Whārangi 1: Haurongo
Whaitiri, Robert Agrippa Moengaroa
1916–1996
Nō Ngāti Māmoe, nō Waitaha, nō Ngāi Tahu; he kaiārahi, he hōia, he kāpene rōnihi, he kāpene wakatō, he kaiwhakahaere wheketere, he kaiārahi hapori
I tuhia tēnei haurongo e Reina Ann Whaitiri, ā, i tāngia tuatahitia ki Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau i te 2000. I whakahoutia i te o Hānuere, 2002. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.
I whānau a Robert Agrippa Moengaroa Waitiri (i muri iho ko Whaitiri te īngoa), arā, ko Bob kē nei tōna īngoa karanga, ki Awarua (Bluff) i Murihiku (Southland) i te 9 o Mei o te tau 1916. Nā tōna matua, nā Robert Agrippa Waitiri – he tangata mahi tio – rāua ko tana whaea, ko Mariam (Miriam) Effie Te Aroha Tōpi Pātuki, i whai pānga ia ki ngā iwi o Ngāti Māmoe, o Waitaha me Ngāi Tahu. He whanaunga anō hoki a ia ki te whānau o ngā Whaitiri o Rēkohu, arā, ki tā te Māori, o Wharekauri (Chatham Islands). Ko Bob Waitiri te pōtiki o ngā tamariki tokotoru a Robert rāua ko Effie, ā, ko ia anake te mea i eke ki te pakeketanga, arā, e tamariki tonu ana tana tuakana me tana tuahine ka mate i te mate kohi. Tekau mā toru marama tana pakeke, ka riro nā ngā whanaunga o tōna whaea, nā te whānau Lloyd a Bob i whakatipu mai i Puketeraki i te taha raki o Ōtepoti (Dunedin), ā tekau mā toru tau noa tōna pakeke. I a ia i reira i kuraina ia ki te kura o Pōtaerua (Seacliffe School). Ka mate nei tōna tuakana, ka haria atu a ia e ōna mātua ki Waikaremoana, he kāpene rōnihi tōna pāpā mō te Tari Tūruhi me ngā Whakatauanga Hauora (Department of Tourist and Health Resorts).
I tonoa atu a Waitiri ki te Kāreti o Te Aute kura ai, ēngari nā te turakanga a te rū i tētahi wāhi o te kura i Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay) i te tau 1931, i mutu wawe ai tana kura. I mua i tana wehenga atu i te tāone o Heretaunga (Hastings) ki te hoki ki Waikaremoana, he mea āwhina e rātou ko ētahi o ngā tauira matua te mahi whakaoraora tangata. Kitea ake ana e ia he mahi rangitahi noa māna i te Tari Tūruhi, he āwhina nei tana mahi i tana matua i tana rōnihi me te ārahi haere i ngā tāngata i te moana. I akona e ia ngā kōrero tuku iho a Tūhoe, ā, waihoki rā ka tīmata tana tohungatanga ki te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero, me te taki hautū i te tangata. Ka pau te toru tau i a ia e mahi ana hei tauira mō te mahi ā-rehe motowaka i Rotorua, ka tīmata tana mahi ārahi tūruhi i Waiotapu, i Wairākei, i ngā ana o Waitomo me te hōtēra i kīia nei ko te Chateau i Tongariro. He kaiārahi tūruhi, kāpene rōnihi kaiāwhina anō hoki tana mahi i te roto o Tarawera, taro ake ka tūturu tana mahi kikī.
Hoi anō, nō te tau 1937 i uru atu a Waitiri-Lloyd – koia nei tōna īngoa i taua wā – ki te ope hōia ā-rohe (Territorial Force). Nō Oketopa o te tau 1939 i whakauru atu ia ki te puni hōia o Burnham, ā, whakauru atu hoki ki te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) o Aotearoa (28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion). I eke a Waitiri ki te tūranga haihana, ā, i ngā whenua o Kariki (Greece), o Kariti (Crete) – i taotū ia ki reira – , o Hiria, me Āwherika ki te Raki a ia e whawhai ana. Nō Hune o te tau 1942 i hoki mai ia ki te wā kāinga, ka whakanōhia ia hei kaitohutohu mō ngā hōia whakakapinga. Heoi anō nā te kore i pakari o te tinana i whakamutua tana mahi hōia i Ākuhata o te tau 1943.
Nō te 15 o Ākuhata o te tau 1942 i moea e Bob Waitiri-Lloyd a Ida May Mills (ko Martin nei tana īngoa takakau) i Ākarana (Auckland); taro ake, kotahi tā rāua tamaiti, he tamāhine. I muri mai i te pakanga i hoki atu ia ki te mahi mā te Tari Tūruhi i Rotorua, ā, tīmata ake ana tana mahi ki te whakawhiwhi i a ia ki tana tīkiti mataaro pūkaha moana. Nō te tau 1946 i riro mai i a ia tana tīkiti kāpene, ā, ka āhei ia ki te hari pāhihi atu mā runga rōnihi. Tino whakamīharotia ana tōna ātaahua e ngā tūruhi o tāwāhi, te tino mā kē nei o ana kākahu ōrite, tana mōhio ki te āhua o te takotoranga o tērā whenua me ngā kōrero tuku iho. Tāpiri atu ki tēnei ko te āhua anō o te tino pai kē nei o Ida ki te tunu pōhā, ka nuku kē atu te rongo o ngā tokorua nei.
Nō te tau 1951 i mate ai te whaea o Waitiri, a Effie, ā, nō te tau i muri mai i hoki atu rāua ko Ida ki Awarua, he taunga kī tonu i te tima toritori tērā wāhi i taua wā, ā, ka nui kē te whiwhi mahi a te tangata. I tōna hokinga mai ki tōna kāinga ake, ka whakahokia e ia te tātaki kupu mai o tōna īngoa kia noho ko Whaitiri, ka mahue i a ia te īngoa o Lloyd. Ka tīmata tana mahi mā te pōari wāhapu o Awarua (Bluff Harbour Board), hei kaiwhakahaere mō te kārau kōkohu. Whai atu i tēnā ko ia te kaipūkaha i te waka Rānui, he mahi ika te mahi i Te Rua-o-te-moko (Fiordland). Ko ia anō hoki te kāpene o te rōnihi paerata, kāpene wakatō mō te kamupene e mahi ana ki te whakatū i te wāpu hou o Awarua. I noho a ia mō tētahi wā poto nei hei pāhi mō tētahi mahi toka kurutē i Greenhills, ā, nō muri mai ka noho a ia hei kaiwhakahaere wheketere mō Fowler me Roderique, he kaihokohoko ika, tio nei tā rātou mahi. Heoi anō ko tana mahi whakamutunga i utua rā a ia ko tērā i a ia i te poari wahapū o Murihiku (Southland Harbour Board) e kaimahi ana, ā, whai ake i tērā he kaimataara tana mahi, ka mutu. Nō te tau 1976 i whakatā a ia.
I a ia i Te Ika-a-Māui e pōti kē mai ana ia i tētahi rohe pōti whānui, ēngari i tana hokinga atu ki Awarua, ka tīmata tana mahi mā ngā Māori o te hau kāinga, ka whakawhiti atu ia ki te rohe pōti Māori o Te Tai Tonga. Nō te tau 1956 i pōtitia atu a ia hei kanohi mō Murihiku ki te Poari Kaitiaki o Ngāi Tahu (Ngāitahu Trust Board), ā, tae rawa mai ki te tau 1986 tana roa i te poari. Ka nui te kaha i pau i a ia ki te whakapakari mai i te whakahaere o te poari, whakahiwa ake hoki i te mauri ora o ngā Māori o Murihiku. Whakatūria ana a ia hei hēkeretari mā te Poari Kaitiaki o Hokonui (Hokonui Trust Board) i te tau 1967, hei heamana hoki mō te komiti kaiwhakahaere ā-iwi o Murihiku, ā, hei mema taketake hoki mō te Kaunihera Māori o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Māori Council). He mema anō hoki a Whaitiri nō te komiti kaiwhakahaere o te Kaunihera Māori o te Takiwā o Te Waipounamu (Te Waipounamu District Māori Council), ā, nō muri rawa mai i whakatūria a ia hei kaiwhakahaere mō te kamupene tiaki pānga o Murihiku (Murihiku Holdings).
Ahakoa kua whakatā kē nei ia, i nuku kē atu te nui o āna mahi, ka riro nei ko ia hei kanohi mō ngā Māori, me Ngāi Tahu tonu hoki. I whai wāhi atu anō hoki ia ki ngā poari me nga komiti pērāka i te Rūnanga Matua, i te komiti mō ngā Motu Tītī (Tītī Island Committee), i te poari o te tahua ngore whakamaumahara ki a Ngārimu VC me te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) (Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund), me te Poari Kaitiaki o Waitangi mō te Motu (Waitangi National Trust Board). Nō te tau 1962 i tāpaea atu e te Kaupapa Mātauranga mō te Iwi Māori (Māori Education Foundation) tā rātou tiwhikete hei whakatau i a ia hei mema pūmau tonu, ā, nuku atu i tēnā i ūhia anō hoki a ia ki te tohu kaumātua (Kaumātua Award) e Te Waka Toi (Council for Māori and South Pacific Arts). Nō te tau 1990 i kōwhiria a ia e tana iwi hei ūpoko mō te Rūnanganui o Tahu.
Kīhai i mutu mai i ngā Māori anake ngā mahi hapori a Whaitiri. Toru tekau mā tahi tau a ia i te komiti whakahaere o te rōpū mō ngā hōia mōrehu (RSA) o Awarua; tekau tau a ia e perehitini ana mō taua rōpū, ā, ūhia ana a ia ki te tohu i tino hiahiatia nei, ki te Whetū Kōura (Gold Star). I te takiwā o te tekau tau atu i 1970 i noho a ia hei perehitini mō te peka o Awarua o te uniana o ngā kaimahi a te poari wahapū o Aotearoa (New Zealand Harbour Board Employees Union). Anā kē atu hoki te maha o ngā komiti me ngā poari i whai wāhi atu ia, arā, i te poari pāka mō te iwi whānui o Te Rua-o-te-moko (Fiordland National Park Board), i te poari wai o Murihiku (Southland Catchment Board), i te kaunihera kotahi o Murihiku (Southland United Council) me te poari mō ngā rohe pāka me ngā rāhui o te motu o Murihiku (Southland National Parks and Reserves Board).
Hau kē ana te karanga whānui a te iwi i ngā kaumātua maioha kē nei, i ngā Whaitiri, arā, i a ‘Uncle Bob’ rāua ko ‘Aunty Mary’. Kāore i ārikarika te mōhio o Whaitiri ki te whakapapa, ki te tikanga Māori, me ngā kōrero tuku iho ā-rohe, me ā te motu hoki. He nui tonu te tono tohutohu mai a te tangata ki a ia, tono āwhina, tono rongo kōrero noa mai rānei. Pai noa ana tana whakatau i ngā tono mai, arā, he whakatau nei tāna ki tā te wairua whakatau o ōna tūpuna.
Nō te 11 o Hūrae o te tau 1996 i hinga mai a Robert Whaitiri i Waihopai (Invercargill). Nō mua atu i a ia te matenga atu o Ida i te tau 1973, ā, mahue mai ana tana tamāhine, tana mokopuna tāne, me ngā mokopuna tuarua tokotoru. Nō ngā wāhi katoa mai o te motu ngā tāngata i tae ake ki tana tangihanga i te marae o Te Rau Aroha i Awarua. Ahakoa te haruru o te hau, te pukepuke o te moana, haria atu ana a ia mā te waka tere ki te motu o Ruapuke tāpuke ai i te taha o ōna tūpuna, otirā, he mea hari atu ia e rātau mā e māia ana ki te kino o te rangi, te tohu rā o tēnei mea, o te rangatira o te tonga tawhiti o Te Waipounamu.