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Kōrero: Pouwhare, Te Iki-o-te-rangi

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Pouwhare, Te Iki-o-te-rangi

1880–1883?–1963

Nō Tūhoe; he rangatira, he puna kōrero, he tangata whakapapa

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Robert Marunui Iki Pouwhare, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 1998. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

He tohunga a Te Iki-o-te-rangi Pouwhare ki ngā kōrero tuku iho me ngā tikanga a Tūhoe, ā, ka nui kē te whakanui i a ia, te rangatira tautōhito, te manukura hūmārie. I muri iho ia i mōhiotia whānuitia ko te tino ariki o tōna rohe. I whānau a Te Iki i waenganui pea i te tau 1880 me 1883 ki Te Houhi, he kāinga kai te riu o te awa o Rangitāiki, e 30 māero ki te tonga o Whakatāne. Hai tama a ia mā Te Pouwhare Te Roau rāua ko Whitiāira Ngāhooro. I Rūātoki e pakeke ana, ā, i a ia i reira ka taka ki raro i te mana whakahaere o Numia Kererū Te Ruakariata, he ariki nui nō Tūhoe i aua wā. I heke iho tana tātai whakapapa i ōna hapū, i a Ngāti Rongo me Ngāti Haka. I akona ia ki te tuhituhi, ki te pānui, ā, i whakangungua ia e ōna koroua ki te whakapapa me ngā kōrero tuku iho a tōna iwi. Noho nei, ka puta ia hai tohunga ki ēnei mahi. Taea ana e ia te whakaheke tōna whakapapa mai i a Toikairākau, hai tipuna ki ngā iwi o Te Moana-a-Toi-te-huatahi (Bay of Plenty), e rua tekau ngā whakatipuranga ki muri. Ko tōna whare nui i Waiōhau he mea tapa ki tētahi anō o ōna tīpuna rongonui, ki a Tama-ki-Hikurangi.

I tōna taiohinga i noho ia ki te marae o Rangitahi, e tūtata ana ki Murupara; i ngā tau whakapaunga o te tekau tau atu i 1920, ka hoki mai ia ki Waiōhau noho ai hai kaiwhakahaere mā te Tari Māori. (I ērā rā, i tapaina te tari nei ki te īngoa Pākehā o taua wā mō te tangata whenua, arā, ko te 'Native Department'. Taro ake, ko te Tari Māori (Department of Māori Affairs) te īngoa.) He mea tino hira nei tōna mōhio ki te whakapapa, āwhina ai ki te whakarite i ngā tautohe pānga whenua o Tūhoe. Mau tonu te hūneinei o rātau ko tōna reanga rangatira ki ngā mahi tūkino a te kāwanatanga i te murunga i ō rātau whenua i te tekau tau atu i 1860, ā, mau tonu hoki tā rātau mahi ki te petihana i te kāwanatanga kia whakahokia mai aua whenua. Ka piki tōna mana, ka riro nāna i kōkiri ngā take ā-ture a te iwi. I te tau 1920, ka tāketia e ia tēnā me tēnā o tōna whānau, me ōna hapū hoki he hāwhe karaone hai utu ki te heri i te kēhi o ngā whenua o Te Houhi, arā, e mōhiotia ana ko te Mahi Whānako o Waiōhau (Waiōhau Fraud), ki te aroaro o te kōti. E whā tau i muri mai, kohia ake ana e ia, mai i ngā pakeke o Tūhoe e noho ana ki reira, kotahi pāuna i te mea kotahi, hai āwhina i te petihana e hukea ai te hokonga mai a te Karauna i te poraka o Kaingaroa. Ko te hua, ko ia tētahi o ngā kaituku i te petihana ki te kāwanatanga i Pōneke (Wellington). I te eatanga o ētahi o ngā kerēme a Tūhoe me te riro mai anō hoki o ngā moni kāpeneheihana i te tau 1957, ka tū a Te Iki hai mema mō te Poari Kaitiaki o Tūhoe (Tūhoe Māori Trust Board), ā, hai mema anō hoki ki runga i te komiti tohutohu mō ngā whenua o Tūhoe (Tūhoe Māori Land Advisory Committee).

I kō atu i ērā o ōna tūranga mana, i te tau 1921 he mema ia i runga i te komiti marae o Rangitahi, ā, ko ia te tiamana o te Komiti Kura o Waiōhau (Waiōhau School Committee). He mema anō hoki ia nō te komiti ā-iwi o Waiōhau (Waiōhau Tribal Committee), ā, ko te tiamana hoki ia o te rōpū whakahaere o Tūhoe (i uru atu a Murupara me Te Whāiti ki tēnei kaupapa). Atu i te tau 1936, he mema hoki ia nō te Kaunihera o Mātaatua (Mātaatua Māori Council). He tino poutāhū ia nō te Hāhi Ringatū, ā, he kaitautoko, he kaitautāwhi hoki i ngā kaupapa hākinakina huhua.

He kaumātua rongonui a Te Iki mō tōna kaha ki te aki i a Tūhoe kia mau tonu ngā tikanga me te reo Māori i ngā hui nui a te iwi. Hai ngā haerenga mai o ngā rangatira Pākehā, ka kōrero Māori ia, mea rawa he tangata hai whakapākehā i ngā kōrero. Mutu mai i a Hoani Rangihau tāna i tino pai ai. I tōna mataku kai ngaro te reo Māori, ka whakakorea e ia te kōrero Pākehā a ana mokopuna i tōna aroaro, i roto rānei i tōna whare. Ahakoa tērā mahi āna, kaha ana tana whakapono ki te hua e puta ana i te mātauranga Pākehā, ā, hai whakaemi tahua e taea ai te tuku i ngā tamariki o Tūhoe ki ngā whare wānanga, whakaaratia ake ana e ia ngā rā taurima mahi moni. I te aranga o te Kaupapa Mātauranga mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Education Foundation), tukua ana e ia tana whakaaro, £400 te nui ki Pōneke, hai āwhina i ngā tauira o Tūhoe.

He koroua pukumahi a Te Iki ki te tuhi i te reo Māori. He mea tuhi e ia he pānui mō te pukapuka a te Rōpū Poronihiana, arā, te Journal of the Polynesian Society, mō ngā whakapapa o Tūhoe. He kōrero anō āna i tukua ki Te Ao Hou, ko tētahi i te tau 1959 he poroporoaki ki te ariki nei o Tūhoe, ki a Takurua Tamarau, ka mate nei ia. He mea whakawahapū e ia tēnei poroporoaki, i te mea ko Takurua tētahi o ōna whakawhirinakitanga. E hia hoki ana tuhituhi mō nehe rā kāore anō kia tāia, ā, kai konei e putu ana te kōrero.

Mau haere tonu te tuku ā-waha atu a Te Iki i te nuinga o ngā kōrero nei. E hia hoki ngā whakawhitiwhitinga i waenganui i a rāua ko Tā Apirana Ngata, i waenganui hoki i a rāua ko Kānara Arapeta Awatere me ērā atu hoki o ngā kaihautū rangatira o ngā iwi, mō ngā tikanga e pā ana ki te taha wairua. He tohunga ia ki ngā tikanga rāhui i ngā hua o te ngahere me te awa; ki ngā pure o te mahi me te tahu kererū; ki te hanga whare wānanga me ōna tikanga; tae atu ki te pure tā i te kawa mō te whakatuwhera whare nui.

Ka rua ngā moe wahinetanga a Te Iki Pouwhare. I te moenga tuatahitanga i a Whata o Ngāti Rongo o Tūhoe, tokotoru ā rāua tamariki. Nō muri ake rā ka moea e ia a Te Awhimate Marunui o Ngāti Manawa, tekau ā rāua tamariki. Ko rāua tahi i mate i mua i a Te Iki. Nō te 30 o Maehe i te tau 1963, ka mate a Te Iki-o-te-rangi Pouwhare ki te hōhipera tūmatanui o Whakatāne, ā, nehua ana ki Waiōhau. I hua, i tini i a ia te whenua ki ōna uri e noho mai rā i ngā takiwā i Rūātoki, i Waiōhau me Murupara.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Robert Marunui Iki Pouwhare. 'Pouwhare, Te Iki-o-te-rangi', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4p20/pouwhare-te-iki-o-te-rangi (accessed 29 March 2024)