Kaea

He moheni a Te Kaea i whakaputaina e Te Tari Māori, ā, ko tōna putanga tuatahi i te marama o Tīhema 1979. I whakaarotia ka noho Te Kaea hei piki tūranga mō Te Ao Hou (1956-1975). Ko te whāinga i Te Kaea he pānui kōrero ki te ao mō ngā momo whakaaro Māori whānui, he tū kōrero kāore i puta i ngā pāpāpho me ngā nūpepa auraki i taua wā.

Nō ngā tau 1970 ka puta ētahi huringa tino nui i Aotearoa/New Zealand, ā, ko ngā aurere o te iwi Māori i noho hei pūtake mō ngā kōkiri o aua wā e pā ana ki te whenua, ki te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. Ko ētahi o ngā tino mahi i oti i roto i aua tau ko te Rā o Te Reo Māori tuatahi i te tau 1972; te Hīkoi mō te Whenua i te tau 1975 ; te tīmatanga mai o te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1977, ngā nohonga i te papa tākaro haupōro o Whāingaroa me Takaparawhā (Bastion Point); te whakatūranga mai o te kōhanga reo tuatahi i te tau 1982, me te kura kaupapa Māori tuatahi i 1985.

E ai ki ngā whakaaro o Kara Puketapu (Te Āti Awa), Toihau mō te Tari Māori i tērā wā, hei huarahi te moheni mō te Tari kia noho tata tonu ki ngā kitenga o te rangatahi mō te whenua, mō te reo me te ao tōrangapū. Otirā hei huarahi hoki te Kaea mō ngāi Māori e heke ana ki ngā tāone noho ai kia tūhono tonu ki te wā kāinga. Tētahi, kia whakaputaina he āhuatanga whakatairanga i ngā auahatanga Māori, ahakoa i te tuhituhi, i te whaikōrero, i te whakairo, i te raranga me ērā atu toi katoa.

Kāore kē a Puketapu, te ētita rānei, a Graham Wiremu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa) i whakaae me noho te nūpepa hei whakaputanga tari kāwanatanga anake, e herea ai ia ki te whakaputa i ngā whakaaro kāwanatanga anake. Otirā i āta kī a Wiremu i tana tuhinga ētita tuatahi ko te tūmanako mā te moheni e whakaoho whakawhitinga whakaaro, kupu whakatikatika hoki, me tana āki i ngā kaipānui kia tuhi mai, me tana kī hoki 'he mea tino nui te whārangi reta ki te ētita, ā, hei tohu mō te whāinga tikanga o Te Kaea, ā, hei tohu hira tēnei, nui atu i te nui o ngā hokonga o te nūpepa’.

Nā te kaumātua o Tūhoe nā Hoani Te Rangianiwaniwa Rangihau i homai te ingoa o Te Kaea, me tana whakamārama, he kaihautū tēnei mea ‘te kaea’. I tana tākinga kōrero i te  putanga tuatahi, i puta te kī a Puketapu, ahakoa he kōrero kē tā tēnā iwi, tā tēnā iwi mō te kupu nei te kaea, ki a ia he mea tika “kia whakaata ngā tuhinga o roto i ngā kōkiri Māori e puta ai he tohu ārahi mō Te Kaea i ōna putanga i muri mai.”

Mō te katoa o tōna oranga poto he mea ētita Te Kaea nā Te Wiremu. I whānau mai ia ki Ingarangi, ina hoki, i noho tūturu tōna matua a Hēmi ki Ingarangi i muri i tana mahi i te ope Māori i te Pakanga Tuarua o Te Ao. I ākona a Wiremu ki Oxford, ā, ka nuku mai ki Aotearoa i te tau 1978. Ka mahi ia i te tari whakaputa pukapuka o A. H. rāua ko A. W. Reed, ā, ka piki ki te tūranga ētita i  Te Kaea i te tau 1979. I muri i te katinga o te moheni i te tau 1981, i haere tonu te mahi a Wiremu hei kaituhi, ā, i muri i tērā hei kaituhi auaha i te ao whakatairanga.

Ko te reo taketake ko te reo Pākehā, ā, kei roto hoki ētahi tuhinga ki te reo Māori. E rima noa iho ngā putanga o Te Kaea, ā, ko te mea whakamutunga ko tō te marama o Pēpuere 1981. I whakakapia e Tū Tangata, nā Te Tari Māori hoki i whakaputa, i te marama o Ākuhata 1981.

Te Kaea was a magazine published by the Department of Māori Affairs, with the first issue appearing in December 1979. Seen as a direct successor to the former departmental publication Te Ao Hou (1956-1975), Te Kaea aimed to report on all Māori activities and views, something that the mainstream media was not seen to be doing at the time.

The 1970s had seen significant changes happening in Aotearoa/New Zealand, with Māori discontent leading to a growing determination to retain land, language and culture. Some of the important achievements during this period included the first Māori Language Day in 1972; the 1975 Land March; the convening of the Waitangi Tribunal for the first time in 1977, occupations at both the Raglan golf course and Takaparawhā (Bastion Point); the first kōhanga reo opening in 1982, and the first kura kaupapa Māori in 1985.

Kara Puketapu (Te Āti Awa), Secretary for Māori Affairs, saw the magazine as a means for the Department to keep in touch with peoples’ views on land, language and politics, as well as providing a way for Māori moving to the cities to keep in touch with the people back home. A further aim was to publish and promote Māori creativity, whether that was writing, oratory, carving, weaving or other forms of art.

Neither Puketapu nor editor Graham Wiremu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa) saw the publication as a departmental publication that promoted only the government’s point of view. In fact Wiremu explicitly stated in his first editorial that he hoped the magazine would provoke discussion and criticism and he encouraged readers to write in, saying that he believed that a ‘lively, vigorous “letters to the editor” page is as much an indication of Te Kaea’s success as its sales figures’.

Te Kaea had been offered as a name for the magazine by Tūhoe elder John (Hoani) Te Rangianiwaniwa Rangihau, who defined ‘te kaea’ simply as ‘leader’. In his introduction to the first issue, Puketapu acknowledged that te kaea might mean different things to some iwi, but felt that it was appropriate for the publication, “particularly if contributions truly reflect Māori initiatives which give a lead to the course Te Kaea should take”

For all of its short life Te Kaea was edited by Wiremu. He was born in England, as his father, Hemi, had settled in England after serving in World War Two with the Māori Battalion. Wiremu was educated at Oxford and moved to New Zealand in 1978. After working for publishers A. H. and A. W. Reed, he took on the editor’s role at Te Kaea in 1979. After the magazine closed in 1981, Wiremu continued to work as a writer, and then as a creative director in advertising.

Primarily written in English, Te Kaea includes the occasional item in te reo Māori. Only five issues of Te Kaea were ever produced, with the last one published in February 1981. It was replaced by Tū Tangata, also published by the Department of Māori Affairs in August 1981.