Ngāti Tarāwhai
Otiia ko Ngāti Tarāwhai, he hapū nō Te Arawa. Ko rātou i whanake tonu i roto i ngā mahi whakairo whai muri i te taenga mai o te Pākehā ki Aotearoa. He hunga pono a Ngāti Tarāwhai nō te kāwanatanga i roto i ngā pakanga, ā, kāore i raupatungia ngā whenua. Ko te hua, ko te oranga tonutanga ake o te tātai tohunga whakairo ki roto ki te ao hou.
Te tohunga whakairo a Wero
Ko Wero Tāroi o Ngāti Tarāwhai pea te tohunga whakairo tuatahi kia mau ki ngā whao maitai. I ngā tekau tau o 1860, o 1870, ka puta te wairua auaha ki ōna pakoko o runga i ngā maihi, ngā amo o te whare o Houmaitawhiti (1860). Ahakoa te tū hirahira mai o ngā whakairoiro, kāore e taupatupatu ki te tinana o te tāraitanga. He mania noa o ana hoahoa, otirā ka whakaatu āna whakairo i te iwiruatanga, arā, he pūtu eke hōiho tā ētahi, ā, he mea panipani ki te peita me te waiho i te kōkōwai ki te taha. Nāna i whakaheke ōna mātauranga ki ana tauira ki a Ānaha Te Rāhui, ki a Neke Kapua me Tene Waitere.
Te kitenga a Ngata
I a ia e tai tonu ana ka whakaoho a Āpirana Ngata i tōna hapū kia whakatikangia mai te whare tipuna o Porourangi. Nō konā ia ka kite i te hikinga wairua o te hapori. I tōna whakatūranga hei minita Māori, ka kitea e ia koinei tētahi huarahi mā te motu whānui, kia tōia mai i te pūranga paru. I mānatunatu a Ngata ki ngā whanonga whakawaimeha o te wā, ā, ka nanaiore kia mau tonu iho te ahurea tūturu o te Māori. I whakapono a Ngata, ‘Ko ngā whare o te marae … te pūtahi matua o te hapori Māori. Kia whakatikangia rā anō ko ērā, e kore te hapori e āta titiro ki ētahi take kē atu.’1
Ngā whakairo tūruhi
Nō te taenga katoa mai o te tini o te Pākehā ki Rotorua, ka heke haere te wairua auaha i ngā mahi a Wero. Ka hiwa ake ngā kaiwhakairo ki te tuakiri Māori, ā, ka whakarerekētia ētahi o ngā hoahoa hei whakaahuareka i ngā kiritaki Pākehā. Ko tā ētahi o ngā kiritaki pērā i a Charles Nelson, he kaiwhakahaere hōtera, me Augutus Hamilton, te ringatohu o te whare taonga Koronī, he tohutohu i ngā kaiwhakairo he aha nei te hiahia a ngā kaihoko Pākehā. I te tau 1905 ka kī ake a Hamilton, ‘ka ākona ngā Māori ki te hanga taonga kātahi ka whakairotia’.2
Ngā kiritaki Pākehā
Nā te kore haeretanga o ngā waihanganga whare whakairo, ka tahuri ngā kaiwhakairo ki ngā kiritaki Pākehā hei whai oranga mō rātou. Heoi ki te Pākehā, he toi noa iho te whakairo, kāore i arohia ngā whakahekenga kōrero o te whakairo mai te tirohanga ao Māori. Nāwai ka whakatau ngā Pākehā i ō rātou ake huatau kia māmā ake ai ki te hunga Pākehā e hoko ana i ngā taonga.
Te Wānanga Toi Māori o Rotorua
I haere tonu ēnei momo whakairotanga i raro i te awe o te Kura Whakairo i Rotorua i hangaia i te tau 1926. I tū tuatahi te whare ki te hōro o Te Ao Mārama ki te whare karakia o St Faiths i Ōhinemutu. Nāwai ka nekehia ki Utuhina, ā, ka noho ki reira tae noa ki te tau 1937. Ko ngā tauira tuatahi ko Pine Taiapa (he tauira nā te kaiwhakairo o Te Tai Rāwhiti, a Hōne Ngātoto), ko Piri Poutapu me Waka Kereama o Waikato.
I whakaritea te hōtaka e Āpirana Ngata kia riro mā te kāwanatanga e utu ngā tauira me ngā kaimahi. Ko tā ngā iwi, he mahi moni mō ō rātou whare whakairo, wharekai hoki. Tae rawa ki te wā mahi, ka noho ngā kaiwhakairo me ngā whānau ki runga i te marae, ā, ka whāngaia rātou e te hau kāinga. I hua i tēnei pūnaha mahi ngā wharenui 21, ngā whare whakaaturanga e rua, ngā wharekai 10, ngā whare minenga e rua me ngā whare karakia e ono. Nō te otinga o ngā mahi whakangungu, ka tahuri ngā pia 27 ki te ako i te reanga hou.
Te mahi pūtea
‘Kia whai huruhuru te kaupapa mō te whare whakairo kātahi ia (Ngata) ka tono i ngā kaiwhakairo kia tīmataria ngā mahi. Pau ana ngā moni o te iwi kāinga, nuku atu ana ngā kaiwhakairo he wāhi kē, ā, kia kōputu rawa anō he moni mō tētahi wāhanga atu, kātahi anō rātou ka hoki atu.’3
Te whare ā-motu
Nā Ngata anō i hanga te tauira mō ngā wharenui o te motu, engari ka whakaae tonu ia ki ētahi o ngā rerekētanga ā-rohe. Heoi ko te nuinga o ngā wharenui he mea whakatauira i Te Hau-ki-Tūranga. Ko ngā pou me ngā heke ka ākona i te kura o Rotorua, i tū ai ngā whare o mua, ka panonitia. Nō konei ka taea tōna whakairo ki tētahi wāhi, kātahi ka tāpiri noatia i muri i te hanganga o te whare. Mā te tango i tēnei wāhanga o te mahi, ka whāia ngā tauira o ngā whare taonga i whakatūria e Hamilton rāua ko Nelson i te tekau tau 1880.
Nō te ekenga ki te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao ka tūtakina te tatau. Nō te huakitanga anō i raro kē i te ingoa o Te Wānanga Toi Māori o Rotorua, kua paenga te wā ki ngā ‘whakatūnga maha’.
