Taking a walk down memory lane and sharing stories of life in the pā.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
He hokinga mahara ki te pā taunaha o mua
Ko tō tatau manu taiko noho mātārae i tēnei huringa o te nūpepa ko Alison Wharerahi.
Ko Heke Wharerahi tōna hoa rangatira kua roa ia e mate ana. Ko Frances Mererihi Narlene Wharerahi te mātāmua, ko Richard Heke Hohepa Wharerahi te pūwaenga, ko Kaylor Airiini Te Teehi te whakapakanga anei ā rāua tamariki. E noho tahi nei māua ko Alison ko tāku he whakakipakipa kau i ngā konga o te kōhamo e hoki ai te wairua ki te rā nōna e itiiti ai. “Ko Kath Kingi tōku matua wahine. Ko to mātau kāinga i tū ki runga o Ngongotahā.”
I hūnuku mai ngā mātua o Alison ki Rotorua nei i raro i te kaupapa mahi pāmu i whakatūria e Tā Apirana Ngata. Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e rua tekau mā iwa whakatū ai tēnei kaupapa. Ko te tikanga o tēnei kaupapa kia awhinatia e te Kawanatanga ngā hapū me ngā iwi Māori ki āna mahi pāmu.’
“Ko ōku mātua ngā tuatahi ki te mahi pāmu.”
Nā te mahi pāmu e tūhonohono ai te whānau ki te rahi o Ngāti Whakaue, ka kaha kē ngā matua o Alison ki te haere ki Ohinemutu hoko ai.
“Ka haria e rāua te mīti, te mīraka ngā hua o te whenua me te aha noa atu ki te pā taunaha ki te hokohoko. Ki Whakaturia hokohoko ai. Ka hoki rāua ki te kāinga me ngā rau tī. Nō mua mai i taku whānautanga tēnei tūāhuatanga nā reira i mōhiohio haere ai ōku mātua ki ngā rangatira o Ohinemutu. Ko ōku tuakana anake e mōhio ana ki tēnei ahuatanga e haere tū ana rātau, engari anō ahau.” Ko ngā tino māharatanga e mau kaha nei i a ia ko te mātotorutanga o te paepae tapu. He taniwha anake. Ko Koro Tenga Rangitauira, ko Koro Tutanekai Kinita, ko Koro Guss Cleal me ngā kuia hoki, ko Pinenga ko Piki engari tonu ko ōna whānaunga huhua he nauhea katoa rātau.
“Kī pai hoki te pā taunaha i ngā uri o Māui nukurau, ko Akapita Haupapa he nanakia hoki taua tangata rā he ahakoa he tahae he wairua pai hoki tōna, wheoi anō ko tātau katoa ka uru atu ki taua kete tahae nā.”
Ae, muia ana te pā i te hunga rāweke engari nā te tikanga hoki e whakamārie ai taua wairua tere.
“Ko te tikanga te mea nui ki ngā pakeke. E noho ūpoko mārō ai ngā rangatira ki te kūrae o te marae. Wheoi anō kai raro ahau e noho ana kai te hāereere ngā kanohi, arā ngā kuia kai rare ana, ko aua mea porowhita me te mangu hoki, kai te wharenui rātau e kai ana. E noho tahi ana ngā kuia me ngā mokopuna, nā reira he rautaki whakaturi i ngā mokopuna. Ka whāngaingia rātau ki te rare, kai ngā peke ngā rare e huna ana. Ka hīā te roa e noho tau ana te tangata ki roto ki te whare i aua rā. Ki te marae e ora ana te tikanga, whaihoki ki te kāinga te tikanga e pūmau ana. He wahine i puta i te hāhi Ringatū tō mātau matua wahine, nō reira, e rua, e rua. Ki te marae e pupuri tikanga ana, ki te kāinga hoki e pupuri tikanga ana.
Me he tangata tupu marae koe e kore e tae te maharatanga kotahi anake ki te rae. He rau noa, katoa e rite ki te remu huia. Mōna tūturu, ko te tū ki te whakangāhau manuwhiri i a Wiremu Williams rāua ko Leola Hayes me te rōpū kapa haka a Magic of the Māori. Kāti e huri ana te ia o te kōrero ki a Koro Tenga.
“Ko taku kaumatua paruhi o ngā kaumātua katoa ko Koro Tenga. Nōku e kotahi ngāhuru mā rima noa o ngā tau te rahi ka huri mai ia ki ahau me te kī, ‘Haere mai e kō he mōhio nōu ki te whakatangi rakuraku?’ Āe e Koro! Nā wai rā ko ahau tana ringaringa whakatangi rakuraku i ngā haerenga me ngā kaupapa huhua mō Ngāti Whakaue, kai te takiwā o te ono tekau o ngā tau tēnei mahi whakahirahira. Ko Mable Walters hoki tētehi, ka pai ki oku taringa ētehi o āna tangi. Ko te tuatoru o ngā kaumātua nui ki ahau ko Mina Mitai. Ko Mina rāua ko Dando Fraser ngā rangatira whakatangi banjo. Wheoi anō anei ētehi o aku tino.”
Tunohopu.
Ko ngā maharatanga matareka ko ngā taima e harikoa ana te whatumanawa, e pukumahi ana te tangata anei te tāhūhū o te marae nā reira e kaha ai te tangata mō te ao hurihuri nei. Kua rītaia a Alison mai i āna tūnga huhua, engari e taea ai te kī kai te ātea nui o te pā taunaha ōna toihau ōna whakaaro aroha otīā ngā tauwharenga o tōna whatumanawa.
“Ka tahuri ahau ki te mahi, nōku e itiiti ai, kai te hōhipera e mahi ana ko Kui Rui tōku pou tiaki. Ka rongo ia e mahi ana ahau i te Travel Lodge, nā, ka heke mai ia ki ahau me tana pepa tono mahi māku.
Whakaae tonu a au, ka timatangia taku mahi hai ringa hāpai i te kautā, nāna a au i ako ki ngā mahi a te kautā, kāore au e huna te kōrero, he wahine kūware nei a au ki te kōhua wai. Ina rawa taku koretaketanga. Nā wai rā ka piki ake taku tūnga ki te ringa tunu kai tuatoru i te kāinga o ngā nāhi. Ka pau te kotahi ngāhuru o ngā tau i a au e mahi ana.
He ringa tunu kai hoki ki Whakaturia, kai te wā tēnei e pena pūtea ana te iwi, he tunu keke he aha noa atu. Ka tunu kai ki te hohipera, ā, ka haria ki te marae ki ngā kuia ka hokohoko ki te hunga tautoko, ko te pena pūta tonu te take. Kai etehi taima ka hoki atu ahau ki te kautā o Tunohopu ki te awhina i oku tapeha tata, engari ko te nuinga o te taima kai te akiaki kē ahau i aku tamariki me ngā mokopuna.
He whakamihi nāna ki a Milly Douglas rātau ko Robin Morrison, ko Aggie Maika, ko Gladys Allen, ko Avon Rogers ngā pou huriropa o te pā taunaha o Ohinemutu nāna ia i whakawahine engari ko te haeoratū o tōna whare whakahirahira ko Kui Rui.
Wife of the late Heke Wharerahi and adored mum of Frances Mererihi Narlene Wharerahi...Richard Heke Hohepa Wharerahi and Kaylor Airiini Te Teehi Wharerahi takes a walk down memory lane and shares stories of her life in the pā.
“Kath Kingi was my mother. We all lived up on the maunga, Ngongotahā.”
Both of Alison’s parents moved to Rotorua when they were younger as part of the Sir Apirana Ngata Farming scheme. This program was established in 1929 and provided Māori landowners with government funding to develop the physical infrastructure of their farms.
“They [my parents] were pioneers for farming”.
The farming expertise would lead to the whānau affiliation to Ngāti Whakaue as Kat and her husband would often travel to Ōhinemutu to trade.
“They would supply the produce from the farms, the meat, milk, vegetables. They would come to Whakaturia and they would swap. They’d go home with tea leaves. This is before I was born and that’s how mum and dad got to know everybody down Ōhinemutu.
“My older sisters would have been around to see all of this”.
But what Alison does recall about pā life includes memories of the old Paepae Tapu with koroua such as Koro Tenga Rangitauira, Koro Tutanekai Kinita, and Koro Guss Cleal, Nannies Pinenga and Piki and most of all, her cheeky and mischievous pā cousins.
“There were the ‘Mischief Mauis’ back then too. Akapita Haupapa was one, he was cheeky, in a good way of course. In saying that, we were all mischief.”
Being a tutu kid in the pā is not at all uncommon for our people and it was generally balanced out with teachings of Tikanga.
“The elders were big on Tikanga as well. They were very, very staunch in Tikanga back then. During that time though, the Kuia used to eat blackball lollies inside the house. Nine times out of 10, our Kuia had their mokopuna with them, so to keep the Mokos quiet, they would keep lollies in their bag. It was a lengthy time inside the house in those days. Tikanga was practiced at home too, my mother was staunch ex Ringatū so tikanga at home and on the marae did not change.”
When you grow up on the Marae, it’s near impossible to think of that one special memory as there are often far too many to choose from, for Alison though, as well as doing concerts with Wiremu Williams and Leola Hayes with Magic of the Māori, she recalls one other standout memory from that time.
The Wharerahi whānau.
“My favourite kaumātua of that time would have been Koro Tenga Rangitauira and Kima Hakaraia. Koro Tenga said to me at 15 years old, “come here girl, do you play the guitar?” I said yes. From there, they pulled me out to start playing the guitar. So, I played for the seniors and then I ended up playing guitar for the junior Ngāti Whakaue group and that’s how I ended up as one of the main guitarists for Ngāti Whakaue in the 60s. Mable Walters was another one, I learned a lot of notes from her.
“The third guitarist was Mina Mitai. He and Dando Fraser would come in and play banjo, I think. Playing musical instruments alongside these elites as well as doing Kapa Haka with the likes of Kima, Joe and Pare Hakaraia are my fondest memories of Ngāti Whakaue back then.”
Fond memories, fun times and hard mahi are all part of Marae life and prepares many young Māori for the working world.
Retired now, Alison has done more than her fair share of mahi in and out of the Marae in her time.
“I’m retired now but I have done everything from commercial cleaning, motel cleaning, Carer in Aged Care facilities, concert performer and kitchen hand. When I started working in my young days, I started up at the hospital under the guidance of Nanny Rui Haronga. She found out that I worked at the travel lodge and came to see me with a job offer.
“She offered me a kitchen hand job at the hospital, she was one of the supervisors and trained me. She was my inspiration because before her, I honestly couldn’t even boil water. I was eventually promoted to 3rd cook at the Nurses Home, where I worked for 10 years. I was a cook for Whakaturia, during that time when our people were fundraising, I would bake cakes etc.
“I would do a lot of the cooking at the hospital and take it all down to the marae for the kuia to sell to raise putea for different Kaupapa. Anything or any mahi to do with our whānau, Aunty Rui would get me to help. Today, you will find me from time to time going down to help my cousins in the kitchen at Tunohopu, if and when they need me. I now am a staunch supporter of my kids and mokopuna.”
Alison also makes special mention of Milly Douglas, Robin Morrison, Aggie Maika, Gladys Allen, Avon Rogers as being part of the village that helped raise and inspire her with her biggest inspiration being Nanny Rui.
