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Kōrero: Te Wheoro, Wiremu Te Mōrehu Maipapa

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Te Wheoro, Wiremu Te Mōrehu Maipapa

?–1895

Nō Waikato, nō Ngāti Mahuta; he kaihautū, he āteha, he hōia, he kōmihana, he takawaenga, he kaitōrangapū

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Gary Scott, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1990. I whakahoutia i te o Hune, 2017. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I whānau a Te Wheoro kī Waikato; kāti ko ōna īngoa atu anō ko Wiremu Te Mōrehu (William Morris), ko Rehu me Maipapa. Ko tana whaea ko Ngāpawa, ko tana matua ko Te Kanawa. I te taha ki a Ngāpawa i heke iho a Te Wheoro i a Te Whatu-o-Te-Rangi rāua ko Parengāope. Ka moe ia i a Pākia kia puta ko tā rāua tamāhine ko Te Pura; i mate ia i Āperire 1879. Nō muri i a Haripata Te Pō, ka noho a Te Wheoro hei rangatira mō Ngāti Naho; he whanaunga ēnei nō Ngāti Mahuta. I pā anō ia ki a Ngāti Hourua.

Kāore i mōhio rawatia a Te Wheoro i te wā e tamariki ana; kāti nā ana kāwai, nā tōna āhua tonu, me ōna māramatanga ka kitea ōna mana i roto i ngā iwi o Waikato. I tētahi hui nui i Paetai e tata ana ki Rangiriri, i a Mei 1857 ka kōrerohia te take whakatū i a Te Wherowhero o Ngāti Mahuta hei Kīngi. I whai kupu a Te Wheoro ki te tautoko i te kāwana, me tana whakahē i te īngoa 'Kīngi', nā te mea e whakatairangatia ake ana a Te Wherowhero i te kāwana. I manaaki ia i a F. D. Fenton, i tukuna mai rā e Kāwana Thomas Gore Browne hei kaiwhakawā takiwā ki Waikato; nō te tau 1858 ka tonoa a Fenton kia hoki. I tae ia ki Kohimaramara (Kohimarama) ki te hui mō ngā rangatira o te motu i te tau 1860, ā, i kaha rawa atu tana kauwhau me tana harakoa mō ngā kaupapa a te kāwanatanga.

I tere tonu te awhi a Te Wheoro i ngā tikanga whakahaere moni a te Pākehā me ngā whare hanga kaupapa. I te tau 1862 ka whakatūria ia hei āteha matua; i noho ai ia hei kaiwhakawā ā, hei tumuaki mō ngā pirihimana. Ko ia anō hoki te kaiwhakahaere o te rūnanga a te kāwanatanga i Te Kohekohe i te taha hauāuru o te awa o Waikato ki te taha tonga o Meremere. I tono ia kia hangaia he whare kōti mō John Gorst, te kaiwhakawā, i runga i tana whakaaro, kia whakatūtūngia ngā tamariki tāne hei hōia, kia riro mā rātou hei whakahaere te ture. Ka whakatūpatongia ia e Tāwhiao (te Kīngi Tuarua i te matenga o Te Wherowhero i te marama o Hune 1860), i te mea, ki te hangaia e ia he whare ki reira, ka tupu he rararu. I te haerenga mai o ngā kāmura i Ākarana (Auckland) i te marama o Maehe o te tau 1863, ki te hanga whare maioro i Te Kohekohe, ka puta atu ngā kaitautoko e 200 a te Kīngi. Ka whiuwhiua ngā papa i te awa. Takitahi noa iho ngā mea i mahue, ko ngā papa rākau i nohoia e te tuahine o Te Wheoro; ka waihotia e ngā tāngata a te Kīngi. Tekau ngā rā i muri mai ka hoki atu te ope a te Kīngi, 100 te tokomaha, he mau pū katoa. Ka hereherea katoatia aua papa rā, ka tukuna kia tere ana, mā te ia e whakahoki ki te kāwanatanga i Te Ia (Havelock, e tata ana ki Mercer).

Ka kitea e tata ana ka tutū te puehu, ka haria e Te Wheoro ana taitamariki ki Te Ia, ka hangaia he pā ki reira. Kāti kore rawa ia i kaha ki te pupuri i a rātou; i riro katoa ki te āwhina i te Kīngi Māori i te whakaekenga a ngā hōia Pākehā i Waikato i a Hūrae 1863. He mea whakanui a Te Wheoro e Rūtene Tianara Duncan Cameron ki te tūranga kāpene i roto i te rōpū hōia ā-iwi (militia); ka mau atu ki a ia hei kai-ārahi. I waimarie i a Te Wheoro rātou ko ana tāngata māhuehue hei taura-here. E tīkina atu ana e rātou ngā rawa i ngā kaipuke i te pūaha o Waikato ka hoea whakarunga i te awa ki te pā maioro o Camerontown. I raruraru ai, he mea haukoti ā rātou mahi e Ngāti Maniapoto i tā rātou whakaekenga i a Hepetema o te tau 1863.

Nō muri i te pakanga i Rangiriri i a Noema, ka noho a Te Wheoro hei takawaenga mā te kāwanatanga me te Kīngitanga. I haere ia ki Ngāruawāhia i raro i te mana o Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) ki te hohou i te rongo ki a Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpipi me Ngāti Maniapoto, ā, nō ngā tau o muri mai i te pakanga, ka ngana ia kia noho tahi te Kīngitanga me te kāwanatanga. Heoi nā runga i te muru a te kāwanatanga i ngā whenua o Waikato, ka waiho tēnei hei whakapōrearea i ā rātou whakawhitiwhiti kōrero. I taua wā nei, kua panaia te Kīngi me tana iwi ki roto o Ngāti Maniapoto noho ai.

Nō te marama o Āperire o te tau 1869, ka pōwhiritia a Te Wheoro kia haere mai kia tūtaki ia ki ngā kaihautū o te Kīngitanga i Tokangamutu (Te Kūiti). I whakaaro ia kia karangahia he hui e noho tahi ai te kāwana me te Kīngi Māori rātou ko tana iwi ki Ngāruawāhia i te marama o Mei kia pōwhiritia hoki ki reira te Tiuka o Edinburgh. Kāti kāore ngā kaikōrero a te Kīngitanga i tae. I te tau 1865 ka noho a Te Wheoro hei āteha i roto i te Kōti Whenua Māori. Ka hōmai hei utu mōna, £150 i te tau. Nō te tau 1872 ka unu ia i tana tūranga nei, he pōuri nōna ki tāna i kī ai i muri mai nei – ko te kōti, he kōti tinihanga, e whakamana ana i te taitara whenua o ngā mea e whakaarohia ana ka hoko whenua. Nō te tau 1873, ka whakapikingia ia ki te tūranga meiha i roto i te rōpū hōia ā-iwi, he mātakutaku nō ana iwi e noho ana i te taha whakararo o te awa o Waikato, kua mōhio ki te whakaaro o Te Kooti kia noho ia ki Tokangamutu. I tū a Te Wheoro rātou ko tana rōpū e 60 o Ngāti Naho hei pirihimana mau pū. Ka hangaia te rāihe o Ford (Ford Redoubt), hei nōhanga mō rātou i waenganui i a Pirongia me Kihikihi, ā, e hāngai atu ana i ngā whakawhitinga e rua o te awa o Pūniu. Ka hangaia hoki he huarahi kia rere atu i Pirongia ki Ōrākau.

Nō te tau 1875, ka whakatūngia a Te Wheoro hei kōmihana Māori. I ngana tonu ia kia noho tahi te Kīngitanga me te kāwanatanga ki te kōrerorero. Nō te marama o Pēpuere 1875, ka ārahina e ia a Te Mākarini (Donald McLean), te minita mō ngā take Māori, kia hui rāua ko Tāwhiao i Waitomo. I whakaritea e Te Wheoro i runga i te tono a Tāwhiao. I taua wā nei e mahi ana a Te Wheoro i te taha o Te Mea (W. G. Mair) te kaiwhakawā o Pirongia; e noho ana a Tāwhiao i Waitomo. I reira anō hoki a Te Wheoro i ngā hui a Te Mākarini rāua ko Tāwhiao i te marama o Mei 1876. Nō te marama o Pēpuere 1878, i runga anō i te tono a Tāwhiao, ka whakaritea e Te Wheoro he hui ki a Kerei (kua pirimia ia i taua wā nei) ki Te Kōpua. Ka ārahina e ia a Kerei rāua ko Hōne Hīhana (John Sheehan), te minita mō ngā take Māori, i te wāhanga whakamutunga o tā rātou haere; ka noho ia mō tētahi wā poto i te taha o Tāwhiao. Kāti kāore i whakaritea ngā pāmamaetanga a te Kīngi mō ana whenua i murua i tēnei hui.

Ka whakaae a Kerei rāua ko Tāwhiao kia hui anō ki Hikurangi i te takiwā ki Kāwhia; ēngari he mahi nui tā Te Wheoro ki te whakaū i a Waikato kia hui anō ki te kāwanatanga. Nō te whakaaetanga kē a Rewi Manga Maniapoto kia riro māna a Kerei e manaaki, i tono ai a Tāwhiao rāua ko tana kaitohutohu, ko Te Ngākau, i a Te Wheoro kia karangahia anō he hui. Nō te 9 o Āperire ka tae atu ngā minita a te kāwanatanga ki Hikurangi; kāti kāore i pai te manaaki. Ka hoki rātou ki Ākarana; kotahi wiki i muri mai ka tae atu anō a Te Wheoro me tana pōwhiri ki a rātou, he mea inoi nāna i a Tāwhiao. Nō te 7 o Mei kātahi anō rātou ka hui. I tono atu a Te Wheoro kia waihotia ngā kaiamuamu ki rahaki, ā, kia kōrero tonu i runga i te take. I kī a Kerei me tū a Tāwhiao hei kaiwhakahaere i tōna takiwā anō, ēngari me utu. Ā, ka whakaae ia kia tukuna ki te Kīngi e 500 eka i Ngāruawāhia, he whare nui i Kāwhia, me ētahi whenua muru i te taha hauāuru o ngā awa o Waikato me Waipā, kāore anō kia hokona ki te Pākehā. Ka riro mā ngā taha e rua hei kōrero mō te āhua o te hanga huarahi, ā, mā Tāwhiao hei kī me rūri rānei te whenua me aha rānei. I tēnei hui kāore tonu i whakaritea te āhua ki ngā whenua raupatu. He roa tonu hoki ngā kōrero a Te Wheoro ki a F. D. Fenton, te kaiwhakawā matua o te Kōti Whenua Māori i te tau 1878, mō te whakahoki o ngā whenua o tōna iwi i riro i ngā muru o Waikato. I mutu tārewa noa iho.

Nō te marama o Tīhema 1878, ka haere a Tāwhiao rātou ko ana tāngata ki te tirotiro whenua i Waikato me Whāingaroa (Raglan Harbour). I haere hoki a Te Wheoro i tō rātou taha hei waha kōrero mō te kāwanatanga. Kua whakaritea anō e Tāwhiao rāua ko Rewi he hui ki a Kerei i Te Kōpua i te marama o Mei 1879. Nō te whakatakotoranga a Tāwhiao i tana mana ki runga i te motu o Aotearoa, ka wehe rāua ko Te Wheoro. He mea taunu a Kerei, kāore hoki i tukuna kia kōrero. Ka whaikupu a Te Wheoro me ētahi atu rangatira mōna me te whakaara ake i ngā kaupapa i whakatakotoria i Hikurangi. Kāti i waihotia tēnei wā hei whakamātauranga whakamutunga e hoahoa tonu ai a Kerei rāua ko te Kīngi.

Nō te tau 1879, ka unu a Te Wheoro i tana tūranga kōmihana Māori, he mea nōna kāore ia e whakarongohia mai ana, me tana titiro ki tana iwi e tūkinohia ana. Nō te 8 o Hepetema 1879, ka uru ia ki te Pāremata hei Mema mō Te Tai Hauāuru i runga i te tautapahanga a Rewi. Nāna tonu i whiwhi ai a Te Wheoro i ana pōti 1,053 o te katoa o te hunga 1,494 i āhei ki te pōti. I hua a Rewi nō te mea he hoa pono a Te Wheoro nō Kerei, ka tautoko ia i a Kerei hei pirimia. Nā ngā rongo kōrero i mōhiotia ai, he mea here a Te Wheoro ki roto i te whare, i pōti ai ia mō te kāwanatanga i a Oketopa. Ko tōna hiahia, me kaua ia e pōti. Heoi, ko te wā tēnei i makere ai a Kerei i tana tūru, ā, he poto noa iho tana wā i roto i te Pāremata. Nō te urunga o John Hall hei pirimia i taua marama anō, kore tonu a Te Wheoro i whakaae kia uru atu ia i tana rūnanga matua, he kore nō ngā Mema Māori i whakaaetia ki ngā tūranga waha kōrero.

I a ia i te Pāremata, ka uru a Te Wheoro hei mema mō te Komiti Mō Ngā Take Māori, i tautohe ai rāua ko te Minita Mō Ngā Take Māori, arā, a Te Paraihe (John Bryce). I te tau 1880, ka whakahē a Te Wheoro ki ngā whakahaere a Te Kōti Whenua Māori, i ngā whakaaro o te kāwanatanga mō te iwi Māori, me te whakanohonoho haere o ngā mema o runga i te Komiti Mō Ngā Take Māori. I pōti ia mō tētahi pire hou e pā ana ki te Kōti Whenua, i runga i tāna i whakaaro ai, ahakoa e nawe tonu ana, ēngari he pai ake i te mea tawhito. Nō te tau 1881, ka whakahē ia i te Pire Reiti i ngā Whenua o te Karauna me ngā Whenua Māori (Crown and Native Lands Rating Bill), he mea nōna e taupatupatu ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi ka tapaina e ia taua pire ko 'te Pire Mōkete me te Pire Muru i ngā Whenua Māori'. Nō te pānuitanga tuarua i te tau 1882, ka whakawhiua e ia te kāwanatanga, he whakapai kanohi nōna ki te iwi Māori, he whēnako whenua. Nō te marama o Hepetema ka whakaaro a Te Paraihe ki te whakakore i te Komiti Mō Ngā Take Māori. Ka whakautua e Te Wheoro, i te mea kāore he mana o te Komiti, ā, he kore e āwhina ana i te iwi Māori, kāore ōna māharahara. Ka wero ia i ōna hoa pēnā ka taea e rātou te hōmai kia kotahi noa iho te tono a te Māori i whakaaetia mai e te kāwanatanga.

He mārama a Te Wheoro, ā, he whakatūpato hoki tāna ki ngā take a ngā iwi pōti ki a ia. I rite i a ia te tono ki te kāwanatanga kia whakamāoritia ngā whaikōrero a ngā mema Māori hei toha ki tana iwi pōti. Ko ana whaikōrero kei roto i te Hansard. He mea tautoko e ia te rōpū whakatapu waipiro (Temperance Movement); i inoi rawa ia ki te kāwanatanga kia whakakorehia atu te waipiro i ngā rohe Māori. I rata rawa atu ia ki te kaupapa o te mana motuhake me te pupuri a te iwi Māori i ō rātou whenua.

E toru rawa ngā petihana i tukuna e ia ki te Komiti Mō Ngā Take Māori kia whakahokia mai ngā whenua raupatu o tana hapū; kotahi te petihana i te tau 1881, e rua i te tau 1882. I tuku petihana hoki ia ki te Karauna mō tētahi pukapuka whakaū i te mana whenua kia taea e ia te here i ngā whenua o Karioi, kei riro, hāunga anō te riro ki te rīhi. I mātua tohe ia kia herea pērātia ngā whenua Māori katoa.

Mai ka uru atu a Te Wheoro ki te Pāremata, ka piri ia ki a Tāwhiao, riro tonu ko ia hei waha kōrero mōna ki te kāwanatanga. Nō te tautohetanga a Rewi rāua ko te Kīngi i te tau 1882, kia whakatūria he Kōti Whenua ki Mōkau, ka karangahia he hui ki Whatiwhatihoe. Ka whakaae a Te Wheoro kia riro māna te wāhi ki a Tāwhiao e kōrero ki te kāwanatanga, kia whakamutua te hoko me te rūri whenua; kia whakamutua hoki te hanga rori; kia whakakorea te Kōti Whenua i Mōkau. I whakamātau ia ki te kī atu ki a Rewi, e kore te Pāremata e rata ki a ia i te wā e hoko whenua ana a Ngāti Maniapoto.

Nō te marama o Pēpuere o te tau 1883, ka tahuri te kāwanatanga i runga i te tautoko a Ngāti Maniapoto, ki te rūri i ngā whenua o Kāwhia. He whenua i whai pānga a Te Wheoro rāua ko Tāwhiao; i puta ai ngā whakatakariri o Te Wheoro mō aua rūri. He mea kōhumuhumu e whakakinokino ana ia i te mahi rūri. I tono rawa ia kia waiho mai te mahi rūri mā rāua ko Tāwhiao. Ka whakautua atu e Te Paraihe kia tono rāua ki te Kōti Whenua Māori. I pakanga rawa ia kia āta tirohia pēnā e mana ana te hoko whenua a te Kāwanatanga. I whakahē ia i te pire mō te hoko tekihana i taua tāone, kāti kāore i whakaaengia. Nā te kaha o tana pōuri mō tēnei rarunga ōna, ka hua te whakaaro kia tukuna he pīra ki a Kuini Wikitōria (Victoria) mō tana iwi Māori. Kāore e kore nā runga i te whakaaro o Te Wheoro i te marama o Hūrae 1883, ka hainangia e ngā Mema e whā o te Whare Pāremata, he reta ka tukuna ki te Rōpū Tiaki Tangata Whenua (Aborigines Protection Society) i Rānana (London). E inoi ana te reta kia haere a Tāwhiao ki Ingarangi a te tau 1884 ki te Kuini, tētahi o ngā kaihaina i te Tiriti o Waitangi. He roa te wā e whakaarohia ana mō te haere tahi a Te Wheoro i roto i te rōpū haere nei. Nā ngā inoi a Tāwhiao rātou ko tana iwi, ka whakaae a Te Wheoro ki te haere i tō rātou taha mā runga i te waka nei i a Tarawera i te 1 o Āperire 1884.

Nō te taenga ki Ingarangi, ka whakataungia tō rātou ope e te hēkeretari mō ngā whenua o tāwāhi (secretary of state for the colonies), arā, e Rōre Tāpiri (Derby); kāore te Kuini i kitea. Ka whakamōhiotia a Te Wheoro ki a Rōre Tāpiri e John Gorst, he mema Pāremata i Ingarangi i taua wā nei. Ko tana kī he rangatira pūmau a Te Wheoro; ko ōna whenua kua murua katoatia, ā, ahakoa ngā oati ki a ia, kāore anō kia utua he kāpeneheihana. Kāore anō hoki kia whakahokia mai ōna whenua. Ka whaikupu a Te Wheoro; maringi ana te kōrero. He tairanga hoki te rere o āna kupu. Ka whakamāramahia e ia ngā tūranga i taea e ia, he wawata nōna kia āwhinatia e ia tana iwi. Ka mahara ia ki te whakaaro kua ū ki roto i a ia, kāore kē he mana o te iwi Māori i roto i te Whare Pāremata. Koirā ka hāngai atu te inoi ki te Kuini kia whakatikaina ngā nawe nei.

He mea whiriwhiri e Te Wheoro te hunga hiahia kia kite i a Tāwhiao i Ingarangi; nō te hokinga o te Kīngi ki Aotearoa i a Noema, ka noho atu a Te Wheoro ki te whanga kau ki te whakautu ki ā rātou petihana. Nō ngā rā whakamutunga o 1884, kua pāngia ia e te māuiui ka hoki mai ki te kāinga.

Nō te pōti o te tau 1884, i a ia i tāwāhi, ka makere mai ia i ngā mahi Pāremata; ka hapa hoki ia i te whakahaeretanga a te Kōti mō tētahi whenua i apohia e ia i Maungatautari. Nō te marama o Hānuere 1885, ka hoki mai. I te hui i Pirongia i te 7 o Pēpuere, ka whakapuaki ia ki te minita mō ngā take Māori, ki a Paranihi (John Ballance), i ana wawata kia hurihia ngā kaupapa a te kāwanatanga. Tohu tonu a Te Wheoro ki Kāwhia. I tono ia kia tukuna ngā pire e pā ana ki te Māori ki te kāwanatanga o Peretānia (Great Britain); ka tono ia kia whakaaetia mā te Māori anō āna take e whakahaere, tae atu ki ngā whenua e hangaia ana he rerewē ki runga. Kāore i tutuki tana tono kia whakahaerengia anō tana kēhi mō Maungatautari. I ū katoa ana kaha ki te whakahoki mai i te mana o te Kīngi, tohu tonu atu ia ki te take mō Maungatautari hei tauira mō ngā mahi tinihanga a te Kōti Whenua. (Kua riro te āteha Māori i te Pākehā – he mea utu ki te moni.)

Nō te tau 1886, kua kitea kua āta whawhai mārika a Te Wheoro rāua ko Tāwhiao ki a Paranihi mō Kāwhia, he tohe nō Paranihi kia tū tonu te Kōti Whenua Māori i Taupō, ā, kia haere tonu ngā mahi rūri whenua i Kāwhia ahakoa ngā whakahē a te Māori. Kātahi ka kī atu a Te Wheoro ki tana iwi kia tū maro, tērā e makere atu ai te kāwanatanga a tōna wā, e tū ai pea he rōpū aroha ki te Māori.

Ko Te Wheoro tētahi o ngā puna-kōrero a Hōne Waiti (John White) i a ia i tuhi ai i ana pukapuka whakarāpopoto, e ono ngā wāhanga: Ko ngā Tātai Kōrero Whakapapa a te Māori ( The ancient history of the Māori; Wellington, 1887–90). Nō te marama o Hānuere 1890, ka haere ia ki Ākarana, i te taha o ētahi rangatira o Waikato, ki te whakanui i te 50 tau o te hainatanga i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ahakoa tana pā pōuri ki ngā tikanga a te Pākehā, ka pānuitia e ia tana whaikōrero e manaaki ana i te kāwana, i a Lord Onslow, e koa ana kua noho te Pākehā ki Aotearoa.

I mate a Te Wheoro i te 30 o Oketopa 1895, i tana kāinga i Te Ārai, e tata ana ki Churchill. E ai ki ngā kōrero, ko ōna tau e 69. Kei Taupiri e takoto ana.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Gary Scott. 'Te Wheoro, Wiremu Te Mōrehu Maipapa', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated o Hune, 2017. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/1t87/te-wheoro-wiremu-te-morehu-maipapa (accessed 28 March 2024)