Whina Cooper

Ko Whina Cooper he waha mautohe rongonui, he kuia nō Te Tai-tokerau. I whānau mai a Whina Cooper ki Hokianga i te tau 1895. Ko Te Rārawa tōna iwi. I whai wāhi ia ki ngā nekeneke me ngā kaupapa o tōna hapori. Tae ana ki te tekau tau atu i 1930, e ārahi ana a Whina i tōna iwi e noho mai rā i te raki o Hokianga. I te tau 1932 ka mahi a ia i te taha o Āpirana Ngata ki te whakatū kaupapa ahuwhenua ki ngā whenua Māori o tōna rohe. Tekau mā tahi ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua (e 98,000 eka, e 40,000 heketea rānei) ka tū ki te takiwā o Hokianga, ko Whina te kaiwhakahaere i ētahi. I te tīmatanga ka whai hua ngā mahi ahuwhenua; nāwai ā, ka hinga ētahi.

I te matenga o tana tāne a Bill Cooper i te tau 1949 ka hūnuku a Whina ki Tāmaki-makau-rau noho ai. I reira ka tū ia hei kaiārahi mō te ao Māori whānui. Ka tohungia ko ia hei perehitini tuatahi o te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora. He maha ngā peka o te rōpū nāna i tīmata. Kia tae ki te pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1950 e 300 ngā peka o te rōpū, e 4000 ana mema. Ka nui te āwhina a te rōpū nei ki te whakapai ake i te noho o ngā whānau Māori kātahi anō ka hūnuku ki te tāone, i te mea ka rongo ēnei whānau i te whakatoihara iwi i a rātou ka rapu kāinga, ka rapu mahi mā rātou. I te tau 1953 ka whakawhiwhia a Whina ki te tohu MBE.

Mōhiotia whānuitia ai a Whina Cooper i te mea nāna i ārahi te hīkoi rongonui o te tau 1975 mō te whenua. Ka tīmata tēnei hīkoi i Te Hāpua, e ahu atu ana ki te Whare Pāremata i Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara. He mea whakarite e ngā rōpū mautohe Māori e ātete ana i te ngaronga o ngā maramara whenua e noho tonu ana ki ngā ringaringa o te Māori. He āhuatanga hou tēnei momo mautohe ki Aotearoa.

Ka hiki rā ngā manawa o ngā tāngata tokomaha o Aotearoa i tēnei rūruhi e 80 te pakeke kei te ārahi i te hīkoi. E 5000 pea ngā tāngata ka tae ki te Whare Pāremata i te rā 13 o Oketopa o te tau 1975. I reira ka tāpaea e Whina te pitihana nā te 60,000 i haina, ki mua i te Pirimia a Bill Rowling.

Ka noho tonu a Whina Cooper ki mua i te aroaro o te iwi whānui o Aotearoa. Nāna ngā Taumāhekeheke o te Commonwealth ka tū ki Tāmaki-makau-rau i whakatuwhera i te tau 1990. Ko tana kupu ki te tini o Aotearoa me te ao e mātakitaki ana, “i hainatia te Tiriti e tareka ai te noho tahi o ngā iwi i Aotearoa”.

Nō te tau 1994 ka mate a Whina Cooper ki Hokianga. E 98 tana pakeke. Neke atu i te kotahi miriona tāngata ka mātaki i tōna tangihanga i runga pouaka whakaata.

Category:Waha mautohe
Category:Tai-tokerau