Enoka Hohepa Taitea, 9 August 1840 - 16 August 1900
Below is an online version, from Nga Tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Volume 2 (2003), of the biography for Enoka Hohepa Taitea, reproduced with the kind permission of his whānau.
Published Text
"Enoka Hohepa Taitea". In Nga tupuna o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, volume 2. (2003)
Enoka Hohepa Te Taitea was also recorded as Enoka Hohepa, Enoka Te Taitea or Enoka Hohepa Taitea. He was the third son of Hohepa Kopiri and Mere Rii, also known as Mere Moko. Mere belonged to Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa. Enoka belonged to Ngati Tuaho and Puketapu hapu of Te Ati Awa and Ngati Hamua ki Te Ati Awa through his father.
Enoka Taitea married Ema Tini Putiki (1844-8 June 1902, also called Hematini Enoka) in 1857 while he was living at Petone with his aunt and uncle. Enoka and Hematini had two children. Their son, Hemi Enoka Te Taitea born in 1871, was adopted by Enoka’s sister Raima and lived in the Wairarapa. Enoka and Hematini also had a daughter called Ani Enoka (August 1874-12 June 1915). She married Utiku Tanerau (Hector Love). Hematini Enoka was the daughter of Wi Perahama Putiki, of Otaraua hapu, and Roka. Wi Perahama was also called Otaraua. After Roka’s death Wi Perahama married Merekai Putiki who died in 1889. Wi Perahama died in 1875 at Waikanae
Enoka Taitea was born at Parororangi in Wellington on the 9August 1840. His parents had returned from the Wairarapa with Te Matehou in the 1830s. They were living near present day Ngauranga and cultivating at Orongorongo. In later life Enoka appeared in the Land Court to defend his family’s share of a block of land at Orongorongo which was divided between his family and the family of Matene Tauwhare (1906-1893) who was Te Wharepouri’s nephew. After his marriage to Hematini, Enoka left Wellington about 1861 to live at Waikanae where both he and his wife had land rights. Enoka’s rights came through his aunt Hatarete Pokai who went to Waikanae about 1847 and remained there till her death in 1884. During the 1880s Enoka and Hematini returned to live in the Hutt Valley. However Enoka was living in the Wairarapa when he died. His mother’s successors held signifi cant land in the Wairarapa.
Enoka (Ngati Tawhirikura and Ngati Tuaho) was also related to Neta Toea, daughter of Tawhirikura and Te Moana. Neta Toea had land holdings at Waikawa. In later life Enoka was a frequent witness at Maori Land Court hearings to represent his own interests and those of his relations. Enoka together with his two brothers, and others had an interest in section no.5 at Pipitea Pa. Enoka also held land in other Wellington reserves of the Port Nicholson Block, at Waikawa in Queen Charlotte Sound, in the Araheke M Block (succession to Kopiri), in Taranaki (PKW) through his father and in the Wairarapa in various blocks.
Enoka died on the 16 August 1900. Enoka, Hematini, and daughter Ani are all buried in the Owhiti urupa at Seaview.
References:
- Taranaki MB no. 3, p.343
- Wellington MB no. 1, p.242
- Wellington MB no. 10, p.139, 159
- Wellington MB no. 14, p.279
- Alexander Turnbull Library manuscripts fMS Papers - 6904-11
(MB = Minute Book)
I Te Reo Māori -
E ai ki ētehi tuhituhinga mō Enoka Hohepa Te Taitea, ko ētehi atu ingoa ōna ko Enoka Hohepa, ko Enoka Te Taitea, ko Enoka Hohepa Taitea rānei. Ko ia te tamaiti tuatoru a Hohepa Kopiri rāua ko Mere Rii, ā, ka mōhiotia hoki ko Mere Moko. Nō Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa a Mere. Nō ngā hapū a Enoka o Ngāti Tuaho me Puketapu ki Te Āti Awa me Ngāti Hamua ki Te Āti Awa i te taha o tōna matua.
Ko moe a Enoka Taitea ki a Ema Tini Putiki (mai i 1844 atu ki te 8 o Pipiri i te tau 1902, ā, ko Hematini Enoka hoki tētehi atu ingoa ōna) i te tau 1857, kei noho ana ia ki Pito-One me tōna whaene me tōna matua kēkē. Tokorua ngā tamariki a Enoka rāua ko Hematini. Ko tā rāua tamaiti, a Hemi Enoka Te Taitea, i whānau mai i te tau 1871, ā, ka taurimatia ia e te tuahine o Enoka, arā, ko Raima, ā, ka noho ia ki te Wairarapa. Ko Ani Enoka (mai i Hereturikōkā i te tau 1874 atu ki te 12 o Pipiri i te tau 1915) te tamāhine a Enoka rāua ko Hematini. I mārena ia ki a Utiku Tanerau (arā, ko Hector Love). Ko Hematini Enoka te tamāhine a Wi Perahama Putiki, nō te hapū o Otaraua, rāua ko Roka. Ko Otaraua tētehi atu ingoa mō Wi Perahama. I te matenga o Roka ka mārena a Wi Perahama ki a Merekai Putiki, ā, i mate i te tau 1889. I mate a Wi Perahama i te tau 1875 ki Waikanae.
I whānau mai a Enoka Taitea ki Parororangi ki Te Whanganui a Tara i te 9 o Hereturikōkā i te tau 1840. I hoki mai ōna mātua me te hapū o Te Matehou i te Wairarapa i ngā tau 1830. I noho tata rāua ki Ngauranga, ā, ka mahi ngakinga ki Ōrongorongo. I tōna koroheketanga, ka puta mai a Enoka ki te Kōti Whenua ki te whakaparahau i ngā whai panga o tōna whānau i tētehi poraka whenua ki Ōrongorongo, ā, he whenua i wāhi rua i waenga i tōna whānau me te whānau o Matene Tauwhare (mai i 1906 atu ki 1893), ā, he iramutu ia ki a Te Wharepouri. I tōna mārena ki a Hematini, ka wehe atu a Enoka i Te Whanganui a Tara i te tau 1861, ā, ka noho ia ki Waikanae, ā, he whai panga tōna me tōna hoa wahine ki reira. Nā tōna whaene, a Hatarete Pokai, ngā whai panga ō Enoka, ā, i haere tōna whaene ki Waikanae i te tau 1847, ā, ka noho tonu ia ki reira ā tae noa ki tōna mate i te tau 1884. I ngā tau 1880 ka hoki a Enoka rāua ko Hematini ki te noho ki Te Awakairangi. Otinō, i te wā ka noho a Enoka ki te Wairarapa, ka mate ia ki reira. I mau tonu ngā whakakapi a tōna whaene i ngā whenua huhua ki te Wairarapa.
He whanaunga a Enoka (nō Ngāti Tawhirikura me Ngāti Tuaho) ki a Neta Toea, ā, he tamāhine nā Tawhirikura rāua ko Te Moana. He whenua ō Neta Toea ki Waikawa. I tōna koroheketanga he kaiwhakaatu a Enoka i te Kōti Whenua Māori hei māngai mō ōna ake whai pānga me ērā o ōna whanaunga. He whai panga hoki tō Enoka rātou ko ōna tuākana me ētehi atu i te tekiona nama 5 ki Pipitea Pā. He whenua hoki ō Enoka ki ētehi atu whenua tāpui o te Port Nicholson Block, ki Waikawa ki Tōtara-nui, ki te Araheke M Block (Ko Kopiri te whakakapi), ki Taranaki (PKW) nā tōna matua, me ētehi poraka whenua ki te Wairarapa.
I mate a Enoka i te 16 o Hereturikōkā i te tau 1900. Ka tanumia a Enoka rātou tahi ko Hematini, ko tā rāua tamāhine a Ani ki te urupā o Owhiti ki te takiwā o Seaview.