Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Pēwhairangi, Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi
1921–1985
Nō Ngāti Porou; he wahine kutikuti hipi, he kaiwhakakite, he kaitito waiata, he kaitohutohu tikanga ā-iwi
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Tania M. Ka'ai, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. I whakahoutia i te o Hānuere, 2002. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Nō te 29 o Tīhema o te tau 1921 i whānau ai a Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi Ngāwai i te kokoru o Tokomaru i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ko ia te mea pakeke o ngā tamariki tokorima a Hōri Ngāwai o Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare o Tokomaru, he hapū nō Ngāti Porou, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Wikitōria Te Karu o Ngāti Koi o Hauraki. I whakatipua mai a Ngoi – te īngoa aroha, īngoa karanga mōna – i te Hāhi Ringatū e ōna whanaunga, e Huka Pōhaera rāua ko Raiha Kāmau, i Waiparapara. He kaimahi tana matua, ā, he minita nō te Hāhi Ringatū; he kaihāpai anō hoki ia nō te rōpū Kotahitanga, taihoa ake rā he mea tautāwhi e Ngoi.
I kuraina a Ngoi i te kura Māori o te kokoru o Tokomaru. Ko te reo Māori te reo ake o Ngoi, ēngari i tere tonu tana tika ki te kōrero i te reo Pākehā, ā, nō te tau 1938 ki 1941 tana roa i Hukarere (Hukarere Māori Girls’ School) i Ahuriri (Napier). He toa ia ki te tākaro hōkī, ā, i te mutunga o tana kura, ka purei ia mō te tīma o Marotiri i Tokomaru e whakataetae haere ana i ngā tauwhāinga o Te Ika-a-Māui. Mau ana te whakakotahi mai a ngā whakataetae nei i ngā mahi kapa haka, ā, kātahi hoki te tino mahi tau kē nei ki a Ngoi.
Nō te mutunga o tana kura i hoki atu a Ngoi ki Tokomaru, mahi ake ai i te rōpū kutikuti hipi o tōna whaea kēkē. Nā te mahi kutikuti hipi i tūtaki ai rāua ko te kaimahi nei, ko Rikirangi Pene (Ben) Pēwhairangi, arā, nō Tokomaru mai anō hoki a ia. Nō te 3 o Pēpuere o te tau 1945 i mārenatia rāua e te matua o Ngoi i te marae o Waiparapara. Kotahi noa nei tā rāua tama, ko Terewai. Arā atu anō te nui o ngā tamariki he mea whāngai e rāua, me tā rāua mokopuna anō hoki.
Pau ana te wā tōmua ake o tō rāua mārenatanga, mahi haere ai mā ngā rōpū kutikuti hipi, he haere atu, hoki tonu mai te mahi i te takiwā o Te Tai Rāwhiti. Mōhiotia ana a Ngoi i ngā wūruheti hai wahine hīanga, wahine waiata. I tētahi wā anō, i tana whaea kēkē, i a Tuini Ngāwai e whakataetae ana i tētahi tātāwhāinga kutikuti hipi nei, i te kitenga o Ngoi e mahue haere kē ana ia, ka pakaru mai te waiata a Ngoi, he whakakipakipa kē rā tāna i tana kōkā kia tere ake.
Mau haere tonu te takitaki mai a Ngoi i ngā mahi toi, he mema, he kaihautū nei ia mō te rōpū kapa waiata o Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū, nō te tau 1939 i whakatūria rā e Tuini Ngāwai. Nō ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1940, hai āwhina mā rātau i ngā mahi mā te pakanga, i takahuri haere atu te rōpū nei i Aotearoa, kohi moni ai. He mea tohi rawa e Tuini Ngāwai a Ngoi, kia tau te whakakitenga, te āhua o te tito, me pēhea te taki hautū i te tangata. He maha tonu ngā wā i riro nā Ngoi i tohutohu, i ārahi te rōpū nei. Taihoa ake ka oti i a ia te whakahiato he pukapuka mō Tuini, arā, Tuini: her life and her songs , nō te tau 1985 i tāia ai.
He nui tonu ngā waiata nā Ngoi Pēwhairangi tonu i tito, pērā i ‘Kia kaha ngā iwi’, i ‘Ka noho au’, me ‘Whakarongo’. He nui ngā waiata he kaupapa tonu nei te take i tuhia ai, pēraka i te toronga mai o te Piriniha me te Pirinihi o Wēra i te tau 1983. I taua wā, i whakaritea mā Ngoi e whakahaere te pōwhiri tūturu. Hau ana te rongo o Ngoi mō tana kaha ki te tuhi māhorahora noa i ētahi waiata nei mā te tangata. Ko ēnei waiata āna e tino mōhiotia ana ko ‘E ipo’, he mea rekoata e Piriniha (Prince) Tui Teka, me ‘Poi e’, nā Dalvanius Prime rātau ko te karapu Māori o Pātea i rekoata. I riro mai i ngā waiata nei te kōpae kōura me te kōpae paratinamu, inarā, 7,500 te nui o ngā kōpae kōura i hokona atu ai, ā, 15,000 anō hoki te nui o te mea paratinamu i hokona.
Atu i te tau 1973 i noho a Ngoi mō te wā poto nei hai kaiwhakaako i te kura tuarua mō ngā kōtiro i Tūranga (Gisborne Girls’ High School), e toru tau ia ki reira e whakaako ana i te reo Māori, whakaako hoki i te karapu Māori. Nō te tau 1974 i tīmata tana mahi i Tūranga mā te whare wānanga o Waikato, he kaiwhakaako ia mō ngā āhua ake mō te tiwhikete o te mātauranga moroki i ngā akoranga Māori. I tua atu i tēnā he mea whakahaere anō e ia tētahi akoranga i te reo Māori. I tere tonu te kite o ngā kaihautū o te ao mātauranga Māori i te pai o Ngoi ki te whakakipakipa i te tangata, hāunga te pakeke, hāunga te tangatatanga, hāunga te rōpū matawaka, te mahi kē rānei a taua tangata. I te whakatūnga i a Kara Puketapu hai hēkeretari mō te Tari Māori (Department of Māori Affairs) i te tau 1977, tohua ana e ia ko Pēwhairangi hai kaiāwhina i te mahi whakaū i te kaupapa Tū Tangata, he kaupapa rā hai whakaora ake i ngā taiohi Māori e manene nei i ngā tāone, kia tūhonoa anō ai ki ō rātau iwi. Tahi rā ka whakamahia ia hai kaitohutohu mō te Tari Māori, noho ana anō hoki hai kaiāwhina mō te tangata nei, mō Michael King, i a ia e mahi nei i te rārangitanga mō te pouaka whakaata, i ‘Tangata Whenua’. Taihoa ake anō i whakaurua atu e ia ngā kōrero i tuhia e Ngoi ki roto i ngā kupu whakataki o te pukapuka nei, o Te ao hurihuri. I uiuia anō hoki a Ngoi e Kara Puketapu ki ngā kōrerorero whakataki, ka mutu ka puta ake nei ko te kōhanga reo tuatahi i Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington).
I te tau 1978, i whakanōhia ake anō hoki a Ngoi Pēwhairangi hai kaitohutohu ki te kaunihera o te motu mō te ako pakeke (National Council of Adult Education). Nā runga i tana mahi, kāore i ārikarika ngā wāhi i haerea e ia, arā tonu ko ngā hapori Māori o te taiwhenua. Arā atu anō āna mahi he hāpai nei i te ahumahi toi a te kāinga, arā, ki te ako i te reo me ngā tikanga a te Māori, te mahi tāri uku, whatu hoki. He mea āta whakatū anō hoki e Pēwhairangi ētahi kaupapa mā ngā wāhine Māori. I whakatūria anō hoki e rāua ko Kāterina Mataira te kaupapa nei, ko ‘Te Ataarangi’, he rākau Cuisenaire te tikanga ako, whakaako rānei i te reo Māori. Noho ake ana ko Te Ataarangi hai take whakaatu mai i te pouaka whakaata, ā, kāti hai take mō tētahi rārangi pukapuka, ko Te Reo (1985) te īngoa. Nō te tau 1984 i whakaputaina e ia tāna ake pukapuka ako mō ngā kaiwhakaako, ko He paku āwhina te īngoa.
Nā te tino rawe kē nei o te mahi mai, o Te Ataarangi, i karangatia e Ngoi he hui i te tau 1981, ā, ka mutu ka whakatūria nei e ngā kaitohutohu o tēnei tikanga he rōpū o te motu mō rātau. Nō te tau 1983 i karangatia anō e ia he hui, he whakakotahi mai tāna i ngā tohunga kaiwhatu, raranga Māori me ērā anō hoki o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, i te marae i Pākirikiri i Tokomaru. Kotahi wiki te roa o tā rātau noho, ka whakatūria e rātau tētahi rōpū mō ngā kaiwhatu o Aotearoa me Te Moananui-a-Kiwa (Aotearoa Moana Nui a Kiwa Weavers). He mema tūāpapa hoki ia nō Te Waka Toi (Council for Māori and Pacific Arts) i te tau 1979. Mahi ake ana ia i te rōpū, i te taha o ngā tāngata pērā i a Te Kuru-O-Te Marama Waaka me Kīngi Īhaka ā mate noa ia i te tau 1985. Nā te mea he tohunga a Ngoi ki te whakatau i ngā whakataetae kapa haka, he karanga tonu te mahi i a ia hai whakarite i ngā whakataetae i konei i Aotearoa me Ahitereiria, tae atu ki ngā hui taiopenga pēnei i te whakataetae mahi Māori a Tamararo, ia tau tū ai i Tūranga, me te taiopenga toi o ngā iwi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa (New Zealand Polynesian Festival), nō muri rā i karangatia ai ko te taiopenga mahi Māori o Aotearoa (Aotearoa Māori Performing Arts Festival).
Nō te 29 o Hānuere o te tau 1985 i mate ai a Ngoi Pēwhairangi i tana kāinga i Tokomaru, kua roa kē a ia e pāngia ana e te mate, ka mahue mai nei ko tana hoa tāne me tana tama. Ka nui kē te aroha mai ki a ia mō tōna kaha kē nei ki te hāpai tonu i te reo me ngā tikanga Māori. I tua atu i tēnā ko tōna whakaaro kia mau tonu te āhua o te kākanoruatanga me noho tonu mai te Pākehā ki te āwhina i te ora haere tonu o te reo Māori.