Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Hauaiti, Rakiura me Rongomaiwahine
He uri whakaheke a Ron mai i a Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Hauaiti, Ngāti Porou, Rakiura me Rongomaiwahine. I te kura o Ruapotaki a Ron e kura ana. Kei Panmure te kura nei, ā, mai reira ki te Hai Kura o Tāmaki Makaurau. I tapaina tōna ingoa mai tōna koroua a Ronald.
I te mutunga mai o āna ra kura, e maha ōna waahi mahi, ko tētahi ki te pēke (savings bank). I tōna wā paramanawa i kite ia i tētahi karere i roto i te nūpepa (New Zealand Herald), i te kimi te hohipera o Carrington i ētahi tāngata hei rēhita ki te hōtaka o ngā neehi mate hinengaro (psychiatric). Na ka tonoa a Ron.
Ko nga Wānanga ako kei te taha rongoa (medical) me te taha mahi (clinical), koinei te āhua whakaako a tauiwi. E toru ngā momo pepa nei, ara, ko te tanga rongoa me te taha mahi, ko ngā kaupapa Māori, me ngā rerekētanga o te taha wahine, taha tane. Ko ētahi o ngā pepa nei ka honoa ki te taha o Oakley.
I mua i te wehenga atu o Ron ki te hohipera o Tokanui, i tono ia mō tētahi tūranga i te hohipera o Tokanui kei te rohe o Te Awamutu i te tau 1983, i mua i tōna wehenga atu i haere a Ron ki te kōrero tahi me tōna pāpā e pā ana ki te tūranga nei. E ai ki a Ron i mea atu tōna pāpā, “kaua e hoki mai” ka pātai atu a Ron, “he aha ai”? Ka whakahoki tōna pāpā, “mēnā ka raru ana koe, haere ki te marae o taua waahi, ā, ka kōrero koe ki ngā tīpuna o tēra rohe, kei a rātau ngā whakautu e whaia nei e koe”. I a Ron e whakamahara ana ka ki atu ia, “kāore tonu au kia wareware ki ēra tohutohu o tōku pāpā”.
I te tau 1984 I whakaara ake te kaupapa Whaiora ki te hohipera o Tokanui, i reira a Ron e mahi ana tae noa ki te tau 1986. Ko Ron te neehi matua tuarua. I ngā ra o mua ko te neehi matua te atua. Kāore e taea e te tangata te kōrero ki rātau, kāore hoki te tangata e taea te noho tahi o rātau teepu. Ara noatu tō rātau teitei. I waenganui ia rātau e tokorua ngā neehi Māori, ko Celia Denton, ko Nellie Hipolite.
I taua wā i te whakapakari anō hoki te kaunihera o ngā neehi Māori i a rātau. I tae ētahi o ngā māngai mai te Kaunihera ki te kōrero ki ngā neehi Māori, na te tokomaha o ngā neehi Māori e ako ana. Ka utu ēnei tauira i o rātau utunga kit e Kaunihera, ēngari ko te whakahoki a te roopu nei, kāore rātau e hiahia ki ngā korero o tenei roopu, ka whakahoki a Ron “hei aha, kāore au mō te hiahia hoki i te roopu nei”.
He mīharo rata atu tēnei mahi ki a Ron, te mahi tata i te taha o te iwi Māori e mate hinengaro ana, ēngari na te kaha ora o ngā āhuatanga Māori i roto i tēnei tūranga. Ma ngā kaumatua hei arahi i nga āhuatanga ki te whaiora. Ko wēnei kaumātua ko Ben Rangitāwa, Ko Hēnare Tuwhaapa. Na rātau i poipoia te roopu te tira nei i roto i ngā āhuatanga Māori, ki a tika, kia ora pai a-wairua, a- hinengaro, a-tinana me te whakamana i te tino rangatiratanga, te mana ki a tū maia anō ngā tāngata whaiora. Na ēnei taonga i whakatūwhera te huarahi ki te whai kaumātua i roto i enei momo mahi, hai tautoko i ngā kaimahi me ngā tāngata whaiora hoki. Ā, ko te taonga kaha rawa ko te karakia. Ma te karakia ka whakatau ka whakaora i te hinengaro o tā tātau iwi Māori.
E ai ki a Ron, “he tino taonga te rongoa Māori ki tā tātau iwi, hēoi anō, kāore tēnei i te pai ki a tauiwi”. Kāore e taea te whakamahi i te rongoa Māori ki roto i ngā hohipera. Ko te kōrero a te CEO, GM me te tiamana o te Poari, “pai noiho tō koutou mahi mea Māori ki reira, ēngari kāore i konei. Ko ngā kirimana me ngā tūtohinga o te taha rongoa me te taha tinana, kāore e āhei i o āhuatanga Māori, koinei te tau 1989”.
I tīmata te reo Māori ki te u atu ki te Whare Paea i a Ron e mahi ana ki reira. I tu a Ron mo tetahi turanga rangatira i Tokanui, hēoi anō, kāore ia i whiwhi, ma te aha i tēra, he take tūranga anō ta rātau ma Ron. Ko tēnei mahi ki te tautoko i te tira kimi hua o te matenga (forensic) i te taha i a Takuta David Chaplow. Ma Ron te reo Māori ngā āhuatanga Māori me ngā taonga tuku iho hei kawe, ko te nuinga o ngā kiritaki mai mātā waka.
Ko Hēnare Sutherland tētahi o ngā kaihōia o te 28th Māori Battalion (Te Hokowhitu a Tū). He hōia ia i te taha o tōna pāpā, ā, i kuraina hoki raua i Te Kura o Te Aute. E ai ki a Ron, “Katahi ra ko te tūranga miharo rawa atu ko tenei“. Ma te mahi tahi me te kaumātua nei o Ngāti Whātua, a ko tēnei kaumātua te tangata whakamutunga i mōhio ki ngā mātauranga o Ngāti Whātua.
I te whare Paea ētahi tāngata whaiora i arahi nawenawe. Ki ta Ron “me kaha rawa te hōtaka ki te reo Māori, nō te mea he rongoa te reo Māori ki te iwi Māori. He rongoa whakatau, he rongoa whaihua, he rongoa whai māramatanga”. Ko tētahi o ngā raru i tau ai te orangatanga ki te iwi Māori ko ngā ōtinga o te DSM III. Me pēhea e whakaora ana i te wairua o te tangata mēnā ka tāmau i te wairua o te tangata! Nō reira ko te kaupapa o tēnei hōtaka ko te tukuna i te reo ki a rongohia, kia whakahokia te mana o te tangata. Hei tauira; ka mihi ana ki te tangata mihi atu ki to rātau whakapapa, ki tō rātau iwi, ki ō rātau marae, tipuna, ki ngā mea whai mana ki taua tangata. Hēoi anō, e ai ki a Ron, “ka kaha tonu te iwi Māori te kai pire, inu waipiro me aua tūmomo āhuatanga katoa e takahi ana i te mana o te Māori ki a mate haere rātau ki te tangata whaiora”.
Tērā hoki tētahi wā i pātai atu te pakeha ki te whakahoki i te Manawa o tētahi tangata Māori ki te whānau. I te rangahauhia te Pakeha ēngari i mōhio a Ron na te kore whai tikanga o te pakeha ki ēnei āhuatanga ka mea atu a Ron “ma tētahi atu tēna mahi e kawe”.
Ko te manaakitanga me te tiakitanga te mauri oho o Ngāti Porou, ma te manaakitanga o te Māori ka puta te aroha, ma te honotahi i ngā āhuatanga o te manaakitanga me te aroha ngā taputapu ki te whakaora i te wairua o te tangata, mai reira ka tīmata te whakatau i te ngākau o te whānau.