Ngā rawa rimurimu

[whakaahua: E whakairia ana ngā rimu e ngā kōtiro o te Kura Māori o Raukōkore, 1941. [2, wh.203]

Ngā rawa o te rimu

He tino taonga te rimu i te wā o te pakanga, arā te rimurimu o te moana.  Ka tīmata ngā pakihi ā-rimu i taua wā, i runga i ngā mahi rangahau a te kaipūtaio mātauranga huaota, a Lucy Moore, me ngā mahi whakahirahira a ngā whānau Māori e kohikohi rimu ana i te tekautau 1940.

Nā ngā kōpaka o te pakanga i kake ake ai te utu o te “agar”, puta noa te ao.  E whakaputaina ana te mea nei i tētahi momo rimu (Pterocladia lucida), he mea whakamaroke; he āhua rite te eikā ki te tiere, ki te pia rānei.  Nā te urunga mai o Hapanihi ki roto i te whawhai i te Tīhema o 1941 i tino hira ai tēnei rawa taiao, nā te mea, i whakaputa a Hapanihi i te nuinga o ngā eikā o te ao.  Ka katia ēnei, ka aro ērā atu whenua kia kimihia he rauemi hou, kia tirohia hoki ā rātou ake rawa.  I pēnei a Aotearoa.

He maha ngā take o te eikā. Hei tauira, e whakamahia ana mō te mahi kēne i ngā mīti i taua wā.  E tino pīrangitia ana hoki i roto i ngā hōhipera hei pia whakatipu (agar culture).  I whakawhiwhia te Davis Gelatine Co., o Ōtautahi ki te raihana, ā, mai i te marama o Hūrae, 1943, i te mahi rātou ki te panoni i ngā rimu maroke ki  “the white granulated powder which is used in bacteriological work, pharmaceutical preparations, cosmetics, some milk products, and the meat canning and confectionary industries” [1].

Ka matea ngā tini rimu (e kīa nei he “weed”) kia whaihua te whakaputa eikā. Nā reira i hiahiatia kia kitea ngā wāhi i tipu pai ai te rimu eikā, arā, he kurauri te tae, he rite te āhua ki ngā rau o te aruhe.  Kāore aua momo wāhi i tino mōhiotia i taua wā mō.  Engari i te tīmatanga o te tekautau 1940, ka āta tirotiro te kaipūtaio mātauranga-huaota o DSIR, a Lucy Moore ki ngā takutai o Aotearoa, ā, ka kitea he huhua taua rimu ki ngā ākau o Te Tai Tokerau, o te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, o Te Tai Rāwhiti hoki.  He wāhi whakahirahira hoki a Castlepoint (Rangiwhakaoma) me Cape Turnabout o te ākau rāwhiti o Manawatū, ā, ko Taranaki me Kaikōura hoki [2].

I akiaki te kāwanatanga i ngā hapori o ēnei rohe e noho tana ana ki te takutai kia kohia te rimu nei.  Nā, i tipu kaha taua rimu i ngā wāhi i nohoia ai e te Māori, e tata ana ki ngā whenua o te Māori; nā reira i arongia te Māori hei kaikohikohi [3]. Nō te tau 1942 a Moore i toro atu ai ki Te Tai Tokerau, ki te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, ki Te Tai Rāwhiti hoki hei whakanui i taua mahi, “in an endeavour to organise the industry for war purposes” [4]. I tukuna mai tētahi kohinga tōmua e ngā whānau o Te Whānau-a-Apanui o Waihau Pei [5].

I tautokona hoki e ngā niupepa ā-rohe tā te kāwanatanga kaupapa nei kia puta mai he pakihi rimu i Aotearoa nei. I akiakina ngā kaipānui kia whakina ngā rimu i te takutai (kaua i ngā wahapū) ina timu te tai, me ngā tohutohu me pēhea e horoia ai, e whakamaroketia ai, e pēretia ai.  I ākina anō hoki kia uru ngā tamariki o ngā kura Māori ki te mahi nei [6]. Mai i waenganui i te tau 1942, ka whakanuitia te kohi rimu e te karamu tamariki o te Northern Advocate (ko “The Young Northlander” te ingoa), e mea ana ko te kohi rimu hei tino hāpai i ngā take pakanga mā Te Taitokerau [7].  I whakaatuhia hoki me pēhea te rimu tika e mōhiotia paitia ai, i hea e tipu ana, ā, ka meatia kia kohia “with a dinghy or into an open mesh bag or flax kit” [8].

Me kore ake te mātauranga, ngā pūkenga me te pukumahi o te iwi Māori hei tautāwhi i te pakihi rimu o Aotearoa. E ai ki te mema pāremata o Te Taitokerau, ki a Parāire Paikea, ehara te kohi rimu i te mahi hou mā te iwi Māori. “We have always looked upon agar seaweed as a delicacy, and also karengo, which is a very close relative” [9].

I uru ngātahi ētahi hapori ki te mahi nei, hei tauira, ngā kāinga o Tūpāroa, o Whareponga, o Tokomaru, o Anaura ki te Tai Rāwhiti, ā, i te Tai-a-Toitehuatahi – “fences draped with drying seaweed are a familiar sight from Omaio to Cape Runaway” [10].  Ka kaha te kuhukuhu o ngā hapori o te ākau o Whāngāpē ki te Tai Tokerau ki roto i te umanga nei.  Ko ētahi “tend their farms and catch large quantities of fish, while a number are making a living from the collection of agar seaweed” [11].  I ētahi wāhi, nā ngā wāhine i kohikohi te rimu hei pūtea kē, i ā rātou tāne e whawhai ana ki tāwāhi, hei tauira, i Tokomaru me Maketū [12].

Tae atu ki waenganui o te tau 1944, ka whakaarohia e rua rau whānau pea, he Māori te nuinga, e tautoko ana i te pakihi eikā [13].  He mea whawhaki e whitu tekau tana rimu i te tau 1943, e iwa tekau mā rima tana i te tau e whai ana; nō te Tai Tokerau, nō te Tai-a-Toitehuatahi, nō te Īhi Kēpa te nuinga [14]. I te mutunga o te tekautau, nō Te Matau-ā-Māui, nō Ngāti Kahungunu hoki te nuinga o ngā hapori kohi rimu.

I whaihua te pakihi nei?

E ai ki ngā kōrero a ngā niupepa, he mahi whaihua te kohi rimu mā ngā hapori e tata ana ki te takutai, ina koa, mā te iwi Māori.  I te tau 1944, ka meatia mai e te Northern Advocate, “there is plenty of weed and plenty of money for the gathering” [15].  Engari, he ruarua ngā whānau i ora i te whawhaki rimu anake.  Tuatahi, ka tino mahia i te raumati, mai i Tīhema ki Āperira.  He mahi waihōngia te kohikohi: ko te ritenga ngāwari rawa atu he kohi rimu ki tātahi i muri i te pari o te tai; he pai tēnei hei tiaki i ngā rimu e tipu tonu ana [16].  I whakina hoki mai i ngā toka, mā te ruku rānei ki ngā wāhi hōhonu e pai ake nei te tipu o te rimu eikā.  Ka haere ētahi hoki ki ngā pūkawa mā runga poti, mā runga hōiho rānei [17]. He nunui ngā mahi i muri i te kohinga; “attached to agar collecting is the cleaning, sorting and baling”, ā, kia pai rawa atu te hua, “the weed has to be washed and dried at least twice before it is baled” [18]. Kātahi ka utua anō ki te wheketeri eikā i Ōtautahi.

Ahakoa i piki te utu, mai i iwa pene i te pauna (weiti) ki te kotahi hereni, mā te whawhaki i te tino huhua rawa atu o te rimu ka riro he pūtea āhua rawaka.  Hei tauira, i mua i ngā tau e rua e kohikohi ana, nā ngā whānau Māori o te Tai-a-Toitehuatahi ngā tana e 53, e £5,771 te wāriu [19]. 16 ngā tana a ngā kaiwhawhaki e 50 o Herekino-Whāngāpē ki te Tai Tokerau, £1454 te pūtea. I te tau 1944, e 8785 pauna nā ngā whānau tekau mā rima o Opononi-Ōmāpere; e £439 i utua, arā (mehemea i rite te wehewehe) e £29 mō ia whānau mō ia whānau [21].  I te wā raumati o ngā tau 1943-1944, ka wātea a Ahipara-Reef Point hei wāhi kohi rimu, ā, e 5467 pauna (e £273 te wāriu) i whakina e ngā whānau o reira [22].

Tērā pea, ka pōhēhētia he papai ēnei pūtea mō ngā marama o te raumati, engari, ehara i te tino pai ngā hua mō te nuinga o ngā whānau e mahi rimu ana.  (Hei whakaritenga, tokomaha ngā kaimahi tāne e whiwhi ana ki te £5/5/-, neke atu rānei, i te wiki [23].)  Koia anō, ka inoi atu ngā kaikohi Māori ki ō rātou mema pāremata kia tirohia te tika o ngā utu, ā, kia rapuhia he utu nui ake [24].  Engari, ko te kohi rimu he mahi hei āpiti noa atu ki ērā atu mahi whai moni, ina koa ngā wāhi taiwhenua i tautokona ai ngā mahi pāmu ki ēnei momo pūtea kē.  He moni anō hoki mehemea kua kino ngā hua o te mahi pāmu [25].  Engari, ki te whakaaro o ngā tini rangatira o ngā kāinga Māori, tua atu i te pūtea, he pai te kohi rimu hei tautoko i ngā mahi o te pakanga, hei whakarato hoki i tētahi taonga e matea ana e te motu i te wā awangawanga nei [26].

I muri i te pakanga

Nō te mutunga o te tekautau 1940, kua puta mai he pakihi nui hei mahi eikā.  Ko Davis Gelatine Co. te kamupene anake e whakaputa ana i taua taonga tae atu ki te tekautau 1970. I ēnei rā, he whakaputa eikā te tino umanga o te pakihi mahi rimu o Aotearoa. Pērā me ngā tau o te pakanga, ka waiho mā ngā hapori takutai hei tuku rimu ki ngā wheketeri i Ōpōtiki me Masterton [27]. Nō waenganui o te tekautau 1990 ko Coast Biologicals o Ōpōtiki te wheketere anake e mahi rimu ana, e 800 pea ngā kaikohi e tuku rimu ana, puta noa te motu.  Kei Ahipara, I te Tai Tokerau, he Māori te nuinga o ngā tāngata e kohi ana, e hoko ana i te rimu.  Ehara i te mea ko te moni te tino whāinga. “We can't make a living from this. We are here for land. We are out for our inheritance, not the wealth. This is not a place where you make money. Our land means more to us than anything else” [29].

Nā, i kohi rimurimu tō whānau i te wā pakanga?  Mehemea āe, whakamōhiotia mai.

NOTES

[1]       AJHR, H-44, 1944; Northern Advocate, 25 Pēpuere 1944.

[2]       AJHR, H-34, 1944; L. B. Moore, ‘New Zealand Seaweed for Agar-Manufacture’, New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology 5 (Māehe 1944), wh.183-209.

[3]       Dougal Ellis, The Wai 420 Marine Issues Report (Wellington, 2002), wh.31.

[4]       Gisborne Herald, 17 Tīhema 1942.

[5]       Bay of Plenty Beacon, 1 Hūrae 1942; AJHR, G-9, 1943.

[6]       New Zealand Herald, 27 Hune 1942.

[7]       He mea whakatū tēnei wāhanga mā ngā tamariki i te tau 1933.  Northern Advocate, 18 Oketopa 1933. Ko ‘Kupe’ rāua ko ‘Raranga’ ngā kaituhi.

[8]       Northern Advocate, 2 Hune 1942.

[9]       NZPD, Vol. 262, 1943, wh.738.

[10]     Gisborne Herald, 17 Tīhema 1943.

[11]     Northern Advocate, 19 Hune 1945.

[12]     Gisborne Herald, 10 Pēpuere 1943; Gisborne Herald, 12 Māehe 1943; Bay of Plenty Beacon, 7 Māehe 1944.

[13]     Northern Advocate, 11 Ākuhata 1944.

[14]     AJHR, H-34, 1944; AJHR, H-34, 1945.

[15]     Northern Advocate, 25 Pēpuere 1944.

[16]     Moore, p.201.

[17]     Moore, p.201.

[18]     Bay of Plenty Beacon, 28 Mei 1948.

[19]     AJHR, G-9, 1944.

[20]     Northern Advocate, 6 Hūrae 1944.

[21]     Northern Advocate, 6 Hūrae 1944.

[22]     Northern Advocate, 6 Hūrae 1944.

[23]      Evening Post, 3 Āperira 1943, wh.4.

[24]     NZPD, Vol. 262, 1943, wh.353.

[25]     Gisborne Herald, 22 Pēpuere 1947.

[26]     Otaki Mail, 16 June 1943; NZPD, Vol. 262, 1943, wh.738.

[27]      NZ Mānuka Group, Blog: http://www.nzmanukagroup.com/find-out-more/news/new-seaweed-factories-call-more-collectors/

[28]     Lindsay Clark, ‘Gardens under the sea’, New Zealand Geographic, Putanga 22, Āperira-Hune 1994: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/gardens-under-the-sea/

[29]     Josie Clarke, ‘Seaweed’s the icing on the cake’, New Zealand Herald, 2 Hānuere 2002, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/marine/news/article.cfm?c_id=61&objectid=584566