Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Pōkiha, Rangi Hauiti
1895–1980
Nō Ngāti Pāmoana, nō Ngā Rauru; he tangata ahu whenua, he kairūri, he pūkōrero
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Penny Robinson, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau a Rangi Hauiti Pōkiha i Koriniti i te awa o Whanganui i te 4 o Ākuhata o te tau 1895, ko ia nei hoki te tamaiti tuatahi a Pōkiha Peni o Ngāti Pāmoana rāua ko tana wahine tuarua, ko Ngārongo Rangitahua o Ngā Rauru. He uri a Rangi nō Turi, te rangatira o te waka o Aotea. Nō muri tonu mai i tōna whānautanga i āta whakaritea he whakahaerenga karakia māna e te tohunga Ringatū rā, e Te Ture Poutama. Riro ana a Rangi, ko ia nei te mea tuarua o ngā tama a Pōkiha Peni, nā tana koroua ki te taha ki tōna whaea, nā Rōpata Rangitahua a ia i whakatipu. He mea āta kōwhiri anō hoki a ia e ana pakeke hei tangata mau ake i ngā kōrero tuku iho a te iwi. I a ia e kōhungahunga ana, ka akona ia e Tāmati Tehua Kātene rāua ko Paama Tinirau ki ngā waiata o nehe rā, ki ngā whakapapa, me ērā atu kōrero puri anō hoki a te iwi. I kuraina anō hoki ia i te kura Māori o Pāmoana, me ngā kāreti o Hikurangi me Te Aute, i reira rā ia i toa ai ki ngā tākaro nei, ki te tēnihi me te whutupaoro. I tana wehenga atu i te kura, he poto nei te wā he karaka nei tāna mahi mā tētahi rōia i Whanganui.
Moea ana e Rangi Pōkiha a Kaewa Metekīngi i te 1 o Ākuhata o te tau 1916 ki tā te tikanga Māori, ā, nō te 12 o Mei o te tau 1924 i āta whakamanatia anō tō rāua mārenatanga ki Whanganui. I te tīmatanga o tō rāua mārenatanga, i noho ake rāua i runga i te whenua o te whānau i Kai Iwi, pāmu ai. Kotahi nei tā rāua tama ake, ā, nuku atu i tēnā he taitama, he kōtiro whāngai anō hoki wā rāua. I te tīmatanga o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i te tau 1914, i hiahia tonu a Pōkiha ki te haina ki te haere ki te whawhai, ēngari nā ngā mahi e pā ana ki a ia ki tōna whānau i kore ai ia i wātea ā taka rawa kē mai nei ki te tau 1917, kātahi anō ia ka uru atu ki te Ope Tānga Rua Tekau mā Ono Māori (26th Māori Reinforcements) o te Rōpū Māori (Paionia) o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Pioneer (Māori) Battalion); whawhai ake ana ia i Parani me Peretiama. I te mutunga o te pakanga, ahakoa i eke ia ki te tūranga o te kāpara iti, ēngari he mākūware nōna ki te haurangi, i whakahokia atu ia ki te tūranga hōia noa anō.
I te hokinga mai o Pōkiha ki Aotearoa nei i te tau 1919, whiwhi oranga ake ana ia i te whenua i Koriniti. Riro mai ana i a ia tētahi mahi taupua noa nei i roto i tētahi rōpū mahi rori, ā, nō muri i whai mahi a ia i te Tari mō ngā Mahi Nunui (Public Works Department), he kaiāwhina rūri nei te mahi. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, i āwhina anō ia i te mahi whakatū i te puni hōia o Waiōuru, ā, i te aituātanga o te rerewhenua i Tangiwai i te tau 1953 i whai wāhi anō ia ki ngā mahi hanganga hou ake.
Nā runga i ana mahi i te pakanga i oti i a ia te taura tangata te whiri i waenga i ōna hoa hōia Māori, puta noa i ngā wāhi katoa o Aotearoa, ā taihoa ake nei hei whakamahi ake māna. I te tau 1927 he mema tūāpapa ia nō te peka o te Rōpū Taitamariki Māori (Young Māori Party) o Te Tai Hauāuru, ā, he mea whakatū anō hoki a ia ki te Kaunihera o Whanganui (Whanganui Māori Council) i te tau 1936, he tūranga i mau tonu i a ia tae noa ki te wā i whakahangahanga ake anō i taua kaunihera i te tau 1945. He wātene hāhi nei a Pōkiha nō te Hāhi Mihinare i Koriniti, ā, he tangata whakapono wairua hohonu nei ia, he tangata matakite anō hoki. Hāunga rā, purea ake ana a ia i te awa o Whanganui e ōna kaumātua wetekina mai ana e rātou tana kaha matakite, arā, tana koha ake rā kua kore kē nei e hiahiatia.
He tangata pūhihi noa te hanga o Pōkiha, he tangata tū takotako, tau kē nei hoki ki te mau kaka; hau ai tōna rongo ki te whaikōrero ki te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā, ā, whakamihia ana hoki a ia mō tōna tohunga ki te kōrero ā-whiti kē nei mai i tētahi reo ki tētahi. Maioha nuitia ana a Pōkiha e ngā kaumātua o Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay), o Te Wairarapa me Te Waipounamu, mō ōna mōhio ki ngā tikanga Māori, me tōna hiahia anō ki te tuari haere i ērā mōhio ki a wai noa, pērā rā i te hunga rangatahi. Tonoa ake ana a Pōkiha ki te kauwhau e ngā whare wānanga o Wikitōria (Victoria University) me Te Maahi (Massey University), me te kāreti takiura o Pōneke (Wellington Teachers’ Training College), nāna anō rā i āwhina atu te kāreti nei ki te whakatū i tētahi kaupapa akoranga Māori. I ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1960 i noho tiamana a ia i te kura o te rohe kāinga, ā, i te tekau tau atu i 1970, riro ana nāna i manaaki mai ngā ope ake o te rōpū atawhai taiohi (Youth Aid Section) o ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa (New Zealand Police), ka whakahaerea nei e rātou ētahi wāhanga mahi ki te marae o Koriniti.
Nō te tau 1969 i noho ai a Pōkiha hei mema tūāpapa mō te rōpū Māori mō te mātauranga momo tangata o Whanganui (Whanganui Māori Ethnological Society), ā, hei perehitini tuarua mō te rōpū hītori o Whanganui (Whanganui Historical Society) i te tīmatanga o te rōpū nei, e ono tau nei i muri mai i whakaritea a ia hei mema ā mate noa. I āwhina anō hoki a Pōkiha i a M. J. G. Smart rāua ko A. P. Bates, nā rāua nei te kōrero The Whanganui story o te tau 1972, ā, nāna anō hoki te nuinga o ngā kōrero i tuku atu ki a Roger Hardie e mau mai nei i tana pukapuka, i Ngāti Pāmoana, Koriniti, Whanganui River o te tau 1975. I whakakōpaetia hoki e ia ngā waiata tuku iho me ngā waiata anō hoki nāna i tito, e mau mai nei i te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa me te whare wānanga o Wikitōria.
Ahakoa te tino pakeke nei o Pōkiha, i mau tonu tana purei whutupaoro, ā, tino mōhiotia ana a ia mō tōna kakama i te papa tākaro. Nō te 8 o Pēpuere o te tau 1980 i mate ai a Rangi Pōkiha, mahue mai ana ko ana tamariki whāngai. He mea poroporoaki ia i Koriniti, kei reira rā ia e tāpuke ana i te taha o tana hoa wahine, o Kaewa, nō te tau 1958 i pahemo atu ai.