Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Taumata-ā-Kura, Piripi
fl. 1823–1868
Nō Ngāti Porou; he kaiwhakaako i te Rongopai
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Apirana T. Mahuika rāua ko Steven Oliver, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Ko Piripi Taumata-ā-Kura nō ngā hapū, whānau anō hoki o Tīnātoka, o Haemata me Te Uruahi. Ko tōna iwi ko Ngāti Porou. I whānau a ia ki Whakawhitirā i te riu o Waiapu i te whakamutunga o te rau tau 1700–1799. Ko ia tētahi i mau herehere i te tukinga a Ngāpuhi i a Ngāti Porou i Waiapu i te tau 1823, ā, ka haria ki Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands).
I kuraina a Taumata-ā-Kura i te kura mīhana i Waimate. Ahakoa kāre a ia i kaingākau ki te kaupapa Karaitiana, i ako a ia ki te kōrero pukapuka, ki te tuhituhi hoki. Nā te awe o ngā mihinare, arā, nā Te Wiremu (William Williams) pea, i runga i a Ngāpuhi, ka tukuna a ia kia puta i tōna mau hereheretanga.
I te taenga o Taumata-ā-Kura ki Waiapu, ka tīmata a ia ki te kauhau i te Rongopai. Ka tīmata anō hoki tana whakaako i te iwi ki te kōrero pukapuka me te tuhituhi. I haria mai e ia wētahi wāhanga o te Kawenata Hou, wētahi pukapuka karakia, ā, me wētahi hīmene hoki. Ko ana mea whakaako, he papa rākau i warua hai papa tuhituhi, ā, he ngārehu hai pene tuhituhi. Mō ngā tuhituhi pīrahirahi, ka rapirapihia e rātau ko ana kaiako ki runga rau harakeke mā te rākau koikoi. E ai ki ngā kōrero tīpuna a Ngāti Porou, i kauhau tuatahitia te Rongopai e Taumata-ā-Kura ki Te Ahikōareare pā i Whakawhitirā, ā, i hangaia he whare rūnanga nui mōna. Tīmata pēneitia ai e ia āna hui: 'I hara mai au i Kerikeri i Paihia. Kua kite au i a Te Wiremu Karuwhā.' Ko 'Te Karu Whā', e pā ana ki a Henry Williams me ōna mōwhiti.
I muri tata iho i tōna hokinga mai i Pēwhairangi, ka hora tōna awe ki roto o Ngāti Porou. I taua wā, e noho rīriri ana a Ngāti Porou me Te Whānau-a-Apanui. Ko 1836 pea te tau i whakatika atu ai te taua o Ngāti Porou, o Ngāti Kahungunu me tō rāua uku o Ngāpuhi i raro i a Te Wera Hauraki, ki te tuki i a Te Whānau-a-Apanui i Toka-ā-Kuku pā i Te Moana-a-Toi-te-huatahi (Bay of Plenty). Nā Taumata-ā-Kura i whakakīkī ngā toa kia awhi i ngā ture Karaitiana: arā, me aroha ki ōu hoariri; kia kaua te hoariri e patua kia mate, e kainga rānei; ā, kia kaua e tūkinotia noatia ngā waka me ngā mahinga kai a Te Whānau-a-Apanui. I te taenga atu o te taua ki Toka-ā-Kuku, ka riro ko Taumata-ā-Kura hai kaingārahu mō Ngāti Porou. Ka mea a ia ki te whakapakūtia tāna pū ki te rangi, ā, kātahi ki te whenua, ko te tohu kōkiri tērā. I mea anō hoki ia, e tika ana tēnei tuki nā te mea i takatakahia e Te Whānau-a-Apanui ngā ture a Ihowā.
Ahakoa te maha i hinga i te whawhai i waho i te pā, kāre i kainga i te mutunga o te riri. I roto a Taumata-ā-Kura i te mātotorutanga o te whawhai e mau pū ana i tētahi ringa, ā, i tētahi ko te Kawenata Hou. Ahakoa te rere o te matā, kore rawa a ia i taotū. Ka meatia, kei tēnei pukapuka e mau ana te ihi ehara nō tēnei ao, ā, e whakaata mai ana i te mana kaha o te Atua Karaitiana. Heoti, kāre te pā i pāhorotia. Ko te kōrero, nā Te Kani-ā-Takirau i taui ngā kaituki nō te mea ki a ia, ka nui noa atu tēnei utunga. Kua ea ngā mate.
E ai ki ngā kōrero a Ngāti Porou, nō muri i tēnei whawhai ka whakapau a Taumata-ā-Kura i tōna kaha ki te kauhau i te Whakapono hou i Te Hātepe me Rangitukia. Kei te haka, 'Tīhei Tāruke' e kī ana, i puta ake anō wētahi atu kaiwhakaako i taua wāhi. Ko Piripi (Philip) te īngoa i tangohia e Taumata-ā-Kura mōna, ā, tērā pea i iriirihia ia i mua i tōna hokinga atu ki Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ahakoa i whakahē ngā mihinare o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society) ki ngā tohutohu a Taumata-ā-Kura, ko te mea kē, nāna tōna iwi i whakawhiwhi ki te kupu Karaitiana, ā, nāna anō hoki i para te huarahi mō ngā mihinare Pākehā i tae atu i muri i te tau 1839.
Kāre i te mōhiotia e hia tau a ia e ora ana, ēngari, kai te petihana a Ngāti Porou ki a Kāwana George Bowen i te tau 1868 e mau ana te hainatanga, 'Piripi Taumata'. Ko te petihana e whakahē ana i ngā raupatu whenua i murua hai whiu i wētahi o Ngāti Porou i whawhai ki te kāwanatanga i te taha o ngā taua Hauhau. I whakatapua he tohu whakamaharatanga ki a Piripi Taumata-ā-Kura i te Whare Karakia o Meri i Tikitiki.