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Ko te mana nui o taku tūnga ki Kāhū ki Rotorua ko te hakoke whenua me te tūtakitaki ki ngā tangata huhua o te rohe e pakari ake ai taku kete mātauranga.
Ko tētehi tino haerenga e noho puku ki a hau ko taku tūtakihanga ki tō tatau kuia ruruhi ki a Pareraututu. Kai te taumata o te Pukenga Koeke ahau e nono ana, he nohanga hirahira.
Nā tēnei nohanga kua hau atu a hau ki ngā tini kaupapa o te rohe, whaihoki kua tūakitaki hoki a hau ki ngā rangatira nui o te kāinga.Wheoi anō, ko te kaupapa o tēnei tuhinga iti ko te Mūheama o Rotorua kua roa e noho tarewa kau ana, me te mea hoki kai te pae tawhiti tonu tona whakapūaretanga.
He ahakoa tēnei take nui, kai tahaki tonu a Manaaki Pene e mahi ana.
Ko ia te amokura mātauranga Māori mō te Mūheama e mahi tahi ana ia me Clark Pirika ki a noho mātua ki te rae o te pane ngā taonga o tuawhakarere ki ngā whatumanawa o Ngai Te Arawa katoa.He kaha nō rāua tokorua ki te whakaaraara wānanga e toutoutia ai ngā pungarehu o te kohamo kōrero, ka rikoatangia ngā wānanga e mau ai mō ngā whakatupuranga kāhore anō ki a whānau ki tēnei ao.
Ko tā mātau ko ngā koeke mahi he tautoko, he āta tohutohu wheoi anō he hāpai. Nō te rāhoroi ko hori ka haere mātau ngā koeke tokowha ko Miriama Searancke, ko Dinny Mohi, ko John Waaka me a hau ki Matata ki Rangiaohia marae.
Nā Jo Doherty matau i kawe.He mōhio nōku, he kahu te kaupapa engari anō taku kūware. Ka tae mātau, ā, kua puta ngā whānau ririki e tatari ana ki a pōwhiringia tātau katoa ki te whakaeke ki runga ki te marae.Ko etehi o ngā tangata nō te whānau Semmens. He uri katoa ēnei nō Pareraututu. Ko te kakahu nei he ihupukupuku nā tō rātau kuia rangatira nā Pareraututu i whatu.
Engari nā ngā ahuatanga o te wā kua mau te ihupukupuku i te mana o te Mūheama o Tamaki Paenga Hira. Kai te whawhaitia tonuia tēnei take e te whānau, whaihoki kua whakaurua e rātau te tono whakahoki taonga ki raro i te mana o te Taraipunara o Waitangi.
E hoki ana ngā mahara ki a Hari i te taone nōku e mahi ana, nā ka tūponohia tēnei korokē i te takiwā o te whitu, āhua waru tekau te tau. He mema ia nō te poari o Te Arawa. Wheoi anō, ka oti ngā mihimihi, ka kapu tī tātau, ā, ka waihongia te pahi o te Mūheama ki te whakarite i te ihupukupuku hai whakakitenga nui whakaharahara mō tātau katoa. Kihai au e wehi i a Rangiaohia.
Ko te take, ara taku tupuna a Tupunouia Raimona e ngangahu kau ana i te pātū o te whare. He matua tāne kaokaoroa nōku nō Te Whakarewarewa, ara hoki ko tōna matua tāne ko Raimona Heretaunga. Rangatira katoa ēnei tangata. Ka tū ngā rangatira ki te kōrero ka whakahuaina te ingoa o Paul Tapsell, te kotahi i whakapau kaha ki te whakahoki mai i a Pareraututu ki te iwi.
E kūare hoki nei ahau ki te momo o te kahu, he kore mōhio nōku, he kahu waero, ā, he tapeha kurī katoa te ihupukupuku.
Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e iwa tekau mā tahi tāti ai te huarahi ki te whakahoki mai i tēnei ihupukupuku ki te iwi. Ko Paul Tapsell te rangatira o te Mūheama i taua wā. Nā ka tonoa a Paul e Hari ki te awhina i a ia ki te whakatika i tēnei taumahatanga.
E ai ki a Hari he pōhē nōna kua ngaro noa atu te ihupukupuku o tōna ruruhi, engari tae te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau mā rua ka kitea e ia te kahu i tetehi whakakitenga, ka heke te roimata i ona kanohi.Nā Pareraututu, nā tōna ruruhi i whatu. Ko Pukekaikahu te take i whatungia ai tēnei ihupukupuku, he pakanga nui nō tea o tawhito.
Ko te pakanga tēnei i mate ai a Tionga a Te Hurinui a Te Wahakaikapua a Te Arero me ngā rangatira nui o Ngāti Rangitihi me Tūhourangi i a Te Purewa otia i a Te Urewera.
Ko Te Hurinui te hoa rangatira o Pareraututu. Nō te matenga o ēnei rangatira ka whatua tona tiwha. Ka haria ki te marae o Tūkorehu ki reira ia whakamomori ai. He tikanga tawhito ko te tino whakaaro ki a tahuri mai a Tūkorehu ki te rānaki i ngā mate. Kīhai i ea ngā mate i a Tūkorehu.
Wheoi anō, haruru kau ana ngā pakitara o te whare i ngā tini kōrero hangareka, kōrero nui, kōrero whakaharahara. Nā Tūkorehu Waaka i pēnei ai te wairua o te whare. Me āna tini tono hoki ki a Paul Tapsell ko tetehi o āna tono ko te tuhinga whakapae a Paul Tapsell ki a whakaputaina e ia tana tuhinga nui ki nga uri katoa o Ngati Rangitihi me Tuhoe.
Enagri anō a Pareraututu, koia te ingoa i tapā ki tēnei ihupukupuku, he mana nui. E noho puku ana a hau me ngā tini whakaaro ki roto ki a hau. Ka rongo au i te mamae o tēnei rangatira he ahakoa i whatua tona ihupukupuku i runga i te aroha kai te rangona tonutia te mamae. Kua heke te rua rau o ngā tau, nō tatau katoa te whiwhi kai te ora tonu tēnei ihupukupuku.
Wheoi anō he kōrero tapiri ki tenei, kua tirohia ā ira nei te ahuatanga o ngā tapeha kurī, hai tā ngā tohunga tirotiro – kino kaha nei te mana o ngā kurī. He kurī pakari, he kurī kaha hoki.
E noho haupuaroaro nei ahau i tenei haerenga nui: Ko te aroha nui o te whānau ki to rātau ruruhi me tona mana onamata, otia te kahu ko hoki mai, ahua hoki mai ki a rātau. He kaupapa anō tāku i te mutunga wiki atu i a Pareraututu ko te hui ā kāinga.
He wānanga mātauranga e mana ai ngā hapū.Ko te tuatahi he whakamōhiohio i a tatau te pā taunaha o Te Whakarewarewa kai te piki te nama o te hunga kāinga kore ki te rohe o Te Whakarewarewa, e tame – kua mōhiotia kētia tēnei take e tatau,moumou taima hoki.
Engari e noho wehi ana te pā taunaha ki te hunga kāinga kore ka heke iho ki te pā taunaha rāweke, mahi porohīanga ai. Nō reira ka whakataungia ki a utua he manuao tiaki i te pā taunaha.
Ko te hui tuarua ko te titiro ki te Rautaki Whakawhanake i a Rotorua mo ngā tau e toru tekau te haere ake nei. Ka pēwhea te ahuatanga o te taone ā pae tawhiti nei? He aha hoki ngā tino hiahia o te hapori?
Me pēwhea hoki te ahuatanga ki nga papakāinga ? Wheoi anō – kai te nuku roa o te whenua ngā waewae o Te Kaunihera e hāereere ana, he whakarongo kōrero e tika ai a ratau mahi e tika hoki ai te whakauru ki ngā rautaki.
Engari anō te pōhēhē me noho motuhake ke ngā hapū me ngā iwi ki te whakatakoto i a matau ake moemoeā – wheoi anō tēnā. Kua oma kē te hoihō.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
OPINION
One really great benefit of my role in Kāhu Ki Rotorua is the people I meet and expanding my kete of knowledge.
A standout in my journey so far has to be my introduction to the beautiful kuia Pareraututu.
I sit on the Pūkenga Kōeke of the Rotorua Museum, a largely ceremonial role which has brought me into contact with some wonderful members of staff of the Rotorua Lakes Council.
As people in Rotorua know our museum has been closed for some years and reopening doesn’t look to be likely any time soon.
But we still have our taonga carefully curated off-site. Manaaki Pene is the mātauranga maori team leader and I have formed a close relationship with her and Clark Pirika.
To help our people stay connected to their taonga council staff take items of particular significance to a hapu out to their marae and invite whānau to come and share korero.
These sessions are recorded and the korero transcribed to provide our future generations with more information.
One way we of the pūkenga can be of service is to accompany staff to offer kōrero and support.
Last Saturday four kōeke — Miriama Searancke, Dinny Mohi, John Waaka and I — were picked up by museum operations manager Jo Doherty and driven to Rangiaohia Marae at Matata.
I knew we were taking a cloak, but I had no idea of her significance.
A little crowd was waiting at Matata and we were called on.
Several members of the Semmens whānau were among the people gathered for this homecoming of their kuia.
They are uri of Hari Semmens and had been trying for years to have Te Kahumamae o Pareraututu returned even to the point of making a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal.
I remember meeting Hari when I worked in Rotorua during the 1970s-80s, and he was a member of the Te Arawa Trust Board.
After the mihimihi we adjourned for a kapu tī while museum staff unpacked Te Kahumamae o Pareraututu.
I felt really comfortable inside Rangiaohia especially when I saw a photograph of my uncle, Tupunouia Raimona, who lived just two doors away from us in Whakarewarewa. Also on the wall was a picture of his father, Raimona Heretaunga.
Every person who spoke talked about the significance of the work of Ngāti Whakaue-Ngāti Raukawa academic Paul Tapsell in the return of the dog skin cloak.
I didn’t realise the kākahu was made of dog skin until I got up close. The journey to have Parearaututu returned from the Auckland Institute and Museum began in 1991.
Paul was the Rotorua Museum curator at the time and was approached by Hari for assistance in securing her return.
Hari told Paul that until 1982 he had thought his great-grandmother’s dog skin cloak was lost.
In his thesis, Paul recounted that Hari’s eyes were filled with tears as he remembered his old people talking about this great cloak and the maker, Pareraututu.
She made it to honour the deaths of Te Arawa people killed by Tuhoe in the battle of Pukekaikahu. Pareraututu was part Tuhoe herself and upon learning that many of her Rangitihi menfolk had been killed by her Urewera relatives, she became grief-stricken.
She collected all the dogs that had once belonged to the fallen chiefs and wove their skins into the cloak of pain. She then made a journey to the Waikato to plead with the renowned Ngāti Maniapoto fighting leader, Tukorehu, to revenge the Tuhoe.
Our wānanga at Matata was full of tears and laughter, the latter generated by Tukorehu Waaka, who made a number of requests including that Paul Tapsell make available copies of his thesis to Ngāti Rangitihi and Tuhoe.
I had never seen a dogskin cloak, so I was intrigued. I sat quietly beside her and thought of the spirit that must have moved this woman more than 200 years ago to produce a garment of such quality.
Apparently, DNA testing showed the dogs were in good condition when they were chosen for the kahu. The day out gave me much to contemplate: A family’s dedication to having their Nanny returned and the academic dedicated to helping them. ■ I attended two meetings to do with housing and mana whenua. Both were information for the hapu.
The first was to tell us what we at Whaka already knew: There are a number of homeless living close by, housed in motels.
After fears expressed by some of the villagers over anti-social behaviour it was agreed a security guard, a member of our hapu, would be employed at no cost to us, to patrol the area.
The second meeting was an unveiling of a draft Rotorua Development Strategy for the next 30 years. What would we like to see in our city? Where would we prefer the industrial areas to be?
How would we like to see our papakainga?
Rotorua Lakes Council is canvassing the district to find out residents’ wishes, dreams and requirements. It was generally thought that our individual hapu needs to wānanga to set our goals and aspirations for the future.
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