Ko tētahi take wenerau i roto i ngā reta a Māori ko te whai wāhi nui ake ki te kāwanatanga – ko te whai rānei i te mana motuhake. E tino kitea ana tēnei i ngā niupepa nā te Māori tonu i whakaputa. Kotahi tonu te aronga nui a ēnei niupepa – kia whakarongo te kāwanatanga, te Pākehā me ngā hau e whā ki ō rātou nawe.
Te Hokioi
Ko te niupepa Māori tuatahi ko Te Hokioi o Niu Tireni e Rere atu na (Kohitātea ki te Haratua i te tau 1863). Ko tēnei te reo o te Kīngitanga me te Māori. I roto i tōna putanga tuatahi, ka takoto te kōrero mā te niupepa hei kawe ngā wawata Māori ki ngā iwi o te ao. He mea whakangao te niupepa ki Ngāruawāhia, ā, ko Pātara Te Tuhi te ētita. He mea tā te niupepa ki runga i te perehi i tukuna e te Emepara o Atiria ki ngā rangatira e rua o Waikato i tae ki Vienna i te tau 1859. Nā ōna tao kupu ki te kāwanatanga, ka waihanga te kāwanatanga i Te Pihoihoi Mokemoke i runga i te Tuanui (Huitanguru ki te Poutūterangi te tau 1863). I whakaputaina tēnei niupepa ki Te Awamutu e Kaiwhakawā John Gorst.
I mutu ēnei whakawhitinga i te whakaekenga o Rewi Maniapoto i te perehi kāwanatanga. Nō konei ka kitea te whai hiranga ake o ngā niupepa reo Māori ki ngā taha e rua.
Te Wananga
Ko te niupepa o muri iho ko Te Wananga, nō Te Matau-a-Māui. Ko ngā kaiārahi o tōna whakaputanga ko Hēnare Tomoana, ko Karaitiana Takamoana me te tangata whai rawa a Henry Russell. E ai ki te putanga tuatahi ko tēnei niupepa mō te motu whanui me ngā iwi katoa. Ko tētahi o ngā kaitautoko i te niupepa ko te kaiārahi o Te Kotahitanga ko Hēnare Matua. I whakahē te Kotahitanga ki ngā rīhi me ngā hoko whenua ki te Karauna me te hunga takitahi, ā, ka whakaū rātou i te mana motuhake Māori. Heoi he nui ngā kaupapa i tohea ki roto i te niupepa, pērā i te whakamanatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, te whakakorenga o Te Kōti Whenua Māori, te whakarahinga ake o ngā māngai Māori i te Whare Pāremata, me te whakawhānui ake i te pōti mā te Māori. Ehara i te mea ohorere he nui āna kōhetehete me te niupepa kāwanatanga, a Te Waka Maori o Niu Tirani.
I roto i ngā reta ki te pepa he nui te Māori i tautoko i ōna kaupapa ki te hiki ake i a rātou i roto i ngā taimahatanga pēhi i a rātou. He tōtika, he hāngai tonu ngā tuku kōrerotanga atu, ka mutu he momo tērā i kitea i ngā tūtakinga kanohi ki te kanohi o runga marae. Koinei rā i puta te kōrero ‘ko ngā tuhinga tōrangapū Māori he mahi mā te hunga rangatira tonu’.1
Ahakoa ko ngā kaupapa tōrangapū te iho o ngā mahi a Te Wananga, i puta anō hoki ngā pārongo o te motu me te ao, ngā tuhinga mai i ētahi atu pepa, reta, tuhinga poroporoaki, me ngā kōrero tuku iho. He nui tonu āna whakamārama mō ngā taiopenga Māori pērā i ngā mārena, te whakatuwhera wharenui, ngā hākari whakanui, ngā hākinakina me ngā reihi hōiho.
Ko Niniwa-i-te-rangi
He rite tonu ko ngā tāne ngā ētita. Heoi i te niupepa o Te Puke ki Hikurangi ko Niniwa-i-te-rangi te ētita me tētahi o nga kaituhi, he wahine whai mana nō Ngāti Kahungunu me Rangitāne. He kaitaunaki anō ia i ētahi atu niupepa, ka noho ia ki te whakapākehā i ngā kōrero o aua niupepa hoki mō ngā niupepa a ngā Pākehā.
Ngā niupepa a Te Kotahitanga
E rua ngā niupepa a Te Kotahitanga i ngana ki te whakakotahi i tētahi rautaki tōrangapū. Tuatahi, ko Huia Tangata Kotahi (1893-95) i whakaputaina ki Heretaunga, he mea ētita e Īhāia Hūtana. Ka rua ko Te Puke ki Hikurangi (1897-1900, 1901-6, 1911-13) i whakarewaina e Tamahau Mahupuku ki Pāpāwai. Ko Pūrākau Maika te ētita.
I tūhono ēnei pepa ki te Kotahitanga me te pāremata Māori, ā, i hopu katoa ngā niupepa i ngā whakahaere a te Kotahitanga. Ko ētahi atu pārongo nō te takiwā me te ao, tae atu ki ngā kōrero a ngā iwi.
I te tau 1892 ka whakaputaina te niupepa tuarua o te Kīngitanga a Te Paki o Matariki ki te ao. He āhua rite tōna whāinga ki ngā niupepa e rua i runga ake nei. I runga i te tohu o Te Paki o Matariki ko ngā kupu Pākehā: ‘The Independent Royal Maori Power of Aotearoa’, ā, ka kitea te tū me te aronga i roto i te ingoa. He niupepa tēnei hei whakatairanga i ngā kaupapa a Te Kīngitanga me ngā take tōrangapū ā-motu e whai pānga nui ana ki te Māori. I whakaputaina te niupepa i roto i ngā reo e rua. Nāwai ka huri te niupepa hei kōpae karere mā te Kīngitanga.
I tōna hurumutunga i te tau 1913, ko Te Puke ki Hikurangi te whakamutunga o ngā niupepa nui a te Māori. Kāore anō kia hangaia he tuhinga e rite ana ki ngā niupepa Māori o mua. Ka noho tonu ēnei kōrero hei mīharotanga mā Aotearoa.
