Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Te Tirarau Kūkupa
?–1882
Nō Te Parawhau; he ngārahu
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Steven Oliver, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1993. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
Ko te āhua nei i whānau a Te Tirarau Kūkupa, te tama a Kūkupa rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi, ko Whitiao, i ngā tau whakamutunga o te tekau tau atu i 1790. He uri whakaheke nō Rāhiri, he tupuna nō Ngā Puhi, ā, nō Toa o Te Roroa hoki. Ko tōna tupuna wahine ko Te Toka-i-Tawhio, he ngārahu nō Ngāti Ruangaio. Ahakoa e whakahuahuatia ana a Tirarau (ko tōna īngoa kārangaranga tēnei) he amorangi nō Ngā Puhi, nā roto i ngā moemoenga haumi ka noho pākanga kiritahi ia ki Te Uri‑o-Hau, he iwi he hononga rā ōna ki a Ngāti Whātua. Ko ētahi anō o ōna ngare, ko Ngāi Tāhuhu me Te Uriroroi, ā, i a ia te tūranga amorangi mō Te Parawhau o Whāngārei. I a ia te mana whenua ki te taitonga me te taihauāuru o te whanga o Whāngārei, ā, nā te raupatu ka rere pērā atu tōna mana ki Kaipara moana. Kei te takiwā ki waenganui o Whāngārei me Kaipara moana ko Tangiterōria; ko tōna kāinga matua tēnei.
I tōna taiohitanga ka kite a Tirarau i te rewanga o te patu i waenga i ngā iwi. Kei Onemānia ko Te Parawhau. Na, nō te wā i mua atu o 1820 ka whakaekea a Te Parawhau e te marau a Ngāti Pāoa. Ka kāwhakina tētahi o ngā wāhine a Kūkupa e Kaea. Ka tahuri a Tirarau ki te aru i te marau rā, ā, ka piri. Ka karanga atu ki a Kaea kia tukua tana herehere. Ko tana pū te takoha nāna i tuku ki taua rangatira o Ngāti Pāoa rā.
Nō muri tata tonu mai i ngā raruraru nei, arā, nō te tau 1820, ka toro atu a Te Mātenga (Samuel Marsden) i Tangiterōria, ka tūtaki ki a Tirarau, ēngari ko 'Tourow' kē te whakahua a tērā i taua īngoa. Hei tā Te Mātenga nō Tirarau tētahi o ngā tino whare kua kite ia i Niu Tīreni nei. Tekau mā ono putu te whānui o te mahau. E karapotia ana te whare e te pā, e Te Aotahi. E 24 ki te 30 putu te teitei o ngā tūwatawata. Hei tā Te Mātenga e whakawhiua ana te iwi o Tirarau e ngā tukinga mai a 'Shunghee' me tōna matawaka. Ko Hongi Hika te 'Shungee' e kōrerotia nei e ia. Nā reira i piri ai te noho a te tini tāngata i te pā, ā, mahue ana ō rātou whenua kia takoto noa. Heoti, taihoa ake nei ka noho a Tirarau hei uku mō Hongi. Nō te tau 1821 ka whakauru atu tana teina a Te Ihi ki te ope a Hongi ki te tuki i a Ngāti Pāoa. Nō muri mai i te pakanga ki a Ngāti Whātua i Mahurangi ka hono atu a Tirarau ki te āwhina i te taua a Hongi o 1825 ki a Ngāti Whātua. Ko Te Ika-a-ranganui te kauhanga riri, ko Ngāti Whātua i hinga. Ka haere tonu tana tautoko i te haumi o Ngā Puhi, ā, i uru ia ki te marau ki roto o Waikato o te tau 1832.
Hei pou i ngā mahi tauhokohoko ka haere a Porake (Joel Polack) ki Tangiterōria i te tau 1832, ā, heipūtia atu e ia a Tirarau e pakanga ana i tōna takiwā. Nā Te Peka (Charles Baker) o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society) te maungārongo i whakatau, ēngari, kīhai i taea. He pēnei nā te whakaatu mai a Porake i a Tirarau, arā, 'he tangata tāroa, tū rangatira. Anō ki tōna āhua e 35 pea ōna tau. Ko tōna kanohi te wai whakaata o ōna whakaaro, e rite ana te hanga ki tō te kanohi Pākehā. Ko te kiri he kiri kōuraura hāmā, ā, kapi katoa ana a ia i te moko.' Ko te kōrero a Porake he maha ngā wāhine a Tirarau. Nō muri mai te kōrero 12 ngā wāhine i moea e ia, ā, nō te huringa o tana wahine aporei ki te whakapono Karaitiana ka tukua e ia ērā atu kia haere. Nā te mihinare Wēteriana rā, nā Hēmi Pura (James Buller), i iriiri te mea i noho hei wahine māna, a Hariata. Nāna anō i whakahauhau ngā mihinare Katorika, ā, nō te tau 1843 ka hoatu e ia he whare mō Antoine Garin i Mangakāhia. Kāhore i te mōhiotia mehemea i huri a Tirarau ki te whakapono Karaitiana. Kāhore anō hoki he kōrero mehemea i tapaina he īngoa iriiri ki a ia.
Nā Tirarau i whakamau tana moko ki te Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tīreni i whakahaeretia rā e Te Pūhipi (James Busby) i te tau 1835. Ko ia tētahi o ngā rangatira nāna i hoko te whenua i Whāngārei, 40,000 eka te rahi, ki a Te Pūhipi, i Tīhema o 1839. I ngā marama tōmua o taua tau anō ka hokona e ia 60,000 eka ki te raki o Te Wairoa ki a Henry Walton. I moea e taua tangata a Kohura, te irāmutu a Tirarau. E ai ki ngā kōrero o muri mai ki te Kōti Whenua Māori, kore rawa i whakahēngia e tōna iwi āna mahi o aua rā; ka hokona atu e ia te whenua me ngā rākau, kātahi ka tiritiria ngā utunga anō ki tāna i pai ai.
Nā tana kokoraho i te mana ki ngā whenua i hokona rā e ia ka tupu ake ētahi raruraru i waenga i a rātou ko te Pākehā. I te tau 1842, ka takutakuna e ia a Thomas Forsaith, he tangata whai i Kaipara. Ko te pūtake, ko te hara o Forsaith i muri i te kitenga o tētahi papa angaanga i ōna whenua. I taua tau anō ka whakahaua e ia kia murua ngā whare o ngā tāngata whai tokowaru i Whāngārei. Nāna te whakapae nā aua kaiwhiwhi whare i tāpohe ētahi wāhi tapu. Otirā, i tāia e ia tana moko ki te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840. Nāna hoki i aukati ōna whenua ki a Hōne Heke Pōkai i te tau 1845. Nā tēnei i kore ai te whawhai i ahu whaka-te-tonga ki Ākarana (Auckland).
Ko ngā take e whakamāharahara ana i a Tirarau i te tekau tau atu i 1850 ko ngā mahi hoko rākau, hoko whenua a ērā atu o ngā iwi o te takiwā ki Kaipara. Nōna tētahi o ngā ringa nāna i hiki te patu ki te raupatu i taua rohe i muri mai i te riri o Te Ika-a-ranganui. I nāianei kua tutū anō te puehu i waenga i a rātou ko te hunga ko rātou nei te tangata whenua o taua wāhi, arā, i a Ngāti Whātua me Te Uri‑o-Hau. I te tau 1854, nā te mea e noho kore tatū tonu ana tana kokoraho ki taua rohe, ka puta tana kupu whakamataku, ka tahuna e ia te whare o te tangata, ahakoa ko wai, e hoko whenua mai ana mōna i Mangawhai i a Ngāti Whātua. Nā te hui i karangatia e te kāwana, e Koa Parāone (Thomas Gore Browne) i waenga i ngā hoa tauwhāinga i te tau 1857, nāna i kaupare te riri i Kaipara. Nā taua hui i whakarite e 300,000 eka te rahi o te whenua kia hokona atu ki te kāwanatanga.
I te tau 1862, ka tino tutū rawa atu te puehu i waenga i a Tirarau rāua ko tōna whanaunga, ko Matiu Te Aranui. He hoko whenua kūraruraru te kaupapa. Nā Tirarau i kī e hokona ana e ia ētahi whenua kei ngā pareparenga o te awa o Wairoa ki te kāwanatanga. Ara ana ngā rākau whawhai, ka tīmata te pakanga i te whakamātautanga a Te Aranui ki te roherohe i te whenua e kokorahotia ana e ia i tērā o Tirarau. Mate rawa ētahi. Tekau mā rua māero ki te raki o Maungatāpere ko ngā whenua kūraruraru o Waitomotomo. I hangā e ngā hoa tauwhāinga nei ō rāua pā tūwatawata ki reira. Nō taua wāhi nei a Ārama Karaka, he rangatira, ā, he āteha hoki. I whakauru atu rātou me te 50 pea o Ngā Puhi ki te taha o Te Aranui. Ko te āhua nei he maha kē te hunga e tuarā ana i a Tirarau, ā, i tua atu, i utua rawatia e ia ngā kaikeri kāpia o Te Arawa ki te mau rākau māna. I te mutunga nā te kāwanatanga i whakarite whakaaetanga kia tukua taua raruraru ki tētahi kōti. He kanohi nō ngā hunga tauwhāinga ētahi o ngā mema o taua kōti. Kātahi ka tukua ngātahitia e te hunga mautohe o ngā pā e rua rā ā rātou haki, ā, whakarērea ana taua wāhi. Oti ana te tuku te haki a Tirarau ka tūturi rātou ko āna apataki ki te whakamoemiti mō rātou i waiho kia ora ai.
I taua tau anō ka tū he raruraru mō te kawa i waenga i a rāua ko tana pākanga kiritahi, ko Paikea Te Hekeua, te ngārahu o Te Uri‑o-Hau. Ko wai hei toronga tuatahitanga atu mā Kāwana Hōri Kerei (George Grey) te papanga. He kawe i tana take rūnanga hei kaupapa kāwana mō ngā Māori ki Te Tai Tokerau te take o te haere ki te toro. Ka totohe a Tirarau me mātua peka te kāwana ki Whāngārei i mua i tōna haerenga ki Kaipara. Ka kī a Paikea Te Hekeua, e kore ia e tūtaki ki te kāwana mehemea ka haere mai tērā i Whāngārei ki Kaipara. I te mutunga, ka tohutohungia atu te kāwana e te kaiwhakawā takiwā, e Te Pura (Walter Buller), kia meinga kia rua ōna toronga atu i Ākarana.
Ko te tau 1864 te wā i toro atu ai te hēkeretari a te kāwanatanga, a Te Pōkiha (William Fox) i a Tirarau. Arā i Māreikura i te awa o Wairoa e noho ana. Nā Tirarau tonu te kī ki a Te Pōkiha, kāore he raru ki a Ngā Puhi o te whawhai i Waikato, ēngari ka ū tonu ki te maungārongo ki te kore tētahi e whakamātau ki te tango i ā rātou rākau whawhai. Kei te pūrongo a Te Pōkiha i muri mai te kī e pāngia ana a Tirarau e te rūmātiki, ā, kei tōna tinana e mau ana ngā nawe o ngā pakanga huhua.
I ngā tau o muri rawa mai e manahau tonu ana te mahi a Te Tirarau mā tōna iwi. He tangata mahi ahu whenua. He hōiho ōna hei whakamahi i runga i tana pāmu, ā, he parau anō hoki āna. Ahakoa he whare Pākehā tōna kīhai ia i pai ki te noho ki roto. I waenganui o te tekau tau atu i 1870 ka hangā e ia tētahi whare karakia. Nō te tata paunga o taua tekau tau ka whakatuwheratia te huarahi mai i tōna wāhi noho ki Whāngārei. Nō te Pēpuere o 1877 ka waimarie tana tono ki te Kōti Whenua Māori mō te taha ki tōna iwi o Te Uriroroi, ki te take o ngā poraka whenua o Kauaeranga me Ngāturipukunui. Ko te kerēme a Te Uri‑o-Hau hei ātete i tāna i whakaparahakotia.
E ai ki ngā kōrero nō te 19 o Tīhema 1882 a Te Tirarau Kūkupa ka hinga. E ngaro ana te wāhi o tōna matenga. Ko tana teina ko Taurau Kūkupa tōna whakakapi nō te mea he whare ngaro te heke o Tirarau. I nehua ki te urupā o Hikurangi i Whatitiri, i te taha o tōna matua, o Kūkupa. Ki te whakaaro ka hahua ōna kōiwi, kātahi ka haria ki tētahi ana kōiwi. Tērā tētahi tohu whakamaharatanga mōna kei te marae o Tangiterōria.
He tangata mārō nei a Tirarau i ōna rā tōmua. Utaina ana e ia te mana o āna ture ake ki runga ngātahi i te Māori me te tangata whai. Ka haere nā te wā, ka kite a Tirarau i te whai tikanga o te mahi tahi me te kāwanatanga, ā, i pērā anō hoki te nuinga o ngā rangatira o Te Tai Tokerau. I tutuki i a ia āna whāinga mā roto mai i ngā kōti whenua, i mua i tōna matenga.