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)

Wiremu "Bill" Ohia, 1922-1992

Bill Ohia talking to Ernest Bush, former Society Journal editor, at Papamoa Hills
35mm film negative. Photograph taken for Bay of Plenty PhotoNews, No 69, 30 May 1970, p.57
Image courtesy of Pae Koroki, Ref. pn-7646

Bill was a man who was very aware of the history of his ancestors in Tauranga Moana and consequently extremely socially active all his 70 years in Waitao. He was one of the older sons of the twelve children of Hone Ohia, who farmed in close proximity to three marae belonging to Ngati Pukenga iwi.

Bill was born in the Te Puke Maternity Annexe, as was his only child Rahera. He attended the Pāpāmoa Native School (which later became Pāpāmoa Māori School and is now Te Kura Kaupapa Māori ō Otepou). When the school was Pāpāmoa Māori School, Bill’s daughter Rahera was a pupil there and his wife Hinemanu (a McLean of Tainui Descent from the Waikato) a teacher there. While Rahera was attending Tauranga Girls’ College, Bill served on the Tauranga Girls College Board of Governors.

Bill was a keen scuba diver who, if he wasn’t tied up with other things, went diving every weekend for kaimoana and often took his cousins, nephews and nieces along to teach them about the sea. Bill, by this time, was also farming in Waitao and he helped set up and run the Rangataua Young Farmers Club. Bill was the first Māori town supply farmer in the area.

Tauranga Moana Trust Board's Original Fund-raising Committee, 1953. (Left to Right) T. Te Kani, F.N. Pinfold, I. Tangitu, W. Ohia, R.G. Faulkner (inset) Tom Peek
Image courtesy of the Tauranga Moana Trust Board

The Tauranga Moana Māori Trust Board was formed after the iwi and hapū of Tauranga sought to make it known what had transpired between their ancestors and the Crown to enable colonial settlement of the area, and the establishment of Tauranga. It was the culmination of the work of a number of people over many years, including Bill, Turi Te Kani, Bob Falconer (then Director of the Department of Māori Affairs), Fred Pinfold and Ike Tangitu. The Trust Board was created to receive compensation from the Crown for lands that had been taken through confiscation. Bill was the inaugural chairman of this trust board, a position he retained for many years.

He was also the chair of the Waikato Maniapoto District Maori Council and a member of many other Maori organisations in the Western Bay of Plenty. One of these was the Tauranga Maori Cultural and Promotional Committee an initiative begun with Archie Clark, the city’s Public Relations Officer at the time. Apart from Bill and Hinemanu, that committee included Turi Te Kani, Charlie Kuka, Tim Smith, Sonny and Moira Rolleston and others.  The aim of the committee was to give voice to Māori cultural and civic aspirations. This committee started the annual National Māori Cultural Championships which many years later became Te Matatini.

Bill was a member of the Trotting Club (he owned race horses), the Aero Club (he was a pilot as was his brother Monty and Uncle, Barney Kahotea) and the Rotary and Lions Clubs (he was community-minded). So he was of many diverse networks. Through their contacts, he and his wife were part of a group who trialed a Māori Radio station based at the 17th Ave Historic Village which at the time was under the directorship of Noel Nicholls. Later, Bill became the inaugural Chair of Aotearoa Māori Radio, when the government of the day agreed to set aside part of the AM frequency for Maori Radio.

Tauranga Moana Trust Board's Fund-raising Committee, 1955. (Back Row) J. Foster, P. Rewiti, W. Ohia. (Front Row) F.N. Pinfold, I. Tangitu, C.H.D. Porter
Image courtesy of the Tauranga Moana Trust Board

According to Rahera her Dad, Noel Nicholls, "Uncle Turi, Uncle Charlie and others" (all of whom were determined that everyone should know the full history of the area) were part of a group who negotiated to get permission to clear Mauao of its dense scrub cover so that evidence of early Maori occupation was visible. She was roped in with others to trek to the summit most weekends to clear the scrub. The road to the summit was then created by Jack and Roger Prince with their heavy machinery, and when it was all done she and her father and Alan Clarke (a teacher from Mount Maunganui College) identified, measured and recorded all the pā sites there. This was all designed to make the Māori history of the area visible for all and to stimulate people’s curiosity so that they might want to know more.

Bill Ohia talking to the Tauranga Historical Society on the Papamoa Hills
35mm film negative. Photograph taken for Bay of Plenty PhotoNews, No 69, 30 May 1970, p.57
Collection of Tauranga City Library, Nga Wahi Rangahu. Image courtesy of Pae Koroki, Ref. pn-7638

In the 1980s, Bill moved from farming to orcharding and he grew kiwifruit, avocados, boysenberries and apples. The exposure to the kiwifruit industry led him and Turi Te Kani (also an orchardist, but at Matapihi) to champion Māori ownership of their own packhouse, so they began Te Awanui Hukapak, a symbol of their independence and the commercial intent and capability of Māori communities.

Bill Ohia receives his Queen's Service Order from the Governor General, Sir Paul Reeves, in 1988
Image courtesy of Rahera Ohia

Bill played a number of roles in the evolution of Tauranga and was awarded the QSO in 1988.

Turi died under tragic circumstances in around 1990, and sadly his long time and close friend Bill died in equally tragic circumstances in 1992. They were each mourned by thousands at Matapihi and Waitao respectively.