He maunga, he tipua! Koia rā tā te ture mō te kāhui maunga o Taranaki, i te waitohutanga o te whakataunga kerēme e kiia nei ko Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo ki Ōwae Marae, i Waitara, e whai mana ai te kāhui tūpuna maunga, me he tangata.
Kua roa ngā iwi e waru o Taranaki e whanga ana ki te whakataunga nei.
“Kua mana anō te ingoa o tō tāua tauheke. Kua whakakorengia te ingoa o Egmont. Heoi anō rā, ka tū tiketike mai rā a Taranaki me tōna ingoa tūturu. I tēnei rā me ngā rā e haere ake nei,” te kī a Jamie Tuuta, tētahi o ngā Kaiwhiriwhiri o Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo.
“Ko tētahi o ngā wero nui ko te whakatinana ana i te anga o Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, kia ora ai ēnei kaupapa e whiriwhiringia nei mātou me te karauna, kia ora te maunga, kia ora anō ngā whiringa i Wanganui te maunga me ngā iwi.”
Hei tā Liana Poutu, tētahi anō o ngā kaiwhiriwhiri, kua rangona anō te mana o te maunga tītōhea.
“I roto rā i ngā whakaritenga mō ō tātou nei maunga, kei reirā mātou, ngā iwi, kei reira ngā maunga hoki. He reo tā mātou, he reo tā ngā maunga.”
Ahakoa he 25 ōrau noa iho ngā uri i tuku pōti, he 98 ōrau o rātou i whakaae ki te whakataunga.
“He wā roa kāre mātou ngā uri i noho ki te tēpū, kia whakarite i ngā whakataunga mō ō tātou nei maunga. He roa te wā hoki kāore ō tātou nei maunga e noho ana ki te tēpū hei reo, kua puāwai i ngā wawata mō mātou ngā uri me ngā maunga. Koirā tētahi wāhanga pai ana ki au.”
Hei tā Che Wilson o Taranaki Whānui me Ngā Rauru, “Kua tutuki, oti noa ko mātou, ko tātou i tīmata i te whārangi hou i te pukapuka. Ehara i te mea ko ia kē ko te pukapuka, ēngari he whārangi anō tēnei kia kōkiri tonu. Kia mātou anō tātou, kia āta wānanga tātou, he aha ō tātou hononga ki tō tātou tupuna, ki a maunga Taranaki te tū ake nei. Nō reira, e ora ana te ngākau.”
E whā ngā wāhanga o Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo:
o Tuatahi he whakapāha nā te kāwanatanga
o Tuarua he whakahaerenga hou mo; Ngā Tūpuna Maunga me Te Papa Kura o Taranaki
o Tuatoru he whakamana i ngā ingoa Māori, he whakatika i ngā whiunga ahurea
o Ka mutu e toru tekau mā rima miriona tāra hei whakatū, hei whāngai hoki i Te Kāhui Tūpuna.
Hei tā Minita Andrew Little, “Since the signing of Te Tiriti in 1840, Crown actions have caused ngā iwi o Taranaki immense harm and mamae. The Crown has consistently failed to engage with ngā iwi o Taranaki in the spirit of partnership by those envisioned by the Treaty in 1840.”
E ai ki a Ruakere Hond, kua neke atu i te kōtahi rau tau ngā uri e whāia nei kia hoki anō te mana o Taranaki.“Nō tēnei rangi, kua tata rima tēkau tau, am tērā wā ki nāianei, titiro ki te rā e whiti ana. Ka kitea e te tini e te mano, kua hoki mai te mauri ki runga I te maunga. He mauri Māori.”
Hei tā Kura Moeahu, uri nō Taranaki Whānui, Ngā Ruahine, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga me Ngāti Tama, he marakerake te kite atu i te hari o ngā uri. “Tā te mea, nā te koro i karanga atu ki a tātou ‘hoki mai ki te kāinga.’ Mihi atu rā e koro. Ka muia tō marae i kōnei, me ngā uri o tō tātou tauheke maunga.”
Hei tā Tuuta tonu, “Kua koakoa te ngākau kua tatū tēnei wāhanga me te mōhio anō, kua roa rawa ō mātou uri e tohe ana mō te whenua, mō tō tātou tūpuna maunga. Kua tātu tēnei wāhanga, heoi anō rā he nui ngā mahi kei mua i te aroaro mō ngā whakatūpuranga te haere ake nei.
“He āhua māmā ake tō mātou noho i te taha o te karauna, te kōrero ki te karauna. Engari uaua rawa i ngā tau o mua. Ka tika me mihi ki ō tātau nei tūpuna. Nā rātou i whakatakoto te ara. Hei hīkoinga mā tātou.
Tū mai Taranaki, tiketike mai rā i roto i te kawa tapu hapainga tō mana torotika ki a rangi e.
