Mere Hautonga Te Hiko

Mere Hautonga Te Hiko, Hau or Nanny Hau, as she was known to her whānau, was a taonga to her people being a direct descendant of the Ariki line of her tribe - Ngāti Toa Rangatira. This is her story. 

Pepeha- tribal connection 

Ko Tainui te waka 

Ko Whitireia, Ko Rangituhi ngā maunga 

Ko Kenepuru te awa 

Ko Ngā tai pari e rua ngā wahapū 

Ko Takapūwāhia te Marae 

Ko Ngāti Toa Rangatira te iwi 

Ko Ngāti Te Maunu te hapu 

Ko Mere Hautonga te Ariki Tapairu. 

Mere Hautonga Te Hiko was born on 17th January 1914 in Parirua. Her mother was Makere Inia Tuhata Daymond of Ngāti Mutunga and her father was Pumipi Matenga Te Hiko of the Ariki line of Ngāti Toa Rangatira. She was a direct decendant of the epynomous ancestor Toa Rangatira. Mere Hautonga had four sisters - Erina, Raiha, Heni te rau o te rangi and Pirihira the eldest who was a half sister. The sisters were also blessed with a brother who unfortunately passed away as a baby. 

 Whakapapa – Geneology of Mere Hautonga from the ancestor Toa Rangatira 

Toa Rangatira

Marangai Paroa

Te Maunu

Pikau te rangi

Pitoitoi

Te Peehi Kupe

Te Hiko o te Rangi

Jim Toi Matenga Te Hiko

Pumipi Matenga Te Hiko

Mere Hautonga Te Hiko.

E tipu e rea – Childhood years 

Mere Hautonga was raised in the village of Takapūwāhia on the South Western corner of the Parirua Harbours. From an early age she was drawn to the waters around the harbour and surrounding coastline where she would fish and collect kai moana. There are stories about her scooping butterfish out of shallow water in to her kete in Titahi Bay and walking over the hill to Stevenson’s Farm to gather paua and kina.

Mere Hautonga went to Porirua School and was a fouding member of the Toa Hockey Club. She did a lot of the heavy work for the whānau, cutting wood and bringing it down the hill with the help of a horse, while Aunty Piri helped Nanny Makere with the cooking. As a young girl Mere Hautonga would maintain a connection to her roots in Taranaki and her connections with her Ngāti Raukawa whanau. In later years, she would connect to her Ngāti Koata whānau through marriage. 

 Moe tahi - Marriage 

Mere Hautonga married Ruka Kohe of Ngāti Koata. Ruka Kohe, also known as Luke Love, was the second son of Tiripa Pirihira Ruruku and Ngāhuka Piripi Kohe. Ruka was one of nine children. The oldest was Piripi, then Ruka, Tepene, Ngarata, Matiaha, Rangiruhia (who married Rangi Elkington from D’Urville Island), Mauriri, Marangai and Kaiapa. There was a lot of opposition from her Dad when she met Ruka and was sent away more than once to try and stop the union. But they got their way eventually, her Dad relented and gave them an acre of land . He grew to admire Koro Ruka for being a hard worker as he watched him fence the whole acre of land.

Sadly, the day the fence was finished Koro Pumipi passed away. Mere Hautonga and Ruka Kohe had eight children; Pirihira (died as a baby), Matthew, Makere, Luke,  Erina, Toa, Tiori and Ngāhuka. The whānau lived in the settlement of Takapūwahia at the whānau homestead. Mere Hautonga possessed an inherent wisdom, which you knew you could follow with certainty and this quality she passed on to all her children. 

 He wahine ringa raupa – Work life  

Mere Hautonga worked hard all of her life and raised her family in the village of Takapūwahia. Her house was always full of kids from around the pa, who would all come up to play with the ducks in the pond out the back of her place. This was a common part of being raised in the pa, where families would share in the upbringing of each other’s children.

In her later years, her children and grandchildren would often meet at the homestead to share kai and spend time together, usually on a Sunday. She was an avid gardener and would often have to say to her many mokopuna to stay out of her rose garden, the apple and plum trees.

Mere was known to make the best fried bread in the pa and it didn’t matter where her son Tiori was, his timing was magnificent, as soon as the first bread came out of the sizzling fat, he was there! While maintaining her household she also worked at Levis clothing maufacturing as a seamstress. Mere Hautonga loved playing cards and organised euchre evenings on a Friday night which everybody looked forward to. A lot of the old identities from Titahi Bay came, Māori and Pakeha. Another of her favourite pastimes was to play housie. She supported the running of housie in the old Wharekai every Saturday and later the aunties and uncles ran housie in the Ngāti Toa Lodge Hall every Friday night, to raise the funds needed for the new Wharenui. 

 He Ariki Tapairū – A women of high birth. 

Being the first born in the Ariki whānau placed a lot of responsibility on Mere Hautonga as she would have to carry on the mana of the Ariki lineage and prepare her descendants to do the same. She held a privileged position within her whānau, hapū and iwi as the kaitiaki of whakapapa and the holder of tikanga handed down by her ancestors. She would be given the whakapapa books that were written by her father Pumipi Matenga Te Hiko, who was a leader of the tribe alongside of Joe(pop) Wineera. Her job would be to learn / recite / look after this gift and ensure the next generation would be ready to receive this taonga. She was very particular about who she would share her knowledge with as she wanted to ensure that whoever she gave the information to would use it in the most appropriate manner. 

 Ko Ngāti Toa te Iwi – Ngati Toa the people 

Mere Hautonga Te Hiko, was well versed in the tikanga of Ngati Toa Rangatira and practiced this in her everyday life while also supporting kaupapa on the marae when she could. When the new meeting house at Takapūwahia Marae was to be carved she was visited by several kaumatua to ask for her advice about whakapapa and what should be represented in the meeting house.

Mere had many visits from whānau throughout the iwi asking about whakapapa. Kaumatua from other Iwi would visit asking questions relating to ties with Ngāti Toa. Her love for her Iwi also came through in her deeds as she is listed as one of the original claimants for the Ngāti Toa Rangatira Treaty claim to the Waitangi Tribunal. Mere Hautonga was a founding member of the Māori Womens Welfare League and often travelled the country to attend meetings, she was also a founding member of the Ngāti Toa Rangatira Hockey Club and Porirua School.  

He mamae aroha – Farewell  

Mere Hautonga Te Hiko lived her whole live in the settlement of Takapūwāhia until her passing on 6 October 1998. Her tangihanga was held at Takapūwāhia Marae. She was laid to rest amongst her relations at the top urupa in Porirua.

Her struggle to hold on to the mana of her families connection to the land continues today as a result of the foudation she provided. Her descendants have reclaimed lands in the settlement of Takapūwāhia to pay honour to the sacrifices she and others made.  

“E kore nei e wareware i te mahara e te Ariki tapairū, e Mere Hautonga Te Hiko” 

Na āna uri i kohikohi i ēnei kōrero 

This brief was compiled on behalf of all of her descendants.