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Kōrero: Pōmare, Mildred Amelia Woodbine

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Pōmare, Mildred Amelia Woodbine

1877–1971

Nō Rongowhakaata, nō Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki; he kaiārahi hapori

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Miria Louise Woodbine Pomare, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. I whakahoutia i te o Māehe, 2015. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Nō te 24 o Tīhema o te tau 1877 i whānau ai a Mildred Amelia Woodbine Johnson (ko Mīria Tāpapa anō ōna īngoa), i Ahipākura kai kō atu i Tūranga (Gisborne), e haere atu rā ki te rāwhiti i Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay). Nō Rongowhakaata, nō Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki tōna kōkā a Mere Hape, arā, nō Manutūkē e tata atu rā ki Tūranga. Ko tōna matua ko James Woodbine Johnson, he paetahi nō te whare wānanga o Kēmureti (Cambridge) i Ingarangi mai. Ngātahi rāua ko tana tuakana, ko George Randall Johnson, i haere mai i tāwāhi ki Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. I reira ka tīmata rāua ki te pāmu hipi me tētahi uru hua rākau hoki.

He mea tono a Mīria ki te kura matua o Tūranga (Gisborne Central School), taro ake ki te kura tuarua ā-rohe o Tūranga (Gisborne High School) kura ai. Ka eke ōna tau ki te 12, kuraina kētia ana ia i te kāinga e tētahi kaiwhakaako wahine nō Ingarangi, ko Margaret Palethorpe te īngoa. Nā te whakatau tonu a tōna pāpā i akona a Mīria ki ngā mahi pūkenga, arā, ngā toi tikanga o tōna wā e tau ana ki te wahine o te kāhui rangatira, inā rā, ki te reo Wīwī, ki te tuhituhinga, ki te puoro me te tuituinga ātaahua atu hoki. Hoi anō, he pai kē atu ki a Mīria ngā mahi o waho, te eke hōiho me te whakangau hoki. Ahakoa te hiahia o Mīria ko te mahi nēhi hai mahi māna, kāre i tika ki tana pāpā me mahi rawa tana tamāhine. Ahakoa tūturu te whakatipu mai i a ia ki ngā tikanga o te kāhui rangatira o Ōropi, aua atu kē te ako a tana kōkā i a ia ki te reo me ngā tikanga o tana taha Māori, hari atu hoki i a ia ki ā rātau hui. Nā te aroha o Mīria ki tana tupuna kōkā, ki a Maora Pani, he kuia i ora taea noatia te takiwā o te 100 tau, i pipiri tonu ia ki ōna whanaunga Māori. E mahara tonu ana a Maora Pani ki te taenga mai o Kāpene Kuki (James Cook) ki Te Kurī-a-Pāoa (Young Nicks Head) i te tau 1769. Kotahi rau, tekau mā whā te pakeke o te kuia nei i tana matenga atu, ā, nā te mea kua oti kē i a ia tana mokopuna te āta tohutohu, i mau tonu te piri a Mīria ki ana huānga.

Nō te 7 o Hānuere o te tau 1903 i moea ai e Mīria a Māui Wiremu Piti Naera Pōmare i te Whare Karakia Māori o Te Ārai i Tūranga. He tākuta, he rata kokoti te mahi a Pōmare, ā, nō te tau 1901 i whakatūria ia hai āpiha whakahaere i te ora mō ngā Māori. Nō ngā kāwai kaihautū mai o Ngāti Toa me Ngāti Mutunga te tangata nei, hononga atu hoki ki a Te Āti Awa. Tokotoru ā rāua tamariki. Nā te mea he rauemi tūturu tonu tā Mīria, i taea e rāua te whakatū whare tau nei te ātaahua, i te taha raro o Te Awakairangi (Lower Hutt). He papa purei tēnehi, he wāhi whai kāri rahi nei i tō rāua kāinga. Rangatira ana tā rāua whakangahau me tā rāua manaaki i te manuhiri. Tīmata ana te hāpai a Mīria i ngā mahi a tōna rohe kāinga, ā, whāia ka pōkia nei a Ōropi e te pakanga o 1914 ka tīmata te whakahaere a Mīria i te mahi āwhina i te whawhai. I te pōhiritanga mai a Reiri Riwapūru (Liverpool), arā, a te hoa rangatira o te Kāwana i a ia, tū ana i a rāua tahi te Tahua Hōia Māori a Reiri Riwapūru rāua ko Mīria Pōmare (Lady Liverpool's and Mrs Pōmare's Māori Soldiers' Fund) i te tau 1915. Ina koa tonu ko te pūtake o tā rāua mahi he tiaki i te taha whakaoranga ngākau o ngā hōia o te Taua Māori, tuku atu ai ki a rātou i tāwāhi, he kaka whatu, he reta pānui me ngā kai Māori nei, te pipi maroke me te tītī tahu. Arā anō hoki te mahi ko te whakatū hui hai pōhiri i ngā hōia e hoki mai ana ki te kāinga, haere hoki ki te torotoro i ngā hōia e takoto mai ana i te hōhipera.

Nō tana kaha pūmau ki te mahi mā tōna iwi i tohua a ia ki te OBE i te tau 1918. Ūhia ana a Māui ki te tohu KBE i te tau 1922, arā, te tau i hurihia ai te īngoa o te Tahua Hōia Māori ki te Komiti Toko i te Ora a Reiri Pōmare (Lady Pōmare's Welfare Committee). I te wā kāinga nei i Aotearoa, kaha haere tonu te āwhina a te rōpū nei i ngā hōia e hoki mai ana i tāwāhi, me te hunga e whiua ana e te wā o te korekore. Nuku atu i tērā, hāereere tonu rātau ki ngā whare herehere tamariki, mau kaka atu ai mō ngā kōtiro, kimi mahi atu rānei mā te hunga e poropeihanatia ana.

Ka noho nei ia hai tumuaki mō te rōpū mīhana Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Māori Mission Society), riro ana nāna te mahi kohikohi moni haere mō tōna pāriha, tae atu ki te whakatū hui whakangahau hoki. Tū ana ēnei hui, tae ake ana te hunga rangatahi ki te whakahaere kōnohete, ā, nā runga i ēnei mahi i whānau mai ai te karapu mō ngā rangatahi Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club) i te tau 1937. I te wā o te tekau tau atu i 1940 whakatūria ana hoki e te rōpū nei te Rōpū Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Māori Association) hai rōpū karanga, tiaki mai i te hunga e nohonoho ake ana i Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Riro tonu ko Mīria hai kairangi mō te rōpū nei, ā, ko ia anake te mema pūmau ā mate noa ia. Ko ia anō hoki te kairangi o te Karapu Rangatahi Māori (Young Māori Club). I te tau 1944, mō te tino pai o tana whakahaere i āna mahi mō te Pakanga Tuarua, i tukuna atu ai e te kāwanatanga he hōro mai i te Hōtēra Cecil mō te Rōpū Māori o Ngāti Pōneke. Nāwai rā noho ana tēnei hai marae mō ngā Māori o Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

Huhua ana ngā tūranga hira i riro i a Mīria i tōna wā, i ngā rōpū āwhina i te rawa kore, me ētahi atu rōpū noa nei hoki. He tau kē nei ia hai kaiwhakahaere, ā, he nui te moni, te tāima rānei i pau i a ia mō āna mahi. Anei atu anō hoki ngā rōpū i runga ia, arā, ko te karapu mō ngā wāhine o Pōneke (Wellington Women's Club) (i pōtitia nei ko ia hai perehitini tuatahi i 1924), ko te tahua matua Māori o te motu mō te whawhai (Central National Māori War Fund), ko te Karapu Paionia (Pioneer Club), ko te Rīpeka Whero (Red Cross), ko te rōpū mō ngā kaiāwhina i ngā whāea (Mothers' Helpers' Society), ko te rōpū kaiārahi kōhine (Girl Guides Association) me te Rōpū Karaitiana mō ngā Taitamāhine (YWCA). Arā ētahi atu rōpū ko ia tonu te kairangi, mema kē rānei o te tira whakahaere. Mōna i kaha pūtohe ai ki te mahi, he mea whakatau anō ia ki te Mētara mō te Tiupiri Hiriwa o Kīngi Hōri Te Tuarima (King George V Silver Jubilee Medal) i te tau 1935 me te Mētara Koroneihana hoki i te tau 1953.

Nō te 7 o Hepetema o te tau 1971 i hinga ai a Mīria Pōmare i te taha raro o Te Awakairangi. Iwa tekau mā toru ōna tau ka mate nei ia, ā, mahue mai ana ko tana tamāhine, ko Ana. He mea tāpuke tonu ana pungarehu i te pā o Manukorihi i Waitara, i te taha tonu o āna tama, o Te Rakaherea rāua ko Naera, me tana hoa tāne anō hoki, i mate kē atu rā i te tau 1930. He wahine rangatira, hūmārika, purotu tonu nei a Mīria, te kaiwawao nui a te Māori, aroha ngātahitia ana e te Pākehā rāua ko te Māori. Ka nui kē tana whakahīhī ki ngā mahi e tutuki ana i te Māori me ngā painga i mahue iho mai i ana toa rangatira. Nā konei tōna whakapono nui ki te whakatupuranga taiohi, ā, tohutohu tonu ai ia i a rātau. Ahakoa ko tāna i aroha ai waimarie kē rā ia e tamariki tonu ana, ka rongo nei ia i ngā kōrero a ngā kaumātua rangatira i te whare nui; ki tōna whakaaro, ka nui kē atu te rerekē o ngā mahi o ēnei wā. Kore rawa i ngaro i a ia te hanga tū o ana tūpuna Ingarihi, me te ngākau aroha, ngāwari hoki o te iwi o tōna kōkā.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Miria Louise Woodbine Pomare. 'Pōmare, Mildred Amelia Woodbine', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998, updated o Māehe, 2015. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4p16/pomare-mildred-amelia-woodbine (accessed 29 March 2024)