Waitangi i raro i te ture, kia whakatinanahia ōna kupu i roto i te kōti. I te kore o tēnei e tautokona e te Rūnanga, ka tono kē ia kia whakatūria he komihana uiui here-kore ki te aruaru ake i ngā kerēme a ngāi Māori mō ngā mamaetanga o mua, o muri mai anō, mō ngā mahi i mahia me ngā tīpokatanga a te kāwanatanga matua me ngā kāwanatanga ā-rohe i takahi i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ākiritia ana anō te tono tuarua nei e te Rūnanga, rūnātia ana i muri iho. Nā te Ture i oti mai i tū ai te Taraipiunara o Waitangi hei komihana uiui toitū ki te tūhura, ki te pūrongorongo me te whakatau tūtohunga here-kore mō ngā kerēme a ngāi Māori e pā ana ki ngā mahi a te kāwanatanga matua, me ngā mahi kīhai i mahia. I ngākaurua a Rata mō te kore e āhei o te taraipiunara ki te wānanga kerēme mō ngā take o mua atu o tōna whakatūnga, heoi, i whakaarotia te Ture ‘he kokenga whakamua’, ka mutu, ka taea te arotake te pātai mō te mana whakatau take o mua ki te hiahiatia.4 Ko tāna titiro ki te pire ‘he pukapuka nui whakaharahara mō te kokenga o te taha pāpori, taha tōrangapū’ ka āwhina ki te ‘whakatau i ngā mamaetanga kua auroa e titi hōhonu ana ki te whatumanawa Māori mō te tiriti, e whakapono nei rātou koia te tūāpapa o ā rātou mōtika.’5
Ka nui te hira o te pounga o te Taraipiunara e whakaōhia ai ngā karanga a ngāi Māori kia whakamanahia ō rātou mōtika, kia arohia ā rātou auētanga, otirā kia whakataungia anō pea. Kua neke atu tēnei i te kaupapa here ki te ao poropiti: kua tonoa kētia e Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana tana apataki ki te Pāremata ki te aru i te whakamanatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi me te kōrerorero i ngā auētanga whenua Māori, ka mutu, kua pau te tini haora i a Rata ki te wānanga me te rapu māramatanga i ngā whakaakoranga a Rātana. Ka tapaina a Rata e te hāhi ko ‘Piri Wiri Tua’: te ingoa i uhia i ngā rā o mua ki runga i a Rātana tonu, i runga i te tūmanako o tana apataki ka huri pērā i te wiri (‘piri wiri’) ka ‘piri me te ore ki tērā atu taha’.6 Whakatinanahia ana e Rata te ingoa nei i te Pāremata i tana para i te huarahi i tīmata ai te aruaru ake i ngā mamaetanga a ngāi Māori.
I te tau 1973 ka tāpaea e Rata tētahi pire kia tohua te New Zealand Day (i kīia ko Waitangi Day i muri mai) he rā hararei mō te motu, hei whakanui i te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi i te 6 o Pēpuere 1840. Nā tōna kaha i piki ai ngā whakapaunga ki te whare me te mātauranga mō ngāi Māori, mō ngā iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, i whakaaehia ōkawatia, i tautokona hoki te reo Māori, te ahurea me te marae. E tohu ana ngā mahi maha i oti i te wā poto i waenga i te tau 1973 me te 1975 i tētahi o ngā taumata tiketike o te toronga tōrangapū a te Māori, me te tohu anō i a Rata ko te kaitōrangapū kawenga nui katoa o tōna reanga kaitōrangapū Māori.
Nā te matenga ohorere o te Pirīmia o Norman Kirk i te Ākuhata 1974 i huri ai ngā āhuatanga mō Rata. I uia e te piki tūranga o Kirk, e Bill Rowling ōna pūkenga, ka mutu, i muri mai i te hinganga o te pātī i ngā pōtitanga o te tau 1975, ka unuhia atu tana kōpaki Take Māori rōpū tauaro. I noho tonu a Rata hei paemua mō Reipa, engari kāhore ōna mana hei māngai mō te pātī i ngā take Māori.
Ka tino hē rawa atu i te 2 o Noema 1979, i te whakahekenga o Rata hei paemuri i te takahuringa o te pātī. Rihaina tonu atu a Rata i tana tūru, te tino tohu o tana whakatakariri. Kua parea tahitia e Nāhinara me Reipa ngā take Māori ki rahaki, ka mutu, ko te whakahekenga o Rata he takahi i tōna mana. I te wiki o muri mai i tana rihainatanga, ka tīmata tana raupapa hui i Te Tai Tokerau ki te whakamārama i tāna i mahi ai ki ana apataki, ka akiakingia e te hunga tohe kia whakatere i tētahi rōpū tōrangapū Māori hou. Whakaae atu ana a Rata, ka huri i Te Tai Tokerau ki te kimi tautoko i te hunga pōti, me te whakahau i ngā pekanga pōti o te Rōpū Reipa kia tahuri atu ki a ia, me te kohi koha anō hei whakatū i te rōpū e pihi ake ana, a Mana Motuhake.
Wana ana te whawhai a Rata, engari ahakoa te kaha o te rōpū, kīhai ia i toa i te pōtitanga kimi kaiwhakakapi mō Te Tai Tokerau i te tau 1980; i riro i a ia tētahi 37.9 ōrau o te pōti, i riro i tana hoariri o Reipa, a Bruce Gregory tētahi 52.4 ōrau. I te tau 1981 ka heke a Rata ki te 23 ōrau o te pōti; i te tau 1984 ko te 18.5 ōrau noa. I tana hinganga anō i te tau 1987, ka tohu ia e kore ia e tū anō.
Ka tau mai tōna momo wikitōria nei, i te kōwhiringa o ētahi mema tokotoru o te rōpū Mana Motuhake ki te Pāremata i waenga i te tau 1993 me te 1999, i raro i te maru o te rōpū Alliance. Kīhai i ea ngā whakapaunga kaha o Rata ki te haukoti ake i te 50 tau e pono ana a ngāi Māori ki a Reipa, te haere mārō o te pūnaha rōpū-rua, te pūnaha pōtitanga o te tuatahi-ki-te-pou, me te ngoikoretanga o ngāi Māori ki te pōti. I kaha whawhai anō te wahine a Rata, a Nellie mō te rōpū Mana Motuhake, ka mutu, i te kore ōna i tautapangia e te rōpū mō te tūru hou ki Te Tai Tokerau, ka tū ia hei kanohi mō te Rōpū ACT i te tau 1999.
Ka mutu haere tana aru i te ao tōrangapū, ka huri a Rata ki ngā tūranga hautū hiranga mā Ngāti Kurī me ngā iwi o Te Tai Tokerau. Kīhai i roa ka noho ko ia tonu tētahi o ngā kaikerēme matua ki tāna i waihanga ai, ki te Taraipiunara o Waitangi, i tukua nei ki a rātou i te tau 1985, te mana hoki ki te wānanga i ngā mamaetanga o mua, hoki rawa ki te tau 1840. I te tau 1986 ka tāpaea e Rata me ētahi atu te kerēme a Muriwhenua, WAI 45, mā Ngāti Kurī rātou ko Te Aupōuri, ko Te Rarawa, ko Ngāi Takoto, ko Ngāti Kahu, tae atu ki ētahi kaporeihana, ētahi rōpū kaitiaki, me ētahi mana whakahaere o te takiwā.
Tāpaea ana e te kerēme te tirohanga whānui popoto, tukupū, mō ngā tini auētanga a Muriwhenua, engari i whakatau te hunga kerēme kia noho motuhake ngā kerēme ohu moana i te kerēme whānui, i tā rātou aru kia haukotia te hiahia o te kāwanatanga ki tētahi pūnaha whakahaere roherohenga. Ki te whakatinanahia hoki, kua katia atu a ngāi Māori i ngā mahi ohu moana. Ko te kitenga a te taraipiunara i te Muriwhenua fishing report (1988), nā te ohu moana i whai oranga ai ngā iwi o te rohe, kua ‘whakawhanaketia hei tā te ao arumoni’ i te taenga mai o te Pākehā. I te kaha rawa o te hīia o te ika, me te whakawhitinga o ngā mahi ohu moana ki te hunga arumoni, ‘kua kore tēnei mahi whai painga’ mā ngāi Māori o Muriwhenua.7Hei tā te taraipiunara, e tiakina ana te mana hī ika i raro i te tiriti, nō reira e herea ana te kāwanatanga kia whakarite tikanga e whakawhitihia ai ētahi rohenga hī ika ki te hunga kerēme.
Ka kopoua a Rata hei kanohi mō te iwi ki te Joint Working Group mō te Ohu Moana Māori, ka tohutohungia tēnei rōpū kia mātua riro mai tētahi 50 ōrau neke atu o te roherohenga ika ki a ngāi Māori. Whakaaetia ana i te whakataunga tuatahi i te tau 1989 kia whakawhitihia mai tētahi 10 ōrau roherohenga ki te Komihana Ohu Moana Māori, me te whakarite i te $10 miriona hei whakatū i te Aotearoa Fishing, tētahi mahi hī ika arumoni ko te komihana tōna rāngatira. Kīhai tēnei whakaaetanga i tino pai ki a ngāi Māori. I te tau 1992 ka whakataungia tētahi whakaaetanga nui atu, tāpaea ana ko te $150 miriona e āhei ai a ngāi Māori ki te hoko i tētahi hāwhe o te kamupene hī ika o Sealord; e 20% o ngā rohenga momo ika hou ka tāpuia mā te Māori, ka tau tūturu i konei te whakataunga mō ngā kerēme hī ika katoa a ngāi Māori. Tutū ana te puehu i te whakataunga, ka ātetetia e ētahi rōpū whai pānga. I whakaarotia te whakataunga e te hunga tautoko he uruparenga whai kiko, i āhei ai te Māori ki te kuhu atu ki te ao ahumahi hī ika.
Ko te kitenga a te Muriwhenua land report a te tairaipiunara i te tau 1997, kua tata noho whenua kore a Muriwhenua i ngā kaupapa here a te Karauna, i hua mai ai ngā raruraru nui e haere tonu ana, taha pāpori, taha ōhanga, taha ahurea. Ka tūtohua e te taraipiunara ‘tētahi puretumu tino nui’ me ‘te whakawhitinga o ētahi rawa nui tonu, ka mutu, kia tere tonu te whakamanahia o tēnei’.8 Ka pirara ngā iwi o Muriwhenua i muri mai ki te aru motuhake i ā rātou kerēme, ka waitohua e Ngāti Kurī tāna whakataunga ki te Karauna i te Pēpuere 2014, 17 tau i muri i te matenga o Rata.
Kīhai a Rata i ora, i whai painga mō tāna i pukumahi ai i ngā rā ki a ia. E taraiwa ana ki te kāinga i muri o tētahi hui kerēme a Muriwhenua i te 17 o Hūrae 1997, ka tuki tika atu ki tētahi atu waka i Te Hana, ki te raki o Wellsford. Mate tonu atu te tokorua i tērā o ngā waka, ka tino kino te whara o Rata. Ka kawea atu i te tuatahi ki te Hōhipere o Whangārei, atu i reira ki te Hōhipere o Tāmakimakaurau, ka mate mai ki reira i te 25 o Hūrae, e 63 ōna tau. Noho mataora ana tana wahine me āna tamariki i muri nei.
Ka whakahaeretia he karakia whakamaharatanga ki te whare karakia i te Hōhipere o Tāmakimakaurau me Onehunga, i mua i te whakahokinga ki te Marae o Pōtahi i Te Kao mō tōna tangihanga. Ka takoto mai ki tōna marae haukāinga ki Te Reo Mihi i Te Hāpua, kua whakakākahuria ki ana kākahu Āpōtoro Rēhita, me te kākahuria o tana waka tūpāpaku ki te kahu huruhuru me te papanga tapa. Ka tanumia ki tōna moenga roa i te 29 o Hūrae ki te urupā o Te Hāpua, ki runga puke e titiro iho ana ki ngā tai nekeneke o Pārengarenga, e anga mutunga kore ana ki te aranga o te rā.