He aha tēnei hanga te hiranga
Ko ngā mea me mātua tuhi ki roto i te whakakaupapatanga o te tarahati
Ko tā te tarahati o Matuaokore Ahu Whenua mahi ko te kimi i te huarahi ki te whakamahi i ngā poraka whenua Māori herekore ki te pokapū o Tūranga. Kāore anō te tarahati kia whai wāhi atu ki te whakatupu i ō rātou whenua i te mea, e toru o ēnei poraka whenua, kei te tihi o tētahi puke e titiro whakararo ana i a Tūranga, e taiapatia ana e ngā poraka whenua noa.
Ko te Tarahati Ahu Whenua o Matuaokore e mahi ana ki te toro atu ki ngā toenga poraka whenua Māori herekore ki te pokapū o Tūranga. Ko ngā poraka whenua e whā ki te taha i Kaitī, i te raki o te tāone, e whakahaerehia ana e te tarahati.
Kāore anō te tarahati kia whai wāhi atu ki te whakatupu i ō rātou whenua i te mea, e toru o ēnei poraka whenua, kei te tihi o tētahi puke e titiro whakararo ana i a Tūranga, e taiapatia ana e ngā poraka whenua noa.
Ko te mea tuawhā he rori karukaru i whakatūria i te tau 1913 kia āhei te toro atu ki ngā poraka whenua Māori ki ōna taha. Ko te whenua i te tihi ko te whenua anake e toe ana o roto i ngā poraka whenua e iwa.
Hui katoa, ko te nui o te poraka whenua e toru me te huarahi kei te takiwā o te 6.5 heketā, ā, ahakoa he iti, he pounamu ki te whānau.
Karekau he toronga ā-ture ki te whenua karapoti whenua
I roto i ngā tau ka tono atu ngā whānau ki ngā hoa noho whenua, ki te toro atu ki ō rātou whenua mā tētahi rori tūmataiti e haere ana i te taha o tō rātou rori karukaru. Ahakoa te nui o te whakapaunga kaha, kāore ngā whakatupuranga o mua i whai rawa, tautoko rānei ki te whakarite i tō rātou ake rori.
Ko te tiamana o te Tarahati Ahu Whenua o Matuaokore, ko Tammy Wātene, ā, ka kōrero ia mō tōna koroua me tōna pāpā me ōna tungāne, tuāhine – te whānau Hokianga – i ngākaunui ki te whakatū toronga.
“I te tau 1991 i haria e ōku mātua tētahi waka-moe mā tētahi ara pāhekeheke, mōrearea hoki, ā, ka noho ki reira mō te 6 marama. I whakatupu kūmara me ētahi atu māra kai. He take nā taku pāpā kia hāpono atu e taea ana e ia te noho ki reira. Koia hoki rāua!” te kī a Tammy.
Ko te whakapūmau i te whanaungatanga mā te whenua
I te marama o Haratua 2019 i whakaaetia ētahi o ngā whānau kia kawea atu he tira motokā ki te hui atu ki te Minita Whanaketanga Māori, ki a Nanaia Mahuta, i a ia e pānui ana i ngā ritenga hou e ngāwari ai te toronga atu me te whakatupu whenua Māori huri noa i te motu.
Ko tētahi o ngā rangatahi o te whānau, ko Terri Hokianga, nāna i hipa te kēti kia eke ki te tihi o te whenua me te ātanga o te titiro atu ki te wahapū me te moananui.
“He mea whakamīharo ki te tū ki runga rā me te titiro ki taku kuia ki runga i te whenua me te tūhono haere ki a rātou,” ka kīia e ia. “He hirahira hoki mō te rangatahi e haere ake nei kia whai wāhi rātou kia tau ō rātou waewae, whakatangatawhenuatia rātou, ā, ka karangatia ko te ūkaipō.”
“Ko taku māmā me ōna mātua, tīpuna hoki i riro i tērā whenua me te tuku iho ki a mātou,” te kupu a te matua kēkē o Tammy, a Keiha Hokianga. “Whānau me te whenua, e rua, e rua ki ahau. I oatitia e mātou ka tiakina te whenua.”
Ko te tiaki whenua mō ngā uri whakaheke
Ko Keiha Hokianga tētahi o ngā tamariki tokowaru i riro i te whenua i tō rātou māmā, i a Matuaokore Hokianga (he Waipara tōmua). Ko ērā atu o ngā tamariki ko Charles Hokianga rātou ko Arapera Harrison, ko Kehoma Hokianga, ko Sam Hokianga, ko Hori Hokianga, ko Tami Hokianga, ko Tangi Haami.
He hiahia nō Tammy ki te tautohu i te mahi nui a tōna koroua, a Peneamine Hokianga.
“Ka aro ōna whakaaro kia utua ngā reti whenua ā-tau ahakoa kāore e taea te toro atu, kāore rānei he ratonga Kaunihera i te aukatinga o ngā poraka,” te kī a Tammy.
“I oatitia e ia ki tana hoa rangatira, ki a Matuaokore, ka puritia te whenua mō ā rāua tamariki me ngā uri whakaheke.”
Te Tarahati Ahu Whenua o Matuaokore
He mea hirahira ngā poraka whenua o Kaitī ki te whānau me ngā Māori tonu o Tūranganui a Kiwa. I mua, i hono te wahapū ki ngā poraka, ā, he wāhi hīnga ika mā te iwi. Ko ngā poraka te whakamutunga o te whenua Māori o Kaitī.
Ko te whenua e whakakotahi ana i te whānau Hokianga i a rātou o tēnei whakatupuranga e whakahou ana i te māia kia mahi me te Kōti Whenua Māori ki te whakatau i te take o te toronga atu.
Kua tono atu hoki te Tarahati ki ētahi atu kaipupuri whenua o ngā poraka, arā, ki ngā uri o Rota Waipara, te tungāne o Matuaokore, he kaipupuri whenua hoki ia, me te whānau Hinaki. I whāia kia uru mai ngā kaipupuri whenua katoa, kia tūwhera ngā nekehanga ki te katoa.
Nō te tau 2016 i kipakipa ai te whakatū i te tarahati nā te hiahia a te Waka Kotahi (NZTA) ki te whakamahi i te tomokanga o tō rātou rori karukaru hei huarahi tūmatanui mō ngā pahikara. I whakatūria te Tarahati Ahu Whenua o Matuaokore hei rōpū takawaenga me te ratonga, hei māngai mō ngā kaipupuri katoa.
Kāore rātou i pīrangi ki te hoko atu, engari i whiriwhiri i tētahi whakaaetanga me NZTA ki te whakamahi i tētahi wāhi o te tomokanga.
“Kāore mātou i mōhio me pēhea e tutuki ai te hiahia kia āhei mātou ki te toro atu ki ō mātou whenua ki te tihi. He āheinga tēnei mā mātou kia ōkawa te tū, kia whakatū rautaki, kia whiriwhiri i ngā āheinga,” te kī a Tammy Wātene.
I ngā wāhanga tīmatanga
E whakaatuhia ana e te Tarahati Ahu Whenua o Matuaokore ngā take huhua o ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori i te tīmatanga o te whakawhanake whenua.
Ko ētahi o ērā take ko te kōrero ki ngā kaipupuri tokomaha e noho tawhiti ana i te whenua, he rōpū whakahaere, te whakakotahi i ngā poraka iti, ā, ki konei, ko te wero o te whenua karapoti whenua.
He painga nui tā te tarahati i te mea he karangatahi ngā kaitiaki katoa. Ko tērā hono me te kaha kōrero ki waenga i te whānau whānui (ko ngā karanga Hokianga tonu) ka piri, ka māia anō rātou.
“He whākinga nui tērā. Kei wīwī, kei wāwā mātou, engari ko tēnei kei te paihere i a mātou. He pai mātou ki te mahi tahi me te ako i tēnā, i tēnā o mātou.”
“Māringanui hoki mātou. Nā taku pāpā me ōna tungāne, tuāhine i tuhi tā rātou i whai ai, ā, he āwhina nui tēnā ki te mārama i te papatoiake o te mahi. Kāore i a rātou te tautoko i a mātou ināianei,” te kī a Tammy.
Kua tonoa ngā rōia me ngā mātanga i Te Puni Kōkiri, i te Tari Tāke me ētahi atu tari kāwanatanga ki te whakangungu i a rātou, ā, kātahi te tautoko nui ko tērā. Nui atu i te 30 o ngā whanaunga ka tae atu ki ngā wānanga ki te ako i ngā kōrero mō te whenua me ngā haepapa o te tarahati.
He whakakitenga mō te āpōpō
Ahakoa e neke whakamua ana, arā atu anō ngā take ture kia wetekina. Ko ngā hoa noho whenua e kī ana he tika ā rātou ki te tomokanga o te rori karukaru i te mea kei tō rātou taitara whenua.
“Kāore e whakatau mā te whakawhitiwhiti. Ko te ture mō te āheinga atu, he ture matua. He tika ā ngā hoa noho whenua? He tika ā mātou? Ki te kore rātou e whai tika ana, he kaupapa kōrero tērā, waihoki, ki te whai tika rātou, he kaupapa kōrero anō tērā,” te kī a Tammy.
Me whai kia whakatutuki i ēnei take, engari e whai ana hoki te whānau ki te waihanga i te kitenga takamua mō te whenua, ā, e rangahau ana i te tāpoi, i te hanga whare me te māra kai.
Ehara i te huarahi māmā, engari kua kotahi te whānau Hokianga ki te whakapūmau, ki te whakatika hoki i ngā mahi i tīmataria e ō rātou kaumātua i ngā tau ki muri. Kia tū rangatira ki tō rātou whenua me te titiro hōrapa ki Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa, mō ake tonu atu.
The Matuaokore Whenua Trust was established in 2016 to connect whānau with their whenua. The Trust is working to gain access to their whenua in Tūranganui a Kiwa. The whenua has brought the whānau together and their journey has begun.
Ko Papatu te maunga
Ko Te Arai te awa
Ko Rongowhakaata te iwi.
Jayden Hokianga – Matuaokore Descendent: My connection to this whenua would start I guess at the arrival of our waka.
Keiha Hokianga – Matuaokore Descendent: My mother through her parents and tīpuna backwards inherited that land and passed it on to us. We promised in our own ways to take care of it. Whānau and whenua mean a lot to me. So, there’s not a lot of difference between those two words as far as I was concerned.
Terri Hokianga – Matuaokore Descendent: I was lucky enough to go up the hill with all of our whānau earlier this year and it was beautiful to be up there and see my nanny especially on the whenua, and be able to be up there and reconnect with them.
Keiha Hokianga: Reconnecting with the land, as I said before, I’m never away from it. I might be physically away from it but here (touching his heart) and mentally I’m here. I’m on the land that my parents bequeathed to us.
Terri Hokianga: And it’s important for the rangatahi who come after us and continue to come after us to have a place where they can put their feet down, have their roots and call home as well. No matter where they are in the world they can always come back to our whenua and feel like they’re connected to this whenua.