RAU KENANA

He matakite a Rua Kenana, he amorangi tiaki wairua i tōna iwi, i a Tūhoe. I te tīmatanga o te rau tau 20 koia tētehi o rātou ngā tāngata i pēnei ai i te wā o te rawakore me te pōuri, i waenganui i ngā hāpori Māori. Kua iti haere te iwi Māori nā ngā pakanga pū, ngā pakanga whenua me te māuiui rewharewha kia kīia ai he ‘dying race’.
Kua raru hoki te iwi o Tūhoe i ngā kaupapa here a te Kāwanatanga pērā i te ‘scorch earth policy’, arā, te tahuna o ngā kai me ngā pā ki te ahi me te muru whenua a te Kāwanatanga mō ngā whakapae rupahu. I te mutunga o te rau tau 1800 i te huna a Tūhoe i a Te Turuki (Te Kooti). He maha o rātou i whai i a Te Turuki nāna te whakakitenga ka haere mai tētehi tangata i te rāwhiti ki te whakaora i a rātou.
I kī a Rua Kenana koia tonu te tangata i matakitehia e Te Turuki. I whakamahia e ia te kīngi karapu hei tohu atu koia te tuawhā me te whakamutunga o ngā matakite Māori. Ko Meremere-tū-ahiahi te whetū e tohu ana i te rāwhiti, ko te taimana hei tohu i a Maungapohatu, ā, ko ngā rārangi pikopiko e tohu atu ana i te ahitūroa a Halleys. Katoa ngēnei tohu e whakapaipai ana i te kuaha ki a Maungapohatu. E ai ki ngā kōrero e toru ngā wā i puta a Whaitiri i tētehi huarahi kohukohu hei ārahi i a Rua me tana wahine tuatahi a Pinepine ki te tihi o Maungapohatu. I te whitinga mai o te rā i kite rāua i a Ihu Karaiti e tū ana i tana taha.
Ka mōhio a Rua ki tāna mahi hou, ka tīmata ia ki te huri haere i te rohe o Mātaatua waka ki te whakaemi i tōna iwi ki te hanga i tō rātou ake wāhi noho, i a Maungapohatu, i te Hiruharama hou. Ka tū a Maungapohatu hei kāinga mō ngā ‘Iharaira’, ngā tāngata a Rua, kei tētehi wāhi tawhito o ngā tūpuna i te ngahere o te Urewera. He roa rawa te hīkoi ki roto, ki waho i taua wāhi, ā, he kino ngā rangi i reira. I te tau tuatahi ki reira he maha o rātou i mate nā te kino o ngā rangi, te rawakore me te māuiui. Heoi i ngana rātou ki te tiaki i a rātou anō kia ora pai mai.
Kāore he hiahia nō Rua ki te Pākehā kia ora ai. I taua wā tonu i tere mau i tana iwi te Hāhi Karaitiana me te whai moni i ngā mahi pāmu kia ora ai. Nā te tere tipu o tana iwi ka āwangawanga te Kāwanatanga. Ka rangona tōna reo me ngōna whakaaro e te maha tonu o ngāi Māori i te motu whānui. I whai a Rua me ngana Iharaira i te rangmarie mai i te Paipera Tapu, ā, ka tapaina rātou ko te iwi o te rangimarie roa. Ko tana tautoko kia kaua a Ngāi Māori e whawhai i te pakanga tuatahi i whakararungia e ngā rupahu me nga harihari kōrero i tāngia ki te niupepa Auckland Star me te Rotorua Chronicle. I whakahēngia ia kia tautokongia kētia te hiahia o te motu kia whawhai.
Ka taea tonuhia te rongo ite kotahitanga, i te kaha, i te whakahīhī me te tūmanako mō Tūhoe i ngēnei rā tonu nei. Kei reira tonu te motuhaketanga, te rangimarie me te whakahē. Kei te whawhai tonu kia noho motuhake a Tūhoe. E mihi ana au ki ngōku whanaunga e whawhai tonu ana i te rangmarie. He nui te aroha me te whakamihi.

Dion Hitchens, July 2007
Tamaki Makau Rau/Auckland
Aotearoa/New Zealand