Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Tāhiwi, Kīngi Te Ahoaho
1883–1948
Nō Ngāti Raukawa, nō Ngāti Whakaue; he kaiwhakaako, he kaiwhakamārama reo, he kaiwhiringa reo, he kaiwhakahaere whutupaoro, he kaiwhakatangitangi
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Rupene M. T. Waaka, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1996. I whakahoutia i te o Āpereira, 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau a Kīngi Te Ahoaho Tāhiwi i te 1 o Tīhema i te tau 1883, ā, i te 30 o taua marama i iriiria a ia ko 'Te Kīngi' ki te whare karakia i Rangiātea, i Ōtaki. Ko tōna matua, ko Rāwiri Rota Tāhiwi, he āteha nō te Kōti Whenua Māori, i heke mai i ngā kāwai o Ngāti Raukawa, otirā, nō te hapū o Ngāti Maiōtaki. I mōhiotia tōna whaea a Keita Koa ki ēnei īngoa anō, ki Kapu Meaha me Keita Pera. Nō Te Arawa ia, ā, ko ōna hapū ko Ngāti Whakaue, ko Ngāti Pūkākī, ko Ngāti Tahu me Ngāti Whaoa. Tokoono o tōna ake whānau he pū toi kotahi. Kāti, kotahi tana tuahine i tua atu, he matua kē tōna. Otiia, ko ētehi o te whānau nei i puta hei tino rangatira mō tōna iwi. He mea tapa ia ki te īngoa o tōna matua kēkē, nāna nei i haina te Tiriti o Waitangi. Hei ētehi wā he mea mau tonu e ia ko Kīngi Rāwiri Tāhiwi hei īngoa mōna.
I tīmata tana whai i te mātauranga i te kura a te kāwanatanga i Ōtaki, ā, nō muri, ka tīmata ake tana kura i te Kāreti o Te Aute, i te 4 o Maehe 1896. I tōna putanga i ngā whakamātautau hei whakauru ki te whare wānanga i te marama o Tīhema 1901, ka tomo atu a ia ki te rōpū mahi o taua kura, ā, tae rawa ki te 1904, kua eke kē ia ki te tūranga o te kaiwhakaako āwhina tuatoru. I te 27 o Oketopa 1905, ka riro i a ia te tohu kaiwhakamāori whai raihana o te taumata tuatahi, ā, mai i te tau 1906 ki 1913 ka mahi ia i te peka o te tari i Ōtaki o te umanga rōia o Pōneke (Wellington), arā, o Kirk rāua ko Wilson. Ko ia anō te hēkeretari a te poari o te rohe motuhake o Ōtaki (Ōtaki Domain Board) i te tau 1912. I moea e ia a Hēni, a Tini rānei, Ehetere (Jane, Jean rānei, Esther) Armstrong o Ngāi Tahu me Ngāti Raukawa i Taitoko (Levin), i te 12 o Āperira 1909. Ko tā rāua tama ko Kīngi Te Ahoaho Gilling, ā, ko Kahurangi Hera hoki tā rāua tamāhine. Nā rāua anō i whāngai he irāmutu, ko Mereana Tāhiwi tōna īngoa.
I riro tonu ko tōna pūmanawa o te kaiwhakamārama reo, me tērā o te kaiwhiringa reo te pūtake o tōna oranga. I te tuatahi i kuhu atu ia hei kaimahi tūturu mā te Tari Māori, arā, hei karaka, hei kaiwhakamāori mā te Kōti Whenua Māori o te rohe o Waikato–Maniapoto, i Ākarana (Auckland) i te 9 o Hepetema 1915. Mai i 1920 ki 1922, i te Kōti Whenua Māori o te rohe o Aotea ki Whanganui a ia e mahi ana, kātahi ka tohua hei kaiwhakamārama reo ki te tari matua o te Tari Māori i Pōneke. I tēnei o ana tūranga, ka nui kē te whakamahi i a ia hei kaiwhakamāori, hei kaiwhakapākehā mā te pirimia me te tokomaha hoki o ngā mema Pāremata. Ka tae ana ia ki ngā hui nui o te motu, pērā i te taenga mai o te Tiuka o Koroheta (Gloucester) ki Rotorua i te tau 1934, i riro nāna i whakamāori ngā kōrero a te Tiuka; i te tau 1936, nāna anō i whakamāori te kōrero a te pirimia, a Te Hāwiti (Michael Joseph Savage) i te whakatuwheratanga i Ōtaki o te whare nui, o Raukawa, ā, nāna anō hoki i whakapākehā ngā kōrero Māori o taua hui. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua, nāna i tātari ngā reta i tuhia ake i roto i te reo Māori e ētehi o te Ope Taua Māori 28 o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion). I noho tonu ia i te tari matua mahi haere ai, ā mate noa ia. Toru tekau mā toru ngā tau i pau i a ia i te Tari Māori.
I tino manawa-reka a Kīngi Tāhiwi ki te tākaro whutupaoro. Ko ia te hēkeretari a te Poari Whakahaere Putu Paoro mō te Taha Māori (Māori Advisory Board), i tīmataria mai i te tau 1922, ā, i riro ko ia tō rātou māngai i ngā komiti whakahaere a te Kotahitanga Whakahaere o ngā Mahi Putu Paoro Rakapī o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Rugby Football Union), mai i te tau 1927 ki te tau 1948. Ko ia anō tētehi o ngā rewherī i te Rohe Pōtae, me te takiwā mai i Ngā Kurī-a-Whārei ki Tihirau (Bay of Plenty), tae atu ki Horowhenua. Mai i ngā tau o 1932, o 1934, o 1935 me 1936 i noho a ia hei mēnetia mō ngā tīma Māori o te motu, arā, mō ngā 'Māori All Blacks'.
I whakatipua mai a Tāhiwi i roto i te whānau waiata, whakatangitangi, ko rātau nei ngā tino kaihāpai mō tētehi pēne parāhi Māori me tētehi rōpū koaea i Ōtaki. He reo tāmāori te reo o Kīngi Tāhiwi i te koaea o Hato Pāora (St Paul's Choir). I te tau 1937, ka tīmataria e ia te karapu mō ngā rangatahi Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club), ā, noho ake ana ko ia hei tiamana, hei māhita koaea hoki. He mea tito anō hoki e ia he waiata, ā, ko ētehi o aua waiata ko 'He pūru taitama', ko 'Tō ringa e hine', ko 'Kāore he wāhine', ko 'Tākiri atu tākiri mai' me 'E whiti te marama'. Nāna anō i tito he kupu Māori mō te oriori a Brahms. Ko ētehi o ana rangi waiata, he mea tito mai i runga i te panio kakī roa, e rima nei ngā aho. Nō muri, ka tīkina atu ana rangi waiata hei patu mai mā te piana. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua, pakari tonu te tū a te karapu mō ngā rangatahi Māori o Ngāti Pōneke. I noho tēnei karapu hei wāhi whakahuihui mai i ngā Māori o Pōneke, otirā, auau tonu tā rātou mahi whakatū kōnohete mā ngā hōia Marikena. Ko Kīngi Tāhiwi anō te tiamana o te komiti ā-iwi me te komiti whakahaere o Ngāti Pōneke.
Mai i Mei o te tau 1929 i noho ai a Kīngi Tāhiwi hei mema i roto i te rōpū Meihana. I te tau 1946, ka whakawhiwhia a ia ki te tohu whakahōnore o te Emepaea o Peretānia (OBE), mō tōna kaha ki te āwhina me te whakahaere i ngā mahi tautāwhi i te Pakanga Tuarua. Nō te 3 o Hānuere 1942, i mate ai tōna hoa wahine a Hēni. Kāti, nō te 15 o Mei i te tau 1946 ka moea e ia a Elsie Winifred Loader (ko tōna īngoa takakau ko Duley) i Pōneke. Kāore rāua i whai tamariki. I mate a Kīngi Tāhiwi ki Pōneke i te 20 o Tīhema 1948, ā, i tanumia ki te urupā i Rangiātea, i Ōtaki. Mahue mai ana ko tana tamāhine me tana irāmutu ake, me Elsie anō hoki. Ko tana tama he āpiha i roto i te tauārangi roera o Aotearoa (Royal New Zealand Airforce); i ngaro noa i a ia e whawhai ana, ā, ko te whakaaro i mate ia i te Pakanga Tuarua.