He Tohu Aroha – He Kohi Moni mō te Taraka Kai

Ahakoa i tawhiti te nuinga o te iwi i te pae o te riri, ka whakapāngia ō rātou koiora e te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao.  Ka kōrero tēnei tuhinga mō ngā kāinga taiwhenua Māori, arā mō ngā tamariki me ā rātou tino anganui ki ngā kawekawe o te pakanga, mā te whakahaere tikanga, mā te pukumahi, me te aroha ki ngā tāne kua uru noa ki roto i te Ope Māori (28) hei hōia.

I te mutunga o te tau 1940, ka āhua 10,730 ngā tāmariki o ngā Kura Māori o te motu, ā, ko tētahi tino kawekawe o te pakanga i rongo ai rātou ko te wehenga atu o ō rātou whanaunga.[i]  Nō te 1 o Mei 1940 i haere ai te Ope Māori ki tāwāhi.  I te poroporoaki ki te Whare Ōpera i Te Papaioea, ka whakahīhī a Apirana Ngata, e mea ana, ka rite te whakahōiatanga Māori ki tētahi tangata o ia toru tekau mā rua o te iwi Māori.[ii]  Nā reira, ka kitea e te nuinga o ngā tamariki Māori he poroporoaki ki ō rātou mātua, mātua kēkē, tuākana, tungāne, kaihana hoki i taua wā pakanga.  I te tono a te Tari Kura [Education Department] kia tautokona ngā hōia i tāwāhi, ka matangareka te tū o ngā Kura Māori ki te tuku i tētahi taraka kai (mobile canteen) hei whakarato i ngā ō me te āhurutanga ki ngā hōia e tata ana ki te papa whawhai.[iii] 

Tae atu ki te marama o Mei 1941, nui atu i te £900 kua kohia e ngā Kura Māori 146 hei hoko, hei whakareri i te taraka kai mō te Ope Māori.[iv]  I te uiuinga o te Minita o ngā Kura, o Hon. Henry Mason, ka kōrero ia mō te ‘keenness of the children to contribute their pennies, never too plentiful, toward this fund.’[v] E £70 i tukuna mai e tētahi kura o Te Tai Tokerau, e 60 ōna tamariki, ā, ka apoapohia e ngā tini kura te rima hereni i te tauira; i taua wā, ka taea he pea hū, pārahirahi rānei, te hoko ki te rima hereni.[vi]

He matangareka, he auaha te whakahoki a ngā tamariki ki tēnei tono. I tētahi kura o te Urewera (kīhai i whakamōhiotia ko hea), ka tū he konohete i ia wiki i ia wiki, kotahi pene hei utu tomo; ka whakawhiti te rōpū tama me te rōpū kōtiro ki te whakarite i te konohete, ki te purei hoki.  He mahi taumaha te kohi moni, engari, ka puta mai hoki te ngahau me te pārekareka. Tua atu i ngā konohete, ka hokona e te kura ngā taonga kua hangaia e ngā tamariki, ā, ka kohia ngā rawa hangarua, pērā me te rino me te pepa, kia hokona atu.  He mea whakatakoto hoki ngā tīni ki roto i ngā karaehe hei kohi i ngā pene kāore anō kia pau i ngā konohete me ngā taonga hokohoko.  I te tukunga i tā rātou koha mō te taraka kai ki te Minita o ngā Kura, ka tuhia e taua kura he reta i kōrerotia ai te hiahia o ngā tamariki, ‘to help and show the men we have not forgotten them’, me te tūmanako, ka whiwhia e ia kura e ia kura he whakaahua iti o te taraka kai.[vii]  Ki ngā tamariki rātou ko ō rātou whānau, ehara te kohikohi moni i te mahi noa; i te kakare te tau o te ate i te wehenga o ngā tāne o ō rātou kāinga, ā, nā te kohi moni ka taea rātou te tautoko.

I te Pakanga Tuatahi, nā ngā tini rōpū o te motu e whakataetae ana, e inoi ana mō ā rātou ake pūtea, i whakatautetia ai ngā mahi tautoko i te pakanga. Nā reira, i te Pakanga Tuarua, ka whakatūria te National Patriotic Fund Board kia kotahi ai te tono mō te moni.  Engari, ki ngā whānau me ngā kāinga, i te mahi rātou ki te tautoko i ngā tāngata o ō rātou ake kāinga.  Ka kitea tēnei e ngā mahi a ngā tamariki o te Kura o Pukepoto i “taurimatia” ai ngā tauira o mua o te kura kua haere ki tāwāhi.  I kohi moni ngā tamariki, ā, ka nitinitihia he taonga kia whaoria ki roto i ngā koha Kirihimete ki ngā hōia 16 i te mura o te ahi, me te tokoono i roto i ngā puni herehere.[viii]

He mahi ngoto te kohi moni mō te taraka kai nō roto nō te wā roa i anga ai ngā tamariki ki te tautoko i ō rātou whanaunga ki tāwāhi.  Nā ngā konohete, nā te kohi pātara karaihe, nā te hoko i ngā taonga he mea hānga ki te kura, i mahi moni ai te Kura o Pukepoto mō te pūtea taraka kai.  Engari, tuku moni ana hoki rātou ki te Rīpeka Whero, mahi moni ana mō ngā koha ki ngā hōia, hoko wūru ana hoki mō ā rātou mahi nitiniti.  Mai i Oketopa ki Tīhema o te tau 1939, ka whakaakona ngā tamariki katoa kia nitiniti i ngā tapawhā kuira (peggy-square quilts) mō ngā koha mō te hunga kua whati mai i a Hītara mā.  Tae atu ki Tīhema 1941, kua mīharo ngā mahi nitiniti a ngā tamariki hei tautoko i te pakanga; e 950 ngā mea, arā, e 352 pōtae uhi, e 291 ngā kāmeta, e 297 pea karapu [mittens], e 5 pōraka, ā, e 5 pea tōkena.[ix]  I rapuhia e ētahi kaiako (hei tauira, e ngā mea o Pukepoto) kia whakaurua ēnei mahi a ngā tamariki ki roro i ngā akoranga o te kura.  I pōtitia e ngā tamariki o te kura tō rātou komiti mātua hei whakahaere i ngā mahi kohi moni, ā, ka whakaakona kia whakaritea ngā kaute, he mea hihira e ngā kaitirotiro kura o te rohe.[x]

I tautokona ngā tamariki e ō rātou iwi kia mahi moni, kia hāpaingia hoki ngā mahi pakanga.  I Pukepoto, ka hui ngā wāhine me ngā taitamāhine i ia wiki i ia wiki mō ngā karaehe nēhi, āwhina whānau hoki. I ia marama, ka mene rātou mō te hui tuitui, ki te tapitapi kākahu, ki te tuitui, ki te whakapai hoki i ngā mea o te Hōhipera o Kaitaia.  Ka whakanuitia hoki e ngā wāhine o te rohe ngā mahi a ngā tamariki me ngā rangatahi; nā ā rātou purei kāri i ia rua wiki, ka kohi moni rātou ki te hoko i te waerehe mō te kura hei koha mō tō rātou pukumahi me ā rātou mahi moni. [xi] 

I ētahi wā, ka whakaurua ngā kohi moni mō te pakanga ki ā te iwi mahi tūturu o mua.  I ngā wāhi taiwhenua, he rorotu ngā karapu kāwhe i akona ai te whakatipu kāwhe, i whāngaia ai e ngā tamariki ā rātou ake kāwhe.  Ā, i tautokona kahatia hoki ēnei karapu i roto i ngā Kura Māori kia taunga ngā tauira Māori ki ngā mahi pāmu.[xii]  I hoatu e ētahi Kura Māori ā rātou i kohi mai ai i ō rātou rā karapu-kāwhe ki te tono mō te taraka kai.  Hei tauira te Kura o Nūhaka nāna i kohi te £20 i tō rātou rā-kāwhe ā-tau i Tīhema 1940.  Ka whakarārangitia ngā kāwhe a ngā tamariki kia tirotirohia, ā, ka whakawhiwhia e te Nūhaka Co-operative Dairy Company he kapu hiriwa ki te tamaiti o te kāwhe tiamupiana. Kātahi rātou ka kai i te hāngī.[xiii]

I te marama o Mei 1941, ka tukuna katoa ngā moni i kohia e ngā Kura Māori ki te Patriotic Fund Board kia hokona, kia whakareria hoki he taraka kai.  Ko te taraka o ngā Kura Māori tētahi o ngā taraka e rima he mea hoko e te kohi pūtea a te hapori.  E rua nā ngā kaimahi o Woolworths New Zealand, kotahi nā te New Zealand Federation of Shop Assistants, ā, ko te tuarima nā tētahi Rōpū Masonic.  Nō te 20 Ākuhata 1941 i tū ai he hui ki te Whare Pāremata, kia tukuna atu aua taraka kai ki te Ope Tauā.  Ko te Kāwana Tienara, ko Sir Cyril Newall hei tumuaki. I reira hoki ngā mema pāremata (me Tā Āpirana Ngata); ka whakarongo te marea ki ngā whaikōrero, ka tirotiro ai rātou i ngā taraka.[xiv]

E toru tana me te hāwhe te taumaha o tēnā taraka, o tēnā taraka; he mea peita ki ngā momo kakariki e rua hei kirihuna.  He taika-penehīni tāpiri ō ngā taraka kai, ā, he taika-wai me ngā papu kia rere te wai ki tētahi tāpu i roto i te taraka.  Nā te tuwhera o tētahi taha o te taraka, ka meatia he tuanui iti, he paenga hoki hei whakarato kai ki ngā hōia.  I te taha o ia taraka te ingoa o te hunga takoha.[xv]  I roto i te reo Pākehā, i te reo Māori hoki ngā kupu o te taraka kai mō te Ope Māori.

Presented to the Maori Battalion as a token of love from the children of the Native Schools of New Zealand.

He Tohu Aroha na nga Tamariki o nga Kura Maori o Niu Tireni ki te Ope Whawhai o te Iwi Maori e tau mai ra i te Pae o te Pakanga i te Mura o te Ahi.

E ai ki ngā rīpoata niupepa, he ‘Toru Aroha’ te taraka kai o te Ope Māori, arā, he ‘Token of Love’ nō ngā tamariki Māori ki ō rātou whanaunga tāne e whawhai ana ki tāwāhi.  Ka whaikōrero te Kāwana Tienara, ka whakanuitia te koha nei a ngā tamariki: ‘There is nothing like a children’s gift for touching the heart.’ I meatia hoki e Tā Cyril Newall, he whakahirahira ngā taraka kai hei tautoko, hei awhi i ngā hōia ki te pae o te riri; ka kīa hoki, ‘these gifts…catered for the inner comforts of man, and sometimes in war that was the most difficult place to comfort.’[xvi]

I te putanga mai o te taraka kai ki te pae o te pakanga i Noema 1941, ka tino rangona tēnei awhi e ngā tāngata o te Ope Māori.  I tōna taenga mai ki te whawhai a te Ope i Rīpia, ka tuhi mai te tiaparani, a Kāpene Harawira, ki a Tā Āpirana Ngata:

E Api, heke ana te roimata i te mea e korero ana i nga tuhituhi.  Ae ra, e te whanau ma tae mai ana ta koutou taonga ki te mura ra no o te ahi.[xvii]

He ngākau whakaaroharoha ō ngā hōia, nā te mea kua whakahaeretia, kua utua hoki te taraka kai mō rātou e ngā tamariki kura.  He tohu ā-tinana tēnei nō te aroha me te tautoko o ō rātou whānau, o te hau kāinga.

I te pakipūmeka o te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa mō te Rā ANZAC o 1980, ka kōrero he pāraeroa nō te Ope Māori mō ō rātou whakaaro mō te taraka kai me te kohi moni a ngā tamariki. E ai ki tētahi pāraeroa, he tino taonga te taraka kai, nā te mea, kua kohia te pūtea ‘solely by school children, a penny here, a penny there, a penny there.’ Nā reira, he ‘morale booster’ tēnei i ngā wā i whawhai ai rātou, ā, he tino hononga ki te kāinga. Ki tōna mahara, ‘[When] you saw it you saw tau iwi, your people, everything.’[xviii] Ko ngā kupu whakapoto a tētahi atu pāraeroa: ‘It’s a thing that has been donated to us by the organisation of the children. Through that, it has its mana.’[xix]

Ki ngā hōia Māori, he hononga ā-tinana te taraka kai ki te wā kāinga, i manatuhia ai ngā tāngata o te kāinga, tae atu ki ngā tamariki pakupaku e tohe ana, e kaha mahi ana ki te tautoko i ā rātou tāne e whawhai ana ki tāwāhi.[xx]

Ko te kohi moni mō te pakanga he mahi nā te hapori katoa. Mā tēnei tauira o te tono kia tukuna he taraka kai ki te Ope Māori, ka kitea te urunga o ngā tamariki ki roto i ngā mahi hei tautoko i te pakanga.  Ka whakamahi rātou i ngā takunetanga o mua hei kohinga moni, ā, ka meatia he mea hou kia riro ai he kapa mō te pūtea.  Ka whakapaua he wāhanga nō te wā kura hei kohi moni, ā, ka āhei ngā kaiako te whakaako i ngā pūkenga hou, arā, i te nitiniti me te whakahaere kaute.  Ka roa te wā i muri i te pakanga, i tū tonu ai te ngākau whakahīhī o ngā tamariki i tā rātou mahi whakamīharo i roto i ngā marama e ono i kohi moni ai kia utua, kia tukuna he taraka kai mō ō rātou whanaunga ki tāwāhi.

Whakaahua: Te Taraka Kai o te Ope Māori, Te Rau Aroha. Ref: 1987.1510, New Zealand Army Museum. 

[i] AJHR, 1941, E3, 6.

[ii] Monty Soutar, Nga Tama Toa The Price of Citizenship (Auckland: David Bateman, 2008), 66.

[iii] ‘Mobile Canteens,’ Nelson Evening Mail, Mei 22, 1941, 2.

[iv] AJHR, 1941, E3, 6; ‘For Maori Troops,’ Evening Post, 22 Mei 1941, 11.

[v] ‘Funds for Canteen,’ Gisborne Herald, 22 Mei 1941, 9.

[vi] ‘Annual Winer Sale – Advert, Stewart Robinson,’ The Press, 30 Hūrae 1940, 11.

[vii] ‘Mobile Canteens,’ Nelson Evening Mail, 22 Mei 1941, 2.

[viii] ‘Pukepoto Native School “Adopts” Soldier Ex-Pupils,’ Northern Advocate, 8 Tīhema 1941, 7.

[ix] ‘Pukepoto Native School “Adopts” Soldier Ex-Pupils’.

[x]  ‘Pukepoto Native School “Adopts” Soldier Ex-Pupils’.

[xi] ‘Pukepoto Native School “Adopts” Soldier Ex-Pupils’.

[xii] AJHR, E-3, 1940, 2.

[xiii] ‘School Calf Clubs,’ Gisborne Herald, 4 Tīhema 1940, 3.

[xiv] ‘Mobile Canteens,’ Evening Post, 20 Ākuhata 1941, 6.

[xv] ‘Mobile Canteens,’ Evening Post, 20 Ākuhata 1941, 6.

[xvi] ‘Mobile Canteens,’ Evening Post, 20 Ākuhata 1941, 6.

[xvii] Reta, Kahi T. Harawira ki a Ngata, 30 Tīhema 1941, MS Papers-6919-0782, he mea tuhi i roto i ‘Te Rau Aroha,’ 28^th Māori Battalion, https://www.28maoribattalion.org.nz/memory/te-rau-aroha/, he wāhanga nō te tarāwhe o tā Monty Souter’s Nga Tama Toa, 2008, 194, he mea titiro i te 28 Hepetema, 2021. 

[xviii] Te Roopu Rua Tekau-ma-waru a Tu: 28 Māori Battalion, pakipūmeka he mea pāho i te 25 Āperira 1980, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa, he mea whakaputa e Stephen Riley rāua ko Whai Ngata. Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision, https:ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catague-item?record_id=238442, he mea titiro i te 28 Hepetema, 2021.

[xix] Te Roopu Rua Tekau-ma-waru a Tu: 28 Māori Battalion, Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision.

[xx] Kia kitea he kōrero mō Te Rau Aroha i te pae o te riri, tirohia National Army Museum, ‘Te Rau Aroha’, https://www.armymuseum.co.nz/te-rau-aroha/, he mea titiro i te 22 Oketopa, 2021.