Hei tā te heamana o te marae o Manurewa, nā te pānga nui o ngā mate urutā ki ngā hapori Māori o mua tau i mārama ai tōna hiahia nui – kia kaua rawa anō. Translated by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
Nō te rongo tuatahi mai o te heamana o te marae o Manurewa, a Rangi McLean ki te Mate Korona, ka hoki ōna whakaaro ki te ngau kino nui i pā ki te ao Māori. I tōna pakeke mai i Te Waimana Kaaku, i te marunga o Te Urewera, ka kite a McLean i te whiunga o te Rewharewha o te tau 1918 ki runga i te mata o te whenua. Ka pāhuatia a Ngāi Tūhoe i tērā mate urutā, ka tanu tōpūtia ngā whānau. Kāore he tangihanga, he karakia tuku rānei.
“I uia atu e au ōku pēperekou he aha te take o te pakoko nui, ka whakautua mai ko te mate rewharewha nui,” tana kī mai. “He tini ngā whānau i mate, ka tanu wawetia. Ka mahue atu ngā tikanga i te hohoro kia nehua, kia kore ai e horapa te mate. Nā, taku rongo ake mō te Mate Korona, ka hoki au ki tōku tipuranga mai, me taku mahara iho, kia kaua te pātiki e hoki ki tōna puehu.”
E ai ki a McLean, he tere te urupare a te marae. Ka rere ia ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara ki te whakahau i te kāwanatanga kia whakawahia te marae o Manurewa hei kāinga tuku ora, hei piki tūranga ki āna mahi i te wā o Whānau Ora, ki te opeope i ngā kaumātua o te rohe.
“Ko te pūtake o tā mātou mahi ki Manurewa i takea mai rā i tērā wehi,” tāna kī mai. “He pai kē ngā urupare a ngā hāpai ō me te whānau o te marae o Manurewa. Ka whakaaetia kia tūtakina te waharoa o te marae, kia katia ngā puka tono i te marae – koinā te āhuatanga mahi moni a te marae, mā te tono kia tū ngā taiopenga ki reira.”
Kātahi ka whiriwhiria mai e au ngā pūtea tautoko i Whānau Ora, i ētahi o ngā tari kāwanatanga, tae atu ki ērā i ngā poari ā rohe me ngā tari kaunihera. Kātahi ka taea te kati te marae, ā, ka ahu ki te tuku pūhera oranga me ngā kete kai.”
Kāore e ārikarika ngā hītori mō te marae o Manurewa nei, e tuwhera nei, mai noa i te hiku o te tekau tau 1980. I te puaretanga o ngā tatau o te marae o Te Puea ki te hunga kore kāinga, ka tere huakina hoki ō Manurewa. Ko ngā āhuatanga i runga i te marae ko te whare rata, he pūnaha Kōti Rangatahi, he mahi whakahaere akoranga hautū waka, he ratonga haumanu, he ratonga penapena pūtea, he tari whakahaere i ngā ratonga whakawhitinga whare hoki. Heoi anō kātahi te wero nui ko te Mate Korona – i konā ka whakakotahi ai rātou katoa ki te whawhai i tēnei tino taniwha.
“30 ā mātou hāpai ō o te marae i huri katoa atu hei kaimahi ratonga matua,” te kōrero mai a McLean. “Ka tahia te marae, ka mea kua huri hei puna tohatoha. I tētahi whaitua ka tau ngā koha me ngā ō kai, i roto i te wharekai o Matukureia, e whakaritea ana, hei pūhera kau atu ki waho ki ō mātou hapori, ki ngā whānau, ki ngā kaumātua, ki te rawakore anō hoki.”
“Ka riro mai ngā ō, ka tākaitia, ā, ka tuarihia e mātou neke atu i te 30,000 ngā pūhera oranga, kō atu i te 10,000 ngā kete kai i tohaina atu.”
Ki tā McLean kātahi ka whakatau te marae kia puritia te kaupapa nei tae atu ki te Huitanguru 2021. I te taunga anō o te noho rāhui ki Tāmaki, i muri iho i te putanga hapori i te Hereturikōkā, ka oreore mai anō te pūnaha i hangaia i te Ōhiti 4, ā, kua taki rere ngā tohutohu i roto tonu i te haora o te pāho kāwanatanga.
Haunga te tatūnga o ngā hiahia, ka ara mai anō i te Mate Korona tētahi huaketo ki te hinengaro tangata. Ka rērere ngā kōrero parau, kōrero whakamōmona i runga ipurangi i te wā o te noho rāhui, i ara mai i te hunga pēnei i a Piri Te Kāhika, i runga i ngā kōrero i pūhia mai e te hau waho. Nā te mau atu ki te kāinga, me te taiao whakawehi, ka tahuri ētahi whānau ki te kaiārahi horihori me ana pīhau Pukamata. Waihoki ki ērā o ngā rōpū ūkaipō, kāore noa iho te marae o Manurewa i aro atu ki ngā kōrero horihori nei.
“Kāore i arohia atu,” te kī a McLean. “Ka kite mātou, anei te mahi, me mahi. Kāore mātou i paku aro atu ki a Piri Te Kahika, ki ōna whakaaro, ki ō wai ake whakaaro rānei – ko tā mātou i aro atu ai, ko te mahi kei mua i te aroaro. Koinā taku whakahau atu ki te marae i tōku tūnga hei heamana. Ka whakaae anō ahau kia whakangā atu ētahi i rerekē ai ngā whakaro ki ōku.
“I ū mai te whakakitenga ehara ko au te tangata ka tuku i te Rewharewha kia rērere anō. Nā taku tūnga i te marae o Manurewa, ka taea e mātou te whakautu atu ki ngā mōrearea o te Mate Korona.”
Ka hau atu tōna mana whakahau ki ngā tikanga e pā ana ki te tangihanga. I te wā o te noho rāhui tuatahi, i te nekenga ki te Ōhiti 4, ka tau ngā here ki ngā huinga tāngata pēnei i ngā tangihanga. Nō konei kua tū ngā pihi o te tangata whenua me titiro atu he mahi tāmi tēnei i ngā tapu o te ahurea.
“I ātete atu mātou i ētahi hiahia ki roto i ō mātou hapori,” te kī a McLean. “Hei tauira, ko ō tātou tangihanga nei. Ka mau tonu te kawa me ngā tikanga, ā, i tauiratia i te tangihanga o te rangatira rongonui o Taranaki – o Huirangi Waikerepuru – ka naomia atu hei tauira mō ngā tangihanga ki te marae o Manurewa. Ana, ka pērā mātou, engari i puritia tonu ngā aratohu urapare i te Mate Korona, ā, i mau ki ērā i a mātou e kawe tonu ana i ngā tikanga ki ō mātou tangihanga.”
“Kāore mātou i pīrangi kia tūmātakitahi ki te pūnaha, engari ka tonoa e au te Pirihimana kia whai wāhi mai ki ngā raukaha ratonga o tēnei marae, ā, ka hono mai rātou. He mea kauparehia atu e mātou ngā āwangawanga, e rite ana te kāwanatanga ki te tono i te pirihimana kia kuhu pokanoa ki runga i te marae.”
E tauaro ana ki ngā marae maha, kāore i te taiwhenua a Manurewa. Kō paku atu i te 8 kiromita tōna atu i te Hohipera o Middlemore, ā, he taraiwa poto noa ki te pokapū o Tāmaki. Kāore he taiapa tūtaki i waho atu i te waharoa, ā, ka wehe ngā kaitaraiwa i ia ata, ki te kawe i ngā ō huri noa i te tāone nui rawa o Aotearoa – ā, ka kitea e rātou te kitenga onge – ka noho rātou hei whetū mārama i roto i te pōuri kenekene, mō ngā whānau o te rohe, me te motu.
“Nā tō mātou āhei ki te taraiwa korehere i tō mātou rohe, ka mārakerake mai te mā o te taiao,” te kī anō a McLean. “Nā te kore motukā i runga huarahi, kāore he paruheti, ā, kua māheahea haere ngā wai. Ki tōku titiro nā ngā herenga Mate Korona i pēnā ai, ka mau atu te iwi ki te kāinga.
“Ko te taiao tēnā e pure ana i a ia anō, he mea whai kiko i kitea e tātou, hei tūmanako mō te anamata.”