Ko ngā Wāhine Māori i roto i ngā Rōpū Hōia

Kei hea ngā kōrero mō ngā wāhine Māori i roto i ngā hītori ā-pakanga o Aotearoa?

Ahakoa ngā tini pukapuka kua whakaputaina mō te hītori hōia o Aotearoa, horekau tētahi e titiro ana ki ngā mahi a ngā wāhine Māori i roto i ngā rōpū hōia i te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao.  Heoi anō, ka kuhu rātou ki roto i te Tauā Moana, i a Ngāti Tūmataenga [tauā ā-whenua], i Te Tauaarangi [tauā rererangi] hoki, engari, kāore ā rātou pikinga, hekenga rānei, e tino mōhiotia ana.

Nā te pākanga, ka whakahaua ngā wāhine kia uru ki roto i ngā momo mahi whakahirahira o te motu, tae atu ki ngā mahi hōia.  Ka whakatuwheratia ēnei mahi e ngā rōpū hōia, ā, ka whakatakaia ngā wāhine hei rōpū motuhake e tāpiritia ana ki ngā rōpū tāne.  I Pēpuere 1942 ka tū te Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) me te Women’s Royal New Zealand Navy Service (WRNZNS). Engari ko te rōpū wāhine tuatahi ko te Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), i Hānuere 1941.  I mahi tahi ēnei rōpū e toru i te taha o te Women’s War Service Auxiliary (WWSA) kia kimihia he wāhine papai, kia whakaurua hoki ki roto i tētahi o ngā rōpū. 10,000 ngā wāhine katoa o Aotearoa i mahi i roto i ēnei rōpū hōia i te wā pakanga.

Kei te rangahaua te WAAF ināianei e tētahi tauira hītori (kōeke hōnore), ko Stacey Fraser tōna ingoa.  Tata ki te 4750 ngā wāhine i kuhu ki roto i te WAAF, e mahi ana ki ngā tini teihana RNZAF, puta noa te motu.[1]  Tokoiti ngā wāhine i mahi hei kaiaka mīhini ā-rererangi, hei taraiwa rānei; ka tukuna te nuinga ki ngā kīhini me ngā whare kai mahi ai.  He karaka hoki ētahi, he kaiwhakamahi waea ētahi, he nēhi ētahi, arā, e ai ki te whakaaro o taua wā, he momo mahi ēnei nō te wāhine.

Kua kitea kētia e Stacey ngā wāhine Māori 150 i kuhu ki roto i te tauā rererangi i te wā pakanga.  I tungaia te nuinga ki ngā teihana RNZAF i Taitoko (Levin), Ōhakea, Rotorua, Whenuapai, Rongotai me Wigram.  Tokoiti ngā wāhine i Tauranga, Te Waiharakeke (Blenheim), Kirikiriroa me Tūranga.  Nō Aotearoa whānui ēnei wāhine, engari, tokomaha rātou nō Te Tai Tokerau, nō Te Tai Rāwhiti, nō Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, nō Te Moana-a-Toi hoki.  I kuhu hoki he wāhine ruarua nō Kāi Tahu ki roto i te WAAF, ā, kotahi (nui atu pea) nō Wharekauri, ko Meri Dix tōna ingoa.[2]

I uru mai ētahi wāhine, nā te mea i roto kē ā rātou whanaunga tāne i ngā rōpū hōia nei.  Kāore i ārikarika te kuhunga mai o te tuakana me te teina ki roto i te rōpū kotahi.  I mahi ngātahi a  Freda rāua ko Olive Shalfoon (he tuāhine ēnei nō te kaiwhakatangitangi ā-pēne rongonui, nō Epi Shalfoon), ā, ko Catherine rāua ko Lulu Bryers i roto i te WAAF. I mahi ētahi wāhine i te taha o ō rātou tungāne, pērā me Kenneth rāua ko Ethel Tuapawa o Te Karaka e mahi ana ki Ōhakea.  Tokotoru ngā wāhine o te whānau Paenga, me tō rātou tungāne, i roto i te tauā rererangi, engari he mea tuku ki ngā teihana e toru, ki Ōhakea, Mangaroa, me Whakatū.[4]

He maha ā rātou momo mahi.  He kaiwhakamahi waea a Janie Pēwhairangi (Ngāti Porou) i Taitoko.[5]  I te urunga mai a Catherine Bryers ki roto i te WAAF i te tau 1942, hei karaka kaute tāna mahi tuatahi.  I kuhu hoki a Ulva Bradshaw (Kāi Tahu) i te tau 1942; ka tonoa tuatahitia ki Te Waiharakeke, kātahi ia ka haere ki te ako ki te Kura Waerehe (Electrical and Wireless School) i Wigram i Ōtautahi.[6]   Tokowhā ngā wāhine Māori i whakatūria hei kaiaka mīhini ā-rererangi ki Whenuapai.  Engari, i roto te nuinga i ngā kīhini me ngā hōro kai, i roto rānei i ngā whare utauta, pērā me Dulcie Brooking o Te Kaha i mahi ki roto i te Whare Utauta o Ōhakea.[7]

Kei te rangahau hoki a Stacey i ngā koiora o ēnei wāhine i muri i te pakanga.  Ka mārena ngā tini wāhine.  Ka noho tonu ētahi i roto i te WAAF, pērā me Catherine Bryers; e 20 ōna tau i reira.  I te tau 1952 ka whakatūria ia hei Warrant Officer, ā, ka wehe ia i te tau 1962.  Ka mahi ētahi hei kaiwhakaako i roto i ngā kura Māori, ā, ka tahuri ētahi ki te āwhina i te iwi Māori.  I muri i āna mahi i roto i te WAAF (1942-1947) ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara, ka mahi a Anne Delamere hei āpiha toko i te ora Māori, hei kaihautū hoki o te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora, ā, hei purapura tuawhiti hoki o te iwi.  I tōna whakawhiwhitanga i te hōnore DCNZOM i te Tau Hou 2004, ka kī mai ia: “It is an honour, not for me, but for all the other women from the North Island to the South, in the rural communities and the urban areas, who keep things going - those unsung women who keep the wheels turning.”[8]  

I uru tō kuia ki roto i te tauā whenua, i te tauā moana, i te tauā rererangi rānei, i te wā pakanga?  Nā te aha ia i kuhu ai, ā, i pēhea āna mahi i reira?  I pēhea hoki te whakapā mai o ēnei mahi āna ki tōna koiora i muri i te pakanga?

E te iwi, kei wareware i a tātou ngā kōrero nei mō ngā mahi wāhine i roto i ngā rōpū hōia.  Kia rangona hoki ā rātou kōrero i roto i te hītori ANZAC o Aotearoa.

[Whakaahua: He wāhine Māori nō te Women’s Auxiliary Air Force e whakatangitangi ana i te kitā i te “hāora puoro”. PR128a, New Zealand Air Force Museum, Christchurch).

[1] https://nzhistory.govt.nz/foundation-of-the-womens-auxiliary-air-force

[2] https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/183882

[3] Gisborne Herald, 4 Hānuere 1945.

[4] Gisborne Herald, 20 Tīhema 1944.

[5] I muri, ka uru a Janie ki roto i te Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (Tirohia: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GISH19440324.2.78?end_date=31-12-1950&items_per_page=10&page=3&query=pewhairangi&snippet=true&start_date=01-01-1940)

[6] Helen Brown, ‘Ulva Lynn Belsham (1921-2011)’ i roto i Tāngata Ngāi Tahu.

[7] Opotiki News, 4 Pēpuere 1949.

[8] ‘New Years Honour: Anne Delamere’, NZ Herald: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3541623