Ko te ētita o Te Puke ki Hikurangi (The Hill at Hikurangi, 1897-1913) ko Purakau Maika i raro i te ārahi a Hamuera Tamahau Mahupuku i raro anō hoki i te maru o te Paremata Maori o te Kotahitanga (Maori Parliament) me Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Hei whakakapi tēnei niupepa mō Huia Tangata Kotahi te niupepa whai mana o te Te Kotahitanga (Jubilee: Te Tiupiri, 4 Hanuere 1898: 5).

Nā tētahi komiti e rima ōna mema i whakarite te niupepa i Pāpāwai. He kaiwhakarite tō ia takiwā Māori hei kohikohi i ngā utu a te hunga hoko i te niupepa, me ngā pitopito kōrero o reira. Nā te perehi Māori motuhake hoki i whakatū Te Wananga, Te Korimako, me Huia Tangata Kotahi (Jubilee: Te Tiupiri, 11 Hanuere 1898: 1).

I puta te hiahia matua o te niupepa i roto i ngā tuhinga a te ētita i te putanga tuatahi:

‘He panuitanga tenei i ta tatou Nupepa ia Te Puke Ki Hikurangi ka tukua atu nei kia haere atu ki nga hau e wha o tatou motu e rua, o Aotearoa me te Waipounamu me o raua motu ririki, hei taringa, hei reo, mo tatou e noho nei tatou i roto i te pouritanga o nga mahi nunui a to tatou Kotahitanga, ara te oha a o tatou tipuna a o tatou matua, te Tiriti O Waitangi me nga mahi a to tatou Paremata e tu mai nei i Poneke, me nga rongo korero o te ao e whakarongo noa nei te taringa, e ui noa nei te ngakau, ki a ia ano, a, kowai hoki hei whakautu i te patai. E hoa ma tenei ahau ka tu ake ki runga hei whakautu i tenei patai.’ (21 Tīhema, 1897: 1)

(This is a statement about our newspaper Te Puke Ki Hikurangi which is sent out to the four winds of our two islands, Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu [North and South Islands] with their small outlying islands. It will be ears and voice for us who remain in ignorance of the enormous tasks of Te Kotahitanga in dealing with the Treaty of Waitangi, the gift from our forebears, and matters before our Parliament in Wellington. Then there is the news of the world, which our ears listen for and our minds question in vain amongst ourselves, but who is there to answer our queries? Friends, I am here to provide the answers.)

Mō ētahi atu mōhiotanga mō te niupepa tirohia P Parkinson rāua ko P Griffith, Books in Maori (Auckland: Reed, 2004), S39, wh. 807–811; me S Chrisp, ‘The Tribal Society of the Wairarapa Newspapers’ i Rere Atu, Taku Manu! he mea ētita nā J Curnow, N Hopa rātou ko J McRae (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002), wh. 193–210 (wh. 193–197).

E hiahia ana te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa ki te mihi ki a Gail Dallimore mōna i tuku kōrero mai i whakamahia i roto i ngā tuhinga roa mō ngā niupepa Māori.

The editor of Te Puke ki Hikurangi (The Hill at Hikurangi, 1897-1913) was Purakau Maika under the guidance of Hamuera Tamahau Mahupuku by the authority of the Paremata Maori o te Kotahitanga (Maori Parliament) and the Treaty of Waitangi. This newspaper replaced Huia Tangata Kotahi as the official newspaper of Te Kotahitanga (Jubilee: Te Tiupiri, 4 January 1898: 5).

A committee of five at Papawai organised the newspaper while each Maori district had a co-ordinator to collect subscriptions and news. An independent Maori press also established Te Wananga, Te Korimako, and Huia Tangata Kotahi (Jubilee: Te Tiupiri, 11 January 1898: 1).

In the first issue the editor declared the intent of the paper:

‘He panuitanga tenei i ta tatou Nupepa ia Te Puke Ki Hikurangi ka tukua atu nei kia haere atu ki nga hau e wha o tatou motu e rua, o Aotearoa me te Waipounamu me o raua motu ririki, hei taringa, hei reo, mo tatou e noho nei tatou i roto i te pouritanga o nga mahi nunui a to tatou Kotahitanga, ara te oha a o tatou tipuna a o tatou matua, te Tiriti O Waitangi me nga mahi a to tatou Paremata e tu mai nei i Poneke, me nga rongo korero o te ao e whakarongo noa nei te taringa, e ui noa nei te ngakau, ki a ia ano, a, kowai hoki hei whakautu i te patai. E hoa ma tenei ahau ka tu ake ki runga hei whakautu i tenei patai.’ (21 December, 1897: 1)

(This is a statement about our newspaper Te Puke Ki Hikurangi which is sent out to the four winds of our two islands, Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu [North and South Islands] with their small outlying islands. It will be ears and voice for us who remain in ignorance of the enormous tasks of Te Kotahitanga in dealing with the Treaty of Waitangi, the gift from our forebears, and matters before our Parliament in Wellington. Then there is the news of the world, which our ears listen for and our minds question in vain amongst ourselves, but who is there to answer our queries? Friends, I am here to provide the answers.)

For further information about the newspaper, see P Parkinson and P Griffith, Books in Maori (Auckland: Reed, 2004), S39, pp. 807–811; and 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 (pp. 193–197).

The National Library would like to thank Gail Dallimore for providing information used in essays about Maori newspapers.