Mareikura

I puta tuatahi mai Te Mareikura, tētahi niupepa ā-marama, i Hūpēnui, i te 1 Ākuhata 1911. Ko tēnei tētahi o ngā niupepa reo Māori e toru kia whakaputaina e te iwi Māori o te Wairarapa i ngā tau tuatahi o te rau tau rua tekau; ko ētahi atu ko te Matuhi me tōna tuakana, Te Puke ki Hikurangi.

Tētahi o ngā pou, kaihautū hoki o taua kamupene nāna te niupepa ko Pūrākau Maika, koia hoki te etita o tōna hoa whakataetae, Te Puke ki Hikurangi. Ko ētahi o ngā Māori rongonui o te takiwā i whai pānga ki te niupepa ko Te Whatahoro Jury, rātou ko Charles Jury ko Iraia Te Whāiti, ā, ko Whenua H Manihera te etita o te niupepa.

I whai pānga anō Te Mareikura ki te whare pāremata Māori e mōhiotia nei ko te Kotahitanga, engari he whānui tonu tāna titiro. I puta ngā rongo kōrero o te motu, o te ao, me ētahi tuhinga mō ngā mahi ahuwhenua ki ngā whārangi o te Te Mareikura, ā, ko te tini o ngā putanga rongo kōrero he mea whakamāori mai i ngā tuhinga o ngā niupepa reo Pākehā pēnei i te Dominion.

I rere te putanga whakamutunga o te Te Mareikura i te 1 Hānuere 1913. Te āhua nei nā ngā mahi whakataetae ki Te Puke ki Hikurangi i taua tohe whāiti i ngoikore ai tōna haere.

I takea mai ēnei kōrero i S Chrisp, ‘The Tribal Society of the Wairarapa Newspapers’ i roto i Rere Atu, Taku Manu! he mea ētita J Curnow, N Hopa me J McRae (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002), (wh. 193-210).

The first issue of Te Mareikura, a monthly newspaper, was published in Greytown on 1 August 1911. It was one of three Māori language newspapers published by Māori in the Wairarapa in the early twentieth century; the others were Matuhi and the longer running Te Puke ki Hikurangi.

A key figure in the ownership and management of the company which published the newspaper was Pūrākau Maika, who was also editor of the rival Te Puke ki Hikurangi. Other prominent local Māori involved with the company were Te Whatahoro Jury, Charles Jury and Iraia Te Whāiti, while Whenua H Manihera edited the newspaper.

Te Mareikura was associated with the Kotahitanga Māori parliament movement but its content was wide ranging. National and international news and information on agriculture featured prominently in the pages of Te Mareikura, with many of the news items being Māori translations of material from English-language newspapers such as the Dominion.

The last issue of Te Mareikura was published on 1 January 1913. It seems likely that having to compete in the same small market as Te Puke ki Hikurangi was a factor in its demise.

Based on information from S Chrisp, ‘The Tribal Society of the Wairarapa Newspapers’ in Rere Atu, Taku Manu! edited by J Curnow, N Hopa and J McRae (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002), pp. 193–210.