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Home / Kahu

Kāhu ki Rotorua: How some of my Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao whanaunga were named

Roimata Mihinui
By Roimata Mihinui
Kāhu ki Rotorua·Rotorua Daily Post·
3 Feb, 2022 11:51 PM10 mins to read

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Tūhourangi Kapa Haka performing a Poi in 2009 at the Matatini in Tauranga. The video mentions King George V's Coronation that Makereti took her group to.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

Click here for English translation
Ko te Koroneihana o Kīngi Hori te tuarima o Ingarangi hai orokō timatanga pai ki te kawe i tēnei wāhanga kōrero.

I puta mai te karanga ki a Makereti Papakura mehemea e taea e ia te tuku atu tetehi pahi ki tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira ka whakaae tonu atu e ōku karanga tata o Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, whoi anō ko tō tātou tupuna a Rua Tawhai i haere hoki hai pou haka. Ko Margaret Pattison Thom tōna ingoa whānau, kātahi ka tapangia ko Makereti.

Ko ia te rangatira whakatū i te tīma waiata tira o Rotorua nāna hoki rātou i kawe atu ki Poihākena i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, kotahi tekau.

E whakangāhau atu ana rātou ki ngā tangata whenua, ka tūtakitaki a Makereti ki ētehi tangata pākihi ka puta i a rātou te whakaaro kia oti ana ngā mahi whakangāhau i Pōihākena kia haere hoki rātou ki te huinga rangatira o te Emepara, ā, nō te Aperira o te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, kotahi tekau mā tahi ka haere rātou ki Ingarangi.

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He āhua whā tekau katoa rātou i haere, he whānaunga tata, he rangatira katoa. Ko tōna taina ko Bella tētehi me tōna tungane a Dick ka oti ko te remuhuia whakahirahira o Tūhourangi ko Mita Taupopoki tō rātou poutokomanawa.

Hāunga enei rangatira ko tō tātou tupuna ko Rua me te wahine ka mārenatia inākuānei ki Shepherd's Bush i Ingarangi ko Hera Insley.

He ahakoa he whānaunga katoa nōku, tūturu i haere hoki ōku kaumātua ake ko Ataraiti Ngapera (nee Brady) ko Waretini Te Mutukuri rātou ko tā rāua tamāhine ko Te Moananui-a-Kiwa. I whānau mai tā rāua tamāhine i wē moana ki runga i te Kaipuke. Ka moe a whāea Moana i a Taame Tunui nō Poroporo ka whānau a rātou tamariki kotahi tekau mā whā.

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I whānau mai a Ceylon Hirone Wickcliffe ara a Hirone Te Mokai Wikiriwhi i te taenga atu o te Kaipuke SSPaparoa ki te ākau o Ceylon, whoi anō ko Sri Lanka tōna ingoa karanga i ēnei rangi.

Ko tētehi o ōku huanga, he pirihimana nō Waitaha, ā, he mokopuna hoki nā Whāea Moana me Matua Taame i whakaingoangia ko Hirone mā taua korokē rā ka aroha hoki kāre i whiwhi uri. Ka tapangia e Rua rāua ko Hera tā rāua tamāhine ko Paparoa hei whakamaumaharatanga ki te Kaipuke nana rātou i waha.

Nā Paparoa Julie Gordon a Ngahuia Te Awekotuku a Vicky May Te Kowhai me etehi i whakatupu. Hai whakakapinga māku ko te tamaiti tuatahi pea he Māori i whānau mai i waho atu o Aotearoa i tētehi whenua kē ko Hori Karaneihana Kerei Hiini. He tamaiti nā Wairata Tatiana Hiini me tona hoa rangatira a Hiini.

Ko Kara, rānei ko The Pommy e ai ki a mātou ka moe i a Niki Kerera Hato, tokowaru katoa ā rāua tamariki. Pakeketia katoa rātou. Nō te tau ko pahemo atu nei ka mate tō rātou whakapakanga a Makuini Dorothea Hawa Pederson.

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Nōku te whiwhi he tamaiti noho ki ngā rekereke o ōku pakeke. Ko tōku māmā ko Bubbles me tō mātou kuia ko Miria Potaka- mō te whāngai kōrero ki ahau kai reira. Anei tētehi kōrero e hāngai nei ki tōku māmā me tōna tungane a Sonny Sewell.

Ko Dorothy Huhana ngā ingoa whoatu ki tōku māmā, Ko Sidney rānei ko Rangitepuru ngā ingoa whoatu ki tōku mātua tāne kaokaoroa.

E kūare tonu nei tātou ki te take i tapangia ai tō mātou māmā ko Bubbles. Ko Sonny he kōrero noa tēnā. Ko tō rātou taitamarikitanga kāre i pēnei ki a tātou inaianei, he waiata tahi, he kai tahi he kōrerorero, ā, ko ētehi o o rātou pakeke ko Ana Hato me Deane Waretini ngā manukorokī o te ātea whakangāhau.

E hoa mā e pūrei ana te rikoata o tō mātou kuia a Ana rāua ko Deane kua tangi ngā kanohi o tō mātou kuia. Kai te whakangākau tonu atu nei ahau ki te manawa kīoretanga o tō tātou koroua a Deana i ngā mārama whakamutunga ōna kua taumaha ōna ngutu-kōrero, e noho puku ana.

Ko te mate pukupuku o te korokoro te mate. Kua āta totohu te kaha o te rā ki runga o Whakarewarewa kāre i rite te pīataatatanga o te wāhi i a mātou e itiiiti ai e hika mā me te tokomaha hoki o ngā ingoa heahea.

Ko te pūtawenga mai o ngā ingoa heahea anō nei he kupu whakarite anei he tauira, ko te mangumangutanga o tētehi tangata kāre au e kaha ki te whakapuaki i te ingoa o tēnei tangata inaianei kai kōmemea ōku taringa, āna ka tapangia hei ingoa heahea mōna.
Ko Ngaroimata tōku ingoa ko tōku ingoa iriiri, ko Teresa he mea hōmaihia ki ahau nā te mea e āhua tata nei te tangi o toku ingoa iriiri ki tōku ingoa Māori.

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Kai te tihi o maumaharatanga tōku mātua tāne kaokaoroa a Bill Whareaitu me tana tamāhine ko Maraea ka karangahia ahau e rāua ko Sorrow. Ko ahau te tuarua o ngā tamariki a Tete rāua ko Bubbles he āhua whā tekau takiwā o te toru tekau tō rāua rahi i taua taima.

King George V.
King George V.

Ko te mātāmua he tamaiti tāne ko Roku Mark. Ko ahau te pēpī i te kōpū o tō mātou whaea ka toromī a Roku ka mate i tetehi o ngā puna kaukau e kīa nei ko te "down bath" e pā tata nei ki tō mātou whare.

Nā tōku matua tāne a Roku i kite. Ka tōia mai a Roku i te wai engari he mōhio kē nōna kua hemo noa atu. Wawara tangi haere ana te ia o tana tangi apakura ki tana tamaiti kī katoa ngā huarahi o te pā i tōna wairua whakamomori.

E tīraha ana te tupapaku ki te poho o Wāhiao ka tangi tō mātou tuakana he ahakoa e hemo ana. Nā tēnei tū āhuatanga rangatira ka tapangia ahau ko Ngaroimata. Ko Watu te mea whai mai i ahau nō tō mātou tupuna kuia tōna ingoa nā wai rā ko Roku Adrian, he tāne me tō mātou whakapakanga a Mahara Ruth.

Ka nui te pirangatia a tō mātou matua tāne ki te tapangia ko Whakamaharatanga e ora ai te wairua o tō mātou tuakana engari kāre i whakaaengia e tō mātou māmā ko te mutunga iho ai ka tapangia ko Mahara. Ko tōna ingoa poipoi ko Sweetie he ingoa hātekēhi ki ōna hoa hōia. Whoi anō mate-ohorere nei tō mātou whakapakanga i te tau ko pahemo. Moumou hoki.

He mea whakarapopoto tōku ingoa ki a Mata ināianei whoi anō ka tini kē ōku ingoa karangatanga, ko Grand Mata, ko Nanny Mata ko Whaea me te maha kē atu.

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Engari he pai kē atu ēnei ingoa i ngā ingoa i hōmaingia e tō mātou kuia a Hepine Ransfield me āna tamariki. Ka kī atu ahau ki tōku māmā, "He aha te take ka karangahia ai ahau ko Lizzie ? Ka mea mai tōku māmā, " Nā te mea he rite rawa te tangi ki te kupu Pi**y". E mea ana koe!

The trip down memory lane when recording that Rua Tawhai went to England with Makereti in 1911 for the coronation of George V is a good starting point for how some of my Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao whanaunga were named.

Makereti, born Margaret Pattison Thom, established the Rotorua Maori Choir which she took to Sydney on tour in 1910.

While there a group of businessmen persuaded her to take a concert party to London for the Festival of Empire celebrations, and in April 1911 Makereti's group left for England.

The group consisted of around 40 members of her family, including her sister Bella, brother Dick and Tūhourangi leader Mita Taupopoki.

In Makereti's group were Rua and the woman he would marry at Shepherd's Bush in London, Hera Insley. The party also included my great grandparents, Ataraiti Ngapera (nee Brady) and Waretini Te Mutukuri. Their daughter, Te Moananui-A-Kiwa, was born as they crossed the Pacific Ocean.

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Aunty Moana married Taame Tunui of Poroporo and they had 14 children.

Ceylon Hirone Wickcliffe, also known as Hirone Te Mokai Wikiriwhi, was born when the SSPaparoa was in the vicinity of the island of Ceylon, known nowadays as Sri Lanka.

One of my cousins, a Canterbury police officer and a mokopuna of Aunty Moana and Uncle Taame, is named Hirone for that koroua, who had no issue.

Rua and Hera named their daughter Paparoa after the ship. Paparoa Julie Gordon raised Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, Vicky May Te Kowhai and their families.

To round off the trip down memory lane is the birth in England of Hori Karaneihana Kerei Hiini the son of Wairata Tatiana Hiini and Erekana Hiini. Kara or The Pommy as we knew him, married another of my kuia, Niki Kerera Hato. They had nine children who reached adulthood.

The youngest, Makuini Dorothea Hawa Pedersen, died last year.

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I feel privileged to have been raised at Whakarewarewa among my family and I was lucky that my mother Bubbles and our kuia, Miria Potaka, told me stories of our whanau and how some of them were named.

Take my mother and her brother, Sonny Sewell. Mum's given names were Dorothy Huhana and her brother was Sidney or Rangitepuru. We don't know why she was called Bubbles. Sonny was self-explanatory. They came from a family of story tellers, singers and dancers that included Ana Hato and Deane Waretini.

I remember Kuia crying every time a record of Ana and Deane played on the radio and she was remembering her playmates. I cried when Koro Deane died because in the last months of his life he could hardly speak. He had cancer of the larynx.

Whaka today is a mere shadow of what she was when I was a child. And there were so

many nick names then.

Some of Makereti's whanau.
Some of Makereti's whanau.

Many of them related to the degree of duskiness of a person's skin which these days I dare not mention because they are so politically incorrect and downright unkind.

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My name Ngaroimata means tears and I was given the baptismal name Teresa because it was closest to tears. I remember Uncle Bill Whareaitu and his daughter Maraea called me Sorrow.

I was the second child born to Tete and Bubbles who were in their 40s and 30s at the time.

The first-born was a boy, Roku Mark. When my mother was hapu with me my brother drowned in the "down bath" near our home.

My father found his body and pulled him from the water but he was unresponsive. My father's howls of anguish could be heard right across the village.

When Roku was lying in our tupuna Wahiao, water began seeping from his eyes. That's me, the tears that my brother cried .

My sister Watu comes next and she's named for our maternal grandmother, then there is Roku Adrian, and our baby sister was Mahara Ruth.

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Dad wanted to call her Whakamaharatanga in remembrance of our brother but Mum refused so they agreed on Mahara. Most of the time she was called Sweetie, something her fellow soldiers found hard to fathom.

She passed away suddenly last June.

My name was shortened to Mata and these days I answer to a number of names including Grand Mata, Nanny Mata, Whaea.

All of which are much nicer than the name my kuia Hepine Ransfield and her kids gave me.

"Why do they call me Lizzie?" I asked my mother.

"Because it rhymes with Pi**y."

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