He kaitito toikupu, he kaituhi pakipoto para huarahi hou a J.C. Sturm, i mōhiotia anō ko Te Kare Pāpuni me Jacquie Baxter. I roa a Jacquie e whakawhenumitia ana e tana tāne, te toikupu a James K. Baxter, engari i maea ake i ōna tau tōmuri hei reo ahurei, hei reo hira i ngā mātākōrero mō Aotearoa i runga i tōna anō mana.
I whānau mai a Jacquie ki a Te Kare Pāpuni i te 17 o Mei 1927 i te Cottage Hospital ki Ōpunake. Ko tōna matua, a John Raymond (Jack) Pāpuni, nō ngā tātai rangatira o Te Whakatōhea mai i Ōpōtiki ki Te Moana-a-Toi. Nā tōna whaene, a Mary Kingsley Harrison, i uru atu ai te toto rangatira ahurei me tētahi kāwai mātākōrero Ingarihi ki ōna tātai. Ko tōna kuia ki te taha ki tōna whaene, a Moewaka Tautokai (Mary Kīngi) o Taranaki, Te Pakakohi me Ngāti Ruanui, he tamāhine whāngai nā te rangatira toa o Taranaki i huri nei hei kaiwhakamārie ki Parihaka, a Wiremu Kīngi Moki Te Matakātea. Ko tōna tupuna tāne ki te taha ki tōna whaene, a Te Whare Matangi Harrison, ko te irāmutu a te kaituhi pakimaero Ingarihi, a Charles Kingsley. Nā te whaene hoki o tana tupuna tāne anō i tata ai ana hononga ki a Te Puni me Te Wharepōuri o Te Āti Awa me Taranaki, otirā ki a Te Whiti rāua ko Tohu.
I mate a Mary Kingsley Pāpuni i te toto paitini e rua wiki i muri o te whānautanga mai o Jacquie. I te kaha o te ngākau tuatea o tōna matua, ka heria tana tuakana a Evadne kotahi tau nei tōna pakeke, ki te kāinga, kia whakatupuria e tōna whānau. Heoi, ka tohe a Moewaka kia whakatupuria a Jacquie ki Taranaki. Ka whā ngā tau o Jacquie, ka pāngia a Moewaka e te mate. I tana whakaaro ka mate ia me tana māharahara ki ngā rā ki tua o Jacquie, ka inoihia tētahi kaiāwhina tapuhi, a Ethel Sturm, i āwhina nei ki te whakaora i te mate pāpaka o te kōhungahunga, kia whāngai i te kōtiro nei. Ka whakaae a Ethel rāua ko tana tāne a Bert – nō Ngāti Porou anō ia, ko ia anō te rangatira o tētahi mākete huarākau, huawhenua – ka tapaina anō te kōtiro ko Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm. Ka ora haere a Moewaka i tana mate, kāore tonu i tono kia whakahokia atu a Jacquie ki a ia. Tērā pea nā te pai ake o te noho me te nui atu o ngā huarahi ka wātea ki a ia i tō ngā Sturm, e kore hoki e taea e te iwi tuawhenua pōhara i te wā o te korekore. Heoi anō, i pānuitia te pakaru o ngā pūkoro o Bert Sturm i te mutunga o te toimahatanga, me te mahara ake o Jacquie ki te auē a Ethel i te kawea atu o ngā taonga whare a te whānau kia ea ai ngā nama, me te nui o tōna pōuri i te kawea atu o te piana.
I te tau 1932 ka rima ngā tau o Jacquie, ka wehe atu ngā Sturm i Taranaki, ka nuku ki Tāmakimakaurau, atu i reira ki Heretaunga, ki Te Papaioea, ki te Whanga o Pukerua, ki Ahuriri. I Pukerua kua tekau mā tahi ōna tau me tana roa e whakamāui ana i te rūmātiki, ka tīmata te tuhi a Jacquie kia kore ai e riro i te takeo. Ka rongo i te pārekareka ki te kupu me te āhuareka o te whakamahi i te kupu hei waihanga, hei whakamārama i te wheako. I te noho ko ia anake te tamaiti Māori i ngā akomanga kī ana i te tamariki Pākehā, ka noho papa a Jacquie mōna i rerekē ai. I Te Papaioea, te wāhi i tino kino, i tino auau tana whakawetihia i te mea he Māori ia. I ana tuhinga, ka kaha tana kōrero mō ēnei wheako e mārama ai ia ki tōna wāhi i tēnei ao, nā wai ā, ka mārama ki a ia te whai painga taha auaha nei o te kore e rite ki ētahi atu, mehemea he kaituhi koe. He rahi ana kōrero me ana toikupu e whakamārama ana i te whakawhitiwhiti i waenga ao e rua, me te rere manawarau ōna ki waenga ahurea e rua, tuakiri whaiaro e rua, he inaki nō tētahi i tētahi.
I whāngai ōkawatia a Jacquie e ngā Sturm i te tau 1941. Ko tētahi tino wheako i ngā tau tōmuri o tōna taitamāhinetanga ko tana torotoro i ngā hapori Māori i te Urewera me Te Moana-a-Toi. I tana kitenga i te pōhara o ētahi atu Māori, me tana mōhio ki ngā huarahi i wātea ki a ia kāore nei i wātea ki te nuinga o te rangatahi Māori, ka kumea ia e te hiahia kia rerekē anō te āhua ki tōna iwi.
Ahakoa te whakakumu o te āhua o Jacquie me tana rongo he rāwaho ia, i tino pai ki a ia te kura, me tana eke ki ngā taumata o te mātauranga, o te hākinakina anō. Ka noho ko ia te tauira mātau katoa i te Kura Tuarua Kōtiro o Ahuriri, ko ia anō te toa kauhoe. Ka ngākaunui ia ki te kauhoe mō ōna rā katoa, me tōna hiahia tonu kia noho pātata ki te moana. Mīharo ana a Pīhopa Manu Bennett i tana angitu, me tana whakahau i a ia kia aro nui tonu ki tōna iwi. Ka whakaae ngā Sturm ki te whakaaro o te pīhopa kia haere ia ki Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou i te tau 1946, ki te whai i te mātauranga rongoā i raro i te karahipi Māori. Ahakoa te pai o ana whiwhinga, ka pāia tana hounga atu ki te kura rata e te tini hōia e hoki mai ana i te pakanga, ka pīrangitia kia uru atu ko rātou. Hāunga ia tēnei, i oke tonu a Jacquie, ka tīmata tana whai i tana BA, i runga i te tūmanako mā te whai tohu pai e para huarahi kē mōna ki te mātauranga rongoā.
Ka haere tonu te tito toikupu a Jacquie; ko tana toikupu tuatahi i whakaputaina ki te moheni a ngā tauira, a Critic, ka tuarua ia i te whakataetae toikupu ā-tau i muri tonu iho i tētahi taitāhae kaitito toikupu kua hau nei tōna rongo i te ao mātākōrero o Aotearoa, a James K. Baxter. I ngā hui a te Karapu Mātākōrero ka rongo ia i a James e pānui ana i āna titonga, ka mutu, i muri o tā rāua whakahoahoa i te kāinga o tētahi hoa, ka tīmata tā rāua whai. Heoi, ka arotahi tonu ia ki ana mahi mātauranga, me te whakatinana i te whakaaro kia puta tonu te ihu o te taitamāhine Māori i te ao Pākehā. I te mutunga o te tau 1947 ka hūnuku ia ki te Canterbury University College ki te whai i te mātauranga tikanga tangata i raro i te kaimātai hinengaro pāpori rongonui, a Ivan Sutherland, tētahi kaitaunaki kaha mō te hauora me te noho ora o ngāi Māori. Ka whai atu a James i a Jacquie ki Ōtautahi me te kaha ake o tō rāua hononga, engari i rite tonu te whakararu mai a James.
E tino ora ana te ao mātākōrero me te ao toi o Ōtautahi, me te uru atu a James hei taitāhae hākiki porohaurangi o te ao tuhituhi o Aotearoa, e hōmiromiro ana i ngā whārangi mātākōrero o te moheni a ngā tauira, a Canta, me te whakaputa i tana pukapuka toikupu tuarua i nui nei te whakamihia. I puta anō ētahi toikupu a Jacquie i te Canta, engari nō muri kē i te rironga atu o James ki te torotoro whānau, me te kite iho a te ētita, a Bill Pearson i tino rawe ngā toikupu i parea atu e James ki rahaki. Ka tāia e Pearson ētahi o ngā toikupu e toru a Jacquie ki te taha o tētahi a James i te putanga o Canta o te Hepetema 1948 – te wā kotahi noa o tō rāua noho tahi i takoto tahi mai ai ā rāua titonga ki te whārangi kotahi. I te kaha rerekē o ngā taera e rua, ehara pea i te mea e takahi ana a James i a Jacquie, he whakaaro kē nōna kāore ana mahi e hāngai ana ki te ia o te wā. Ko te mea kē, kāore i mau roa te toikupu a James, i rite nei ki tētahi whaikōrero whakahirahira a Milton. Engari anō ngā toikupu tarapī, mōteatea nei te rite a Jacquie, i rere nei ko tōna reo whaiaro, tōna reo kainatu, mau roa ana. Ko āna toikupu tōmua kāore nei i paku rite ki ērā e tuhia ana e James i taua wā, kua noho hei taunakitanga whakaū i te whakaaro, nōna ake tōna taera.
I mārena a Jacquie rāua ko James i te 9 o Tīhema 1948 ki Ahuriri, kātahi ka hūnuku ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, ki reira whakatutuki ai i tana BA i te tau 1949. I a ia e whai ana i te mātauranga ka whānau mai tā rāua kōtiro, a Hilary Ann, i te 18 o Hune 1949. Uaua ana tā rāua noho tahi i ōna wā; kāore i nui te moni, kātahi ka tino hē rawa atu i te whakatahenga tōmuri o tana puku i te tau 1950 me te kaha kē atu te porohaurangi a James. Ka mau tonu tana porohaurangi me ana whanonga hārakiraki tae noa ki te tau 1957, ka haere ia ki te Alcoholics Anonymous, ka mutu tana inuinu.
Ahakoa ēnei raruraru, ahakoa anō hoki te pai o te whānautanga mai o tētahi tama, a John McColl i te 29 o Oketopa 1952, i whai tonu a Jacquie i ana wawata mātauranga. I te tau 1952 ka riro mai tana tohu kauati, te tuatahi tonu pea i whakawhiwhia ki te wahine Māori. Ko tana tuhinga roa mō ‘te āhua o te motu o Aotearoa e whakatauiratia ana e ētahi kaituhi pakimaero tokotoru’ (e Frank Sargeson, e John Mulgan me Dan Davin) i tino whakamihia tōna hiranga, ka whakawhiwhia ia ki tana MA mō te Philosophy ki te hōnore hiranga.
I te taha o ngā momo mea katoa, i whai wāhi atu a Jacquie ki te karapu ahurea o te takiwā mō te rangatahi Māori, a Ngāti Pōneke, me ngā Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora, mai i te tīmatanga o ngā tau 1950. I whakakanohi ia i ngā Wāhine Toko i te Ora i runga i te Māori Education Foundation i ngā tau 1960. I tae atu rātou ko ana tamariki ki ngā huihuinga Māori, me tana whakatō i te ngākau pai ki roto i a rātou ki ā rātou taonga tuku iho me ō rātou whakapapa. I ōna wā anō i whai atu a James, ka mutu, nā Jacquie i āhua karapa atu ai ia ki te ao Māori i āwhina nei i ana tuhinga reta o muri mai.
I te tīmatanga o ngā tau 1950 ka huri a Jacquie mai i te toikupu ki te pakiwaitara poto. Ko tētahi wāhi o te huringa ki tēnei momo tuhinga he uruparenga ki te pātai a tētahi karu hōmiromiro o tētahi moheni mātākōrero o Aotearoa, i pātai mēnā nā James ia i āwhina ki te tito i tētahi o ana toikupu (kāore nei ia i āwhina atu). He kaituhi ia i tino kaha ki te para i ōna anō huarahi – nā konei i mau tonu ai ia ki tōna ingoa takakau, a J.C. Sturm hei ingoa tuhi mōna – angitū ana ia i tēnei momo tuhinga, ānō nei nāna ake. I te tau 1954 ka kitea tana tuhinga tuatahi, ‘The old coat’, i te hautaka Numbers. I te tau o muri mai, ka noho ko ‘For all the Saints’ te tuhinga kōrero tuatahi i tuhia ki te reo Ingarihi e te kaituhi Māori, i kitea i te hautaka a te Tari Take Māori, i Te Ao Hou. Puta noa i ngā tau 1950 me te tōmuatanga o ngā 1960, i rite tonu te whakaaturia ōna ki te Numbers me Te Ao Hou, hei kaituhi, hei kaiarotake anō. Ka kuhuna atu e C.K. Stead a ‘For all the Saints’ ki te New Zealand short stories: second series (Oxford University Press, 1966), ka noho ko ia te kaituhi Māori tuatahi kia kōwhiria mō tētahi paenga kōrero o Aotearoa.
Ko ngā tuhinga a Jacquie, i kawea nei e Katherine Mansfield me ngā kaituhi tokotoru i mātaitia e ia mō tana tuhinga roa, i āta tuhia, me te pai o te whakatairitea ki ētahi kaituhi o taua wā, pērā i a Noel Hilliard me Maurice Gee. He poto, he mārama ngā kōrero, ka mutu, i te pānuitanga tuatahi, ānō nei e tauawhi ana i te wairua matua o te wā, arā, – he iwi kotahi a Aotearoa – i te karohia o te āta kōrero mō te Māori. Heoi, ki te kimihia te tino o ngā kupua a Jacquie mō te koronga o ētahi kia noho te Māori ‘hei kirirarau tūwaenga ka kauanuanutia, ānō he kiri pākā kōrite’, kua tino mārama ko te porihanga e kōrero ana ia, e whai kē ana kia kaua e ōrite, ka mutu, ko ana mahi kei te whakaatu i tana kaha rongo i te pōuri o te noho mōriroriro.1 Ko ana reo kōrero wāhine, ahakoa te kore e tino tohua o ō rātou iwi, he wāhine manakore noa e mārama ana tā rātou whakaatu i te aupēhitanga me te herea anō o te taitamāhine i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara i ngā tau 1950.
I te tau 1957, i runga i te kore e whakawhiti whakaaro ki a Jacquie, ka whāia e James tētahi akoranga i ārahi i a ia ki te hāhi Katorika. I te kaha ohorere o Jacquie i tana whakatau ko tōna kotahi, ka whakaaroaro ia ki te pono o tō rāua hononga, ka mahue rāua. He tau i muri mai ka hoki anō rāua ki a rāua i te whakaaetanga a James ki te tono a UNESCO kia haere ia ki Īnia, ka inoihia atu a Jacquie kia whai atu me ā rāua tamariki. Noho ana tēnei hei wheako tūtohu i a rāua tahi, i te rongo tuatahi a Jacquie ko ia anō tētahi o te tokomaha, me te rongo a James i te noho kanohi teatea i waenga i te tokomaha. Ka rongo ia i konei ki te āhua o te noho ki te tokoiti.
Tae rawa ki te tau 1966, kua rite mai te kohinga pakiwaitara a Jacquie hei whakaputa māna, engari kāore he kaitā. Kāore i roa ka noho māna anake e whakatupu ngā tamariki, ka whāngaihia, ka whakatupuhia e ia te tamāhine a Hilary, a Stephanie, i whānau mai nei i te 29 o Hepetema 1968. Ka whakarerea tuaruatia ia e James, nā wai ā, ka whakatūria tētahi hapori ohu ki Hīrūhārama i te Awa o Whanganui. I ngā taumahatanga o te whakatupu tamariki me te whai oranga, kāore ia i tino wātea ki te tuhi mō te rua ngāhurutanga tau o muri mai, engari hei tāna, ‘i tuhi tonu ia i tōna hinengaro’.2 Ka whakangungua a Jacquie hei kaitiaki pukapuka i te New Zealand Library School, i te tau 1969 ka uru atu ia ki te Wellington Public Library, ka noho ki reira mō te 27 tau, nā wai, ka noho rangatira mō tā rātou kohinga o Aotearoa.
I te tau 1972 ka mate ohorere a James, e 46 ōna tau, ka tanumia ki Hīrūhārama ki te taha o te Awa o Whanganui i muri o tōna tangihanga. Ka noho ko Jacquie te mana whakahaere mātākōrero mō tana tāne tōnui. Pērā i tana tāne, he kaitaunaki ia mō te mōtika e utua ai te ringa toi ina whakamahia āna mahi. Ka ihupuku, ka horipū tana whakahaere i ngā mahuetanga mātākōrero a James. Kāore ia i whakaaroaro ki te hāmene i te tangata ina kore e whai whakaaetanga ki te whakamahi. Ehara ia i te wahine whakamārama i tāna i whakapono ai he mahi tika, nō reira kāore ia i aro ake ki te hunga i whakapae he pouaru ia ka whakaaro ki a ia anō, e mahi moni ana i ngā mahi rongonui a tana tāne. Kāore kē ia, he wahine whakahī, ko ia tonu ki te kuhu i a ia anō, tino kore nei ia i tango hēneti kotahi nei i ngā tiringa a James. I whāngai kēhia ngā painga katoa ki te James K. Baxter Charitable Trust, i tautoko nei i ngā kaupapa i tautokona e James, pērā i te whakatikatika whare herehere me ngā hōtaka whakaora i te hunga kua riro i te pūroi.
I te tau 1982, e rua ngā pakiwaitara a Jacquie i kōwhiria e Witi Ihimaera mō tana kohinga tuhinga Māori, Into the world of light, engari nō tana pānuitanga tūmatanui tuatahi rawa i te tau 1980 i te taha o ētahi atu, pērā i a Patricia Grace rāua ko Keri Hulme, i whakaputaina ai te kohinga.3 Nā te kohinga tā pūkapuka wāhine a Spiral i whakaputa ana pakiwaitara i te tau 1983, i kīia ko The house of the talking cat. Ka arotakea e Ihimaera te pukapuka, ka kī ake ahakoa, taha taera nei, nō te takiwā ki mua ngā kōrero, i whakamihia e ia te kohinga, ka kīia a Sturm he ‘ringa tuhi nui whakaharahara i te puna mātākōrero Māori’.4 Ka whakapae ia mō te ahunga kē o te mātākōrero Māori mēnā i whakaputaina te pukapuka i ngā tau o te 1960. Ka whakawhitia ngā kōrero ki reo maha kē, tae atu ki te reo Tiamana me te reo Hapanihi.
I te ngahurutanga tau o muri mai i te putanga o The house of the talking cat, ka hoki a Jacquie ki te tito toikupu. I te tau 1996 ka whakaputaina e ia tana kohinga toikupu tuatahi, a Dedications. Inamata te angitu, ka kīia e te kaitito toikupu e Robert Sullivan ‘he wā tautuhi tēnei i te toikupu o Aotearoa’.5 I tana whakaranu i ngā wheako o te rironga o tētahi me te aroha, te ohinga me te taipakeketanga, te Māori me te Pākehā, e tāpaea ana e āna titonga te waikanaetanga i te tauawhi i ngā taha e rua o tōna ake mataoranga i nui nei ngā piki me ngā heke. Nā Dedications i whakawhiwhia ai a Jacquie ki tētahi Tohu Hōnore mō te Toikupu i ngā Whakawhiwhinga Tohu a te Montana New Zealand Book Awards i te tau 1997. Ka whai ake ko te kohinga toikupu tuarua, a Postscripts (2000), ko te whakamutunga, ko te kohinga toikupu, pakimaero, The glass house (2006).
Ka rītaea a Jacquie ki Paekākāriki, te kāinga i te taha moana i aroha nuitia e ia, ka rite tonu tana haere ki te kauhoe kia tata pau rawa ōna rā. I te tau 2000, ka whakanuia ia ki te Kāpiti Lifetime Achievement Award, i te tau 2003 ka whakawhiwhia ia ki te Tohu Kairangi Hōnore mō te Mātākōrero e Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. I kī ake te kupu hautoa mō tāna i wheako ai he ‘tohu i ngā uauatanga i te aroaro o te kaituhi Māori o taua wā i a rātou e oke ana kia arohia atu, kia kauanuanutia rātou’; i tohu tōna angitu i ōna tau tōmuri i te ‘ekenga me te okenga whakaharahara i te aroaro o te uauatanga nui’.6
I Paekākāriki i te 21 o Hune 1998, ka moe a Jacquie i te kaikauhau whare wānanga a Peter Clement Molony Alcock, i mate nei i te tau 2007. I te matenga o Peter ka noho tonu ia ki Paekākāriki, e karapotia ana e tana whānau e tupu haere tonu ana, me tana whai wāhi tonu ki a rātou. Ka kuia haere, ka mate ki te whakawhirinaki ki ētahi atu, ka hūnuku atu a Stephanie me tōna whānau ki te kāinga o Jacquie ki te tiaki i a ia. Heoi, kotahi anō te kōhurutanga i whiua ki runga ki a ia i te 31 o Oketopa 2009, i te matenga ohorere o Stephanie i te toto paitini, te mate i mate ai te whaene o Jacquie, e mate ai anō tāna tamāhine, a Hilary, i te Noema 2013. Kāore a Jacquie i whakamāui ake i te rironga o tana mokopuna i whakatupuhia e ia ānō nei ko tana tamāhine tonu. Kua māuiui kē ia, ka kaha kē atu te heke o tana hauora. I mate ia ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara i te 30 o Tīhema 2009, e 82 ōna tau.
Ka takahia e tana whānau me ana hoa te mata o te whenua o Aotearoa ki te poroporoaki i a ia i tōna tangihanga nui ki te marae o Ōrimupiko. Ka tanumia ia ki Ōpunake ki te taha o tōna whaene me tōna tipuna wahine, e karapotia ana e tōna whānau, ko tōna mounga a Taranaki, e tū tiketike mai ana ki te huapae ki te rāwhiti me te ngunguru mai a Tangaroa, e whati mutunga kore ana i te one e pātata ana.