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Kōrero: Rātana, Haami Tokouru

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Ratana, Haami Tokouru

1894–1944

Nō Ngāti Apa; he kaitōrangapū, he kaiārahi nō te Hāhi Rātana

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

I whānau a Haami Tokouru Rātana – he mea karanga kē e te mano tini ko Toko – i Parewanui i te taha hauāuru o te awa o Rangitīkei, i te 21 o Hūrae i te tau 1894. Ko ia te mātāmua o ngā tamariki tokowhitu a Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi, ko Te Urumanaao Ngāpaki (ko ōna īngoa anō ko Ngāuta Urumanao Baker). Ko tōna iwi tūturu ki te taha o tōna pāpā ko Ngāti Apa. Kāti, he pānga anō ōna ki ngā iwi maha o Wanganui, ki a Ngāti Ruanui, ki a Ngāti Raukawa, ki a Taranaki me Te Āti Awa anō hoki; nā tōna whaea, i pā ai ia ki a Ngā Rauru me Ngāti Hine. E rua ōna reo i tino mātau nei ia i tana haerenga ki te kura i Whangaehu.

Nō te tau 1915, i rēhita ai a Toko Rātana hei hōia, ā, noho ake ana ia i te Rōpū Paionia o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Pioneer Battalion) mō ngā tau e whā i Karipori (Gallipoli) me Parani. Nā te pānga kaha mai o te hau kapuni ia i māuiui ai ā tō noa te rā ki a ia.

Tērā pea i te pakanga i tāwāhi tonu ia i Noema o te tau 1918, i te wā i tīmataria e tōna matua te kaupapa whakahou i te whakapono, ka whānau, ka tupu ake ai ko te Hāhi Rātana me ōna āhuatanga tōrangapū. I te hokinga mai o Toko, ko te āhua nei i uru tonu atu ia ki te kaupapa rā, kotahi tonu te whakaaro. Mai i te tau 1920, ka tīmata te ākina o Tahupōtiki kia uru kaha ki te mahi tōrangapū me tōna mana nui; tae rawa ake ki te tau 1922, tonoa ana kia tū a Tahupōtiki hei mema Pāremata; ki te kore, māna e tohu ko wai hei kaiwhakataetae i ngā tūru. Kīhai ia i whakaae. Nō te whakataetaetanga a Toko i te tūranga o Te Tai Hauāuru, ka tīmata te whakaatu o ngā nūpepa he kaiwhakauru Rātana ia, ēngari ko tōna tūranga ake he 'takawaenga' (he tūranga wehe kē). Ko te kaha o ngā hunga i pōti i a ia e 3,037, ēngari e 798 te iti ake o āna pōti i whiwhi ai i ā Māui Pōmare.

Ahakoa te rerekē o te āhua o te kaupapa a Toko, nā ngā pōti nei i kitea tonutia te tautāwhi a ngā iwi i a ia, ahakoa te tū tautohe kē o te kaupapa Rātana: ki tā ngā Rātana, me whai kē rātou ki te whakaū i te tuakiri ā-iwi o te iwi Māori, me te mau hoki ki te mana motuhake, me te tūmanako hoki mā te Tiriti o Waitangi e whakatikatika ngā raruraru o mua. Ko tā te ao tūroa Māori kē, me tino whakaū te mahi kotahi a rāua ko te kāwanatanga Pākehā, ā, i runga anō i ngā here (ki tā Toko me te rōpū Rātana titiro) e ahu mai ana i te āhua of te tūnga rangatira Māori heke iho, heke iho.

Nō te 7 o Āperira o te tau 1924 i Rātana Pā, i moe a Toko i a Rīpeka Uruteangina o Ngāti Apa; he wahine tēnei i pā ki ngā iwi o te awa o Wanganui. Nō te haerenga ā-manene o te Māngai (koinei te īngoa kārangaranga o tōna matua i taua wā nei) ki Ingarangi, ki Parani, ki Tiapani me ērā atu whenua i ngā tau 1924 ki te 1925, i haere tahi hoki rāua i tana taha. Nō te marama tonu i a rātou i wehe atu ai, e whakakorikori ana ngā āpiha a Tahupōtiki ki te whakaara ake anō i te Kotahitanga o Rātana. Ka uru a Toko hei mema mō te rūnanga whiriwhiri, hei hēkeretari hoki mā te poari whakahaere i ngā moni; nā tana haere ki tāwāhi, ka whakanōhia he kairīwhi hei whakakī i tōna tūnga i a ia e ngaro ana. Nō te tau 1925, ka tuaruatia anō he haere, ēngari whakawhiti kē ana ki Amerika. Kāore tonu a Toko i tino whai tāima ki te whakataetae i te pōti o te tau 1925, nā ngā haere ki tāwāhi me ngā pōrearea ki te whakatū tōtika tonu i te kaupapa Rātana. Heoi anō, nō Hune o te tau 1928, whakatika atu ana te matua o Toko ki te whai i te kaupapa tōrangapū, me tana kī, nā te mea ko ia tonu te whakakikotanga o te Hāhi Rātana, wāhia ana e ia tōna tinana kia whā ngā koata, he wāhanga kotahi ki Te Tai Rāwhiti, ki Te Tai Tokerau, ki Te Tai Tonga, ā, ka mutu atu ki Te Tai Hauāuru. Whakaīngoa tonutia atu ko Toko kia tū mō Te Tai Hauāuru.

Ahakoa i hinga anō ia i a Pōmare i te pōti o te tau 1928, e 3,075 ngā pōti i whiwhi a Toko. I te matenga o Pōmare i te tau 1930, ka whakataetaetia anō e Toko te tūru, ēngari tuarua ana ia ki a Te Tāite Te Tomo o te Rōpū Riwhōma (Reform Party), ko ia tonu rā te mea i hiahiatia hei whakakapi mā Pōmare.

Nō te tau 1931, i mahue i a Tahupōtiki Rātana tōna tūranga kūpapa, ka whakatauria e ia kia huri katoa ngā mōrehu o tōna Hāhi ki te pōti i ōna koata, ā, tū anō ko Toko hei kaiwhakataetae i te tūranga mō Te Tai Hauāuru. I mua o te pōtitanga, ka haere atu a Rātana rātou ko ōna koata ki Pōneke (Wellington), ki te kite me kore e taea e rāua ko Te Hōrana (Harry Holland), te tumuaki o te Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa, te whakatutuki tētahi whaihanga tōrangapū. Whakatakotoria ana e tō rātou waha kōrero, e Toko, tētahi pukapuka i mua i te aroaro o Te Hōrana, e whakamārama ana i te kaupapa a Rātana. Mutu kau iho ana ngā whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro, ka kī atu a Te Hōrana, ahakoa he whakawehe takawaenga kē ngā kaiwhakauru a Rātana, ka noho anō rātou hei hoa mō te Rōpū Reipa. I te mutunga mai, i rahua anō a Toko e Te Tāite. Ko tētahi āhuatanga whakauaua anō o te pōti, nā te tū anō hoki o ētahi atu kaiwhakataetae takawaenga tokowhā; tokorua rāua, ko Rima Wakarua ko Pēpene Eketone, he mōrehu nā Rātana.

Nā te mea kāre anō kia whai mema a Rātana i roto i te Whare Pāremata, i mau tonu ai te whakanui a te tangata i a Toko hei kaiārahi mō ngā koata e whā. Kāti, nō te urunga atu o Eruera Tirikātene hei mema Pāremata mō Te Tai Tonga i te pōti motuhake o te tau 1932, tūturu kē ana ko ia te koata matua. E noho ana a Tirikātene i Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika, ka haere atu a Toko ki tōna taha noho ai hei hoa āwhina i a ia. Nō muri i te pōtitanga o Toko hei mema Pāremata i te tau 1935, 38 noa ake ana pōti, paku rerekē noa te nui atu; kia kitea ēnei taonga te atawhai me te hūmārie, ko Toko tonu. Heoi anō, ahakoa pāngia ana ia e te māuiui, me tana kore e pai ki te whai kōrero, kāore rawa i tautohea e ia te tūnga o Tirikātene, harikoa kē ana ia ko tērā hei kaiārahi mō rāua.

Nō te 21 o Oketopa o te tau 1937, i whakatakoto ai a Toko Rātana i tana kauwhau tuatahi ki mua i te aroaro o te Whare Pāremata, ā, i konā tonu whakaū ai ia i tāna oati ki tana pāpā i tana whakaaranga ake i te take mō te Tiriti o Waitangi me ngā aurere nui e pā ana ki ngā whenua. I tua atu i tēnā, e whā noa āna kōrerotanga anō i roto i te Whare Pāremata; e rua i te tau 1937, e rua anō i te tau 1939. Nō muri, i te whakaūtanga i a ia hei whakakapi mā tana pāpā, arā, hei tumuaki mō te Hāhi Rātana, te āhua nei kāore i tika ki a ia tērā mahi.

Nō muri mai i te matenga o tōna taina, o Ārepa, ka hoatu anō he īngoa mō Toko, he mea tapa rā ia ki te īngoa o Te Ārepa. Mō te taha wairua i roto i te Hāhi, kua tūturu kē ia hei whakakapi i te tūranga o tana pāpā, ā, ka heke haere nei te ora o te Māngai, kua riro kē i a Toko te tūnga heamana o te maha o ngā komiti nunui. Nō te matenga o Tahupōtiki Rātana i te 18 o Hepetema o te tau 1939, whakatūturutia ana a Toko hei whakakapi, whakamaua ana ki a ia te taitara o te Kaiārahi. Nō reira i tīmataria te akiakitanga i a ia, e ērā e hiahia kē ana ki te whakarerekē i ngā kaupapa o te ture wairua me te ture tangata o te Hāhi; kia kaua tōna whaea e tautoko i a ia, tērā pea i kitea te uaua ki te pupuri tonu i ngā mōrehu ki te tino whakapono i hiahiatia e te Māngai. I muri i te matenga atu o Te Urumanaao i te 26 o Āperira i te tau 1940, ka tino taumaha atu ngā mahi hei waha māna.

Ahakoa tōna pāpāngia e te mate (e hia marama kē ia e takoto ana i te hōhipera i Pātea i te tau 1941,) i te wā o te pakanga, ka mutu mai tana kaha ki te mea i taea e ia, te tautāwhi i ngā mahi āwhina i te whawhai. I whakahē tonu ia i te whiriwhiri ā-māpere i te tangata hei hōia, ēngari e tino whakaae ana ia kia noho ngā Māori ki roto ki te ope tautiaki i te haukāinga; e ai ki tāna me tērā anō hoki a te Māngai, he mahi tika tonu te riro mā te Māori tonu tōna whenua e wawao. I te wā e ngana ana a Apirana Ngata ki te haukoti i ngā whakapāpā atu o ngā mema Pāremata o te Rōpū Rātana ki te rōpū tautoko i ngā Mahi Māori mō te Whawhai (Māori War Effort Organisation), kaha ana ngā whakahē i tukua atu e Toko ki te Pirimia, ki a Pita Pereiha (Peter Fraser), te minita whakahaere.

Nō te tau 1934, i mate ai a Rīpeka Rātana. Ka moe anō a Toko i a Rangimārie Nēpia i te 1 o Tīhema i te tau 1935; tokorua ā rāua tamariki, kotahi te mea tāne me te mea wahine. E whitu noa ngā tau, ka mate te mea tāne. Nō muri i te matenga o Rangimārie i te tau 1938, ka moe anō a Toko i a Mei (Maisie rānei) Heemi i te 10 o Tīhema i te tau 1939 i Rātana Pā, ā, ruarua nei āna tamariki ki tēnei o ana wāhine.

Nō te pōtitanga o te tau 1943, ka uru anō a Toko hei mema Pāremata mō Te Tai Hauāuru, riro ana i a ia te nuinga o ngā pōti, ā, e 3,309 te nui. Kitea ana ko te tau tuatahi tēnei i riro katoa i te Rōpū Rātana ngā tūranga e whā. Kua tau kē te noho a Toko hei tumuaki mō te Hāhi Rātana, ka tae atu ia ki tētahi hui taumata Māori i Pōneke i te tau 1944, i te 18 ki te 20 o Oketopa; he mea pōwhiri atu anō hoki ngā tumuaki o ērā atu o ngā Hāhi; i reira ka puta tā rātou whakapuakitanga tūmatanui e tautāwhi ana i ngā mahi tautoko i te pakanga. Ko te pūtake o te hui ko te whakatakoto tikanga mō te ahu whakamua o te rōpū tautoko i ngā Mahi Māori mō te Whawhai (Māori War Effort Organisation), me te mau tonu o te mana whakahaere mō ngā take Māori, mā te Māori tonu e kawe.

Koinei tonu te mahi nui whakamutunga i tutuki i a Toko Rātana. E hia kē nei ngā marama e māuiui ana ia, mau haere tonu ai te pānui i ngā kōrero mō tōna hauora i ngā tānga katoa o Te Whetū Mārama. E 50 noa ōna tau, ka mate ia i te 30 o Oketopa i te tau 1944 i Rātana Pā. Mahue mai ana tana wahine tuatoru me āna tamariki ruarua atu. Nō muri i a ia, ka noho ko tōna taina, ko Matiu, hei perehitini mō te Hāhi Rātana, hei mema Pāremata hoki mō te tūru o Te Tai Hauāuru.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Angela Ballara. 'Rātana, Haami Tokouru', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/4r6/ratana-haami-tokouru (accessed 28 March 2024)