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It's the time of year when children traditionally write to Santa and his elves with a wish list for Christmas.
Top of the wish list for Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao is the recognition of the scholarly work of famous Whakarewarewa guide Makereti Pattison Thom.
Makereti, better known as Makereti Papakura the name she took for herself when asked if she had a Maori name. She quickly responded "Papakura", after a geyser in the Whakarewarewa geothermal valley.
In 1924 Makereti enrolled at Oxford University and died in April, 1930, two weeks before she was due to matriculate.
Her thesis, The old-time Maori, was published eight years later, and reprinted in 1986.
She used her collected notes and journals to write an anthropology thesis – an account and analysis of the customs of Te Arawa.
In 1905, her Guide to the Hot Lakes District was published.
Born Margaret Pattison Thom at Matatā in the Bay of Plenty to an English father, William Thom and Pia Ngarotū Te Rihi, a high-born woman of Ngāti Wāhiao.
Renowned for her elegance and charm, Makereti took concert parties to Australia, England, and America, utilising the talents of her whanaunga. A member of Makereti's whanau, June Grant, said preliminary inquiries had been made into a hikoi to Oxford University next year and the awarding of Makereti's degree.
This followed the appointment of Yvonne (Evie) O'Brien as the inaugural director of the Atlantic Institute of the Rhodes Trust at Oxford University. Evie (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Awa, Ngai Te Rangi) was formerly deputy CEO of Te Wananga o Awanuiarangi in Whakatane.
Under Covid, Whakarewarewa village was closed to visitors and Makereti's house, Tuhoromatakakaa, stood lonely.
June, while going through her kuia's photos found this one that appealed, because it contains images of our home-grown turehu — three blonde members of the Tonihi whanau.
In the middle row next to a Tonihi is the kuia of the Bubb-Schuster whanau, Ngatai. Her sister Rangitiaria is seated at the extreme right in the front row. Rangitiaria, better known as Guide Rangi, was married to Makereti's son, Te Aonui Dennan.
Makereti is wearing the scarf and her sister Bella is at the end of the back row on the right.
This photo is more than 100 years old but June knows three blonde Tonihi family members who still visit and stay in the village. My nephew Trader and his uri.
So, maybe, if Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao have behaved themselves, the magic of the season and the turehu will help make their wish come true.
Ko te Hakihea te wā e tuhituhi atu ai ngā nohinohi ki a Hanakoko me āna tūrehu ō rātou hiahia katoa.
Mātua kē atu ki a Tūhourangi – Ngāti Wāhiao ko tētehi tūhinga whakaharahara i tūhia e te māreikura nui o Te Whakarewarewa a Makereti Pattison Thom.
He wahine i mōhiotia whānuitia e te ao ko Makereti Papakura nāna anō ia i tapangia ki te ingoa Māori i puta ai te pātai ki a ia e tētehi me he ingoa māori tōna. Ko Papakura te ingoa whakakī i te pātai nā, he ingoa i pupū mai i ngā ngāwhā-waiariki o Te Whakarewarewa.
I te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e rua tekau mā wha ka whakauru a Makereti ki te Whare Wānanga o Oxford, he whare mātauranga nui kei te whenua o Īngarangi, ka poto kau te wā e tauira ana ki a ia ka mate i te Aperira i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e toru tekau. E rua wiki tonu i mua i tana rēhitatanga tūturu.
Ka pau te waru tau, kātahi ka whakaputaina tana tūhinga whakapae, The Old-time Maori, ā, ka tuaruangia tāna whakaputanga i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e waru tekau ma ono. Ka whakaemihia e ia ngā kohinga tuhinga āna ki te whakatutuki i tana tuhinga whakapae, he kohinga mātauranga i ngā tikanga me ngā āhuatanga katoa o Ngai Te Arawa.
I te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau mā rima ka whakaputaina tana pukapuka, Hot Lakes District.
Ko wai rā tēnei wahine? - I tana whānautanga mai i Matatā ka tapangia ko Margaret Pattison Thom ko William Thom tōna matua tāne he pākehā ia, ko Pia Te Ngarotū Te Rihi tōna māmā he ariki nō Ngāti Wāhiao ha hapū nō Te Arawa.
He wahine rangatira, he kahu kōreko kaha ki te manaaki manuwhiri e puta ai tōna haurongo ki ngā tōpito o te ao. Ka haria hoki e ia ngā pahi whakangahau Māori ki Ahitereiria, ki Īngarangi puta noa ki Amerika hai whakakanohi atu i tō tātou ao taketake.
Ko June Grant tētehi o āna mokopuna hai tāna kai te takiwā tētehi kōrero e hakoke ana e mea nei pea ka hoki ētehi o ngā uri ki te Whare Wānanga o Oxford a te tau hou ki tana whakawhiwhinga ki tana tohu paetahi.
Ka whāia tēnei whakaaro i te whakaritenga o Yvonne (Evie) O'Brien hai poukaiāwha mō te Atlantic Institute o te Rhodes Trust i te whare wānanga o Oxford. Nō Ngāti Pikiao, nō Ngāti Awa me Ngai Te Rangi a Evie koia te Tumuwhakarae o mua o Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiarangi i Whakatāne.
Nā te mate uruta kua ngū katoa te pā o Te Whakarewarewa nā tēnei māuiui nui e mokemoke ai a Tūhoromatakakā te whārau o Makereti.
Nāna e tātari kau i ngā whakaahua a ōna pakeke ka kitea e June tētehi pikitia e ngangahu kau ana, ko te take o tana whakamiharotanga atu he whakaahua tūrehu,tokotoru o rātou he uri nō te whānau Tōnihi.
Ko Ngātai te kuia kai te pae o waenganui, he kuia tēnei nō te whānau Bubb-Schuster ko Rangitiaria tōna taina kai te paihau mātau ki te pae tuatahi e noho ana. Ka moe a Guide Rangitiaria i a Te Aonui Dennan he tamaiti tāne nā Makereti.
E mau kāmeta nei a Makereti waihoki kai te pae whakamutunga ki te taha mātau tōna taina a Bella e tū ana. Kua nōa atu i te kotahi rau tau te pakeketanga o tēnei whakaahua engari he tino mōhio nō June kai te ora tonu te ira tūrehu ki te whānau Tōnihi.
Tokotoru o rātou he huruhuru tūrehu, kai te pā o Te Whakarewarewa rātou e noho ana. Ko tana pōtiki a Trader me ōna uri ēnei tangata.
Nō reira pea ki te tika katoa ngā whakatutukinga me te mea kua kaha te whakaputa o te aroha e Tūhourangi – Ngāti Wāhiao ki te ao whānaui, ka tūmatarauhia ngā inoinga o te iwi e ngā tūrehu. Tāria te wā.
An online petition supporting the hapū has over 1950 signatures.