Ko te mate urutā – ka mua, ka muri

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Ahakoa kua huri te wā he āhua ōrite ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki Ngāi Māori i nāianei, ki ngā wā o te mate urutā kotahi rau tau i mua. I pā mai te “Spanish Flu” ki Aotearoa i te mutunga o te tau 1918. I ngā marama e rua (Oketopa ki te Tihema) ko te tatau o ngā matenga (9,000) he hawhe o ngā mea i mate i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao kātahi anō kua oti. Ka mōhio pea koutou i tino pāngia te iwi Māori e tēnei mate i taua wā. Āhua 2,500 ngā tāngata Māori i mate.

Te Kopara, 12 January 1919, page 10

Ki te titiro tātou ki ngā niupepa o taua wā ka kitea he mahi ngā mahi a Ngāi Māori ki te tiaki i te hapori. Ko tētahi ko Aperahama Rupene nō Ngāpuhi. He hōia ia i te Pakanga Tuatahi, ā, kua pau hoki tana kaha ki te whawhai kia tiakina ngā hōia Māori kia rite tonu ki ngā hōia Pākehā. I tuhi reta ia ki te nuipepa i te 20 o Tīhema 1918 mō taua kaupapa me te kaupapa o te mate urutā. Ko tāna, he maha ngā whānau kua mate nā te kaha o taua huaketo i ngā kāinga, ā, me tana kaha whakahē i te mahi koretake o tari hauora te kāwānatanga ki te tiaki i te hauora o te iwi Māori.

Aperahama Rupene

I tuhi hoki a Mihinga, arā, Mrs Lucy Joseph, ki te niupepa ki te tautoko i ngā kupu o Aperahama. He wahine rongonui a Mihinga i tana rohe o Te Kuiti mō ana mahi. Ki tāna, ko te tāone o Te Kuiti anake te tāone i tino atawhai ki te iwi Māori i te patunga o te mate urutā.

He rerekē tēnei i ētahi atu tāone pēnei ki Ōtaki me ō rātou whakaaro kaikiri, inā kua mataku te iwi Pākehā kei whakawhānuitia te huaketo e te iwi Māori.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 19 November 1918, page 3

Heoi anō, me mihi anō hoki ki te mahi o tētahi nēhi Māori rongonui i taua wā mō tana mahi ki te tiaki i ngā tūroro i pāngia e tēnei mate. Ko Maora Pani Mataira nō Nūhaka, i mōhiotia whānuitia hei Nurse Maud, ā, ko ia tētahi o ngā nēhi Māori tuatahi.

I mahi ia i te hōhipera i Rawene i te Hokianga i te wā o te mate urutā, ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā nēhi 35 i te motu katoa i mate i taua urutā. Kāore e taea e tana whānau te haere atu ki te tangihanga. I tae kē mai te waea me te kī, “kua mate a Maora, kua nehua hoki.” Auē, taukiri e – ka pēnei anō ngā tangihanga i tēnei wā mō ngā mea e mate ana, ā, kāore e taea te tino poroporoaki.

Nō reira, kia huri ki tēnei wā, he ōrite ēnei momo āhuatanga. Ka taea pea te kī ko te whakaaro tuatahi o te iwi Pākehā ki te taha moni, arā, ki te ōhanga (economy), engari ko te whakaaro tuatahi o te iwi Māori ki te hunga kaumātua, me te tiaki i a rātou anō. Koinā te kaupapa o ngā taiepa ārai kua whakatūria e ngā iwi i te Tai Rawhiti me te Tai Tokerau, arā, kia tiakina te hunga Māori e noho ana ki reira i runga i te mōhio kei tae mai te nanakia nei ka tino pāngia te hapori. Anō hoki ka puta ngā whakaaro pōhēhē, whakaaro kaikiri mai i ētahi o te iwi Pākehā mō tēnei.

Engari i te mutunga ka haere tonu ngā whakaaro o te iwi Māori ki te tiaki, ki te hāpai, ki te tautoko i te hapori kia ora ai tātou katoa.

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