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Kōrero: Mahupuku, Maata

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Mahupuku, Maata

1890–1952

Nō Ngāti Kahungunu; he wahine whai mana

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Barbara Angus, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1996. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Nā te mea he hoahoa rāua ko Katherine Mansfield, i mōhiotia ai te īngoa o Maata (Martha) e te hunga tuhituhi o Aotearoa, ēngari, iti noa iho nei ngā kōrero mōna ake kua oti te mahi. I whānau a Maata i Hūpēnui (Greytown), i Te Wairarapa i te 10 o Āperira 1890. Ko ia te tamāhine a Emily Sexton rāua ko tana hoa tāne, ko Richard (Tiki) William Mahupuku. He whakatipu hipi te mahi a Tiki i Ngahereroa (Longbush). He tama a Tiki nā Wiremu Hikawera Mahupuku, ā, ka noho irāmutu ki a Hāmuera Tamahau Mahupuku. He kaihautū ahurei, he kaihautū whai taonga, whai whenua a Hikawera rāua ko Tamahau, nō ngā hapū o Ngāti Pārera me Ngāti Hikawera o Ngāti Kahungunu. He pakupaku nō Maata i te matenga o tōna pāpā i Hepetema o 1893, i kore ai ia e tino mōhio ki a ia. Ka rua tau i muri iho, ka moe anō tana māmā. Ko te īngoa o tana tāne tuarua ko Natanahira Kerēhi (Nathaniel Grace), he tangata whakatipu hipi nō Āhinekōhai (Gladstone). Nō te marama o Noema 1895 ka whānau tana tungāne a Hoani (John).

Tērā pea ko te kura o Āhinekōhai te kura i akona ai a Maata. Nō te tau 1899, 1900 kē rānei, te haerenga o Maata ki te kura o Mihi Swainson i te tūāpapa o Fitzherbert, i Pōneke (Wellington). Koinei te kura i kuraina ai tōna whaea kēkē a Mary Sexton. I konei ka tūtaki a Maata ki a Kathleen Beauchamp (i muri mai he mea karanga ko Katherine Mansfield). Kāre i roa kua tino hoa nei rāua. Nō te tau 1904 ka mate tōna tipuna kēkē a Hāmuera Tamahau Mahupuku. Nāna nei i waiho mai he pānga ā-rawa tino nui tonu kia purihia, tautiakina mā Maata. Nō taua tau anō ka mate hoki tana pāpā whakaangi, ā, i te tau 1916 ka moe anō tana māmā i tana tāne tuatoru, i a Hēmi Rorehana (James Laurenson), he kaikaute nō Carterton. Ko te āhua nei i Aotearoa tonu nei a Maata i te wāhanga tōmua o te tau 1904, ēngari kāore i roa i muri mai, ka whakawhiti ki Pārihi (Paris), ki tētahi kura whakahuatau. I reira ka whakataua ia ki te reo Wīwī, me te ako anō hoki ki te whakapakari ake i tana kaha ki te waiata.

Nō te tau 1906 ka tūtaki rāua ko Katherine Mansfield i Rānana (London), i te wā i reira tērā e kura ana i te Kāreti a te Kuini (Queen's College). He mea whakarite me tuhi e rāua ā rāua rātaka, kātahi ka whakawhitiwhiti ai. Ko tētahi o ngā rātaka a Maata i whakamahia e Mansfield hei kōrero pūrākau, i tuhia rā e ia i te tau 1906, ko 'Summer Idylle' te īngoa; kāore i whakapukapukatia. Ko te tuatahi tēnei o ngā kōrerorero pūrākau ruarua nei, ko Maata tonu te take kōrero. I tūtaki anō hoki a Ida Baker (ko LM tōna īngoa e mōhiotia whānuitia ana), arā, te hoa o Mansfield ki a Maata i Rānana. Manawarū ana ia ki te ātaahua me te mana ātahu o Maata. Ki tana kī, he paku te hanga o te wahine marore rā, māheahea te tahitahi o te koura o tōna kiri, me te korakora hoki o ngā kanohi. Kātahi te hanga paku ātahu ko tērā! Ka tata haere ki te paunga o te tau, ka hoki mai a Maata ki Aotearoa nei. Nō taua wā anō i mōhiotia ai, nā tētahi rōia rongonui o Hūpēnui, nā H. S. Izard, i whānako te pūtea moni tautiaki a Maata. Kāore i te tino mārama e hia te moni, he wāhi anō rānei o te moni i whakahokia mai. Heoi anō, he tino rahi tonu te whenua i toe mai ki a Maata.

He kore pea i tau nō tāna noho te take i tīmata ai a Maata ki te torotoro haere i ōna whanaunga i Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). He hoa anō ōna i Whanganui, ā, i te ekenga o ōna tau ki te 17 i te 10 o Āperira 1907, i whakanuitia tonutia tōna rā whānau i a ia e noho ana i tētahi hōtēra. I a ia i Whanganui ka tīmataria e ia tana hautaka, ā, nō muri ka hoatu e ia ki a Katherine Mansfield, ā, i puritia noatia e tērā, ā mate noa. Pakupaku noa nei ngā kōrero a tōna rātaka mō Mansfield, ēngari pau kē ana te nuinga o ngā tuhituhinga a Maata ki tana whaiāipo. Kāore ia i whakaīngoatia. E whakaatu ana āna tuhinga i tōna whakatoatoatanga i tēnei wā. E ai ki a ia, he heahea te whakaaro kei te 17 noa iho ōna tau; ki tana kī, nō 'le bon Dieu' (te Atua pai) kē te hē mō te hoatu roro, hinengaro rānei mōna i tana whānautanga mai, ā, i taua wā tonu i tīmata ai te whanake.

E whakapaupau haere ana te tau o 1906, ka hoki mai anō a Mansfield ki Aotearoa nei. Tae noa ki te wā i hoki atu ia ki Ingarangi i te marama o Hūrae 1908, he nui tonu tō rāua tūtakitakitanga ki a rāua, te tuhituhi reta atu rānei a Mansfield ki a Maata. Heoi rā, tino mate nui ana te hiahia o Katherine ki a Maata (inarā ko Carlotta tōna īngoa karanga mōna), ēngari kore rawa i whakahokia. Ko te mea pea hoki, kua riro kē ngā mahara o Maata i a Hōri Tuari Makerika (George Stewart McGregor), ā, nō te tau 1907 i taumautia rāua. He kaiahu whenua a Hōri, te tama a George McGregor rāua ko Pura Te Mānihera, he tokorua rāua e tino mōhiotia ana i te rohe o Whanganui. Nō te 5 o Tīhema o te tau 1907 i mārenatia a Maata rāua ko Hōri Makerika ki te Whare Karakia o Ruka Te Kaikauwhau (St Luke's Church), i Hūpēnui.

Mō tētahi wā nei rāua e noho ana i Whanganui, ka whānau i reira tā rāua tama a Rīhari (Richard). Ka pahure ngā tau torutoru nei, ka nuku anō rāua ki Hūpēnui. Tokorua ā rāua tamāhine i whānau ki reira, arā, ko Te Huiaakaka rāua ko Te Rereōmaki. E ngākaunui ana a Maata i tēnei wā ki ngā kaupapa tōrangapū a te Rōpū Rīpera (Liberal Party), pērā tonu i tana tipuna kēkē, i a Tamahau. Ka tae ki te wā whakamātautau i te tūnga pōti ki roto ki Te Wairarapa, ka kitea a Maata i tōna motokā e taraiwa haere ana i te kaiwhakauru Rīpera, i a J. T. M. Hornsby.

Nō te tau 1914 ka mutu te moe tahi a Maata rāua ko Hōri Makerika. Nō te 24 o Oketopa o taua tau anō, ka moea e ia tētahi pouaru, ko Thomas Asher tōna īngoa. He Māori, he Tatimana, he Hūrae ōna kāwai, ā, he whenua hoki ōna i Te Wairarapa. Tokorua ā rāua tamāhine, ko Nani rāua ko Patricia (Patsy). Taka rawa ki te tau 1932, wehe tūturu ana a Maata i tēnei o āna tāne.

He iti nei ngā tāpiringa kōrero mō te āhua o tō rāua hoanga tahitanga ko Katherine Mansfield. He whakaaroaro tonu te mahi a Mansfield ki a Maata, ā, ākene pea i tuhi tonu mai ia ki tērā. Nō te tau 1916, i tuhia e Mansfield te kōrero 'Kezia and Tui'; ko te āhua nei, ko te pūtake o te kōrero i hoki rā anō ki a rāua ko Maata e hoahoa ana. Nō muri i te matenga o Mansfield i te tau 1923, i kitea kua tīmataria kētia e ia tētahi pukapuka pūrākau, he mea tapa ko Maata te īngoa. Ahakoa he pukapuka mōna ake te tikanga, kitea tonutia ana ngā huanga o ngā mahi a Maata. Nō te tau 1957, i hokona atu ai i Rānana ngā ūpoko e rua o te tuhinga ā-ringa me te hoahoa mō ētahi atu, e 33 te maha. Nō muri mai ka whakapukapukatia katoatia ēnei tuhituhinga. Ko te kī a Maata, i a ia ngā tuhinga ā-ringa katoa o tēnei pukapuka pūrākau; tāpiri atu ki tēnā, he maha tonu ngā reta a Katherine Mansfield i a Maata e pupuri ana, ēngari kore rawa i tukua e ia kia kitea e te katoa.

Ahakoa he wā paku noa nei ia i Te Whanganui-a-Tara, 30 tau pea tana roa e noho ana i Hūpēnui. Nō muri mai i te tau 1940 i wehe atu a Maata i tērā tāone. Mō tētahi wā nei, e noho hoa tahi ana rāua ko te uri whai whenua rā, ko Rangi Kerehoma i Te Ara-taumaihi (Bulls); ā, nāwai rā, nāwai rā, ka neke a Maata ki Te Papa-i-ōia (Palmerston North), noho tūturu ai. Na, ko te momo noho o Maata ko tērā o te wahine whai moni: he pai ki a ia ngā kākahu huatau, te momo puoro takihuri a ngā kirimangu o Amerika me te pātī haere. Ki tā te titiro anō, he ringa tōtōā tō te wahine nei. Ahakoa rā, he wahine ngākau mahana, ā, pūmau tonu tana whakamanuhiri, me tana manaaki i te tangata. E ai ki te kōrero a ētahi anō i tūtaki ki a ia i ngā tau i muri mai – kātahi te wahine whakahoahoa, te wahine whanonga tōtika me te wahine mātanga ko tērā!

Nō te 15 o Hānuere 1952 i mate ai a Maata Mahupuku Asher i Te Papa-i-ōia. Ono tekau mā tahi tōna pakeke, ā, he mate manawa tōna mate. I mahue ora mai tana tama me tana tamāhine o tōna moumouranga tuatahi, me ngā tamāhine tokorua o tōna mārenatanga tuarua. He urupā motuhake anō tō te whānau ake o Mahupuku, i tāpukea ai a Maata i Kehemane (Tablelands) i kō atu i Te Waihenga (Martinborough).

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Barbara Angus. 'Mahupuku, Maata', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/3m33/mahupuku-maata (accessed 28 March 2024)