Kōrero: Ngāti Ruanui

Whārangi 3. Te aranga ake o te tikanga hōu

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te ōhanga me te mātauranga Pākehā

Ahakoa ngā riri o mua, i tū pakari a Ngāti Ruanui i roto i ngā kaupapa whai hua. I kuhu mārika te iwi ki ngā tūmomo mahi ahuwhenua a te Pākehā. Kia taka ki te tau 1849 kua whai wāhi nui rātou ki ngā mira wīti e rua i tō rātou takiwā. Nō te korenga ake o te hokohoko i te kuhuna mai o te moni, ka tahuri a Ngāti Ruanui ki te mahi i Ngāmotu. Hīkaka tā rātou whai i te mātauranga a te Pākehā. I te tau 1846, hei tā Minita Woon e mārama pai ana te Māori ki ngā Karaipiture, ka mutu e matatau ana rātou ki te tuhi me te pānui. Inā te pai o ngā kura i whakahaerehia e te Māori. I hua tēnei nā te tū motuhake o te Māori me te kore whakapono ki ngā kura Pākehā. I a ia e kōrero ana mō tētahi kura Māori ki Kākaramea, ka tohu te minita hāhi a Richard Taylor ki te mea, haere ngātahi ai ngā take tōrangapū me te mātauranga.

Te taenga mai o te whakapono Karaitiana

Nō te marama o Pēpuere o te tau 1842 ka tau ki Ngāmotu te mihinare Wēteriana tuatahi, a John Skevington. Kāore i roa ka tae atu te tini o Ngāti Ruanui kia kite i a ia. Ka tuhi reta a Skevington mō te āhua o ‘tā rātou haere tika tonu mai ki a au ki te tono mōku me te kōrero anō, kua whakatapua ahau ki a rātou’. Nā te hīkaka o Ngāti Ruanui kia kawe i te mihinare atu i Ngāmotu ki Waimate, ka wahaina e te e 100 tāngata o te iwi āna tueke katoa – tae atu ki a Mrs Skevington. I hangaia e Skevington tōna whare mīhana ki Heretoa ki ngā tahataha o te kōawa o Inaha. He pāriha nui tōna i toro atu i Ōeo ki Waitōtara.

Te tīmatanga o ngā riri whenua

Ka ātete a Ngāti Ruanui i te hoko whenua ki ngā tāngata whai Pākehā, nā tō rātou mōhio koinei te tīmatanga o te huarahi e ngaro ai ō rātou whenua katoa. I te tau 1851 ka kōrero tētahi rangatira ki a Minita William Woon ‘ko tā rātou oati kia kaua e hoko, ka mutu he tapu te whenua mai i Tataramaika ki Kai-iwi!’ 1 I Ketemarae ka kite a Minita Taylor: ‘He tāngata whai rawa ngā tāngata whenua o konei…He tino ātaahua te whenua i hipa ai mātou … mārama tonu ana te Māori ki tēnei; ka mutu tūpato ana rātou ki te Pākehā, kei kuhu ki waenganui i a rātou’. 2

Waihoki, nō te pakarutanga mai o te pakanga whenua tuatahi i waenganui i a Te Āti Awa me te Karauna i te tau 1860, ka tono a Ngāti Ruanui i ana toa ki te raki kia whawhai i te taha o Te Āti Awa hei aha, hei whakatūpato i ō rātou huānga kia kaua e hokona te whenua.

He nui te utu a Ngāti Ruanui mō tana noho pūmau ki a Te Āti Awa. I ngā tau o 1865, o 1866 ka whakaekengia te tonga o Taranaki e ngā ope taua Pākehā, ka pāhuatia ngā pā me ngā papakāinga.

Tītokowaru

Heoi i te tau 1868, ka hinga ngā hōia a te Pākehā. I whakaekea e Tītokowaru (nō Ngāti Manuhiakai, he hapū nō Ngā Ruahine, he wāhanga o Ngāti Ruanui) me ana toa te taupuni tawhiti ki Turuturumōkai, e pātata ana ki Hāwera. Tekau ngā hōia Pākehā i mate. I te rongotanga ake mō tēnei patunga, ka whakarōpū ētahi tāngata whai i a rātou, ka kuhu ki te ngahere kia kōkiri i te pā o Tītokowaru arā, Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, kei te takiwā o Kaponga. Tō rātou heahea. I mate ngā hōia Pākehā e 24 te tokomaha, tae atu ki a Meiha Julius Von Tempsky. Maurirere, mataku ana ngā hapori Pākehā i ngā rā o muri tata mai, ko ētahi i rere mōrehu ki te tonga.

Ka neke whakatetonga a Tītokowaru ki Moturoa, kei uta ake o te wāhi kei reira te tāone o Waverley i ēnei rā, ka whakatū pā ia. Ka noho, ka tatari ia mō te whakaekenga o te ope taua o Kānara George Whitmore. Kātahi anō a Whitmore ka hoki atu ki Taranaki whai muri i ngā pakanga ki a Te Kooti ki Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa. Nō te pūaotanga ka arahina e Whitmore ana hōia ki mua i te pā. I a rātou ka whakatata ki ngā tūwatawata, ka tukuna te waipū, ka hinga ngā hōia e 20; ka whakawāteatia e Whitmore te pae o te riri.

Ka nuku whakatetonga anō a Tītokowaru ki te pā nui o Taurangaika, e pātata ana ki Maxwell. Engari i te pō i mua o te whakaekenga o Whitmore me ana hōia, ka wehe, ka marara te kotahitanga o ngā iwi o Taranaki i te pā, ka haere whakauta rawa, ki te rohe o Ngāti Maru kei te puku o Taranaki. Whāia, ka riro i te kāwanatanga te mana o te rohe. Nō ngā tau tata ki muri mai, ka riro te nuinga o ngā whenua o Ngāti Ruanui. Nō te tau 1888 ka mate a Tītokowaru, ka tanumia ki tētahi wāhi muna. Neke atu i te e 2,000 te tini i tae ki tōna tangihanga.

Kupu tāpiri
  1. William Woon, Letter to Donald McLean, 23 July 1851. Copy-Micro-MS-0535-99, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. › Back
  2. Richard Taylor, Journal entry for 26 and 28 April 1851. In Journal, v. 7, qMS-1991, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. › Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Tony Sole, 'Ngāti Ruanui - Te aranga ake o te tikanga hōu', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/ngati-ruanui/page-3 (accessed 26 April 2024)

He kōrero nā Tony Sole, i tāngia i te 8 Feb 2005, updated 22 Mar 2017