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Kōrero: Whaitiri, Te Waari Kahukura

Whārangi 1: Haurongo

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Whaitiri, Te Waari Kahukura

1912–1996

Nō Ngāti Mutunga, nō Ngāi Tahu; he kaumoana kāpene, he kaimahi 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 Pēpuere, 2006. He mea whakamāori nā Ngā Tangata Taumata Rau.

Nō te 11 o Hepetema o te tau 1912 i whānau ai a Te Waari (Ward) Kahukura Whaitiri ki Kairākau i Wharekauri, arā, ko te īngoa Moriori ko Rēkohu (Chatham Islands). Ko ōna mātua ko Meriana Ngāpohe Rāwiri o Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāi Tahu, rāua ko tana tāne, ko Te Wera Wiremu (William) Whaitiri, he kaimahi noa, he heremana nō Ngāi Tahu anō. He whanaunga ia nō te whānau Whaitiri o Ruapuke. E ono tau noa tōna pakeke ka mate nei tōna whaea, riro kē ana ia nā ngā mātua whāngai i whakatipu. I a ia tonu i te karaihe tuarua i te kura o Te One i te tau 1923, i oma atu ia ki te moana. He pānga kaha tō te whānau o ngā Whaitiri ki te moana, ā, ka tika tonu a Te Waari ki te mau tonu ki tēnei tikanga a ōna tūpuna. Kia taea ai tana whiwhi i te tūranga taitama raho, tekau mā tahi nei tōna pakeke, ka rūkahuhia e ia ōna tau. Noho ake ana ia i te tūranga o raro rawa ake, ko tētahi o āna mahi he tapitapi i ngā tōkena o te kāpene. Ahakoa ko te reo Māori tonu tana reo tuatahi, ka noho nei ko te moana hei whare kura mōna, i tere tonu te mau i a ia o te reo Pākehā, me te mahi kaumoana hoki; whakatōkia ana ki roto i a ia ngā tikanga o te raupapa, o te manawanui, me te whakawhirinaki kore hoki. Ka kaha ake nei ōna pūkenga me ōna mōhiotanga ki ngā mahi, ka tīmata te piki haere o tana tūranga. Nō te 3 o Āperira i te tau 1940 i moea ai e Te Waari te hāwini nei a Norma Sybil Lord, i Poihākena (Sydney) i Ahitereiria. Tokotoru wā rāua tamariki, tokorua nei i pakeke.

I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao e mahi mai ana a Te Waari i runga i ngā tāruru o te taua moana kaihoko e rere atu nei i Peretānia ki Murmansk, ā, e whā kē nei ngā pohūwaitanga i tōna kaipuke. Manawanui ana a Te Waari, me ka mutu nei te pakanga, me whiwhi rawa ia i tōna ake mana whakahau, ā, ka noho nei ia ki te pānui pukapuka, tohutohutia hoki e ana āpiha. Nō te tau 1946 i tīmata ai tana mahi heremana mō te kamupene hari taonga, hanga mīhini rino o Anchor (Anchor Shipping and Foundry Company) i Whakatū (Nelson). I mua i tana hokinga atu ki taua kamupene rā, he wā poto nei ia i te kamupene uniana o ngā kaipuke korohū o Aotearoa (Union Steamship Company of New Zealand). Nō te tau 1947 i mana ai te wehenga o rāua ko tana wahine tuatahi, ā, nō te 26 o Āperira o te tau 1949 i moea e ia a Rita Charlotte Finall i Pōneke (Wellington). Tokorua ngā tamariki i puta i a rāua.

Nō te tau 1951 i whakamātau a Te Waari kia riro mai tana tiwhikete mātauranga hei kāpene hokohoko toi whenua (Home Trade Masters Certificate of Competency), ā, ka toa nei ia i tana tohenga whakahē i te whakaritenga a ngā kaiwhakamātau o Rānana (London) ki te tika o ana whakautu. Otirā, riro mai ana i a ia tana tiwhikete i te tau 1952. Ko Te Waari tētahi o ngā Māori tuatahi i puta nei hei kaumoana kāpene, ā, ko ia nei hoki tētehi o ngā Māori, tokorua nei rāua, i tohua hei kāpene tima i ngā tau atu i te tau 1952 ki 1975. Rua tekau mā toru ngā tau o Te Waari e whakahau ana i ngā waka o te kamupene o Anchor, he harihari utanga tukipū nei wā rātou i ngā takutai o Aotearoa nei. Ko ētehi o ngā waka nāna nei i kāpene ko Zephyr II, ko Tītoki, ko Nīkau, ko Pūriri, ko Mamaku, me Tōtara. He tima pakupaku noa te nuinga o aua kaipuke rā, kāore i nuku atu i te mano tana te nui. Ahakoa he kāpene raupapa pākaha nei a Te Waari, he kāpene tōtika tonu ia; ka hoki mai ana ia ki tahaki, kāore i rerekē ake ana whakahaere i āna tamariki.

Nō te tau 1975 i whakamutua ai tana mahi. Nā te mahi taumanu tonu a ngā kamupene, me te whakakapinga i te momo waka pakupaku ko Whaitiri te kāpene, ki te waka puoto rōra atu, rōra mai, i kaha rerekē ai te mahi umanga kaumoana. Ahakoa i horokukū tonu nei tana hokinga mai, ā, i mau tonu hoki ana hononga atu ki ngā heremana; waitohua ana a Te Waari hei perehitini tuarua mō te rōpū mō ngā tāngata o mua o te taua moana a te Karauna (Ex Royal Naval Men’s Association) ā, noho ake ana hoki ia hei wātene, mema atu hoki ā mate noa mō te kamupene mō ngā kaumoana kāpene o Niu Tīreni (New Zealand Company of Master Mariners). Mau tonu te karanga i a ia ko ‘te Kāpene’. Puta noa i tana tau e rima tekau i te moana, whakautiuti ana te mau kaka mai a Te Waari, i tana hokinga mai ki tahaki, whanonga tūtika ana tana mau i a ia, mau piri tonu ia ki tā te rangatira tikanga.

Nō te tau 1975 i tīmata ai tana mahi mā te Tari Māori (Department of Māori Affairs), i raro i te karanga he hoa nei nō te kōti, he āwhina nei tāna mahi i ngā taitamariki Māori me ērā hoki o ngā motu o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, e raruraru ana i te ture. He kaha tonu tana mahi ki te whakamātau ake i a ia ki te kōrero Māori, ā, whāia hoki i whakauru atu anō ia ki te karapu mō ngā rangatahi Māori o Ngāti Pōneke (Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club). Mō ēnei mahi āna, i whakawhiwhia a ia ki te tohu manukura Māori o Aotearoa (New Zealand Māori Leadership Award) i te tau 1981. I te tau 1984, i te whakaaturanga o te ōpera a Witi Ihimaera rāua ko Ross Harris, ko Waituhi rā te īngoa, riro ana te wāhanga kaumātua o taua ōpera i a Te Waari. I whai wāhi atu anō hoki ia ki ētehi pikitia ruarua nei i runga i te pouaka whakaata, ā, i te tau 1987 ka riro nāna i whakahaere he petihana hei whakatū i tētehi teihana reo irirangi Māori nei ki Pōneke.

Waitohua ana hoki a ia hei mema ā mate noa ake mō te karapu whakangahau o Pōneke (Wellington Savage Club), me te karapu anō hoki o te rōpū mō te ārai atu i te mahi whakawiri i ngā kararehe (SPCA). Nō mua tata tonu mai o te mutunga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao kua whakauru kē atu rā ia ki taua rōpū. Nō te tau 1988 i riro mai i a ia te tohu a te rōpū rā, ā, nō te marama o Mei o te tau 1996 i whakatūria a ia hei kaiwhakaruruhau mō te rōpū mātai kararehe o Pōneke (Wellington Zoological Society). I whai wāhi atu anō hoki a Te Waari ki ngā rōpū o te hunga mātāpuputu nei o Pōneke. He mema anō hoki ia nō te kaupapa ‘tau kōura’ mō te hunga whakatā (Golden Age Movement), perehitini atu hoki mō te rōpū o te hunga penihana, hunga huanga. Nō te tau 1987 i whakawhiwhia a ia ki te tohu kirirarau (Civic Award) o te Kaunihera o Pōneke (Wellington City Council); whāia hoki nō te tau 1990 i ūhia anō a ia ki te tohu whakahōnore QSM mō āna mahi mā tana hapori.

I mate a Te Waari Whaitiri i tōna kainga i Te Awa-a-Taia (Kilbirnie), i te 26 o Noema i te tau 1996. I te marae i Pipitea te tangihanga ki a ia. Rewa ana ngā poroporoaki atu a tōna whānau, a ōna hoa, a ōna hoa mahi ki te koroua heremana nei, e whakatika ana i te wharaunga whakamutunga atu ki Hawaiki. Nō te tau 1987 i mate atu ai tana wahine; tokowhā nei ngā tamariki a Te Waari Whaitiri e ora tonu ana ka mate atu ia.

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Reina Ann Whaitiri. 'Whaitiri, Te Waari Kahukura', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000, updated o Pēpuere, 2006. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/biographies/5w21/whaitiri-te-waari-kahukura (accessed 29 March 2024)