Dictionary of New Zealand Bography logo

Kōrero: Barrett, William Daniel

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Barrett, William Daniel

1878–1953

Nō Ngāi Tahu; he kaiwhakahaere nō te Kōti Whenua Māori, he hēkeretari poari kaitiaki

I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Aroha H. Reriti-Crofts, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

I whānau a Wiremu Rāniera Pārete (William Daniel Barrett) i Aparima (Riverton), takiwā o Murihiku (Southland), i te 27 o Oketopa i te tau 1878. Ko te tamaiti tuawhā ia o ngā tamariki tekau mā tahi a Louisa Hunter rāua ko tana tāne kaimahi nei, ko Hēnare Pārete (Henry Barrett). Ko ōna tīpuna ki te taha ki tōna pāpā, ko Kararaina Hinehou, he wahine nō Ngāi Tahu ki Kaiapoi, rāua ko Tiki Pārete (Richard Barrett), te tangata whaiwhai tohorā rongonui rā, nōna ake te hōtēra o Barrett i Pōneke (Wellington). I kuraina a Wiremu Pārete (ko Bill kē nei tōna īngoa i tino mōhiotia) ki te Kura Māori o Kaiapoi, ā, nō Tīhema o te tau 1891, i whakauru atu ia ki te Kāreti o Te Aute, ā, nā tana whiwhinga i te karahipi Mākarini i āwhina tana noho tonu ki reira. Nō tana hokinga atu ki Te Waipounamu i tīmata ake he ihu oneone tana mahi, ā, whāia nō muri mai i mahi pāmu ia i Tuahiwi, e tata atu rā ki Kaiapoi. Ā mate noa ia i mau tonu tana noho i reira.

Ka moe a Wiremu Pārete i a Tini Weepu (e kārangarangatia ana anō hoki ko Jennie Webb) o Ngāi Tahu i te 25 o Āperira o te tau 1902; tokorima ā rāua tamariki. Nō te matenga o Tini i Hepetema o te tau 1911, mahue māra mai ana ōna whenua i ētahi wāhi o Te Waipounamu, mā āna tamariki me tōna hoa tāne. Nā ngā utu reti mai o aua whenua rā, i hau tika tonu ai te puta ake o te moni mā Pārete. E rua ngā tau i muri mai, arā, nō te 13 o Tīhema i te tau 1913, i moea e ia a Meri Hinewharitea Tīkao o Ngāti Irakehu, ā, kotahi nei tā rāua tamaiti, he tāne. Heoi rā, nō te tau 1916 i hemo ai a Meri, he mate kohi nei tōna mate; nā tērā, ka moe anō a Wiremu i a Mere Rihiani Ruru o Ngāi Tūāhuriri o Koukourarata, i Ōtautahi (Christchurch) i te 30 o Ākuhata o te tau 1918. I mua i te matenga atu anō hoki o Mere i te mate kohi i te tau 1928, tokotoru nei ā rāua tamariki. Tokorua atu anō ngā tamariki a Pārete, kotahi, he wahine, nā rāua ko Tui Weretā o Waitōtara; kotahi anō hoki, he tama, nā rāua ko Tini Hinewetea Rehu o Arowhenua.

I te kaha haere o te mahi a Ngāi Tahu i te tekau tau atu i 1920 ki te whawhai i te Karauna mō te kāpeneheihana mō ngā whenua he itiiti rawa te moni utu i te wā i hokona mai i te tau 1848, tae atu ki ngā whenua rāhui i whakaaetia mō rātou, kāore anō kia kitea noatia. Hāunga rā, kitea ake ana e te kōmihana uiui i te tau 1920, te hapatanga o te Karauna i ana takohanga i raro i te whakaaetanga ā-pukapuka mō te hoko, ā, ko te whakaaro rā, ko te moni kāpeneheihana, £345,000 te rahi, te moni hei utu mā te Karauna ki ngā Māori o Te Waipounamu. Ko te whakaaro kē o te kāwanatanga Riwhōma (Reform Government) me hoatu kia £100,000 te moni; kāore hoki a Ngāi Tahu i whakaae, ā, nāwai rā, pupū tonu ai tāua take rā. Nō te pōti ā-rohe mō te Rohe Pōti ki Te Tai Tonga i te tau 1922, he kaiwhakataetae wehe kē te tūranga o Pārete, ka whakataetae nei ia ki te mema o te Rōpū Riwhōma. Ahakoa i rahua ko ia, kitea ake ana tana kaha ki te mau haere ake i ngā take o Ngāi Tahu. Tae rawa ake ki tēnei takiwā, kua noho kē a Pārete hei kaiwhakahaere Māori, me tana whakahaere take anō i te Kōti Whenua Māori.

Ko tētahi take nui i mau tonu i ngā whakaaro o Pārete, ko te kāpeneheihana mō ngā whenua rāhui. Nō te tūnga o te Kōti Whenua Māori ki Tuahiwi i te tau 1925, ki te whakatau i te hunga e tika ana kia whiwhi i ngā hua o ngā moni kāpeneheihana meāke nei, he mema tonu ia nō te komiti i whakaritea hei hanga i te rārangi īngoa o ngā uri, taka ake hoki i ō rātou whakapapa. Ki te whakaaro o Pārete me whakawhāiti kē ngā īngoa nei ki ngā mea e taea ana te tātaki mai ō rātou whakapapa i tētahi o ngā kaumātua e noho ana i roto i te rohe o ngā whenua nō te tau 1848 i hokona atu ai. Hāunga rā, ki tā ētahi kē, me he uri te tangata nō Ngāi Tahu, me whiwhi a ia. Nā te tautohe nei i āta tirotirohia anō hoki ngā rārangi īngoa nei i te tau 1929, ā, i te aroaro o te Kōti he mea arotake anō e Pārete ngā whakaaturanga, whakamana atu hoki i ngā whakapapa. I whakahuaina anō ngā arotake nei i Tuahiwi, i Te Umukaha (Temuka), i Puketeraki me Kōraka (Colac Bay), ā, e hia kē nei tana roa e haere ana, ka riro ko ia tonu hei utu i ana raruraru.

Nō te tau 1928, i hangaia te ture e whakamana ana i tētahi poari kaitiaki mō Ngāi Tahu, ā, nō te kāhititanga o ngā mema tuatahi i te tau 1929, ka riro ko Pārete hei hēkeretari; taka rawa mai ki te tau 1946 kātahi anō ka mutu te mahi rā. Kāore i auau ngā hui a te poari, ēngari pūmau tonu te mahi whakakōrerorero a Pārete, rapu kaupapa ake e tutuki ai te take nei. I tētahi hui i Oketopa o te tau 1935, rātou mā ko te Pirimia, ko Hōri Whōpi (George Forbes) – ko ia anō hoki te Minita Māori – me te Minita Mahi Moni, me Te Kōti (Gordon Coates), i whakatakatoria atu ai e Pārete te kēhi a te poari. E rua marama i muri mai, nā te aranga ake anō o tētahi kāwanatanga kē, i hōtoa ai ngā whakaritenga. Ahakoa ngana tonu a Pārete, ka tohe nei ia me he whakaroaroa tonu te mahi, ka mate kē nei ko te iwi Māori o Te Waipounamu i te pōharatanga. I te whakaaetanga a te kāwanatanga i te tau 1938 kia noho huihui rātou, i meinga a Pārete hei māngai whakaihinga mō Ngāi Tahu. Haere ake nei, ka iti haere te kouretanga o Pārete i roto i ngā kōrero whakatau. Ēngari i te whakatūnga o te take nei i te tau 1944, me te whakatūnga anō hoki i te poari hou i te tau 1946 hei whakahaere i ngā moni, ka whakahokia anō a Pārete hei mema mō te rohe o Maahunui, ā mate noa ia i te tekau tau atu i 1950.

I te tau 1938, i te wā kua itiiti kē nei tana whai wāhi atu ki te take kāpeneheihana a Ngāi Tahu, kua tīmata kē tana mahi whakahirahira nui, ka noho nei ia hei pakeke, hei reo mō te iwi. I tae atu ia ki te hui Māori o te motu i Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika i Oketopa o te tau 1944, ki te kōrero i ētahi whakaaro meāke nei ka ahu pēhea te iwi Māori, inarā, tētahi tonu he whakatakahuri mai i te rōpū tautoko i ngā Mahi Māori mō te Whawhai (Māori War Effort Organisation) hei waka mō te wā o te maungārongo, whakaū i ngā tūmanako, kia whai wāhi noa nei te Māori ki tētahi āhua o te mana motuhake. I konei tohea ana e ia me tautoko te kerēme mō ngā moni kāpeneheihana mō Te Waipounamu, me te mana hī ika o te Māori i ngā awa me ngā roto. Ahakoa kāore i mautohea e ia te rīhi i ngā whenua o te Māori ki ngā Pākehā, ko tana tino whakahē kē, ko te iti rawa o ngā utu rēti e utua mai ana. Ka tohe anō ia kia kaua ngā whenua Māori e tukua kia rīhitia e te Pākehā, kia wātea rā anō mai he whenua mō ngā hōia Māori e hoki mai nei i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao.

He rarata nōna ki a Hakipia (Shakespeare), koia i harakoa ai a Wiremu Pārete ki te pānuinui pitopito kōrero mai i ngā mahi whakaari, me te whakatūnga anō hoki i ngā wāhi pai ki a ia. Nā te mea he tangata ātaahua ia, me te tino rawe o tōna reo, i māhorahora noa ki a ia te mahi kaiwhakatū. Ko ia tonu te ūpoko Rūnanga o Ngāi Tūāhuriri atu i ngā tau pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1930, tae atu ki 1953. Nā tēnei mahi āna i noho a ia hei kaitiaki mō te hōro o Tuahiwi, tiamana atu hoki mō te komiti ā-iwi o Ngāi Tūāhuriri. He mema takatū anō a ia nō te Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa, noho ake anō hoki hei perehitini mō te komiti whai kanohi Reipa o Tuahiwi (Tuahiwi Labour Representative Committee) i te tekau tau atu i 1930. Nō te wā i whakanuia ai te rau tau o Aotearoa ki Te Ūpoko-o-te-Ika i te tau 1940, riro ana ko ia te kanohi mō Ngāi Tahu. Nō muri tonu i tana matenga i Tuahiwi i te 23 o Mei i te tau 1953, i kitea te ātaahua o āna mahi mā te iwi Māori, tohua murimatetia ana ia ki te Mētara Koroneihana (Coronation Medal). Ko te mahi i pau ai ōna rā ki te ao nei, ko tērā o te whakataunga o te kerēme a Ngāi Tahu i te tau 1944, tae atu ki tana tānga mai anō i tētahi pukapuka whakapapa nei mō tōna iwi. I tanumia a Wiremu Rāniera Pārete ki Tuahiwi, ā, mahue mai ana ki muri ko āna tamariki tokowaru.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Aroha H. Reriti-Crofts. 'Barrett, William Daniel', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5b10/barrett-william-daniel (accessed 29 March 2024)