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Kōrero: Rehu-Murchie, Erihapeti

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Rehu-Murchie, Erihapeti

1923–1997

Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Ngāti Raukawa; kairangahau, kaikōkiri mō te hauora, ngā mōtika tangata me te taiao

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Kirsty Dunn, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2018. I whakahoutia i te o Hepetema, 2022. He mea whakamāori nā Charisma Rangipunga.

He rangatira Ngāi Tahu a Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie, ka mutu, he wahine nui puku, ā, ko tana aronga nui i ngā tekau tau 1970 ki ngā tekau tau 1990 ko te whakatūtū i ngā kaupapa e pā ana ki te oranga me te hauora o te tangata. I roto i ngā tau, he nui tana whakapeto ngoi hai mema, hai upoko anō hoki mō Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora. Ā, ko āna mahi tino taiea nei ko āna mahi rangahau i te hauora o te wahine Māori. I ōna wā ko ia hoki tētahi mema o te Kōmihana Tikanga Tangata, ā, i riro hoki i a ia ko ētahi anō tūranga tūmatanui. He toki a ia ki te mahi whakaari, ki te waiata, ki te kauhau hoki. Waihoki, he kaitito waiata, he kaitito toikupu anō ia.

Ngā tau o mua

Ko Erihapeti Rehu te tamāhine a Oriwia Hawea (nō Ngāti Raukawa) rāua ko Hone Piuraki Rehu (nō Ngāi Tahu). I whānau mai ia i Arowhenua, i Waitaha i te 30 o te marama o Iwa i te tau 1923. Naia te kōrero a Erihapeti mō tōna tūrangawaewae: ‘Mai i Moeraki, tae atu ki te pito whaka-te-raki, arā ki Tuahiwi, ki Kaiapoi, ki Kaikōura, ā, ko Aoraki ko ia kei te pito o te ao.’ 1 I tana whānautanga mai, kāore te hohipera i whakaae ki te tono a tōna whānau kia tapaina a ia ko Erihapeti, ā, ko Elizabeth kē te ingoa i rēhitangia mōna. I a ia e tamariki ana, i waia ōna hoa ki ōna ingoa kārangaranga, arā ko Erihapeti, ko Mōtoitoi hoki. Nā wai, nā wai ka pakeke ake, ko ōna ingoa kārangaranga ko Betty, ko Elizabeth. I a ia e taitamariki tonu ana i noho a Erihapeti ki te pā i Arowhenua.

He tāne mana nui a Piuraki Rehu, ā, i kaha tonoa ia kia tū hai kaiwhakawā ki te whakatau i ngā tohe i tōna pā. Heoti ko tā Oriwia he mahi rongoā. He tokorua i ū ki te whakaaro me whai mātauranga ā rāua tamariki kia whai mahi ai rātou i te ao kōmiro. I āki atu a Oriwia i tōna whānau ake kia tika rawa atu te whakahua me te kounga o tō rātou reo Pākehā. I kuraina a Erihapeti rāua ko tōna teina a Rānui i te Kura Māori o Arowhenua me te Kura Tuarua o Temuka. Nā te pōhara o te noho i mate a Erihapeti ki te whai mahi whakapaipai whare, ā, ko tā Rānui he whakamutu atu i āna mahi kura tuarua. Ka mutu atu i a Rānui āna mahi kura, kātahi ka whai wā a Erihapeti ki te whakaoti i āna ake mahi kura tuarua. I te mutunga iho i whai rāua tahi i te mahi kaiako.

I ngā tau 1944–1945 i ako a Erihapeti ki te Whare Whakangungu Kaiako o Ōtautahi, ā, i tūtaki atu ia ki tētahi atu kaiako, ko Malcolm McGregor Murchie. I te 3 o te marama o Rima i te tau 1946 i mārena rāua i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. Tekau ā rāua tamariki. I te 3 o te marama o Ono i te tau 1996, i panonihia tōna ingoa ki a Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie.

Te mahi whakaari me te mārenatanga

I mua mai i tā rātou neke atu ki Pāmutana ki te Tonga i Ōtākou i te tau 1956, i noho atu te whānau nei i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, i Temuka, i Timaru me Ōtepoti. I whakaako a Malcolm ki te Kura Tuarua o Pāmutana. Nā ngā kawenga ki te tiaki i tētahi whānau nui, i pukumahi ai a Erihapeti ki āna mahi e maha. E ai ki āna tamariki, he kirikawa a Erihapeti ki te mahi a te hākui, ki te tunu kai, ki te whatu, ki te tiaki kāinga, ā, nāna hoki te whānau i poipoi ki te aroha, ki te atawhai hoki.

I a ia i Pāmutana ki te Tonga, he kaha ia ki te mahi whakaari. He kaiwhakaari ia, ā, i whakahaere hoki ia i ētahi whakaari i te Whare Whakangungu Kaiako o reira. I kitea tana tū e Bruce Mason, ā, ka pōwhiringia a Erihapeti kia tū hai kaiwhakaari, ā, ko tana kiripuiaki ko Aroha Mataira, he taua mana nui i te whakaari The pōhutukawa tree. I tū ia ki te whakaari nei i mua i te aroaro o te Ratonga Pāpāho o Aotearoa i te tau 1960. I te tau 1963 i tū anō ki te taha o ngā Southern Comedy Players i Ōtepoti, ā, i pērā anō i te tau 1984 i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara i te Downstage Theatre. He roa tana aronga ki ngā mahi whakaari me ngā mahi reo irirangi, tae noa ki te wā i huri ai ōna whakaaro ki te mahi rangahau mō Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora.

Ko Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora, ko Ngāi Tahu hoki

I hūnuku te whānau Murchie ki Ōtepoti i te tau 1962. I whai tūranga a Malcolm hai upoko o te whaitua mahi toi i te Kāreti Hangarau o Kingi Eruera (ka huri ngā tau, ka huri tēnei ki te Kuratini o Ōtākou). I reira i whakaako hoki a Erihapeti i te reo Māori ki tō Clarkie Roberts taha. I roto i ngā tau he konohi kaha kitea a Erihapeti i te hapori, ā, ko rāua ko Wi Duff ērā i whakapau werawera atu kia whai whenua te hapori ki te whakatū i te marae o Āraiteuru. I te tau 1963 i hono atu ia ki Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora, ā, ko tōna hākui tētahi o ngā mema tuatahi o tautaia kaupapa. Ka riro atu tōna hākui ki te pō i te tau 1966, i reira ka kaha ake ai te mahi a Erihapeti, ā, kāore i roa ka tino mihia āna mahi ki tērā o ngā kaupapa.

Mō te kauhau, he toki a Erihapeti, ā, nā tērā pūkenga ōna he kaha ia ki te whakaemi kaitautoko mō ngā kaupapa a Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko o te Ora. Hai tauira, i te tau 1970 i tū a ia hai māngai mō te hunga nō Ōtepoti i te marae o Te Ūnga Waka ki Tāmakimakaurau ki te whakahē i te haerenga o Te Kapa Ōpango ki Āwherika ki te Tonga. I mihia a ia mō tāna whakataunga ko te whakakore i tēnei o ngā hāereere, he whakahē, he ‘whakararu’ i te kaupapa whakatāuke tangata o tērā whenua.2

He wahine marutuna, he wahine amaru, kāore i roa ko Erihapeti tētahi kaiarataki o roto o Ngāi Tahu e kōkiri ana i ngā kaupapa hai painga mō te iwi. He toki ia ki te waiata, ki te kauhau hoki, na he rite tonu te tono kia tū ia hai māngai mō te iwi ki ngā hui mata whānui. Ko te wharenui ki te marae o Arowhenua, ko tōna ingoa ko Te Hapa o Niu Tireni. He ingoa tēnei e whakamaumahara atu ana ki ōna manuhiri i te whānakotanga o ngā whenua o Ngāi Tahu i te rautau 19. Ka mau nawenawe ia ki ēnei kōrero, ā, ko tōna pae tawhiti, ki a Erihapeti, kia tū anō a ngāi Māori hai ‘kaitiaki i te mauri o te whenua’. Ka mutu, ko te Māori tonu tērā ka whai wāhi ki te ‘tārainga o tētahi ahurea motuhake o Aotearoa, e kōtui ana i ōna anō āhuatanga o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ki … ērā i ahu mai i te Pākehā.’3

Te tū hai Perehitene me Rapuora

I te tau 1976 i hūnuku te whānau Murchie ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, i te mea i eke a Malcolm ki tētahi tūranga mahi tiketike ki te Tari Mātauranga, waihoki i whakaoti atu a Erihapeti i tana tohu paetahi. I hūnuku atu te whānau ki Rotorua i te tau 1978. I eke a Malcolm ki te tūranga tumuaki tuatahi ki te Kāreti Hapori o Waiariki. I te nohoanga ki Te Ika-a-Māui, ka kaha ake ai ngā mahi a Erihapeti mō Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora ā-motu nei. I eke a Erihapeti hai Perehitene i te tau 1977, ā, e toru tau te roa o tana whakatangetange riaka i tēnei tūranga. Ko tāna he whai i ngā ara kia kitea katoahia ngā momo o te ira wahine Māori i roto i Te Rōpū, mā te whakapoapoa i ngā tauira wāhine Māori i ngā kura tuarua me ngā whare wānanga kia whakauru mai. I tana kauhau mutunga hai Perehitene, ko tāna i kī atu: ‘He taonga te ira tangata. Me whakawhanake tātou i tēnei tino taonga … Me kimi ngā kaupapa e eke ai tātou Māori mā, kaiārahi mā, wāhine mā ki ngā tino taumata e taea ana e tātou.’4

I tū a Erihapeti hai kaiwhakahaere i ngā mahi rangahau a Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora mai i te tau 1981 ki te tau 1985. Nāna i whakarite te tatauranga ā-motu tuatahi mō te hauora o te wahine Māori he mea tātaki e te Māori tonu. I te tau 1984, i puta ngā kitenga o tēnei rangahau e kīia ana ko Rapuora: health and Māori women. I hira te pūrongo nei nā te mea he rangahau nā te Māori tonu i whakahaere, ā, i aro pū atu ki ngā tohu ora pai o ngā wāhine Māori (pēnei i te hauora, i te whānau, i te āhua o te noho me te ora o te tinana). Kāore i aro noa iho ki ngā tohuine arowhānui mō ngā mate e pā nei ki te wahine Māori. Hai kōrero āpiti, i ākina e Erihapeti he mahi rangahau mō te āhua o te ora o te hunga mauherehere, mā te mahi tahi ki ngā āpiha i ngā whare herehere me te Rōpū Tiaki, Haumanu Mauhere. Nāna hoki Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora i whakakonohi ki ētahi hui wāhine ki tāwāhi, pērā i te huinga nui o Te Tōpūtanga o ngā Wāhine Taiwhenua o te Ao i tū i Whītī. Ko Erihapeti hoki tētahi o te tira a te Minita o ngā Take Māori i haere ki Amerika, e aro ana ki ngā take ahurea me ngā take hokohoko.

Te Kōmihana Tikanga Tangata me āna mahi ki te hāpori whānui

Nā tōna kaha i Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora i tino hiahiatia ōna pukenga arataki e ope kē atu, e ope kē atu. Nō ngā tau tuatahi o ngā 1970 i te mahi ngātahi ia ki ētahi rangapū maha, ko te aronga ko te whakawhanake i te whānau, ko ngā take tamariki, ko ngā take hauora me te mātauranga anō hoki. Ko te aronga o ētahi o ēnei rangapū ko te whakawhanaungatanga ā-iwi, pēnei i Te Kāhui Tika Tangata me Ngā Kirirarau Kōkiri i te Mana Ōrite o ngā Iwi. Ko ētahi atu, pēnei i te Kōmiti mō ngā Tahua Āwhina Marae, me te Kōmiti mō ngā Take Whenua Māori ki Te Waipounamu, ko tā rātou kē he whakatairanga  i ngā painga o te ahurea Māori. Otirā ko te tautoko, ko te ārahi hoki i ngā wāhine Māori e mina ana ki te whakatū pakihi, koia te aronga o te Taraati Whakawhanake Wāhine Māori.

I mahi hoki ia ki te whakapiki ake i te hauora o te iwi whānui i tana tū ki te Kaunihera Rangahau Rongoā, te tū ki te Kōmiti Whakatairanga Hauora, ki Te Tūāpapa Tarukino o Aotearoa me te Kaunihera Whakatūpato Waipiro o Aotearoa. Ko tāna i whakapono ai, ko ā tātou tamariki ngā kura nui takarerewa, na i āna mahi katoa ko te whakapiki i te oranga o te whānau te whāinga, pērā i āna mahi i te Komiti Mātai i te Tamaiti i te Porihanga Kanorau, te Kaunihera Wāhine o Aotearoa, te Pokapū mō ngā Mātua me ētahi atu anō rangapū. Ka tohua ia hai kaiwhakaū kupu ōkawa i te tau 1986.

I whai tūranga ia ki Te Kōmihana Tikanga Tangata i te tau 1988. Ko tā tēnei Kōmihana he whakamana ake i ngā mōtika tangata,  he whakarongo hoki ki ngā tohe mō te mana ōrite ā-ira tangata, ā-piringa hoa, ā-hāhi, ā-whakapono matatika (nō muri mai, nō te tau 1993 ka whakawhānuihia ngā mana o te kōmihana nei ki ngā take mana ōrite e hāngai ana ki te iwi, ki te hauātanga, ki te pakeketanga, ki te whakaaro tōrangapū, ki te mahi, ki te whānau, me te aronga hōkaka). Nā Erihapeti tētahi kaupapa kākano-rua i whakatō atu ki ngā tikanga whakahaere o te Kōmihana. I whakaheke tōtā hoki ia ki te Kōmiti Hauora Māori o te Kōmihana mai i te tau 1991 ki te tau 1994. Ā, i whai wāhi hoki ia ki te Awheawhe o Te Kotahitanga o ngā Whenua o te Ao mō ngā Mōtika Iwi Taketake mai i te tau 1988 ki te tau 1991.

Ka rītaia ia i te Kōmihana i te tau 1995, engari i noho atu ia hai kaumātua mō te Kōmihiana tae noa ki tōna matenga.

Te noho hai taua me tana ōhākī ki te ao

I mōhio a Erihapeti  ki te āhua o te ao me ōna hurihuringa me te pānga o ēnei tū āhua ki ngā tāngata whenua huri noa i te ao. Ko tāna he whakatairanga i te tū a te Māori ki te rangahau, ki te whakarite, ki te kōkiri i āna anō kaupapa, i ōna anō rongoā, otirā me te kitea tonutia ‘o tōna taiea, o tōna anō taera … i ngā whakahaere a te iwi, inā kē te nui o ngā hua’. 5 Mō āna mahi, i whakawhiwhia a ia i te tau 1990 ki te Mētara Whakanui Ratonga a te Kuīni (ahakoa e rua ana kapenga i tēnei honore i mua), ki te Mētara Whakamaumaharatanga o Aotearoa me te Tohu Kairangi Hōnore mō te Ture (e Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko-o-Te-Ika). I whakatūria a ia hai kairangi mō te Kāreti o ngā Nēhi o Aotearoa i te tau 1991, ā, i whakawhiwhia hoki ki te Mētara Manapōti o Aotearoa i te tau 1993.

I te tau 1990 ka rītaia a Malcolm, ka nuku rāua ko Erihapeti ki Whanganui. I te tuarima o Toru i te tau 1997, i te pō o mua atu i tana whiwhi i te tohu tino rangatira rawa atu nei o Aotearoa, arā te Tohu Kairangi, i riro atu rā a Erihapeti ki te pō. E 73 tau tōna pakeke, ko te tini me te mano i ikapahi atu ki tōna tangihanga i ngā marae o Pūtiki, o Katihiku, o Arowhenua, mai i ngā pito katoa o te motu, ko ētahi i haere mai i Amerika rā anō ki te whakamānawa ake i āna mahi rangahau, i āna mahi arataki me tana ‘tū rangatira’.6

I te tau 2000, i whakatūria tētahi tūranga paewai rangahau tua-o-kairangi mō ngā tētē e whakaeke mai ana i te ao rangahau hauora Māori, ā, i tapaina tautaia karahipi mō Erihapeti tonu. I te tau 2003 i whakanuia a Erihapeti i te whakatūnga o tētahi mahi toi e kīia ana ko ‘Te ara mārama’ ki te Whare Karakia Nui o Hato Paora ki Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. He tohu whakamānawa te mahi toi nei i ētahi wāhine i puta i a rātou he painga nui ki te mana me te noho ora o ngā wāhine o Aotearoa. Ka maumaharatia hoki a ia i āna titonga e maha, he mea tuku iho ki ōna uri whakaheke.

I ngākaunui hoki tōna hoa a Malcolm Murchie ki ngā mea i ngākautia e Erihapeti, pērā i te tōrangapū, i te mana ōrite, i te tiaki taiao me ngā toi. He kōrero Māori a Malcolm, i mātua taute ia i ngā mahi ohaoha a tōna hoa a Erihapeti kia piki te oranga o te iwi Māori, ā, kia taurite te noho o ngā āhuatanga Māori ki ngā āhuatanga Pākehā i roto i āna mahi whakaako katoa. Ka mate atu a Malcolm i te tau 2017.

I takoha a Erihapeti rāua ko Malcolm i te whakatauākī nei ki ō rāua uri, ‘Whāia ki te teitei’. Nā whai anō pea te ekenga o ō rāua nei uri ki ngā taumata tiketike o ngā whaitua hauora, ngā mahi mātauranga, te ture, ngā mahi toi me ngā ratonga e pai ake ai te ora o te tokomaha. Ka mutu, kei te kōhatu whakamahara o Erihapeti, ko ēnei o ngā kupu owha, ‘He Taua tino rawe’.

He tauira o te kōrero nei i puta i mua atu i tēnei tuhinga, kei Tāngata Ngāi Tahu: people of Ngai Tāhu, Helen Brown rāua ko Takarei Norton (ētita), Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, 2017. He tānga tēnei kua whakaaengia e Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. 

Kupu tāpiri
  1. Quote from Erihapeti Rehu Murchie, Te Maori radio programme. 2 December 1986. Audio recording. ID: 48384 Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Back
  2. ‘Hui Opposing All Blacks Rugby Tour to South Africa’, Te Unga Waka Marae Hui, 7 June 1970. Sound recording. ID 41277. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Back
  3. Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie, ‘What I believe’, quoted in Michael O’Leary, ‘Social and Literary Constraints on Women Writers in New Zealand 1945–1970.’ PhD thesis, Victoria, 2001, p.121. Back
  4. Isolde Byron. Nga Perehitini: the presidents of the Māori Women’s Welfare League 1951–2001. Auckland, 2002, p.76. Back
  5. Tipene O’Regan, tribute to Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie, Whenua radio programme, 13 July 1997. Audio recording. ID: 52448. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Back
  6. ‘Arowhenua Farewells Dr Rehu-Murchie’, Timaru Herald, 10 July 1997. Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Kirsty Dunn. 'Rehu-Murchie, Erihapeti', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2018, updated o Hepetema, 2022. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/6r3/rehu-murchie-erihapeti (accessed 29 March 2024)