He Pukapuka Tataku i Nga Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui / A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha

Tamihana Te Rauparaha, Ross Calman

• Publisher: Auckland University Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781776710591
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Te Rauparaha is most well known today as the composer of the haka 'Ka mate', made famous the world over by the All Blacks. A major figure in nineteenth-century history, Te Rauparaha was responsible for rearranging the tribal landscape of a large part of the country after leading his tribe Ngati Toa to migrate to Kapiti Island. He is venerated by his own descendants but reviled with equal passion by the descendants of those tribes who were on the receiving end of his military campaigns in the musket-war era. He Pukapuka Tataku i nga Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui is a 50, 000-word account in te reo Maori of Te Rauparaha's life, written by his son Tamihana Te Rauparaha between 1866 and 1869. A pioneering work of Maori (and, indeed, indigenous) biography, Tamihana's narrative weaves together the oral accounts of his father and other kaumatua to produce an extraordinary record of Te Rauparaha and his rapidly changing world. Edited and translated by Ross Calman, a descendant of Te Rauparaha, He Pukapuka Tataku i nga Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui makes available for the first time this major work of Maori literature in a parallel Maori/English edition.

He Pukapuka Tātaku i ngā Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui

A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha

HE RĀRANGI WĀHANGA / SECTION GUIDE

1.1He pukapuka tātaku tēnei i ngā mahi a Te Rauparaha nui, o tōna itinga, kaumātua noa

1.2Nā tāna tamaiti tupu ake, nā Tamihana Te Rauparaha, i tuhituhi kei wareware

Ōna mātua, waenganui–mutunga o ngā tau 1700

1.3Werawera

Na, me tīmata te kōrero i ngā mahi a Werawera, a te matua tāne o Te Rauparaha. E kīia ana he tamaiti pai a Werawera i tōna itinga ai, he āhua pai hoki ki te titiro atu.

1.4Nō tōna kaumātuatanga, ka nui haere tōna ingoa i runga i ōna mahi atawhai me tōna toa, i tōna mōhio anō ki te whakahaere tikanga mō ōna iwi – mō Ngāti Toa me Kāwhia.

1.5Erangi, he nui iho anō nō ōna tūpuna, nō Toarangatira, tuku iho ki a ia – mōna tēnei whakawai, ‘Te toa o te tamaiti rangatira’, nōna tēnei ingoa, [a] ‘Ngāti Toa’.

1.6Parekōhatu

Ko te wahine tēnei a Werawera, ko Parekōhatu. Ko te whaea tēnei o Te Rauparaha. Otirā, tēnei anō ō mua ake i a Te Rauparaha, me āta tuhi ō rātou ingoa:

Ko Te Rangikatukua tō mua

Muri iho ko Waitohi

Muri iho ko Te Kiripaeahi

Muri iho ko Mahurenga

Muri iho ko Te Rauparaha, te whakamutunga tēnei, ko tōna whakataukī, ko ‘Māui-pōtiki’.

1.7Ki tā te kōrero, he kōtiro pai a Parekōhatu i tōna itinga, he āhua pai hoki ki te titiro atu. He tamāhine nā Korouaputa, nōna te ingoa nei [a] ‘Ngāti Huia’, arā, he mokopuna ērā nā Huia. (Kāore i tuhia iho ō mua ake i a Parekōhatu.)

1.1This is a record of the life of the great Te Rauparaha, from childhood to old age

1.2Written by his own son, Tamihana Te Rauparaha, so that it is not forgotten

Parentage, mid–late 1700s

1.3Werawera

Now then, let the narrative begin with the deeds of Werawera, the father of Te Rauparaha. It is said that Werawera was a good child in his early years and quite good-looking.

1.4When he reached adulthood, his name became widely known through his generosity, his prowess in battle and his ability to direct the affairs of his peoples – of Ngāti Toa and Kāwhia.

1.5However, it was also the case that he inherited greatness from his ancestors, from Toarangatira in particular – the saying, ‘Te toa o te tamaiti rangatira’ (the prowess of the descendant of chiefs) relates to him and the name ‘Ngāti Toa’ comes from him.

1.6Parekōhatu

Parekōhatu was the wife of Werawera. She was the mother of Te Rauparaha. However, there were also children who came before Te Rauparaha whose names should be recorded:

Te Rangikatukua was the first born

Then Waitohi

Then Te Kiripaeahi

Then Mahurenga

Then Te Rauparaha, he was the last born, his nickname was ‘Māui-pōtiki’.

1.7It is said that Parekōhatu was a well-behaved girl when young and also quite attractive to look at. She was a daughter of Korouaputa, from whom comes the name ‘Ngāti Huia’, for they were descendants of Huia. (The names of those who came before Parekōhatu are not recorded.)

1.8Ngā mahi a Parekōhatu, he rongo ki ngā whakahaunga a tōna matua tāne, a Korouaputa, § kia takā he kai mā ngā manuhiri me ngā ope tae atu ki tōna matua i Maungatautari, he karanga hoki i ngā tira haere me ngā ope kia peka ki tōna kāinga.

2.1Ko ngā taonga tonu ēnei o ngā kōtiro rangatira me ngā tamariki rangatira o te Māori, he karanga i ngā manuhiri me ngā ope taua kia peka ki tō rāua kāinga ko tōna matua hei hāpai i tōna ingoa. Mā reira ka mōhiotia ai ko te tamāhine a mea, ko te tamaiti a mea.

Tōna tamarikitanga, ngā tau 1780

2.2Te Rauparaha

Na, ko Te Rauparaha i whānau anō ki Te Taharoa. Ko te ingoa nui o te kāinga ko Kāwhia.

2.3I te hapūtanga o Parekōhatu i tō rāua tamaiti mātāmua ko Werawera, ka koa a Werawera, ka mea, ‘Kātahi anō ka tupu a Ngāti Toa, ka ea ngā mate o ngā iwi o Kāwhia, hinga [i] a Waikato i ngā wā o mua ake’.

2.4Na, he tamaiti pai a Te Rauparaha i tōna kōhungahungatanga ai, kāore he tangi tonu ki te ū, ā nui iti ake, kāore e tangi tonu ki te kai, erangi, e kīia ana, he tangihanga kotahi nei, kāore e hono tonu te tangi kai i ngā rā katoa.

2.5Ki tā [A]perahama Te Kawe, he tamaiti rongo a Te Rauparaha ki tōna whaea me tōna pāpā. Kāore i pēnei te tutū me ngā tamariki o tēnei takiwā, kāore e whakarongo mai ki ō rātou mātua.

2.6Na, ka nui iti ake a Te Rauparaha, ka ngarea e Te Whanga ki te kawe wai māori mōna. Rongo tonu a Te Rauparaha, kīhai i turi ki te kaingare i a ia.

2.7Na, nui ana ko Te Rauparaha, ngaro noa iho te ingoa o Te Whanga, o tōna kaingare, i maharatia ai tēnei he tikanga whakaiti i ngā tamariki rangatira. Ko tō te Māori tikanga tēnei, e kore e ngare[a] ngā tamariki rangatira. He whakahī noa iho tēnei nō tēnei tūtūā, nō Te Whanga, ki te ngare i tana rangatira ki te kawe wai mōna.

2.8Kātahi anō ka mate taua koroua, ināianei, i tērā tau. I ngā rā i ora ai a Te Whanga, he kaimahi kai tonu ia § nā Te Rauparaha, i ngā rā i ora ai a Te Whanga.

1.8Parekōhatu’s role was to comply with the instructions of her father, Korouaputa, by preparing food for the visitors and groups who visited her father at Maungatautari, and to invite travelling groups and war parties to visit his home.

2.1Among Māori it was the preserve of high-born girls and boys to invite guests and travelling war parties to visit their home in order to uphold their father’s reputation. Through this they became known as the daughter of so and so, or the son of so and so.

Childhood, 1780s

2.2Te Rauparaha

Now, Te Rauparaha was born at Taharoa. The general name for the area is Kāwhia.

2.3When Parekōhatu became pregnant with her and Werawera’s first child, Werawera was pleased, saying, ‘Now Ngāti Toa grows in strength and will be able to avenge the dead of the Kāwhia tribes, those killed by Waikato in earlier times’.

2.4Well, Te Rauparaha was a happy child as an infant, he wasn’t always crying for the breast and when he was a little older, he didn’t cry on and on for food, but, it was said, he would cry just once, he was not constantly crying for food all day.

2.5According to Aperahama Te Kawe, Te Rauparaha was a child who listened to his mother and father. He was not disobedient like the children of today, who don’t listen to their parents.

2.6Now, when Te Rauparaha was a little older, he was sent by Te Whanga to fetch him some water. Te Rauparaha did what he was told, he did not refuse to comply with the person who sent him.

2.7Well, later on Te Rauparaha became famous, while Te Whanga’s name was completely forgotten, the one who had ordered him about, knowing full well that this kind of thing was insulting to high-born children. According to Māori custom, high-born children should not be ordered about. It was utter presumption on the part of this nobody, Te Whanga, to send his chief to fetch water for him.

2.8That old man has only just died, recently, last year. When Te Whanga was alive, he tended crops for Te Rauparaha.

3.1Te tikanga o tēnei ingoa, o Te Rauparaha, he rau pōhue i whārikirikitia hei rautao mō te umu i taona ai a Te Rangikataua e Waikato.

3.2Te toanga o Te Rauparaha

I tōna wā e āhua tamariki ana ka tīmata tōna toa, erangi he kaiwaha ia i ngā kākahu [o] ōna mātua, ā, e mate ana hoki, he mate paipai te mate.

3.3Nō tōna kitenga atu i ōna kaumātua e oma mai ana i te wehi i te hoariri, ka noho noa iho a Te Rauparaha ki raro. Me pēwhea e kaha ai te oma i te mate i a ia. Kātahi a Te Rauparaha ka tahuri ki te riri māna, tōna kotahi. Kua horo te nuinga, i te ka...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Ngā Whakaahua me ngā Mahere Whenua/List of Illustrations and Maps
• He Whakapuakitanga/Foreword
• Ngā Mihi/Acknowledgements
• He Kupu nā te Etita/Editor’s Note
• He Kupu Whakataki/Introduction
• He Pukapuka Tātaku i ngā Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui/A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha
• He Āpitihanga/End Matter
• He Rārangi Wā/Timeline
• He Pitopito Kōrero mō ngā Puna Kōrero/Notes on Sources
• Ngā Tohutoro/References