School for her was intermittant, attending Mercer primary school. She grew up in a time when te reo maori (maori language) was forbidden to be spoken in schools and coming from a household who only spoke te reo maori was a tremendous challenge for her. Over time she told her Aunty and father that she didn't like going to school. My nan's solution was to make ways of trying to travel back and forward from Mercer to Te Kohanga on a more regular basis to reduce the time spent at school.
My nan said that at first she didn't understand why her pakeha teacher didn't allow maori to be spoken. To her, it was a way of life. The only language she knew. She witnessed her school mates including her family getting severely hit when they spoke maori which confused my nan even more. If maori had to speak english, then why did pakeha not speak maori? Why was her language not embraced? She didn't like this open display of violence and made her own decision. She wasn't prepared to give her language up, however she wasn't prepared to be hit either. Her solution was to quickly learn when and where to speak maori and when and where to speak english. Adapt to the environment surrounding her, however remain strong in her own values and beliefs.
Little did she know as a young child, the indomitable leaders of her people at the time such as Te Puea Herangi, made no secret that upholding the mana of everything in the maori world was paramount. My nan did not truly understand at the time that there was a much greater cause for her people but as she grew, this was the biggest form of education she received.
Te Puea looked to live and rely on a colonial world, however remain strong on her attitude to holdfast to the values of the kingitanga and more importantly constantly remain aware of the injustices forced on her people.
The kingitanga was a way of life for my grandmother. She was schooled by her kaumatua, her aunties, her father, her brothers and sisters and even Te Puea herself. Her family was the biggest and most important asset she had and if the kingitanga was important to them, then it was important to my grandmother. She grew up on the oral histories of her people. Where she came from and how they came to be at the puaha (port). She grew up hearing the stories of the influenza epidemic that had a tremendous impact on her people and how barges would constantly be travelling to Taupiri mountain with the bodies of her people. She was educated in the history of the kingitanga and the impact of raupatu.
My nan saw the outcomes of the kingitanga growing fast as a young teenager. Her aunty Mona and her husband Korota Pingareka were working closely with Te Puea to help fulfil the prophercy of Kingi Tawhiao by building Turangawaewae. They had already made a move to Ngaruawahia, while Aunty Mona tripped between Mercer, Te Kohanga and Ngaruawhia. Nan's cousin Wes Dixon remained on the farm in Mercer to help work the land and supply the people Te Puea had taken to Ngaruawahia with the necessities required. My nana told me that in the early days, that is what it was like for the people from the port. You either went with Te Puea to build Turangawaewae, or you stayed back to help fund or sustain the people who were in Ngaruawahia building Turangawaewae. That was the vision. That was the way it was.
Eventually her cousin Wes came to Ngaruawahia to live with his parents. By that time, there were other children who had been whangai'd to Korota and Mona including Tame Herangi and Rongo Herangi - both being brother and sister. My nan told me there was an older child also called Tame Herangi, however he passed away as a baby. Rongo would become my grandmothers best friend as a teenager, although she was a few years younger than my nan their character were very similar.
My grandmother told me a story one day about how Aunty Mona asked her to help clean Mahinaarangi. She got up on a ladder to clean the upper walls when she heard a stern voice behind her. She got such a fright, she let out some "unladylike" words and when she turned around it was Te Puea. My nan nearly fell off the ladder but Te Puea did not react and they both carried on. Later that night she received such a growling from Aunty Mona so my grandmother told her aunty to clean the house herself next time. This reaction from a teenager to her Aunty Mona took some guts but nana stayed true to her word.
There were so many different fundraising events happening all over the rohe to help with Te Pueas work at Turangawaewae. Going to a dance was always my nan's favourite activity. Her, brother Bill and sister Annie would get dressed up in their "killing gears" and head off to the dance. As most teenagers do, they were there to enjoy the "eye candy" telling each other to help get them a dance partner for the night and dance all night long. My nan takes pride in telling us that Te Puea ran a tight ship so the dances didn't have alcohol or drugs back then, and everyone would get dressed up properly. Her words "beauty times". My nan told me that Te Puea enjoyed seeing the young ones enjoying themselves and more importantly enjoying each other. It was part of her vision to build a strong 2nd generation into Turangawaewae thus creating further generations to continue into the future.
It was at one of the dances at Turangawaewae that her brother Bill introduced her to a young man called Binga Haggie. He was the son of Korota Pingareka's eldest sister Te Aumihi Haggie who was also part of the first wave of people to come with Te Puea and establish Turangawaewae. Nana's eyes always come alive when she would tell me how he was a pure gentleman and looked so handsome wearing a grey pinstripe suit when they first met. PLUS he was a very good dancer!!
At the time my nana was working for the railways near Auckland and the pair would correspond through letters. When she would have the weekends off, my grandmother would travel down to Ngaruawahia on the train and stay with Aunty Mona. Binga would come over and take her to the local pictures. After a while, my nana finished work at the railway and moved permanently to Ngaruawahia with her Aunty Mona and Uncle Korota. Her cousin Wes and brother Bill became good friends with Binga and they began playing sports together. Subsequently, my nana became good friends with Binga's sister Doreen or Ngahia, and they began playing basketball together. (Back in those days basketball ... was today's netball).
Work was still important and my nan would find work in the king country working in a shearing gang that went from Turangawaewae. She was there for a few months when she returned back to Ngaruawahia. It's no secret that many people commented on how beautiful my grandmother was when she was younger .. and of course still is. I heard she received the nickname 'Tainui beauty' but when I asked my nana she didn't confirm or deny the name nor would she tell the story of where it came from.
My grandfather told me that he thought my nana was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. In fact, he told me a story about when my grandmother first started coming to Ngaruawahia as a teenager. Turangawaewae was always a bustle of activity. One day, as the men were all working creating a mass of noise, my grandmother walked from one side of the marae to the other and silence fell across the marae grounds while the "boys" watched her. He told me that that moment always held a special place for him. "your grandmothers beauty commands attention" he once said. He would later nickname her SNOW.
Upon reflection, during my childhood I was always fascinated by two photos of two beautiful young women that hung in the hallway at my grandparents home. The woman in photo 1 had impeccable skin with dark hair that was styled perfectly. She wore a white blouse with embroided flowers around the neck line and she had a warm but cheeky smile and a beauty spot between her left cheek and upper lip.
The woman in photo 2 had the same warm but cheeky smile. Her skin was also impeccable and her hair was styled perfectly, however her hair was lighter, her skin was slightly darker, she wore a khaki blouse and didn't have a beauty spot above her lip. I would stare at these photos for hours wondering who these woman were in the photo. When I was told that it was my grandmother in photo 1 and her sister Annie in photo 2, I didn't believe them. The woman in photo 1 looked so different to my nan and the defining feature that linked my nan of young to my nan of old was that trade mark beauty spot above her lip.
Later in life my grandmother told me that those photo's were taken by her brother Bill. One day he came home with a camera and made both his sisters model in a series of photo's. He got angry because nana and Aunty Annie were mucking around, laughing and joking for most the time and she thought the photo's wouldn't turn out very well. He had the photo's developed and gave them both a copy and to their surprise, they were perfect! It's such a shame that the whereabouts of those photo's is unknown now. I would so love to see them one more time.
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| My 'NOT SO HAPPY' nana as a brides maid at her sister Annies wedding |
By this time, my grandmother had lived at Mercer, Huntly and Te Kohanga but it was at Ngaruawahia where the foundations for her long term future would begin and Binga Haggie would play a very important role.
Happy living peeps!!
