Turirangi Te Kani

Mr T.R. Te Kani at Gate Pa/Pukehinahina
35mm film negative, Gifford-Cross/NZME Bay of Plenty Times Collection, publ. 30 Apr 1964
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Ref. gcc-6294

Turirangi Te Kani was a much respected kaumatua and historian connected with several marae on the eastern side of Tauranga Moana: Hungahungatoroa, Waikari (both on the Matapihi Peninsula) and Whareroa (adjacent to the Tauranga airport). Turi, as he was commonly known, was passionate about recording history and wrote several articles for the Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society.[1] He was the vice-president of that group for a number of years, gave talks at local schools and was present at the Centennial commemoration of the battle of Gate Pa at Pukehinahina  on 29/30th April 1964. He wrote, among many other cultural taonga and waiata, a paddling chant for the dedication and launching of the Te Awanui waka constructed and carved for Ngaiterangi by Tuti Tukaokao in 1973.

Around the schools: Frances Powell, Nancy Pierre, Deanna Mikaere & Turirangi Te Kani
35mm film negative, PhotoNews Collection, taken for Issue No 83, 3 May 1969
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Ref. pn-1665

Turi was born in Maraenui north-east of Opotiki in 1915 and as a young man served in WWll in 'C' Company of the 28th Maori Battalion. He was held as a prisoner of war for four years and on his return to Aotearoa New Zealand he married Hinerau Ngatai and they farmed dairy at Matapihi. They had one adopted daughter. In later years he helped develop kiwifruit and avocado orchards and pack houses locally and as far afield as Ongare. He was a key fundraiser for projects that would benefit the people of Matapihi: the Hungahungatoroa Marae, Tauranga Moana Maori Hostel and the construction of the Matapihi Rail footbridge [2] among them.

Around the schools: Turirangi Te Kani & his stock
35mm film negative, PhotoNews Collection, taken for Issue No 83, 3 May 1969
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Ref. pn-1670

The Rangataua Young Farmers Club was founded in October 1949 by an associate W. Ohia and others, and Turi was a keen member. Members farmed in Papamoa, Matapihi, Ngapeke, Waitao, Kairua and Maungarangi. Turi was a keen rugby player and supporter over the years for both the Old Boys and Matapihi teams.

Tauranag Maori Hostel Committee: Receiving cheque is Te Kani (left) and I. Tangitu (right)
35mm film negative, Gifford-Cross/NZME Bay of Plenty Times Collection, publ. 19 Sep 1964
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Ref. gcc-6294

Turi and Bill were involved together in many groups including the Waikato Maniopoto Maori District Council, and were founding members of the Waitangi Tribunal and Tauranga Moana Trust Board. Turi chaired the Tauranga Maori Executive, was appointed to the Maori Land Advisory Board and served on the Maori Affairs Board for 15 years. He was a JP and was awarded the MBE in 1970.

In the mid 80s he was invited to attend the opening of the Te Maori Exhibition in the United States. Te Kani was a passionate advocate for honouring the Treaty of Waitangi and was involved in Te Heke o Te Rangihouhiri in 1987. (Komako Article, below)

Turirangi Te Kani and whaling relics
35mm film negative, PhotoNews Collection, taken for Issue No 88, 20 Sep 1969
Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries, Ref. pn-3931

Sadly in 1990 he was killed in a motor accident at Te Maunga. The pupils of Matapihi School wrote many tributes [3] and in 1991 the Port of Tauranga set up a scholarship for Tertiary studies for local Maori Students in Turirangi Te Kani’s memory.

Author's Note

I had the privilege of growing up at The Elms/Te Papa with my grandparents in the 1960s and 1970s and recall several visits by both Turirangi Te Kani and Wiremu (Bill) Ohia to discuss various matters with my grandfather Duff Maxwell. They were both so involved in and committed to the true historical documentation of this area and had the ability and grace to move very easily between the two cultures.

Postscript

A previous version of this article stated incorrectly that Turirangi Te Kani was born at Maraenui near Napier, rather than the settlement of Maraenui about 40km north-east of Opotiki, his mother's whanau being from nearby Whitianga Bay. Apologies for the inadvertent error and we are grateful to the observant and knowledgeable reader who kindly pointed it out.

Other Notes

[1] A list of these can be seen under secondary sources of https://www.komako.org.nz/person/1157
[2] Many people were hit by trains or drowned after jumping to avoid them prior to its construction, as it was such a convenient shortcut to the CBD from Matapihi.
[3] Te Tangata Rongonui: Turirangi Te Kani. [Matapihi, N.Z.: Matapihi School, 1990]

Additional Sources

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TAH195312.2.18
Turi Te Kani - A Leader Lost, Bay of Plenty Times, 7 June 1990
Pae Koroki (Tauranga Archives online)

Editorial Endorsement for Mr Pinfold

Digging around in WAI 215 documents and Pae Koroki [1] can yield some unexpected results, as one might expect from such rich and eclectic resources.

Social Studies Resource Book
Cover image provided courtesy of Hamilton Public Library

It turns out that the same Frederick Murray Pinfold who compiled the Social Studies activity book  The Maori People = Te Iwi Maori, published by AH and AW Reed in 1958 with a large print run of 5000 copies [2] was quoted with approval in an early 21^st century Socio-Economic Impact Report for Nga Potiki [3]. In 1953 he was headmaster of Otepou School in Papamoa, a school with a long history of inadequate buildings and post-war baby boom overcrowding. His “pro-active stance,” as described in the Report, “was challenged by School Inspector Parsonage, who took it as a personal affront to his integrity in regards to establishing priorities.” [4]

It turns out that the same F M Pinfold became, first a writer for, and then Editor of, the Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society. In 1960 (issue No. 12 of the Journal) he essayed a collection of Maori Folk-tales of Tauranga District (an item I first stumbled on in early researches concerning the Te Puna-Wairere Track) [5].  His contribution and character was highly esteemed.  “… Immediately,” E L Adams wrote in his obituary [6], “his impact in the Society was apparent…. For he was, by inclination, more than just 'teacher' – in all his Maori school work, mainly in Hawkes Bay and here, he associated himself with their problems and everyday life… so much so that the Ngaiterangi Tribal Executive installed him as a kaumatua of the tribe …”

It turns out that Mr Pinfold is something of a hidden treasure. He seems to have escaped personal media attention – even the ubiquitous Tauranga Photo News, also now searchable within Pae Koroki, has (as yet) no captioned image of him. Unfortunately the Papers Past website for the Bay of Plenty Times, lately extended to 1951, falls short of his floreat period with our Society: 1960-67.

Mr F.M. Pinfold

This article is an effort to ‘out’ Mr Pinfold, and incidentally to celebrate the efforts of the Tauranga City Library to digitise the Society’s Journals – efforts he would, I am sure, have endorsed. 

Three years after his contribution of Tauranga Folk-tales, he made his first editorial interventions in Number 16 of the Journal, inserting not only his home address for communications with the Journal [7], but also some tactful notes here and there, and proposing a charming conceit: the selection of New Zealand books for the hobby historian’s bookshelf.  This was explained in the next issue as “… the shelf on which can be displayed as much of New Zealand writing as one book-lover can keep track of. [8]” 

Even before the age of the internet, this was probably a virtual shelf:  it would have been a groaning board in reality. Across ten issues, between June 1963 and December 1965, a total of 181 publications were assessed by one ‘F.M.P.’  It did “not profess to be a selection of reviews [9]” – these, quite different in tone and usefulness, also occasionally made an appearance, usually from then-President Ernest E Bush. The Journal’s Bookshelf was, instead, a survey of New Zealand publishing and writing that was both highly contemporary and securely based in a sense of New Zealand society that extended well beyond the colonial past. It showed a broadminded understanding of the challenges and the resources presenting themselves to New Zealand history scholars as well as general readers in the field – and incidentally offers some contradiction to present arguments that history was a closed, or at best a colonialist, book to late twentieth-century New Zealanders.

The amount of ground F.M.P. covered is staggering. In general, he was politely appreciative of most authorial efforts, but was unafraid to make a wholehearted recommendation:

The writer of these notes admires A.H. Reed’s wide choice of stories and the literary style and techniques adopted to typify their own peculiar spirit.  This is THE ONE which has the greatest popular appeal from this quarterly offering. [10]

and the occasional condemnation:

…the reflection of Markham’s attitude to his surroundings and. It would appear, to life in general, were to me repulsive. It is interesting in that it describes a way of life which is seldom uncovered to the public; it were better that if had remained so … I place this book on my shelf with very mixed feelings. Now that it has been produced I would not like my shelves to be lacking, nevertheless I feel that the taxpayers’ money could have been used in the production of something more in keeping with our standards of morality and literary worth [11].

(which makes the present writer determined to track down this unfortunate memoir. Was Markham’s merely a disparaging sneer or actually morally deficient?).

Mr Pinfold’s post as Editor of the Journal was made explicit in March 1964 [12]  and ended in August 1966 [13]. But he had already stated his manifesto in June 1963 (I am certain that the following anonymous comments are his):

… perhaps in various articles in this “Journal” are statements to which you can make additions; or which you feel have been inadequately stated; or of which you have a different version.  Write in and discuss it – albeit genteelly – and let this be a live “Journal" … [14]

It turns out, in short, that sixty years ago Tauranga was not lacking perceptive, open-minded and culturally sensitive thinkers about our past. F. M. Pinfold’s work for the Journal shows he had the grace and courage and scholarship to follow his own line, and the editorial judgment to accommodate and encourage a range of viewpoints. We can be proud of him; we should acknowledge his influence; and we must remember, as our local stories and pasts are re-examined by new scholars, that Mr Pinfold would have applauded this.

References

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[1] https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/

[2] https://natlib.govt.nz/records/21611445

[3] Report prepared for Crown Forestry Rental Trust claim, WAI 717, by the International Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education, University of Auckland, for Auckland Uniservices Ltd.  Undated; “research for this report was conducted between January and September 2000”.

[4] Ibid, p.82

[5] https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23972

[6] April 1967 issue, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23954

[7] June 1963 issue, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23968

[8] September 1963 issue, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23967

[9] ibid

[10] September 1963 issue, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23967 . Comment relates to A.H. Reed,  Myths and Legends of Maoriland, A.H and A.W Reed, 1963

[11] Ibid.  Comment relates to Edward Markham, New Zealand or Recollections of It, ed E. H. McCormick, Government Printer 1963

[12] March 1964 issue, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23965

[13] April-September issues, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23956

[14] June 1963 issue, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/23967

Foraging and Hunting on Pae Korokī

According to Tauranga City Libraries Heritage Specialist Harley Couper, whether you're "foraging or hunting" there is something for everyone on Pae Korokī, the library’s recently launched online gateway to historical information. Indeed, after learning more about Pae Korokī at February’s Historical Society meeting, I thought it would be interesting to go foraging and share a few highlights.

Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries Pae Korokī

One of the first things to note is that most of the stories on the soon to be retired Tauranga Memories website have been transferred to Pae Korokī and can be found curated under the ‘Stories’ navigation menu on the home page. Information collated by librarians, community members and local historians such as Ellen McCormack and Christine Clement continue to be accessible.

A visit to 'Archives’ was next and this category contains some real treasures including the Tauranga Borough Council rate books and the outward letter book of the District Surveyors Office in Tauranga between 1866 and 1868. However, it was the diaries that caught my eye; those of Te Puna farmer Thomas Lochhead in particular. Twelve of his diaries, dating from 1883-1905, have been digitised and more will follow.

Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries Pae Korokī

One of the most popular features of Pae Korokī will undoubtedly be ‘Images’ where visitors can access an ever-increasing number of photographs that reveal the people, places and events of this region. Stand outs include the Gifford-Cross and Photo News collections. However, a real surprise was the selection of stills taken during the 1935 filming of ‘Hei Tiki’. Described as an important piece of New Zealand film history these stills must be unique.

Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries Pae Korokī

Onto ‘Maps’ and this section contains some intriguing hand drawn and annotated maps, including a sketch map of Katikati district and a map that shows the Maori occupation of Mauao. If this wasn’t enough, with ‘More’ visitors can search publications including the Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society 1955 to 1982 and listen to oral history recordings.

Image courtesy of Tauranga City Libraries Pae Korokī

Not only will Pae Korokī be a first stop when I’m researching, it will also be a place to visit when I have time on my hands and the urge to learn more about where I live.