Kei te whakarite a Ngāi Tūhoe ki Ruatāhuna ki te manaaki i te motu ka tae atu ki te poroporoaki i a Tā William Te Rangiua Pou Temara, i mate i te ata Rātapu. E 78 tau te pakeke o tēnei ruanuku o te ao Māori whānui tonu, ka nunumi atu ki tua o te kohu mumura tē mahea.
E ai ki te pānui mate a tōna whānau tonu, ko tōna makau tonu i tōna tana i tana menenga atu ki Te Waka o Rangi.
“Nō ngā haora tata nei i moe ai ngā kanohi i roto i te āhuru o tōnā rangatira, o Lady Lenadeen, me te whānau.”
Nō te ata nei tōna tūpāpāku ka tōia atu ki waenga i tōna hapū o Te Urewera ki Mataatua Marae, i Ruatāhuna, kia takoto ki te taha o tōna whare, o Te Whai a te Motu. Ka takoto ki reira tae noa atu ki tōna uhunga hei te Tāite.
Te poroporoaki a Tā Tīmoti
E aurere ana te puta o ngā tangi poroporoaki whakaharahara ki a Tā Pou i te tī, i te tā. Ko tētahi, he poroporoaki nā tōna huānga tonu, nā Tā Tīmoti Kāretu, kua horahia ake e te ohu reo Māori o Kauwaka i Te Matau a Māui.
“E Pou, i roa koe e whawhai ana i tō mate, engari, me tō tāua mōhio, ko tō te wā mana, tā te wā whakatau, e taea e tāua, e te tangata, te aha?
“Ka riro rā tētahi o tātau, ka puta i a koe te kōrero: ‘Ka whati rā tētahi o ngā koikoi o te tapatoru a Te Panekiretanga.’
“Kia kī noa ake au, kua rua ngā koikoi o te tapatoru a Te Panekiretanga kua whati.
“Ko tōu momo, e Pou, e kore e kitea anō i muri nei.
“Nō reira, haere i tō tira mokemoke ki tō tāua nuinga i te pō.
“E Pou, haere rā, haere rā.”
Ko Tā Pou rātou ko Tā Tīmoti Kāretu, ko Ahorangi Te Wharehuia Milroy ngā pou o Te Panekiretanga o te Reo Māori. Nā rātou te kaupapa i whakatū hei whakapakari i te reo, i te whaikōrero, i te karanga me ngā tikanga, kia eke ngā tauira ki ngā taumata tiketike, kia whakahokia hoki aua mātauranga ki ō rātou iwi.
Te tangi pūrere o te Kiingitanga
Ko te Kiingitanga hoki e tangi apakura ana ki a Tā Pou, mōna i tū hei whakaruruhau mō Te Tekau-mā-rua, te kāhui kaitohutohu a Kiingi Tuheitia, tae noa atu ki Te Arikinui Kuīni Nga wai hono i te po.
“Pō tātaka mai runga o Tū Te Maungaroa, hihiri ake ana te tau ki Maungapōhatu. Tōiri te wai kamo ki Waiharakeke, te takotoranga o Tūhoe Pōtiki ki te mate nā.
“Ka tangihia a Tā Pou Temara i noho mai hei whakaruruhau mō te Tekau-mā-rua a Kiingi Tuheitia, tae noa ki Te Arikinui.
“Pūrere kau ana te tatangi o te Kiingitanga i whakahoahoa mai koe i te wā o te ora. Tāria ake nei te rurutu roimata ki a koe te whītiki o te reo ukiuki ki te reo o mohoa nei.”
Ko te reo aroha hoki kua puta i te Koromatua o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, i a Andrew Little.
Hai tā Little, nō ōna rā i Te Whare Wānanga o Te Ūpoko o te Ika ia i mōhio ai ki a Tā Pou. Ko tētahi maharatanga nui ki a ia, ko te wā i ārahi a Tā Pou i a ia ki Rangiaowhia, nōna hei Minita Take Tiriti. Hei tāna, ka rangona whānuitia te ngaronga o Tā Pou.
He pou whakairo anō i te mātauranga Māori
I whānau mai a Tā Pou ki Ruatāhuna i te tau 1948. Nā ōna kaumātua ia i whakatipu i Te Urewera, i waenganui i te reo Māori me ngā mātauranga tuku iho.
I kawea e ia aua mātauranga ki roto i āna mahi whakaako i Te Herenga Waka, i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, tatū mai ki Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. He ahorangi reo, tikanga ia ki Waikato, ā, he ahorangi rapunga whakaaro Māori ki Awanuiārangi, i Whakatāne.
Mai i te tau 2008, he mema ia o Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I whai wāhi hoki ia ki Te Poari Tarahiti Māori o Tūhoe Waikaremoana, ā, i tū hei heamana mō Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe.
Tua atu i āna mahi whakaako, ko ia te heamana o te rōpū tohutohu mō te whakahokinga mai o ngā kōiwi tūpuna i tāwāhi, i raro i ngā mahi a Te Papa Tongarewa. I te tau 2021, i whakawhiwhia ia ki te tohu Tā mō āna mahi mā te Māori me te ao mātauranga.
Nāna anō ngā pukapuka Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau me Te Āhua o ngā Kupu Whakaari a Te Kooti. I whakawhiwhia ēnei ki Te Mūrau o te Tuhi i ngā Tohu Pukapuka Ockham o Aotearoa, i te tau 2024 me te tau 2026.
E whakarite ana te kāinga
Ko te rā tuatahi nei, kua waihō mā ngā hapū o Tūhoe whānui me te waka o Mataatua hei tangi ki a Tā Pou. Hei te Tūrei, te 10 o Noema, me te Wenerei, te 11 o Noema, ka tuwhera ki te motu. E rua ngā wā whakaeke i ia rā, hei te 9 karaka i te ata me te 1 karaka i te ahiahi.
E tono ana te hau kāinga kia manawanui ngā kaikōrero o ngā ope, kia whakaarotia hoki ngā iwi e haere atu ana i tawhiti.
I roto i te pānui poroporoaki a te whānau, ko te manaaki i te iwi tētahi o ngā tohu whakamaharatanga ki a ia:
“Haere ki tua engari waihotia mai ko tō marereko, hei kōtore raukura mō tō iwi”
