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Kōrero: Ōmana, Tiaki

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Ōmana, Tiaki

1891–1970

Nō Ngāti Kahungunu; he tangata purei whutupaoro, he tangata ahu whenua, he kaitōrangapū

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

Nō te 18 o Tīhema 1891 i whānau ai a John (Jack) Ormond ki Te Māhia; ko tōna īngoa e tino mōhiotia ana ko Tiaki Ōmana. Ko Tiaki te tamaiti tuawhā a Hōri Ōmana (George Canning Ormond), he tangata pāmu hipi, rāua ko tana wahine, ko Maraea Kiwiwharekete o Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, he karangatanga hapū nō Ngāti Kahungunu. Ko Te Ōmana (John Davies Ormond) tōna koroua, he kaitōrangapū, he kaiwhakahaere hoki i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke's Bay).

Nā te kore kura i Te Māhia, i te tuatahi i whakaakona ai a Tiaki ki te kāinga e tētahi kaiwhakaako wahine. I a ia e tamariki tonu ana, i tukua ia ki Ōhinewhā (Wallingford), arā, ki te whenua kāinga rahi nei nō te tau 1857 i riro mai i tōna koroua, e tata atu rā ki Pōrangahau. I reira, he mea whakahaere te mahi whakaako i ngā tamariki o taua takiwā ki roto i te whare karakia. He mea kura anō hoki a Tiaki ki tētahi kura whakataka, kura tūmataiti tae noa ki te wā i tekau mā whā tōna pakeke, kātahi ka tukua ia ki te Kāreti o Te Karaiti (Christ's College) i Ōtautahi (Christchurch). I reira, tere tonu tana ako i ngā tikanga o te ihupiro, āta puritia hoki e ia ana moni kia pai ai tana hoki atu ki tōna kāinga tawhiti kē nei, i ngā wā hararei o te kura.

Nō te tau 1908, i uru atu a Tiaki ki te tīma whutupaoro tuatahi o te Kāreti o Te Karaiti. Kātahi anō, ka tīmata ake tana pai ki te purei whutupaoro, ka pāngia nei ia e te mate i te tau 1909, mutu kau ana tana tākaro whutupaoro. Ka tonoa nei ia kia hoki ki te kāinga, ka ono marama ia e takoto ana i tōna moenga. I tōna oranga mai, kotahi atu ia ki te papa tākaro whutupaoro, ā, taka rawa mai ki te tau 1910, i kitekitea tonutia te tīma o Te Māhia i ngā whakataetae a ngā tīma rangatahi. I te tau 1911, kua noho kē mai ia ki roto i ngā tīma matua whakataetae ai. Hau ana tōna rongo hei paihau tere ki te oma, paihau kaha pakari hoki.

Nō te marama o Hune 1917 i māperetia ai a Tiaki ki roto i te ope hōia o Aotearoa. Nō muri i whakauru atu ia ki te Rōpū Māori (Paionia) o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Māori (Pioneer) Battalion) hei rūtene, ā, nō te 8 o Pēpuere 1918 ka rere atu ia ki te pae o te pakanga i Wīwī. Ahakoa he noho whawhai tonu tana mahi, i whai tāima tonu ia ki te purei whutupaoro. He mea kōwhiri ia mō te tīma o te Rōpū Paionia, ā, ka tau kē nei ia i te tūranga paihau. I te tau 1919, i te wā i hoki mai te Rōpū Paionia ki Aotearoa nei, i whakaurua atu ia ki roto i te tīma whutupaoro hei kanohi mō ngā hōia i ngā kēmu i whakahaerea hei whakatau i a rātau i hoki mai nei ki te kāinga. E iwa ngā kēmu a te tīma nei i a rātau e taiāwhio haere ana i ngā rohe o te motu. Hau ana te rongo o Tiaki Ōmana ka mau kē nei te kaha kamakama ōna, ka tū nei ia hei poutaha.

I ngā tau e rua o muri mai, i purei whutupaoro a Tiaki Ōmana mō ngā karapu nei, mō Tapuae me Te Māhia. Nō te tau 1923, ka uru atu a Tiaki ki te tīma matua o Te Matau-a-Māui. Tekau āna kēmu mō te Hīra a Ranapare (Ranfurly Shield), kia mau tonu tā rātau pupuri i te hīra. Kotahi tonu tāna kēmu mō te tīma o Niu Tīreni, arā, mō ngā All Blacks, ā, nō te tau 1923, i purei ia ki te tīma o Niu Taute Wēra (New South Wales) e taiāwhio nei i te motu. I te tau 1924 nāna i hautū te tīma matua o Te Wairoa, ā, i roto anō hoki ia i te tīma Māori o Te Ika-a-Māui i whakataetae rā mō te paraihe rā, te Kumete Rōhi a Te Mori (Te Mori Rose Bowl). Nō te tau 1925 i mutu ai tana whai wāhi ki ngā tīma māngai, ēngari i ngangahau tonu ia ki te tākaro nei, he kaiwhakahaere nei tāna mahi.

He tangata tohunga a Tiaki ki te whakatipu hipi, me te whakahaere whenua pāmu anō hoki. Nā te kore huarahi atu ki tōna wāhi, arā, ki Kinikini, haria kētia mai ana ngā ō me ngā rawa mō te pāmu mai i te ākau o Te Māhia mā runga poti. Kāhore he māharahara o Tiaki ki te hoe mai i tōna poti paku noa nei i te aumoana mō te rua hāora, nuku atu rānei, tae ake ki ngā niao te whakakī i te waka, e haupū ana ki ngā taonga i hokona mai. Riro ana nā Tiaki i tautoko tētahi whakataetae tēnihi pāmu ā-tau, ka mutu ruarua nei ana kēmu i whakataetae ai. Ohaoha ana ngā paraihe i tukua e ia mō te hunga toa i ngā whakataetae nei.

Nō te tekau tau atu i 1930, i uru atu ai a Tiaki ki roto i te kaupapa Rātana. Kotahi noa te tūru Pāremata kāhore anō i riro i a Rātana mā i tēnei wā, ko Te Tai Rāwhiti. Nō muri mai i te toronga atu a T. W. Rātana ki Kinikini, ka whakawherea a Tiaki hei kaiwhakauru. I tana whakataetaetanga i te tūru i te tau 1935 kāore i tarea e ia, ā, pērā anō i te tau 1938. Ka mutu nei te tauwehe o ngā apataki o te Rōpū Rātana o te takiwā nei ki te Rōpū Reipa, tū ana a Tiaki hei kaiwhakauru mō te Rōpū Reipa i te pōtitanga mō te tūru o Te Tai Rāwhiti i te tau 1943. Ka toa nei a Tiaki Ōmana hinga ana i a ia a Apirana Ngata, mai rā anō i te tau 1905 i pōti tonutia ai ko Ngata.

I tētahi whaikōrero a Tiaki i te 13 o Hūrae 1945, i whakatakotoria e ia ētahi o ngā tino take nui o te kaupapa Rātana. Inarā tāna i tono ai ki ōna kaumātua kia kaua rawa e whawhai te mahi whiriwhiri i ngā take whenua. He whāiti rawa te wā ki ngā kōmihana o mua, ā, kāhore i rangona katoatia ngā taunakitanga. Hei tā Tiaki Ōmana nei, e kore e whakaaetia he whakataunga kia oti mārika rā anō ngā tirohanga e tōtika ana.

Kātahi ka haere āna kōrero mō te pōhara o te āhua o ngā whare Māori, me te kino anō hoki o te hauora o te iwi. E ai ki tāna i kite ai, ka nui kē te mahi takeo i ngā mahi ake a te Māori ki te whakapai ngātahi i ngā kaupapa nei, e rahua haere tonutia ana hoki i te kore e āhei o te Māori ki te whakawhiwhi ki tētahi pūtea tārewa, whai wāhi rānei ki ngā tikanga whakangāwari tāke. Mehemea kāhore te Māori e āhei ki ētahi moni haumi rānei, ki tētahi pūtake oha kaha nei rānei, ka noho pōhara tonu te Māori, he mahi kai anake te oranga mōna. Ko te tohe a Ōmana, tērā ētahi ngahere whaiwāriu nō te Māori kei te tuawhenua e tū noa ana, ā, hei tāna, e tika ana ēnei hei papa whakatū i te hia kē te nui noa atu o te whare hou, ēngari nā te kore moni hei utu i te miratanga o ngā rākau rā te take kei reira tonu e tū ana.

Tino whakahē anō hoki a Tiaki Ōmana i te mahi a Te Tari Whakanohonoho Hōia (Rehabilitation Department) nā te kore i taurite, nā te kore take rānei o te whakahaere o ā rātau mahi whakatatū i ngā tono āwhina atu a ngā hōia Māori. Ahakoa te pau nui o te kaha o te Māori ki te tautāwhi i te pakanga, ā, ahakoa anō hoki te kohikohi a te Māori i te manomano pāuna hei whakanohonoho i ā rātau ake hōia toa, ruarua noa ngā hōia Māori e whiwhi ana i tētahi moni hei āwhina i a rātau. Takaroaroa ana te mahi tirotiro i ngā tono, ā, tērā anō ētahi kaitono i tonoa he tari kē, ka mutu ehara kē hoki i te tari tōtika.

Hei kōrero whakamutunga ake māna, i pāpouri tonu ia mō tana kore e whakaaetia kia kōrero Māori ki tōna ake iwi i roto i te Whare Pāremata. Kātahi ka whakatakotoria e ia tāna tono kia tāia katoatia ngā pūrongo me ngā mauhanga katoa o ngā whakahaere a te Whare Pāremata ki roto i te reo Māori. Kore rawa i tutuki. Heoi, i whakaae tonutia tāna me ērā atu o ngā mema Māori i marohi ai, kia whakakorea atu te kupu rā 'native' e mau mai ana i ngā īngoa kāwanatanga katoa, ā, kia whakamau kētia atu ko te kupu 'Māori'.

I ngā tūnga o te Pāremata, haere atu ai a Tiaki Ōmana ki Pōneke (Wellington) mā te kā rerewē. He hūtu pai, mau tika nei tōna, ā, hei whakamāmā māna i tana mate nei, i te kauti, he hū tēnihi tawhito kē nei ōna hū. I te nuinga o te wā, he mea hari rawa mai e ia he pouaka kūmara nui e tapiki ana i tōna ringa i ōna hokinga mai ki Pōneke i Te Māhia, hei koha māna ki tōna hoa o tērā taha o te Whare, arā, ki a Horioka (Keith Holyoake).

I noho a Tiaki Ōmana hei mema mō te Poari mō ngā Take Māori (Board of Native [Māori] Affairs), ā, nō te tau 1952 i whai wāhi atu ia ki te kōmihana tirotiro i ngā utu tāke a te Māori. Nō te tau 1963 i whakatā ai ia, i mahue atu ai tōna tūru Pāremata. I tāna whaikōrero whakamutunga, i tono ia kia whakaaetia ia kia waiata i ōna whakaaro. Rewa ana te tangi tīkapa o te rangi o tana waiata i tana pūtangitangi, ka waiata nei ia i roto i te reo Māori i tētahi whiti o te waiata tangi 'E noho rā, e haere ana ahau'.

E toru ngā mārenatanga a Tiaki Ōmana. Ko Nellie Airini Elizabeth Perry tana wahine tuatahi; i mārena rāua ki te Whare Karakia o Hōne Te Kaikauwhau, i Ahuriri (Napier), i te 23 o Pēpuere 1921. He māhanga ā rāua, he kōtiro tētahi, he tāne tētahi. Heoi, ka tokorau te tokorua nei i te 29 o Noema 1922. Nō te 6 o Pēpuere 1926, ka moe a Tiaki i a Polly Gemmell i Te Wairoa; kotahi tā rāua tamaiti, he kōtiro, e tamariki tonu ana ka mate. I mate a Polly i te tau 1949. He pouaru te wahine tuatoru a Tiaki, ko Rangiwhakio Rārere (ko Kēmara tōna īngoa takakau); nō te 15 o Maehe o te tau 1962 i mārena ai rāua ki Te Wairoa. I mate a Rangiwhakio i Noema o taua tau.

I mōhiotia whānuitia a Tiaki Ōmana nei hei kaitaunaki mātau, aroha anō hoki i kōkiri nei i ngā take a tōna iwi i runga anō i tōna kaha ka taea. I mate ia i Ahuriri i te 24 o Hune 1970, ā, kei Mokotahi, wāhi o te takutai o Te Māhia, tōna tinana e tanu ana.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Cushla Parekowhai. 'Ōmana, Tiaki', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4o6/omana-tiaki (accessed 28 March 2024)