Te Rangiatahua Royal

Te Ao Hou, April 1956, Page 12

A Valedictory Message by Pei Te Hurinui Jones Te Rangiatahua Royal Ka mutu nei a Te Rangi Roera i tona tuunga Tumuaki o te Ropu Toko i te Ora mo te iwi Maori, he wa tenei kua homai ki te nuinga o ona hoa hei whakapuaki atu ki a ia me tona hoa aroha, ki a Puhi, i nga tumanako kia whiwhi raua i nga mea papai katoa o roto i nga tau kei mua i te aroaro. I tenei wa kua tairanga nei nga ahuatanga ki a Te Rangi, a kua manaakitia ana nei mahi e te Atua, e kore ia e tawhiti, kia whai waahi mai ai a ia ki te awhina i nga mahi, hei painga hei oranga ngakau hoki ki te nuinga i ana mea e mea ai. I te wa ka wehe mai a Te Rangi i te Upoko o te Motu ka noho ai ki Rotorua ka mahue pai atu ona rongo pai ki muri. Ko nga iwi o Tainui, o Aotea, o Kurahaupo, o Tokomaru ka ara atu te ringa ki te kapo kau atu, he tikanga no nehera tenei, hei tohu mo te manako me te aroha; a ko ona nei whanaunga o Pare-Hauraki ka maimoa mai ki a ia, i a ia ka ahu whaka-te-Rawhiti ki reira tau ai ki raro, kia noho tahi me nga iwi manaaki o te waka nei o Te Arawa. Ko Te Rangiataahua i whanui ona nei ara whakapapa, a he waahi nui o ona toto no Te Arawa The retirement of Mr Rangi Royal from the post of Controller of Maori Welfare is an event that gives his many friends an opportunity of wishing him and his helpmate, Mrs Royal, the best of everything in the years that lie ahead. At this high time in Rangi's life of service, God having favoured his many undertakings, we can depend on him to keep within hail, so as to be ready to give a helping hand, that profit and pleasure for all may be the result. When Rangi leaves the capital city to live in Rotorua he will leave behind him a good report. The peoples of Tainui, Aotea, Kurahaupo and Tokomaru will raise and cup the hand in the ancient manner of our people, as a token of regard and affection; and his kinsmen of Pare-Hauraki will wish him well as he advances to the East to settle down and take his place with the hospitable people of the Arawa canoe. Te Rangiatahua is genealogically well endowed and he has his goodly share of proud Arawa blood; and from his home on the shores of the sparkling waters of Okataina, he can, metaphorically speaking, weave his ancestral canoe genealogies

mangai nui, no reira a ia ka noho ki nga tahatika o nga wai kanapanapa ki Okataina, kei reira ia tui a-wairua ai i ona kawai atu tetehi tihi maunga ki tetehi, atu i te Rawhiti ki te Hauauru, mai i te Hauraro ki te Tonga. I a ia ka hoki komuri ki Rotorua e rite ana he whakahou i nga ara whanaunga, a e hoki ana ki te wa kainga. He whakahou ra tenei mo nga ahuatanga ki ona hoa o nga Marae o Tumatauenga, te Atua o te Pakanga, a he hokinga aronui atu ki nga iwi i noho tahi ai i te moanga o nga tau i mahi ai a ia ki te Tari Maori. I na roto atu hoki i nga iwi o Te Arawa a Te Rangi i haere ai ki nga Pakanga o te Ao, te tuatahi me te tuarua, a ko a ratou tamariki toa ona hoa i paoa ai e te wera raumati i werohia ai hoki e te anu hotoke i roto i nga pakanga uaua i nga marae o te riri. I te hokinga mai o Te Rangi i te tuarua o nga Pakanga o te Ao, kua tu mai ia ko Meiha Rangi Roera, M.C. me te Tapiri, i taemai hoki ona rongo toa na roto i ana mahi i te Ope Maori i turia ai a Ihipa, a Ripia, a Kariki me Kariti. Na i te mea kaore ano nei i taia ki te pukapuka te hitoria o te Ope Maori, ka mea ake ahau, he mahi mo enei wa nei, me unga mai ki a Meiha Roera kia awhinatia tenei mahi nui. I nga tau ki muri e uru tahi ana a Te Rangi ki nga take a-iwi katoa a Te Arawa. A, i a ia e tu apiha ana i te Tari Maori i Rotorua i mahi ia i nga mahi nunui i tona tuunga Karaka Kai-whakamaori hoki mo te Kooti Whenua Maori me te Poari, a, i a ia hoki i tu ai hei Apihi Whakatopu Paanga hei Kai-whakahaere hoki mo nga mahi ahu-whenua. Ko ia hoki tetehi o nga matamua ki te waere haere i te mahi ahu-whenua i timataria ai e Ta Apirana Ngata. Kei nga iwi o Mataatua ki Ruatoki nga whakahonore mo Te Rangi mo nga mahi papai i mahia ai e ia i tana tahuritanga ki te wetewete ki te whakatopu hoki i nga powhi-whitanga o nga taitarao o ratou whenua tuku iho i nga tupuna, a mo nga mahi ahu-whenua ki runga i aua whenua i oti pai nei mo te moni iti. Ko Te Rangi i piri tahi ki a Ta Apirana Ngata me nga kai-arahi o era wa o te iwi Maori ki te whakariterite i nga ritenga mo nga hui nunui e tu ai ki Rotorua, ki te waahi huinga o tatou o nga iwi o te motu mo nga take nunui, mo nga whaka-manuhiritanga hoki i nga momo Kingi. Kaore e kore na nga pukapuka i tiakina paitia mai e Te Rangi i whiwhi ai ki nga maramatanga i te wa e whakahaerea ana nga tikanga mo te taenga mai nei o te Kuini me te Tiuka o Etinipara ki te Ra Whakanui a te Iwi Maori i Rotorua. I runga i nga papa takaro i te wa o te tai-tamarikitanga i puea ki runga te ingoa o Te Rangi. He toa ia ki te purei hutupaoro i ona ra, a i uru ia ki nga ropu kowhiri o te takiwa o Maketu ki Rotorua i roto i nga tau maha. I ona tuunga hei apiha whakahaere, hei kai-tohutohu, hei mangai whakahaere hoki mo nga ropu hutu-paoro me te tenihi i tino kitea ai tona pai. I purei tenihi ano ia ki nga karapu o Rotorua. I te takaro korowha he tuku tai whakarere tonu tana nei tu, otira he ngahau noa nei tana purei i tenei ngaki. from mountain peak to mountain peak, from east to west and from north to south. His return to Rotorua will be in the nature of a reunion and a homecoming. A reunion it will be with his comrades of the fields of Tumatauenga, the God of War; and a happy homecoming among the people with whom he lived for the greater part of his years of service in the Maori Affairs Department. It was from among the Arawa tribes that Rangi left to serve in World War I and II, and it was with their gallant sons he endured the heat of summer and the cold of winter on many a hard fought field of battle. From World War II Rangi returned as Major Rangi Royal, M.C. and Bar, and with a proud record of service with the Maori Battalion in Egypt, Libya, Greece and Crete. Through the years Rangi has been associated with Te Arawa in all their tribal affairs. As a departmental officer in the Rotorua office of the then Native Department he gave outstanding service as clerk and interpreter of the Native Land Court and Maori Land Board, and also as Consolidation Officer and Farm Supervisor. He played a leading part in the pioneering work on Land Development, initiated by Sir Apirana Ngata. The Matatua people of Ruatoki will have special reason to honour Rangi for the excellent work he did in unravelling and consolidating the titles to their ancestral lands, and in the development work on these lands which were carried out with competence and at low cost. Rangi was associated, too, with Sir Apirana Ngata and other contemporary leaders of the Maori people in arranging the details of the many gatherings held in Rotorua, the meeting-place of our people for many important tribal meetings and Royal occasions. Some of Rangi's well-kept records were no doubt consulted and used for guidance in making the arrangements for the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to the Maori Reception at Rotorua. On the field of sport Rangi has earned the distinction of being a sportsman of the first order. He was a fine Rugby footballer in his time, and he played as a Bay of Plenty representative for several years. As an executive officer, coach, and manager of football and tennis teams, Rangi was an outstanding success. He played some club tennis in Rotorua. Rangi's golf is of the exuberant order, and he plays for the fun of it. Rangi's cultural interests take in Maori tribal history including the songs and the genealogies of the tribes throughout the land. As a haka man, Rangi often delights in shedding the trappings of the pakeha world to lead in the blood stirring chants and movements of the old time war exercises of the Maori. Some valuable material was contributed by Rangi in the compilation of Sir Apirana Ngata's ‘Nga Moteatea’ collection of Maori songs. Among the many tasks Rangi has undertaken is that of helping revise Williams' Maori Dictionary, now out of print. The revision committee of which

Ko nga taonga mo te hinengaro ki a Te Rangi kei nga korero tawhito o te iwi Maori, kei nga waiata me nga tatai whakapapa o nga iwi puta noa te motu. Kei nga mahi haka nei, kua rukea reretia ake e Te Rangi nga kahu o te ao Pakeha, kua tu mai hei takitaki i nga kupu pepeha e puka nei te toto i te hamamatanga me te whiu o nga ringa i runga i nga mahi o te ao tawhito i hauora ai te tinana mo te pakanga. Na Te Rangi i whaka-whiwhi etehi korero whaitikanga mo ‘Nga Mote-atea’ a Ta Apirana Ngata i whakarapopototia nei ki reira nga waiata a taua a te Maori. I roto i nga mahi huhua i mahia ai e Te Rangi ko te whakatikatika i te Pukapuka a nga Kupu Maori a te Wiremu, kua pau nei te hokohoko o nga mea i taia ai i mua. Ko te Komiti Whakati-katika i mahi tahi ai a Te Rangi i pau i a ratou etehi marama maha, a ko te hua o taua mahinga nui kua takoto inaianei kei nga ringa o te Kai-ta a te Kawanatanga. Kua urutomo inaianei a Te Rangi ki te tatai kaumatua, a i ona kawei tupuna rangatira kua uhia mai te ihi i a ia ka tu ki roto i nga runanga korero. Kaati ano kia pera kia meinga ai enei ahuatanga katoa hei tautoko i a ia ina tupono mai he wa e puaki ai tona reo karanga ki te iwi rangatahi kia tiakina paitia nga taonga o nehera me nga tikanga e matea nuitia nei e tatou, me to manaaki tika hoki i te reo a o tatou tupuna hei mea ohaki i ata whakatapuria. Kua puta ake ano i ahau no Pare-Hauraki tetehi taha o Te Rangi. Na ko Hauraki te waahi rongonui mo ona nei kai moana. A i konei hei whakaari kau ake i te whanui o nga whawha a te tangata nei, me tuhi iho e au mo tenei mea mo te kai moana, otira mo te kai nei mo te kuku, mehemea na Te Rangi i ata mahi mai hei kai i te weheruatanga o te po, i muri o nga mahi ahua-reka a nga hoa noho tahi i runga i te whakaaro kotahi, e ki ana ahau koinei tetehi tino kai, ‘e taka te roro o te rangi’. He tangata a Te Rangi kua manaakitia, na reira ia ka whakanuia, ka tu aronui, ka arohatia hoki. He tangata kore ngakau whakapeka, he tangata whakawhanaunga, he humarie, he hinengaro teitei, i na reira mai hoki i piri pono ai ona hoa maha, Pakeha, Maori. I te whaiti o te waahi i homai hei tuhinga, kaore e mene atu nga korero i hiahia ahau ki te whakapuaki, no reira ra i konei me whakahua ake e au, ki te reo o tatou tupuna, ko enei korero: “I tika tonu, e te hoa, to hoe i te Waka; “Kaore i pariparia e te Tai “Kihai hoki i monenehu te Kura.” he was a member was engaged on this work for several months and the result of their valuable work is now in the hands of the Government Printer. Rangi will now join the ranks of the tribal elders, and his aristocratic ancestral background will impose on him a serious deportment in our assemblies. This will all be helpful should he have occasion to make a call upon the rising generation to preserve the ancient usages and customs we value, and to maintain the spoken language of our ancestors as a sacred trust. I have already mentioned that Rangi is partly of the Hauraki district. Hauraki is famous for its fisheries. And to show the versatility of the man, I record the fact that a fish meal, especially of mussels, prepared by Rangi as a supper repast after a convivial evening of good fellowship is one to gladden the heart of an epicure. Rangi is blessed with a fine personality; one that commands respect, confidence and affection. His honesty of purpose, genial friendship, engaging manner, and outstanding sportsmanship endears him to a wide circle of friends, both pakeha and Maori. Space will not permit me to say all I should like to say and now, to Te Rangiatahua my Tainui kinsman, in the words of our ancestors, I say: “With skill, O friend, you have steered the Canoe. “And the spray of the Ocean “Has not marred the sheen of the Plume.”