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Kōrero: Kāmira, Himiona Tūpākihi

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Kāmira, Himiona Tūpākihi

1880–1953

Nō Te Aupōuri, nō Te Rarawa; he puna kōrero, he tohunga whakapapa

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Henare Arekatera Tate, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I whānau a Himiona Tūpākihi Kāmira i te tau 1880 ki Reena i te taha raki mā uru o Te Hokianga. Ko Tākou tētahi anō o ōna īngoa. I Reena, i Mātihetihe hoki, i te tonga o te tai moana o Mitimiti ia e noho ana i te nuinga o ōna rā. He tama tōna matua a Tūpākihi Kāmira – ko Raukohe tētahi o ōna īngoa – nā Kāmira Haka rāua ko tana wahine, ko Huriana Pāpārangi; ko tōna whaea, ko Maata Himione – arā, ko Ngāreta, ko Reta ētahi o ōna īngoa – ko te wahine tuatoru rā a Tūpākihi. Ko Himiona noa te tama o tēnei mārena, ahakoa tokorima atu ngā tuākana, tuāhine o Himiona, nā ērā atu o ngā moenga a Tūpākihi. Ko ōna tino hapū tonu ko Ngāti Ruanui, ko Te Taomāui, ko Te Hokokeha, e pā katoa ana ki a Te Aupōuri rāua ko Te Rarawa. I pā anō hoki ia ki a Ngāti Kahu, ki a Ngāpuhi me Ngāti Whātua.

I a ia e tamariki ana, whakatōkia ana ia ki ngā tikanga Katorika. Ko te kōrero, nā ngā pirihi me ngā katikita pea o te rōpū mihinare a Hato Hōhepa, arā, te rōpū Mill Hill a Kāmira i kura. Ka huri ki te taha Māori, anā kē atu te kaha tika o te whakaako a tōna matua rāua ko tōna tipuna i a ia ki te nui o ngā kōrero tuku iho o te iwi. Ina anō e mau ake nei aua kōrero rā i roto i ētahi wāhangahanga pukapuka i tuhia i ngā tau 1856, 1860, 1872 me 1884. I roto i ēnei pukapuka ko ngā īngoa o ngā whare tīpuna, o ngā whare mate, tae atu ki ngā pā me ngā rua kōiwi o Te Aupōuri rāua ko Ngāti Kurī i Whāngāpē. I aua pukapuka anō e mau ana ngā īngoa tīpuna me ngā kōrero mō ngā iwi i reira e noho ana, me ā rātau pakanga e hoki whakamuri ana kia tekau ngā whakatipuranga; i reira anō ngā kōrero mō ngā hui i Mātihetihe i Maehe o te tau 1893 me Āperira o te tau o muri mai i Ākarana (Auckland). Ko te kaupapa o ēnei hui e tautoko ana i te Kotahitanga. Noho ake ana ko Ngākuru Pene Haare, he kaumātua rangatira nō Mātihetihe, i mau nei tōna tino whakaawe i a Himiona i tōna taiohinga.

Nō te 24 o Āperira i te tau 1899 i Mātihetihe, i moea ai e Himiona Kāmira a Mereana Harekuku (ko Te Ruru tētahi anō o ōna īngoa) o Ōrira. Nā Pā John Baptist Becker (ko Pā Hoane tōna īngoa ki ngā Māori o Te Hokianga) rāua i hono. Tokorua ngā tamariki i puta i a rāua: ko te mea wahine, ko Ākata Monika; ko te mea tāne, ko Pētera.

He tangata pukumahi a Himiona ki te tuhi kōrero, ā, ka pakeke nei ia, ka haere tonu tēnei o āna mahi ā mate noa. I te tau 1902, ka tīmata tana tuhi i ngā kōrero mō te momo noho me te mahi a tōna iwi, kore rawa i ngaro he aha: nā te kino o te rangi i tōmuri ai te rumaki kūmara; te whānautanga o te kūao hōiho; te rā – tae noa ki te hāora – i whānau ai āna tamariki, i iriiria ai hoki. I tuhia hoki e ia ngā kōrero tohutohu mō te rumaki me te ngaki hua whenua, tae noa ki te hī ika e ai ki te maramataka a te Māori.

I te tau 1908, ka uru a Himiona ki tētahi mahi ohu i raro i te 'Kamupene Para', he mahi whakatikatika whenua hei pāmu i Te Wairoa, i Moetangi, i Taikarawa me Waikare tōna tikanga. Taka rawa ake ki te tau 1911, kua whakatūria ko ia hei kaiwhakahaere mō te komiti o te kamupene. I te tau o muri mai ko ia he mema nō tētahi kaunihera, he mea whakatū e ngā komiti marae o Te Hokianga ki te raki me te tonga. Ka tuhia e ia ngā kōrero mō ā rātau mahi, e pā ana ki te whakatū me te whakahoutanga i ngā whare, te whakawhiwhi raihana hī taraute me te whakahaere i te mahi purei piriote, te tirotiro i ngā tāke kurī, tae atu ki te whakatatū hoki i ngā ratonga ki ngā Māori e haere ana ki ngā hui Kōti Whenua Māori i Rāwene.

I te tau 1913, i te whakataunga a te Kōti Whenua Māori i ngā pānga ki ngā whenua i te takiwā o Waireia, ko Himiona tonu tētahi o ngā tino kaiwhakaatu i tū i te aroaro o te Kōti tuku ai i ōna mōhiotanga. Ka takoto i a ia tana mana ki te poraka whenua o Te Peke, i heke iho mai i tana tipuna, i a Ihengaiti, taka iho ki tana tipuna kuia, ki a Huriana Pāpārangi. I riro mai anō i a ia ngā pānga i ētahi atu poraka whenua ehara koa anake i runga i tōna whanaungatanga ki ētahi atu o ngā kaikerēme, ēngari nā runga anō hoki i tō rātou whakaaro ki tōna tūranga rangatiratanga.

Akene pea ko te tino koha tonu a Kāmira ki tōna iwi ko tana whakaemitanga i ā rātau kōrero ā-iwi. I tīmataria e ia ēnei mahi i Hānuere o te tau 1936 i Reena. Tekau mā rua katoa ngā pukapuka i tuhia e ia, whakatakoto ai i ngā whakamāramatanga me te whakahāngai haere anō hoki i te āhua o ngā kōrero a tōna pāpā. He wāhanga pukapuka an­ō ōna mō ngā whakapapa, he wāhanga anō mō ngā waka o te heke mai i Hawaiki, he wāhanga kē anō mō ngā pakanga. Ka tuhia e ia ngā tikanga a ngā tohunga, me ngā tikanga whakahoro tamāroa; whakamāramatia ana e ia te hanga me te whakatuwhera o te whare wānanga, tae atu ki ngā kaupapa ako me ngā karakia ki a Io.

Nāna anō i waihanga, i whakaemi mai rānei i ngā kauheke ētahi paopao, me ētahi atu momo waiata hoki. Hui katoa e 77 ngā waiata nei, ā, me e taea ana, mahue mai ana i a ia ngā whakamāramatanga. Ko tētahi o aua waiata rā he tangi mō Nukutawhiti, he tipuna nō mua atu. I reira anō hoki ngā waiata o te takiwā noa nei pērā i te waiata tangi a Te Ruki Kawiti mō te riro o te tino mana Māori i te Ingarihi, he waiata mō te Kīngitanga, tae atu ki tētahi waiata tangi mō Wiremu Rikihana, he rangatira nō Te Rarawa, he mema hoki nō te Kaunihera Ture (Legislative Council), i mate atu rā i te tau 1933. Tērā anō tētahi paopao, 20 ngā whiti, e whakaputa ana i ngā āwangawanga o te ngākau mō te ngaro noa o Ngāpuhi pērā i ō rātou whenua; e rima ngā whiti e whakanui ana i ngā mahi a Apirana Ngata, te Minita Māori o taua wā.

I āta manaakitia e Himiona ngā taonga whakahirahira nei hei taonga mā Te Tai Tokerau katoa, ehara i te mea mā Te Hokianga anake. Ka whakaemitia e ia ngā tātai whakaheke o ngā iwi o Te Tai Tokerau. E taea ana hoki e ia te whakapapa ngā moemoenga i waenganui i ngā iwi, i ngā hapū, tae noa ki ngā whānau. He mana tāna kupu i ngā hui wānanga, i taupatupatua ai ngā whakapapa, i tuhia ai hoki. Ko te tikanga, e toru rā te roa o ēnei huihuinga, 18 pea ngā kaumātua i te hui, ā, tapaina ana tō rātou tira ko te Rōpū Wānanga.

Ko ēnei momo wānanga he mea tīmata mai i te tau 1879, he wānanga kōrero mō ngā waka tonu i heke mai ai ngā iwi o Te Tai Tokerau. I ngā hui o te tau 1907 me te tau 1924 ka tatū te kōrero e waru ngā waka i whai wāhi nui ai a Ngāpuhi, a Ngāti Kahu me ērā atu anō o ngā iwi e whai pānga ana: ko ngā īngoa o aua waka ko Ngā-toki-mata-whao-rua, ko Māmari, ko Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi, ko Tinana, ko Mātaatua, ko Mamaru, ko Ruakaramea me Kurahaupō. I tētahi hui i Tāpui-rangatira, i Te Wairoa, i Noema o te tau 1924, ko Himiona te kaiwhakaturuki a Karipa Wī Pātene i ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Waiora me Ngāti Kurī o Te Aupōuri. Haere ake nei, ko Himiona anō te reo whakapapa i ngā hui i tū i Noema o te tau 1932, i Hānuere me Maehe o te tau 1933 i Rōma i te rohe o Ahipara; i Hūrae o te tau 1940 i Te Huahua i te rohe o Motukaraka; i Ākuhata o te tau 1940 me Hānuere o te tau 1949 i Mangamuka; i Hānuere o te tau 1941 i Rotokākahi; i Pēpuere o te tau 1949 i Tauwhare i te rohe o Te Wairoa.

I te rā tuarua o te hui i Mangamuka i Hānuere o te tau 1949, ka puta te tono a Toki Pangari o Ōrira kia katia ēnei tūmomo hui. I taua wā, whakaae katoa ana te whakaminenga i reira, ka tuhia ō rātou moko ki runga i ngā pukapuka hei tohu i te pono me te oti pai o aua whakapapa. Otirā, i tū anō ētahi atu hui, nā Himiona anō i ārahi, i Mātaitaua i te rohe o Utakura, i Noema o taua tau. I tēnei o ngā hui whakaaturia ana e ia ngā kōrero mō Kupe rāua ko Nukutawhiti tae atu ki te pūtakenga mai o Ngāpuhi. I tū ētahi o ngā hui ki Mangamuka i Hānuere o te tau 1950; i Ōmanaia, i te tonga o Te Hokianga, i Hepetema o taua tau anō; i Mangamuka anō i Hānuere o te tau 1951.

I te marama o muri mai, i Pēpuere, ka tū anō he wānanga i Ākarana i te kāinga o Ruka Herewini. Ka kōrerotia anō a Kupe, me te waka o Ngā-toki-mata-whao-rua, me te pūtake mai o te īngoa o Ngāpuhi; ko Himiona tonu tētahi o ngā kaikōrero tokorua. I konei ka whakatūria te Komiti Waka o Te Taitokerau–Ākarana, ā, i tau anō hoki i konei te kōrero a ngā tāngata i reira ki te whakatū hui hei whakamaumaharatanga ki ngā waka o Ngāpuhi. Nō muri mai ka tau te whakaaro kia whakaarahia he whakamaumaharatanga mō aua waka ki Maungataniwha, i te rohe o Mangamuka. I muri mai i te hemonga o Himiona, ka tāia e Te Piiki (Bruce Biggs) ētahi o āna kōrero mō Kupe ki roto i te pukapuka a te Rōpū Poronihiana (Polynesian Society), arā, te Journal of the Polynesian Society.

Ahakoa te hōhonu o tōna mōhio ki tana ao Māori, mau pūmau tonu ia ki te Hāhi Katorika. I noho tonu ia hei katikita mō te Hāhi, e ako ana i te whakapono, e ārahi ana hoki i ngā karakia i Mātihetihe me ērā atu wāhi. Arā atu ōna tūranga, pērā i te kaiwhakahaere mō te peka o te rōpū mō ngā Mahi Māori mō te Whawhai (Māori War Effort Organisation) o Mitimiti i te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua. Ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā kaitautoko i ngā āpiha Māori toko i te ora i whakatūria e te Tari Māori i te tekau tau atu i 1940. I whakatūria anō hoki ia hei wātene i raro i te Ture Toko i te Ora me te Pai mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act) o 1945. Ko tōna tino hoa i ngā tau e rua i mua atu i tōna hemonga, ko Pā Teo (Theo Wanders). I Panguru a Pā Teo e mahi ana, ēngari hāereere tonu ai ki te kite i a Himiona, moe atu hoki i tōna kāinga. Nō te 28 o Ākuhata i te tau 1953 i hemo ai a Himiona Kāmira i Mitimiti, ā, e toru ngā rā i muri ko te nehunga atu tēnā i a ia ki Hīone i Mātihetihe. Mahue iho ana i a ia tana wahine me ā rāua tamariki. Puta ana te poroporoaki a te Northland Times mōna e kī ana, me tangi rā te ngaronga o tētahi o ngā pātaka kōrero o ngā tikanga o onamata.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Henare Arekatera Tate. 'Kāmira, Himiona Tūpākihi', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4k1/kamira-himiona-tupakihi (accessed 29 March 2024)