Te Puke ki Hikurangi

The Mount at Hikurangi

Kōrero Tā    He Whakamārama    Kaupapa    Nohoanga

Kōrero Tā

Published: December 21, 1897 - July, 1913.

450 x 240mm., the size changes in 1904 to 310 x 260mm., 4, 6 or 8 pages, 3 columns, all Maori, issued fortnightly, some portraits and a woodcut below the title on the masthead, coloured wrappers with advertisements on them, with a cost per issue of 6 pence or 10 shillings per year, which increased to 16 shillings per year in 1905. The imprint reads, "Kingi H. T. Rangitakaiwaho. Tumuaki, Kai-taa o 'TE PUKE KI HIKURANGI.' Papawai, Greytown North. Wairarapa District" (December 21, 1897: 4) [Kingi H. T. Rangitakaiwaho. President, Printer of 'TE PUKE KI HIKURANGI.' Papawai, Greytown North. Wairarapa]. In December 1898 the imprint changes to "Printed and published by T.[Tawhiro] Renata under the authority of H. T. Mahupuku at his Registered Office, Main Street, Greytown North, Wairarapa", and in 1911 "Printed and published by H. Tuhokairangi under the direction of Purakau Maika, at Rowse's Registered Office, High Street, CARTERTON, WAIRARAPA, N. Z. ".

The editor of Te Puke was Purakau Maika under the guidance of Hamuera Tamahau Mahupuku by the authority of the Paremata Maori o te Kotahitanga [Maori Parliament] and the Treaty of Waitangi. This newspaper replaces Huia Tangata Kotahi as the official newspaper of Te Kotahitanga (Te Tiupiri January 4, 1898: 5).

A committee of five at Papawai organised Te Puke while each Maori District had a co-ordinator to collect subscriptions and news. An independent Maori press also established Te Wananga, Te Korimako, and Huia Tangata Kotahi (ibid. : 1).

The last issue of Te-Puke-ki-Hikurangi seen by the bibliographer is July 1913.

This paper is written in Maori. Occasionally there is a notice in English.

He Whakamārama

In the first issue the editor declared the intent of the paper:

• He panuitanga tenei i ta tatou Nupepa ia 'Te Puke Ki Hikurangi' ka tukua atu nei kia haere atu ki nga hau e wha o tatau motu e rua, o Aotearoa me te Waipounamu me o raua motu ririki, hei taringa, hei reo, mo tatou e noho nei tatou i roto i te pouritanga o nga mahi nunui a to tatou Kotahitanga, ara te oha a o tatou tipuna a o tatou matua, te Tiriti O Waitangi me nga mahi a to tatou Paremata e tu mai nei i Poneke, me nga rongo korero o te ao e whakarongo noa nei te taringa, e ui noa nei te ngakau, ki a ia ano, a, kowai hoki hei whakautu i te patai. E hoa ma tenei ahau ka tu ake ki runga hei whakautu i tenei patai (December 21, 1897: 1)
• This is a statement about our newspaper Te Puke Ki Hikurangi which is sent out to the four winds of our two islands - Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu [North and South Islands] with their small outlying islands. It will be ears and voice for us who remain in ignorance of the enormous tasks of Te Kotahitanga in dealing with the Treaty of Waitangi, the gift from our forebears, and matters before our Parliament in Wellington. Then there is the news of the world, which our ears listen forand our minds question in vain amongst ourselves, but who is there to answer our queries? - Friends, I am here to provide the answers.

Kaupapa

Contents of this newspaper include:

• correspondence containing news from both the North and South Island
• proceedings from the Maori Parliament
• foreign news from English newspapers
• news of Parliament in Wellington, particularly bills and laws affecting Maori people
• notices of births, deaths and marriages
• items on farming, health, the church, and schools
• reports of land boards, councils, and marae committees
• James Carroll addressing a meeting held in Wellington in 1896
• a meeting held at Waahi in March 1898
• letters from Taare Tikao, Te Teira Tiakitai, R. H. Te Manihera (sent from Vancouver), Tuta Nihoniho, Tama Whakakitea, Takaanini Tarakawa, Tutakangahau, and others
• schools

Nohoanga

Copies of the paper are held at:

Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington:

1897	Dec.
1898	March, May - Dec.
1899	Jan. - Dec.
1900	Jan. - Dec.
1901	Jan. - Nov.
1902	Feb. - Oct.
1903	Jan. - Dec.
1904	Jan. - Sept., Nov.
1905	Feb. , March - July, Sept. - Dec.
1906	Feb. - Sept.
1911	July - Oct., Nov. - Dec.
1912	Jan. - May, July - Dec.
1913	Jan. - July

Auckland Institute and Museum Library:

1903	June and Sept.
1911	July - Oct.
1913	Jan. - July

Auckland Public Library:

1904	Nov. - Dec.

Canterbury Museum Library, Christchurch:

1902	Feb.
1905	Feb.

The Parliamentary Library, Wellington:

1898	Nov. - Dec. lacks some issues
1899	Jan. - Dec.  lacks some issues
1900	Jan. - Dec.  lacks some issues
1901	Jan. - Dec.  lacks some issues
1902	Jan. - Dec.  lacks some issues
1903	Jan. - Dec.  lacks some issues
1904	Jan. - Aug.  lacks some issues
1913	Jan.

Victoria University Library, Wellington:

1897	Dec.
1899	Aug. - Sept.