He Tāke-hei Mōiriiri

I tētahi wāhi ki Frankton he tāke pēre hei i kōrerotia i roto i ētahi ātikara niupepa torutoru i Āperira 1944 mō te “alleged immoral behaviour”.[1]

I te 24 o Āperira 1944, ka mau he wahine haurangi o Kemureti, e 32 ōna tau, “after she visited the haystack the previous night with servicemen.” I mua o taua marama, ka kitea ngā tāne Māori tokorua e moe ana ki taua tāke-hei.  I te rā e whai ana ka tū he taitamāhine Māori i te aroaro o te kōti; he mea hāmene ia mō te hara idle and disorderly [te whakapāeko me te tutū] nā te mea kua kitea ia e ngā pirihimana i a ia e moe ana ki taua tāke-hei.[2]

Nā te aha ngā pirihimana i whakararua ai e tētahi tāke-hei?  

Nā te aro nei a ngā pirimana ki te tāke pēre hei i Frankton, ka whakakitea te tipu mai o ngā āwangawanga o te marea mō te memeha o ngā whanonga tika, pāpori hoki, i te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua.

Ehara i te mea, he whakapāeko me te tutu ngā mahi anake i roto i te hara idle and disorderly.    Whakamahia ai taua whakapae mō ngā tāngata katoa i whakaarohia nei kāore ā rātou mahi e whai ana, e hāpai ana i ngā tikanga papai o te hapori whānui. Tae atu ki te toru marama i roto i te whare-herehere te whiu, kia whakanohoia rānei te tangata ki roto i te whare-herehere ā-rangatahi [borstal].  

Arā, he ritenga te hara idle and disorderly hei tapeke katoa i ngā hara pāpori i whakaarohia nei ka tū tata ki ngā mahi taihara. He mea whakarite te hara i roto i ngā wāhanga 49-52 o te Police Offences Act 1927, ā, ko ētahi o ngā mahi hē o taua hara: he pīnono, he kaihanu, he karioi i ngā wāhi pāpori, he noho rawakore noa, he whakahoahoa hoki ki te hunga tāhae.[3] 

Kei te tino aro ahau ki tēnei tāke-hei o Frankton, nā te mea, ka kitea i roto i ngā niupepa he kōrero e tūhono ana te iwi Māori ki ngā hara pāpori me ngā whanonga ka puta mai pea he mahi taihara. I rīpoatatia i roto i te kōti, e ai ki ngā pirihimana, ko taua tāke-hei he “favourite haunt of visiting servicemen and Maori men and women.”

Mai i 1940 ki 1945, ka tata ki te 200 ngā kēhi o ngā Māori i hopukina mō te idle and disorderly i roto i te Police Gazette. E waenganui ana i te 18 me te 22 ngā tau o te niunga, ā, tokomaha ngā wāhine. I tino meatia e ngā rīpoata kōti, i te whakahoahoa ngā wāhine ki ngā hōia, arā, ka kaha whakamahia te ture nei hei whakariterite i ngā whanonga a ngā wāhine. Hei tauira a Hannah, “one of several Maori girls who had come to Whangarei and were consorting with soldiers.”[4]

I te tau 1940 ka hāmenetia tētahi wāhine mō te hara idle and disorderly nā te mea kāore āna moni.  Ka whakakorea te kēhi e te kaiwhakawā nā te mea e moe māori ana ia me tētahi Hainamana ki Ākarana.  I mea mai te kaiwhakawā, “While this might not be socially desirable there was no law to prevent a young woman of 23 living with a Chinese.”[5] 

I te atu 1941, ka hāmenetia tētahi atu taitamāhine Māori mō te idle and disorderly.  Ahakoa ko te wahine a tētahi Hainamana te wahine nei, ka whakapae ngā pirihimana o Tūranga, hei “menace” ia ki te hapori.[6]   Hei wero te moe māori ki ngā tikanga mārenatanga o taua wā, ā, ki ētahi, ka rarua ngā tikanga pāpori e te moe ki iwi kē.

Hei ritenga ngā kupu “menace to the community”, “social disease”, “living an immoral life” me te “associating with servicemen” mō te pūremu, ā, ka kaha whakamahia ēnei hei whakaatu i ngā wāhine kua hopukina mō te hara idle and disorderly.

Whakamahia ai hoki te hara idle and disorderly kia whakamā te hunga i whakaarotia nei kāore rātou e uru ana ki roto i ngā mahi tūturu, e piri ana rānei ki ngā rekureihana mahi, arā, kāore rātou e tautoko ana i ngā mahi a te motu hei hāpai i ngā mahi pakanga.  Mehemea he Māori te hunga nei, ka auau te whakapae, he “māngere” rātou.

Ina āta titiro tātou ki ngā āhuatanga whānui, a-hapori, ā-ōhanga hoki, o te hunga nei, ka kitea, i te whai ēnei tāngata i ngā momo mahi o tēnā wāhanga o tēnā wāhanga o te tau, ā, i te tautoko rātou i ō rātou whānau, i ō rātou iwi hoki.

Tua atu i tēnei, mō te nuinga o ngā rangatahi kua heke mai i te haukāinga ki ngā tāone mahi ai, mehemea kāore he wāhi noho, ka waiho noa kia moe rātou i ngā pāka o ngā tāone, i ngā whare kua toreke, i muri i ngā taiepa otaota, i ngā tāke-hei rānei.  Pērā me ngā tāne tokorua e moe ana ki te tāke-hei o Frankton, ka haere mai ngā tāngata nei ki te rapu mahi. I rarua hoki ngā tikanga o te marea e tā rātou whakamahi i ngā wāhi pāpori hei wāhi whakahoahoa, inu waipiro hoki.

Ahakoa ngā whakaaro o ngā pirihimana, ehara te nuinga o ēnei tāne, wāhine Māori i te hunga whakapāeko, tūtū rānei.

Whakaahua: He hōia e hanga ana i tētahi take-hei ki Kirikiriroa i te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua. Pascoe, John Dobree, 1908-1972 :Photographic albums, prints and negatives. Ref: PAColl-0783-2-0002. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22723317

[1] Waikato Independent, 24 April 1944.

[2] Waikato Independent, 24 April 1944; Auckland Star, 11 April 1944; Waikato Times, 12 April 1944.

[3] Police Offences Act 1927, New Zealand Acts As Enacted. http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/poa192718gv1927n35212/

[4] Auckland Star, 16 May 1942.

[5] Auckland Star, 31 October 1940.

[6] Gisborne Herald, 20 August 1941.