Ngā Mahi Wāhine: ki te W.A.A.F, ki ngā pāmu rānei?

Mai i te marama o Noema 1942, ka noho te iwi Māori i raro i te mana o ngā tikanga ā-kāwana mō te mahi, arā i ngā Industrial Man-power Emergency Regulations.  Engari, he mea whakatū he komiti ā-iwi i raro i te maru o te Māori War Effort Organisation, ā, i whakaae te kāwanatanga kia waiho mā aua komiti ā-iwi te taha Māori e whakarite.  Ka tonoa ngā kaimahi Māori e aua komiti ā-iwi ki ngā hinonga whakahirahira o te motu, engari, ka arongia hoki e rātou kia uru pai ā rātou tāngata ki aua momo mahi, kia tika ai tā te Māori āwhina i ngā mahi pakanga.[1]

Engari, i ētahi wā ka whakanohoia e ngā āpiha kāwanatanga he Māori ki ngā mahi kē; kāore ā rātou kōrero ngātahi ko ngā komiti ā-iwi.  Nā konei i pāiriiri ai te iwi, inarā ka tonoa ngā taitamāhine ki ngā tāone nunui.  Ko te whakaaro, ka kaumaru kē ngā wāhine kia tata ā rātou mahi ki te kāinga, e whaihua ai ā rātou mahi mō te pakanga.  I whakamaharatia hoki te kāwanatanga e te Mema o te Tai Rāwhiti, e Tā Āpirana Ngata ki ō rātou herenga ki te iwi Māori.  E ai ki a ia, ka taea e ngā Pākehā ā rātou taitamāhine te tiaki, heoi mā te ārai anake i ngā whakawai “whakarihariha” o ngā tāone ngā wāhine Māori e tiakina ai.[2]

I āwangawanga hoki a Ngata i te poapoa mai o te Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.  I te tino pīrangitia te W.A.A.F., ā, i te karanga mai kia uru ki roto i taua rōpū i Hānuere 1941, tokomaha ngā wāhine i whakahoki. E ai ki tētahi kairīpoata niupepa, “Evidently, Air Force blue is to be high fashion”.[3]  Engari, ka kumea atu hoki ngā tini wāhine e tō rātou hiahia ki te uru ki ngā tino mahi mō te pakanga, ā, kia mārama kehokeho ā rātou mahi āwhina.[4]  I te Tai Rāwhiti, tokoiti ngā wāhine i anga atu ki ngā mahi pāmu, engari, ka tahuri te mahi a te wahine, Māori mai, Pākehā mai, ki te uru ki roto i te W.A.A.F.[5]

I mahi ētahi o ēnei wāhine i ngā mahi hangarau, hei tauira, hei tūhuru i ngā ngaru waerehe (radio location), engari he mea tono te nuinga hei kaimahi tari, hei kuki, hei kaimahi kākahu, hei kaiāwhina mō ngā tākuta me nga rata niho, hei taraiwa, hei kaiwhiti waea, hei kaitiaki utauta, hei karere, hei kaiwhakatika-whare hoki.  I whakaae katoa ēnei wāhine kia mahia te mahi, ahakoa he aha, tae atu ki te mutunga o te pakanga.[6] 

E mārama ana ki a Ngata ngā take i whakawarea ai ngā wāhine ki te W.A.A.F.  Arā, “What girl did not like to appear in uniform at aerodromes?”  Engari, ka toro ana ia ki ngā puni waka rererangi, ka kitea e ia, he whakatika whare te tino mahi a ngā wāhine Māori.  I Hūrae 1943, ka meatia e ia, he whakaari, he whakameremere noa, ā rātou mahi ki reira.  E ai ki a ia, kāore rātou e matea ana, ā, kāore he tini wāhine Pākehā hei hūkui kaupapa, hei mahi moenga?[7]

He whakaaro kaha ō Ewhera Kātene ki tēnei take, ki ētahi atu hoki.  He kuia ia nō tētahi whānau nui, ā, ki tōna whakaaro, he āhua koretake ngā mahi whakahaere a J. E. Thomas, a te tumuaki whakarite i ngā kai me ngā raihana (Food and Rationing Controller).[8]    He rite tonu tā te motu whakahē ki āna mahi, engari ka karohia e Thomas ēnei kupu hahani, e kī ana,  ka tika tonu kia raihanatia ngā kai e whakatipua ana i Aotearoa nei, nā te mea, he mahi rahi rawa atu te whāngai i ngā tāngata me ngā hōia ki te motu nei, me ngā tini hōia Marikena i te Moana Nui a Kiwa.[9]

He whakaaro kē tō Ewhera.  I Pēpuere 1944, ka tuhia e ia he reta ki te New Zealand Herald, i hāpaingia ai he huarahi kē e taea ai ngā tāngata katoa te manaaki, arā, kia whāia ngā tikanga e hauora nei, e whāngaitia nei, tōna ake whanau Māori i te wā pakanga nei.  I meatia tāna ake tama hei tauira. He whānau nui hoki tōna, ā, ka ongeonge ngā kai o tōna kāinga i ētahi wā.  Nā reira, ka tono mai ia kia tukuna atu he pata, he mīti, he pēkana.  Ka mōhio a Ewhera, ka hiahiatia hoki aua kai hei whāngai i ērā atu tamariki āna; nā reira ka whakanuitia āna kai e whakatipu nei, ā, kāore he tangata e hemokai ana.

E ai ki a Ewhera, ki te kore tāna tikanga e whaia e Thomas, me rīhaina ia, ā, kia waiho āna mahi mā ngā wāhine Māori.  Mā rātou e whakatipu, e whakahaere, e whakarite ngā mahi kai katoa o te motu.  Koia anō, me unu ngā wāhine e toru rau, Māori mai Pākehā mai, i ngā mahi tauā, “where they were a big expense to government, dolled up in pretty uniforms, cleaning buttons and boots for men, and running messages.” Me whakanoho rātou ki ngā pāmu kia nui ai te whakaputanga o ngā poaka, o ngā hipi, me te pata hoki.  Ka nui ngā kai; kāore he tūroro. “The pakeha way is not the Maori way and it is no good”.[10]

Whakaahua: Unidentified W.A.A.F.s.  Puna: Paenga, gp 5, 18 Oct 1946. Nelson Provincial Museum, Geoffrey C Wood Collection: 199926.

Nā, he pātai ā mātou.

I uru he wāhine nō tō whānau ki roto i te W.A.A.F.?  He kōrero ō tō whānau, he whakaahua rānei?

I pēhea ngā tikanga raihana mō tō whānai i te wā pakanga?

[1] Gisborne Herald, 18 Ākuhata 1942, Otago Daily Times, 7 Noema 1942.

[2] Auckland Star, 2 Hūrae 1943.

[3] Evening Post, 30 Hānuere 1941.

[4] Auckland Star, 30 Hānuere 1941.

[5] Gisborne Herald, 9 Mei 1942.

[6] Northern Advocate, 12 Tīhema 1941.  Tirohia hoki: J.V.T. Baker, Chapter 5 “Increasing Pressure on Manpower”, War Economy, Wellington: Historical Publications Branch, 1965.

[7] Auckland Star, 2 Hūrae 1943.

[8] New Zealand Herald, 28 Pēpuere 1944.

[9] Evening Post, 22 Hūrae 1943.

[10] New Zealand Herald, 28 Pēpuere 1944.