Te Kapa Haka me ngā Ope Taua

Ko te kaupapa o tāku rangahau ā-raumati he whakatōmene i ngā whakaaro o ngā kaihaka onāianei e waiata tonu ana i ngā waiata o te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua kā tahi, ka rua, he rapu i ngā take e mau tonu nei ēnei taonga i a rātou.  Engari, i a au e rangahau ana, e kōrero ana ki ngā tāngata i ui ai au, ka kitea e au he whakaaro hira anō, he whakaaro kē, e pā ana ki ngā mahi kapa haka i te wā pakanga.  Tua atu i te tito waiata kia whakahui tahitia ngā whānau, hapū, iwi ki te akiaki, ki te poroporoaki, ki te whakatau i ā rātou tāne, hei painga hoki ngā mahi kapa haka mō te toa o te Ope Māori i roto i ā rātou whawhai, arā, ko te parakitihi i te taiaha.

Ki ngā hōia Māori, he rākau pai rawa atu te raiwhera me te pēneti hei konihi, hei kōkiri i ō rātou hoariri, ā, nā te ōrite o te pēneti me te taiaha, ka tino matatau rātou ki tēnei mahi i ngā wā whakatū rākau. He nui ngā wā hoki i mihia ai te Ope Māori mō tō rātou whakawehi i ngā hoariri ki te haka i mua i te kōkiri pēneti.  (Kia mōhio ki te āhua nei, pāwhiringia a konei, ka haere ai ki te tekau o ngā meneti ki te whakarongo ki a C Kamupene e haka ana i tētahi haka o Ngāti Porou ki El Diyura, i Egypt, i te tau 1941.)

Ko te whawhai o Minqar Qaim, i Rīpia, i te 26 Hune 1942, te rongonui rawa atu o ngā kōkiri pēnei a te Ope Māori kia puta te ihu i ngā hoariri Tiamana.  I runga ngā hoia o Aotearoa i tētahi puke, e karapotia ana e te 21 o ngā Ope Panzer, ā, nā te kōkiri a ngā Māori i whakaorangia ai rātou ko ā rātou hoa hoki. Me kore ake ngā hōia Māori hei whakaohorere i ngā Tiamana i te pō hei waere i te ara i whati ai ō tātou hōia.  Kei konei te kōrero nui. 

Nā tōku mōhio nei ki te hira o ngā mahi kapa haka i roto i te whawhai i tahuri atu ai ahau ki te rangahau, kei te whai tikanga tonu te kapa haka me ngā waiata o te pakanga i roto i a Ngāti Tūmatauenga [NZ Army] i ēnei rā, kāore rānei?  E toru ngā tau i noho ai tētahi o ngā tāngata i ui ai au ki te papa o Waiouru, nā te mea he hōia tōna hoa rangatira.  Nā ā māua kōrerorero ka nui haere tōku mōhio ki ngā mahi kapa-haka onāianei i roto i a Ngāti Tūmatauenga.  E rua ngā kapa kei Waiouru; he kapa whakataetae tētahi, he kapa runaruna tētahi.  Kei te tino whai ēnei rōpū ki ngā waiata o Mana Whenua, engari, kāore e mahia ana ngā waiata o te Pakanga Tuarua i tukuna iho e ō rātou tīpuna.  Nā te poto pea o te wā e noho nei ngā tāngata ki Waiouru, nā te kore mōhio pea ki ngā waiata ā-pakanga ka pēnei aua rōpū.  Ko te āhua nei hoki, kāore ngā tikanga Māori e kaha whakaritea ana e Ngāti Tūmatauenga, ahakoa neke atu i te ono tekau paihēneti o ngā hōia he Māori, ā, neke atu i te iwa tekau paihēneti o ngā āpiha o ngā rōpū. 

He taonga kaio ngā rangatahi Māori nō te Hokowhitu a Tū, e titikaha ana ki ngā mahi a Ngāti Tūmatauenga i ēnei rā, pērā me ngā waiata i titoa e ō rātou tīpuna.  Ko ngā waiata katoa o te wā pakanga e waiatatia tonu ana, e arohaina ana e ngā tāngata i kōrero ai au, e pā ana ki ngā hōia o te Rōpū 28. Hei tauira, ko ‘Te Hokowhitu Toa,’ ‘E Kiwi E,’ ‘E Pari Ra,’ ‘E te Hokowhitu a Tū,’ ‘Arohaina Mai,’ ‘Pa Mai,’ me te hīmene, ‘Au E Ihu.’  Mai i te wā i uru ai ngā tāngata Māori ki roto i ngā kapa hōia o te Pakanga Tuatahi, ki ō te Tuarua hoki, kua whakahirahira ngā mahi kapa haka mō te Ope Hōia o Aotearoa tae atu ki ēnei rā.  Nā, ka tū tonu aua mahi i roto i a Ngāti Tūmatauenga, mehemea he hapori e maumahara ana, e rongo ana i te wairua o ō rātou tīpuna i roto i ēnei waiata, ā, e pāho ana i ngā kupu o mua hei whakaako i ngā reanga e heke mai nei.   

Whakaahua: I te 24 o Hune, 1941, ka haka te Ope Māori i te aroaro o te Kīngi o ngā Kariki, ki Helwan i Īhipa.

New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency.  Ref: DA-01231-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22326333