Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Hond, Patricia Laura Te Waikapoata
1927–1989
Nō Taranaki; he wahine whai mana, he kaiwhakaako, he hōia wahine, he pirihimana, he kaiwhakaako mātauranga, he kaimahi hapori
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Jeff Hond, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau mai a Patricia Laura Te Waikapoata Mathieson i Nū Pāremata (New Plymouth) i te 31 o Maehe i te tau 1927. Nō te iwi o Taranaki tōna pāpā a Thomas Berge Tūpeka (Bert) Mathieson; he kaiaka mīhini ia, ā, nō muri mai he taraiwa tekihī, taraiwa pahi nei tāna mahi. Ko tōna whaea ko Nora (Norah) Laura Te Aroaro-o-Paritutu Ruakere o Te Whānau-a-Apanui me Ngā Māhanga-a-Tāiri o Taranaki. Tokowhā nei ōna tungāne, tokorua ōna tēina, tokowhitu katoa ai rātou, ko Pat te mea o waengarahi. I whakatipua mai rātou i roto i te Hāhi Katorika i Nū Pāremata. I kuraina a Pat ki te kura Katorika o Hato Hōhepa (St Joseph’s Roman Catholic School) ki Moturoa, me te kawenata tuarua o te Manawa Tapu (Sacred Heart Convent High School) i Poutūtaki (Fitzroy). I a ia i te kura tuarua, he kaha kē nei tōna mātau, ka riro nei i a ia te tohu mō te tauira tino mōhio o te kura. Arā noa atu hoki tōna tau kē nei ki ngā tākaro hākinakina, me ngā kēmu tīma hoki.
Ka mutu nei te mahi whakaako i a ia hei kaiwhakaako i Ākarana (Auckland), ka tīmata te mahi whakaako tamariki a Pat i te tau 1948, i te tuatahi i Ōhura, kātahi i te kokoru o Tokomaru, atu i reira ki Pungarehu i Taranaki, ā, whāia hoki ki Ahuriri (Napier) ki Hato Hōhepa (St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College). He mea tino whakahirahira ki a ia te taha Māori, ā, nā tōna kaha i tū ai te karapu Māori i huaina ko ‘Kia Ū’. Riro ana nā te rōpū nei i whakakotahi mai te hunga rangatahi Māori i raro i a ia, ka tino matatau ai rātou ki ngā tikanga a Taranaki iwi. Nāna anō hoki rātou i mātau ai ki ngā tākaro hākinakina, ā, i tae atu hoki rātou ki ngā hui ā-tau whakataetae a te Hui Aranga o ngā Katorika.
Ka tata atu nei ki te ono tau a Pat e whakaako ana, ā, ka tae ki te tau 1953 ka whakauru atu ia ki te rōpū wāhine o te ope taua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Women’s Royal Army Corps), he kāpara taupua nei tōna tūnga. Kātahi ia ka tonoa atu ki Waiōuru hei kaiāwhina mō te whakaakoranga. I ngā tau e rua i a ia e mahi ana, ka tau kē nei ia ki ngā mahi tākaro, ā, riro atu anō hoki ia hei kanohi mō te ope taua i ngā kēmu netipaoro, pāhiketepaoro, me ngā kaipara hoki; auau tonu te riro ko Pat hei kāpene i aua tīma. I pakaru i a ia ngā rekoata e rima mō ngā whakataetae omaoma, whakataetae pārae, ā, nō te tau 1955 i whiwhi ia i ōna kara hōia mō tōna toa ki ngā mahi hākinakina. Nō taua tau tonu i whakarangatiratia ia ki te tūnga haihana, ā, tonoa atu ana a ia ki Te Tūranga-o-Kupe (Fort Dorset) i Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington).
I taua tau anō ka whakarērea e Pat te mahi hōia, kia wātea ia ki te kuhu atu ki te rōpū o Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa (New Zealand Police Force); ko ia te wahine Māori tuatahi o ngā wāhine pirihimana o Aotearoa. He ika tauhou tino pai kē nei ia, ā, nuku kē atu ana ōna mōhio i ērā o ngā tauira o tōna karaehe mō ngā marama e ono e whakaakona ana ia i te kura whakangungu o Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa (New Zealand Police Training School) i Māwaihākona (Trentham). I te wā ka tīmata nei tana mahi kātipa tautiaki, ka nui kē te whakaaro ki a ia. I te tau 1958, ka mutu nei tana mahi munamuna, ka whakatūria a ia hei kairapuhara i te takiwā o Pōneke (Wellington).
Nō taua tau tonu, nō te 24 o Mei, i moea e ia a Jeffrey Donald Hond i Pōneke, he āpiha mau tiwhikete nei nō te tauārangi roera o Aotearoa (Royal New Zealand Air Force) i Pōneke. Kāore i roa ka hapū a Pat, ā, kāore i tino rawe ki a ia te whakarere atu i tana mahi pirihimana. Tokoono ā rāua tamariki, tokotoru he tāne, tokotoru he wāhine; kotahi tā rāua tama e tamariki tonu ana ka mate. I pau te rua tekau tau i a rātou e noho ana i Pōneke, i Ākarana me Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) hoki.
Nō te tau 1975 i tīmata ai tana mahi akoranga ā-wānanga ki te Whare Wānanga o Waikato (University of Waikato). Kotahi tau tonu i muri mai ka whiwhi ia i tana tūnga i te kura whakamātautau o te kura takiura o Kirikiriroa (Hamilton Teachers’ College). Ko tētehi aronga āna ko te mātauranga mō ngā kōhungahunga me ngā mahi whakapakari i ngā rōpū kura pūhou; riro ana ko ia hei perehitini mō te rōpū o tēnei tū kaupapa ki te takiwā o Waikato. Ahakoa kāore i matatau rawa ia ki te kōrero Māori ā-kīwaha, i tua atu i te reo ā-tuhi, i kaha pū tonu a Pat ki te whakaū i te reo ā-waha, me ngā tikanga Māori anō hoki. Ko tāna anō, kei te mātauranga te painga nui mō te Māori, ā, he hāpai tonu tana mahi i te kaupapa mātauranga e mau nei ki te kaneketanga me ngā tikanga a te Māori. He wā nei ia e noho ana hei kaitohutohu Māori mō te rōpū mō ngā kaiwhakaako o ngā kura tuarua o Aotearoa (New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association).
Kotahi tau a Pat e whakaako ana i te kura tuarua o Hillcrest, kātahi ka riro i a ia i te tau 1978 te tūnga tumuaki tuarua i te kura mō ngā kōtiro nō te whare noho o te Tari Toko i te Ora (Department of Social Welfare) i te tiriti o Dey i te taha rāwhiti o Kirikiriroa (Hamilton East). Ko ia te kaiwhakaako, kaitohutohu hoki i ngā tama wāhine, ko te nuinga rā he Māori, he whakahauhau nei tāna i a rātou, kia mau tonu te whakaaro he rangatira tonu rātou.
Nō te tau 1984, i nuku atu ai a Pat rāua ko Jeff Hond ki Nū Pāremata, ā, i tīmata tonu atu tana whakauruuru haere ki ngā nekeneke o tērā whaitua, arā, i reira ka eke atu nei ia ki te komiti whakahou i ngā whare herehere, tū mai ana hoki hei āpiha ā-iwi whānui i roto i te Tari Māori (Department of Māori Affairs). I te tau 1987, he mea awhi anō e ia ngā mahi o roto o te pokapū manahau o Taranaki (Taranaki Activity Centre). He whakanohoanga akoranga mana kōwhiri tēneki mō ngā taitamariki e kore e pahure ana te ako i ngā kura kāwanatanga. Ko tētehi atu mahi a Pat he mahi mai i ngā rōpū nei, i te kaunihera mahi ā-takiwā (Regional Employment), i te kaunihera o Access (REAC), i te komiti whakahaere i ngā kaupapa mahi a ngā rōpū nei, i ACCESS rāua ko MACCESS.
He tumeke nōna i tana kitenga i te kaha hē o te reo me ngā tikanga Māori i Taranaki, i whakatūria e ia te rōpū rā, Te Reo o Taranaki, hei hiki, hei atawhai ake hoki i te kaupapa Māoritanga. I te wā ko ia nei te kaitohutohu ki te kuratini o Taranaki (Taranaki Polytechnic), toa ana tāna i tohe ai, ka whakatūria nei he tari whakaakoranga Māori, kitea atu hoki e ia ngā kaiwhakaako tino tohunga kē nei mō tērā tū mahi. Nā ēnei mahi kakama āna i tarea e ia te atawhai te whakaarahanga ake i te taha Māori ki roto o Taranaki, inarā, i waenganui tonu i ngā rangatahi.
He wahine waia noa nei a Pat ki te mahi hautū, ā, piripono tonu nei hoki ia ki tōna Hāhi Katorika. Kāore ia i mataku ki te whakaputa i ōna whakaaro mō ngā take huhua e pā iho ana ki te Māori, ki a ia rā ko wērā take tonu hoki he takahi, he tūkino kē i te mana o te Māori. He mea tono tonu mai ia hai kaikōrero manuhiri, ā, i riro hoki nāna i āwhina te mahi whakatakatū i ngā whaikōrero mō te wahine rongonui takatūnga tautohe nei, mō Eva Rickard.
I mōhio tonu a Pat ko te nui o ngā raruraru e pā ana ki te Māori, nā te mahi kai waipiro i pērā ai. I te taha ki a ia kāore ia i unu. Ahakoa rā, pāngia ana a ia e te mate manawa, he mate i kino kē atu ka noho nei ia mō te whā tekau tau e kai hikareti ana. Kāti koa, nō te 18 o Noema o te tau 1989 i mate mai ia ki Nū Pāremata. Mahue iho ana ko tōna hoa rangatira, ko Jeff, me ā rāua tamariki tokorima. Kei te urupā o tōna whānau kei Ruakere i Pūniho a Pat e tāpuke ana.
Ko te hao nui o Pat Hond mā te mātauranga e ahu whakamua ai te Māori. Nā te mea i mahi mai ia i te taha o te Māori i roto i te tikanga mātauranga, i taea rātou e ia te whakahauhau kia mau tonu te rapu i te mōhio, me te whai wāhi tonu hoki ki ngā tikanga Māori. He mea ako wāna tamariki ki te taha Māori, ā, anā kē atu hoki tō rātou mōhio ki te kōrero i te reo. Tokowhā rātou kei te kawe tonu nei i ngā mahi a tō rātou whaea, inarā, te hāpai nei i te mātauranga Māori ki ngā taumata katoa.