Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Taratoa, Hēnare Wiremu
?–1864
Nō Ngāi Te Rangi; he toa, he mihingare, he kaiwhakaako
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Ngahuia Dixon, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
He rangatira a Hēnare Wiremu Taratoa nō Ngāi Te Rangi, o Tauranga. I whānau i te takiwā ki te 1830; kei te āhua o tōna whakaahua i tangohia i te tau 1860, kua hipa pea ia i te toru tekau tau. Ko Hera tōna whaea; kāore he kōrero mō tana pāpā. Noho ai ia ki Ōpounui, he kāinga kei te motu o Matakana. He mea whakaako a Taratoa e Te Karu Whā (Henry Williams), he mihingare nō te Rōpū Hāhi Mihingare (Church Missionary Society), ka riro rā i a ia ona īngoa, a Hēnare Wiremu, i te iriiritanga; nō muri ka ako ia i te Kāreti o Hoani te Kaikauwhau i Ākarana (Auckland). Nōna i reira, ka moe ia i te wahine Māori, e ngaro nei tōna īngoa, nā te pīhopa, nā Te Herewini (G. A. Selwyn), i whakahono. Ko tana wahine o muri nei, ko Rāhapa. Ēngari kāore e mōhiotia ko tēhea te whaea o te tama, a Hēnare.
He nui ngā haerenga a Taratoa i te taha o Te Herewini ki te āwhina i a ia i ana mahi karakia. Nō te marama o Hune 1852, i haere ia i te taha o te pīhopa ki Te Moananuia-Kiwa; kātahi ka waihotia rāua ko William Nihill i Mare, tētahi o ngā motu o ngā moutere o Loyalty, ki te whakaako i te hunga o ērā takiwā kua huri katoa rā ki te kaupapa Karaitiana; nā ngā kaikauwhau reimana o Hāmoa i ārahi. E hia nei ngā marama a Taratoa e noho ana i reira.
Nō te tau 1858, ka whakaīngoatia ia hei kaipānui reimana, hei kaiwhakaako hoki i te kura Māori i Ōtaki. He toronga anō ōna ki a Ngāti Raukawa; e kī ana hoki, i tae ia ki te kura mīhana a Te Harawira (Octavius Hadfield) i Ōtaki. Ahakoa i whakauru atu a Taratoa ki ngā mahi a te Hāhi Mihingare, kāore ia i noho hei minita, he kī nō ētahi he taikaha rawa nōna mō tērā mahi. Nō tētahi hui i Ōtaki i te tau 1860, i whakahē ia i ngā mahi a Kāwana Thomas Gore Browne i Taranaki; i kotahi tā rātou karanga ko ētahi atu, kia whakahokia mai ia. Nō te hokinga tuarua o Hōri Kerei (George Grey) hei kāwana, ka whakahē a Taratoa i tana tikanga whakahaere i te motu, e pakaru atu ai ngā ture o Ingarangi me ōna tāngata whakahaere, ki runga i ngā rohe Māori. Nō te hokinga ki Tauranga i 1861, ka tahuri ia ki te whakatū kura hei akoranga ki te tatau me te kaupapa Karaitiana. I whakaarahia e ia he rārangi kaunihera hei whakahaere i ngā take e pā ana ki te iwi me ngā karakia.
Nā te kōrero a tētahi, nō te tau 1863, kua hoki anō a Taratoa ki Ōtaki, ēngari, nō te putanga o te kōrero a ngā kaihautū Māori o Ōtaki, e kore te kāwanatanga e pakangatia i tō rātou rohe, ka hoki anō ia ki Tauranga. Nā ngā iwi o Tauranga te Kīngitanga i whāngai ki te kai, i hoatu matā i te pakanga i Waikato i te tau 1863–64. He whakaae noatia ngā ope taua, kia haere ana mā runga o Ngāi Te Rangi, ki te āwhina i te Kīngitanga. Nō te haerenga o ngā hōia a te Karauna ki te ārai atu, ka rūpeke ngā toa o Ngāi Te Rangi ki te pā o Te Waoku, kei te awa o Waimapu. I hangaia he tikanga whawhai i Pōterīwhi, i te pā o Pene Taka Tuaia, i te taha o raro iho o te awa o Wairoa. Ka tangohia e Taratoa he tauira māna, ka tukuna ki a Rūtene Kānara H. H. Greer. E whakamārama ana te pukapuka rā, me kaua ngā hōia kua mau hereheretia e patua, ā, kia manaakitia ngā Pākehā kāore he pū tae atu hoki ki ngā wāhine me ngā tamariki. I werohia atu ē ia te kānara, me tana kī, ko te take e pakanga nei rātou, he kawe riri nō te Pākehā.
I reira hoki a Taratoa i te pakanga i Pukehinahina, arā, ki te Pākehā, ko 'The Gate Pā', i te 29 o Āperire 1864, i te wā i toa ai te Māori. Ka whakarērea ki muri ngā hōia Pākehā, i taotūngia, i te kāwhakitanga; ka manaakihia, ka atawhaitia. E kōrerotia ana, e haere ana a Taratoa me tana tahā wai māori, ki te whakaunu i te kānara kua taotūngia, ā, tata tonu ia ka pūhia e ngā hōia. Kei tētahi kōrero, nā Hēni Te Kiri Karamū kē te wai i mau atu. Kāore e kore, tērā noa atu ngā mahi aroha ki te tangata i kitea i tērā wā.
Nō te 21 o Hune 1864, ko te pakanga i Te Ranga. Ka tūponohia e ngā hōia a te Karauna a Ngāi Te Rangi me ō rātou hoa i waenga koraha, kāore anō ngā tūwatawata kia tū noa. Ka hinga a Ngāi Te Rangi; mate atu ana a Taratoa me ngā toa 100. Ka kitea i runga i tōna tinana te pukapuka o ngā tikanga whawhai i hangaia rā. He karakia tētahi wāhi o aua tuhituhi; e āpiti atu ana ngā kupu e whai ake nei, 'ki te matekai tōu hoariri, whāngaianga; ki te matewai, whakainumia' (Rōmana 12:20). I tanumia tana tinana i roto tonu i ngā kōruarua i Te Ranga, nō muri ka hahua, ka āta nehua anō ki te urupā o te mīhana i Ōtamataha.
Hei tohu whakamaharatanga ki ngā manaakitanga a te Māori i Pukehinahina, ka tīkina atu e Te Herewini, i a ia e pīhopa ana i Lichfield, ka whakamaungia he matapihi, kua whakairohia te karāhe o runga ki te uku, ki te whare karakia i te kāinga nui o ngā pīhopa i Lichfield; ko te whakaahua o runga e whakaatu ana i a Kīngi Rāwiri e whakaunu ana i ngā hōia. Nō te tau 1914, ka tahuri te Māori me te Pākehā ki te hanga i tētahi kōhatu ki runga i te urupā o Rāwiri Puhirake, nāna rā te iwi Māori i arataki i Pukehinahina. Nō muri nei, ka tāpiringia atu he kōrero whakamaharatanga e tohu ana mō te māia o Taratoa.