Ōku Wheako Whaiaro

Nā, ko tēnei haerenga āku, he mea tāroa rawa. I te tīmatanga mai o tēnei hinonga, nāku anō i pōhēhē ka mutu wawe au i te mutunga mai o 2020. Engari mo tēnā! Ki ahau nei, ehara i te mea he māngere noa au, he toa rānei ki te whētōtō, ahakoa e hia kē atu ēnā wā e rewa. Engari, nā te kohinga raraunga kē o aku kaiuiui i kōpiritia ai taku āheinga. Ahakoa te hinanga haere o ngā kaumātua, waimarie tonu au ki a Nanny Raunikau rāua ko Papa Campbell mō wā rāua kōrero whakamanahau ki ngā whakaaweawe me ngā manawanuitanga i puta mai i aua rā o neherā.

Na tēnei hinonga i whai wāhi ai au kia hangaia tētahi hononga whakahirahira ki waenganui i a Nanny Raunikau. Ki taku nei mōhio, ko ia rā te pakeke o ngā kaumātua ki waenganui i tā mātou hapū. Hei tēnei tau ka pakeke ia ki te 90. Nā ōna kōrero e pā ana ki ngā wāhine he mea tauira o te whakamanatia o te wahine. He āheinga whakahirahira tēnā ōku te noho tahi me te whakarongo ki āna nā kōrero. I te wā o te raumati, ko au tērā e patipati ana i tana kuaha kia hopukina mai ōnā pūrākau, ōna maumahara katoa o ngā wā o nehe. Neke atu i te kotahi haora te roanga o taku nohonga ki tōna taha i ngā wā e whā i kite ai au i a ia. Taiāwhiowhio te rere o āna kōrero mō ngā whakaaweawe o te Pakanga Nui o te Ao Tuarua, o te wā he kaiako ia ki te marae e whakaako ana i ngā mahi o te whakapaipai whare ki ngā māmā, ngā kōhine me ngā kōtiro, pērā i te tuitui, te nitiniti, te tunu me ērā momo mahi o te whare. Tae atu ki te wā e kōrero ana ia mō tōna whakaurutanga ki te Kāhui o Hoani [St Johns]. I tētahi o aku kitenga i a Nanny Raunikau, nānā anō i whakaako ki ahau te tunu parāoa rēwana, tīmata ai i te ngārara. I aua wā tonu he mea whakahirahira mōku hei pupuri mō te hemonga tonu atu. Nā reira, e tika ana kia mihi atu ki a Lachy rāua ko Angela mō a rāua kaha whakapono i ahau kia kokea tēnei hinonga hei āheinga mō tēnei hononga kua hangaia ki waenganui i a māua ko Nanny Raunikau.

Hei tāpiri atu ki tēnā o ngā whakamihi, e tika ana kia rere ngā aumihi hoki ki a koe Uncle Harawira Pearless, nāu nei i tuari ō kōrero e pā ana ki ō mahi rangahau, ki ō mahi hōhonu o te whakamaumaharatanga o ngā mōrehu i uru patua ki te Pakanga Nui o te Ao Tuatahi me te Pakanga Nui o te Ao Tuarua. He hautupua ngā mihi ki runga i a koe, nāhau rā te whakaaro rangatira o te eatanga mai o tēnei mea te ‘Toto heke he tīpare here ki te ūkaipō” me te whakaaro whakaohooho e pā ana ki te whakawetotanga mai o Tūmatauenga i pāngia ki ngā koroua rā. Nō reira e te Matua, kia pānui koe i tēnei rīpoata āku, tū whakahihi au i ō kōrero aweawe i puta mai ai ō mahi rangahau hei pānuitanga whakamaumahara ki te motu.

E taku purapura tuawhiti, e taku kōwhatu turua, arā ki a koe Pāpā. Ahakoa te taumahatanga o ōu werotanga mō mātou ō tamariki kia wheako kau mai ngā āhuatanga o te ora. Hei te tōnga mai o te rā, ko koe tērā te poutokomanawa o te whānau e hāpai, e ārahi, e taunaki, e arohatia ana ki ā mātou mahi katoa, ahakoa te aha. Pāpā, tēnei te mihi aroha ki a koe, nāhau rā te whakatinanatanga o mātou, me tōku rīpoata kia mutu pai au i tēnei hinonga hei taonga tūturu nō te wā kāenga, i ahu mai hoki nō te wā kāenga. 

“Ngā hapū katoa o Aotearoa e

Tau awhitia rā ko tōku rongo

Kia mau te tihe mauria ora

A ngā tīpuna

Hei tohu wehi e”

            Tuini Ngawai, Arohaina Mai, 1940

Whakaahua: Te Ope Kāinga o Wharekāhika, [mai i Lloyd Lawson, Wharekāhika He Tirohanga Hou – The History of Wharekāhika/Hicks Bay Revisited, (Wharekāhika: Lloyd Lawson, 2017), wh.229.]