TE TAENGA MAI O TE WAEA-KORERO KI ORETE

Te Ao Hou, March 1965, Page 49

TE TAENGA MAI O TE WAEA-KORERO KI ORETE Na Hiri Waititi Ko ētahi pitopito o ēnei kōrero he mea pātai nāku ki a Waikohu Waenga rātou ko Timi Mekerāpata ko Moana Waititi. Ko Timi rāua ko Moana ngā mōrehu kai te ora ināianei o te rōpū nāna i whakatū te waea mai i Wharekahika ki Te Kaha. No te 22 Noema 1964, ka mate a Waikohu Waenga. I kī mai a Waikohu i mutu tāna mahi i Te Kaha; nā ōna hoa i whakatutuki atu te mahi ki Omaio. I mutu ai tana mahi he mea pupuri a ia nā Te Tane Tūkāki hei hoa mahi taiapa mōna ki Te Kinakina. Ko Timi Mekerāpata rāua ko Moana Waititi i roto i ngā rōpū mahi pōhi, kani rākau hoki, hai pou mō te waea. Ko Piri Tūari te tangata whakahaere i te mahi kani rākau. E tamariki tonu ana au i te taenga mai o te waea ki konei, ēngari kai te mau mahara tonu anō au ki ētahi o ngā kōrero, tae noa atu ki te wā o te hui i te whakapuaretanga o te whare-waea ki Orete. Heoi anō tō mātou hē, he kāore rawa tētahi o mātou i te mau mahara ki te rā me te tau o te hui. Nā ngā uiui ka whakaarohia e tata ana nō te tau 1905, 1906 rānei. Ko Pēria te ingoa o te pā i reira te whare me te pou-waea whakairo e tū ana. Ko Pārekoihu Te Kani te rangatira o reira. Ko Te Whānau-a-Pararaki te ingoa o tōna hapū. I ahu mai te mahi o te waea a ngā Maori i te takiwā o Ngātiporou. Kāore au e mōhio i tīmata mai rānei i Waiōmatatini, i Tikitiki rānei. I rongo noa au e kōrerotia ana kua tae mai te waea ki Te Kawakawa (Te Araroa). Koianei te takiwā kāore anō he waea-kōrero, mai i Te Araroa ki Opōtiki. Nō tētahi o ngā haerenga mai o Apirana Ngata ki tēnei takiwā ka kōrero a ia ki ngā tāngata, ‘Mahia he waea mā koutou. Ki te oti i a koutou, kāore e roa ka mahia e te Kāwanatanga tētahi māna, me ōna tikanga katoa.’ Nā konei i ue te mahi o te waea i roto o te takiwā nei. Nā reira hoki i karangatia ai ‘te waea a ngā Maori’. Me hoki ake taku kōrero ki te wā i tutuki mai ai te mahi o te waea mai i Te Kawakawa ki Wharekahika. No Wīngara Houkāmau te rangatira o reira, inā rā ko tōna ingoa kārangaranga ko Te Ngārara; ko te ingoa o te whare-waea ko Te Hētana. I reira ka harakoa ngā tāngata o Wharekahika mō te taenga mai o te waea ki a rātou. I roto i ā rātou mahi ngahau, ka waiatatia mai e rātou ki a Whāka Parakau: Whāka pukunui, whakarongo mai rā, Kai te koa a Hētana i ēnei rā, ei. He rangatira a Whāka Parakau nō Pōtaka, a, kei te haere mai te mahi o te waea ki reira. Ko ngā ingoa o ngā tāngata nā rātou i mahi te waea mai i Wharekahika ki Pōtaka, tae noa mai ki Whangaparāoa, ahu atu ki Orete, ko George Kelly te rangatira, ko Waikohu Waenga, ko Pua Grace, ko Tauranga Tuhiwai. Te taenga mai o te waea ki Pōtaka, ka tapaia e ngā tāngata nei te ingoa mō te waea a Whāka ko ‘Pukunui’. He mīhini kōrero anō tā rātou i a rātou e mahi ana, ko te ‘Koene’ te ingoa, ēngari kore rawa māua tahi ko Waikohu e mōhio he aha rā te tikanga o tēnei kupu Maori. He mea whakaaro noa iho he tino reo nō tō rātou rangatira ki te kōrero, i runga i tā rātou waea, ‘Go on’, ka whakakoenetia e te Maori. Kua tae mai te kōrero ki te Taiwhakararo nei ko ngā rākau e hiahiatia ana hei pōhi me pūriri, me kani hoki he rākau hei pou. Ka whakatika a Te Whānau-a-Kauaetangohia me ōna pekanga maha ki te wāwāhi pōhi, ka mahia he wāpu mō te kani i ngā rākau. I Whangaparāoa te wāpu a tēnei hapū; tā Te Whānau - a - Pararaki i Oruaiti, ko tā Te Whānau-a-Maru i Wairuru. Ka pātai atu au ki a Timi rāua ko Moana, ‘E hia tō koutou utu mō tā koutou mahi?’ Ka kī mai, ‘E tama, he kai noa iho rā te utu. Inā rā ko mātou tonu hei patu poaka puihi hai kīnaki mā mātou. Heoi anō, i te whakahau a ngā pakeke ki te mahi pou mō te waea, ka haere katoa ki te mahi.’ Engari tō Waikohu mā rōpū, i kī mai ia, e ono hereni tō rāua utu ko Te Pua Grace i te rā. Ko ētahi, he pakeke atu i a rāua, e iwa hereni i te rā. Nā rāua tētahi mahi taumaha, ki te mau i ngā pōhi me ngā pou ki ngā wāhi e hiahiatia ana, ēngari nō rāua te utu paku rawa, nā te mea

hoki he tamariki iho rāua i ērā. Kai te haere mai te mahi o te waea i Pōtaka. Ka eke mai ki runga o Taumatahapaipu, ka tuku heke te haere. Kua kitea mai te moana me Whangaparāoa. Kia titaha te rā, ka kitea atu te waea e pīataata ana i ngā wāhi kua rewa ki runga i ngā pou, ka waiatatia e Wīkuki Waititi rāua ko Te Ahiwaru Waenga: Hau kiwi, hau weka, kawea he kōrero, Kai te uira te waea i ēnei rā, ei. Ka tae mai te mahi o te waea ki Whangaparāoa. I roto tonu i te whare o Te Mānihera Waititi te waea. I konei ka whakauru atu ētahi ki roto o te rōpū mahi waea. Ko ngā ingoa ko Hauraki Tāwhai, ko Kūaha Waititi, ko Takamoana Erueti, ko Tiōpira Pōpata. Ka neke te kāinga o ngā tāngata mahi ki Matapapa. Kei muri te mahi e haere atu ana. Kua tipu te whakaaro i a Te Pārekoihu Te Kani kia neke noa atu te rongo o tāna waea i ā ētahi atu. Kātahi ka karangatia he hui mō te whakapuaretanga o te waea ki Pēria. Ka tīkina tētahi kaumātua nō Te Kaha, ko Māihi Tamatama-ā-rangi te ingoa, he hauā te waewae, koia nei te tohunga nāna i whakairo te rākau kua tae mai hei pou ki te taha o te whare-waea. I runga rawa o ngā whakairo o te pou nei ko te Maori e horo ana i te tōhora. Kei roto i ngā kupu o te haka e whakahua ana ki reira. He mea pōhiri atu anō Te Tairāwhiti kia haere mai ki te hui. Ka haere mai a Wīngara Houkāmau, a Te Ngārara e karangatia ana, a Apirana Ngata, me ētahi atu o ngā rangatira o Ngātiporou; pērā anō Te Taiwhakararo. Na, koia nei ngā kupu o te haka i te taenga mai o te ope o Ngātiporou: Kaea: Te Peketua, e Nuinga: O! Kaea: Te peketua, e Nuinga: O! Kaea: Ko Hoani ka tiki rā Nuinga: Tau tangata e tāoro ai koe, tāoro Kaea: Ngā rongo rā o te waea e, hau tonu mai i runga o te toetoe Nuinga: Aha ha. Noho mai ana a Te Ngārara i raro i tōna poupou taiapa rīwai e tū mai rā i a Te Hetana. Kei te aha rā koe ki te pou o te waea e tū nei i Pēria. Titiro ki runga ki Maori e horo nei te tōhora. Titiro ki raro ki te pūtake ka uira nei te whakairo. Auware rā, auware rā, i au e. Hei. Nā ngā mahi tinihanga a ngā koroua nei ki a rātou ka kīia te pou o te waea a Te Ngārara he poupou taiapa rīwai. Ko tā rātou hoki he mea whakairo rānō. Ka neke atu te mahi o te waea ki Te Maru-o-Hinemaka ki Wairuru, ka waiatatia anō e ōna tāngata te waiata: Te rongo o te waea whakangarongaro ana, Ka whakapau ngā mihi ki ngā kaimahi e. Ko ngā kōrero o te hui, kāore rawa māua ko Moana e mōhio. E kī ana a Timi Mekerāpata i takoto rānō te pereti, i kohia he moni hei utu i ngā tāngata nāna i whakatū te waea Ko tētahi wāhi hei aroha ki te rangatira, ki a George Kelly, ēngari kāore a ia i mōhio ki te nui o ngā moni, ki ētahi atu o ngā kōrero o te hui. Nō te 12 o Tihema 1964 ka tūtaki au ki a Hōri Kōrimete (George Goldsmith). Ka kōrero mai ia ki a au i tae a ia ki te hui i te whakapuaretanga o te waea i Orete. Nō te tau 1903. Engari ko te rā me te marama o te hui, kāore a ia i te mau mahara. E āhua tamariki tonu ana ia i taua wā. Ka whitu tekau mā whitu ōna tau ināianei. I haere mai a ia mā runga i tōna hōiho i Port Awanui ki te hui, he pēke noa iho tōna tera, ēngari ko te tuarā kē o tōna hōiho i pahore i tōna whero.