Arapeta Awatere

Arapeta Marukitepua Pitapitanuiarangi Awatere (25 April 1910 – 6 March 1976) was a New Zealand interpreter, military leader, maori welfare officer, and local politician. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe). He served in the Māori Battalion, including a period as its commander, during the Second World War. He is the father of the former member of parliament Donna Awatere Huata.

Early life
Born in Tūpāroa, on the East Coast of New Zealand, on 25 April 1910, Arapeta Marukitepua Pitapitanuiarangi Awatere was the son of Petuere Wī Hēkopa Awatere, a farmer, and his wife Hēni Hautao. Through his father, he was affiliated with the Te Whānau-a-Hinetāpora hapū (sub-tribe) of the Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe), and with Ngāti Hine iwi via his mother. His early years were spent in Northland, at his mother's marae at Whangaruru, before he returned to the East Coast at the age of 6.

His paternal family supervised his education, ensuring that Awatere was immersed in Māori tradition and arts. He became highly skilled in Māori weaponry, particularly the taiaha (staff weapon). Educated at local schools, he proceeded to Te Aute College in Hawke’s Bay for his secondary schooling. As his parents had died by this time, he worked as a sailor during the holiday periods to pay his tuition.

Awatere gained an interpreter qualification in Māori in 1925 and once he completed his education three years later, joined the Native Department. He also joined the Territorial Force, immersing himself in military history. For his work, he was based in Rotorua initially and then Wellington. In 1931 he married Elsie Bella Rogers, who was of the Ngāti Whakaue iwi. The couple would have five daughters. That he never had a son was a source of disappointment to him; his youngest daughter, Donna Awatere Huata, was born in 1949 and later wrote that after her birth, her father left the family for two years. In 1933, he returned to the East Coast, settling at Gisborne.

Second World War
Awatere enlisted in the 28th Māori Battalion on the outbreak of the Second World War, and commenced training in January 1940. Identified early on as a potential officer, he was commissioned in March. Instead of proceeding overseas with the battalion he was held back as an instructor for the following Māori reinforcements. He eventually was sent to Egypt in November 1940 and in June 1941, after the conclusion of the campaign in Crete, rejoined the 28th Battalion. Awatere was appointed the battalion's intelligence officer in November 1941. At the end of the month he was attached to the headquarters of 6th Brigade to perform a similar role there. In June 1942 he was appointed commander of the 28th Battalion's D Company. The following year he was awarded the Military Cross.

He was appointed commander of 28th Battalion in July 1944, succeeding Lieutenant Colonel R. Young who had taken ill, serving in this capacity for two months until Young's return to duty. Awatere reverted to second-in-command of the unit. On 18 November Young stood down as commander as he was returning to New Zealand on furlough; Awatere, now a lieutenant colonel, resumed command of the battalion. In recognition of his services during the campaign in Italy, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). According to another member of the 28th Battalion, Awatere gave a speech after being presented with the DSO, during which he stressed that his award belonged to all the battalion, not himself. Following the end of the war in Europe, Awatere relinquished command in June 1945 and returned to New Zealand.

Later life
On his return to civilian life, Awatere initially took a tour of New Zealand visiting marae to commemorate the soldiers of the 28th Battalion who had been killed during the war. In 1948, he commenced working for his previous employer, the re-named Department of Māori Affairs. During the 1950s he moved around the central North Island as a Māori district welfare officer for Whanganui, then Rotorua and finally Auckland. In 1962 he was a successful candidate in the election for the Auckland City Council that year. By this time his health was beginning to decline and was suffering from diabetes. Although married, he was unfaithful and had a girlfriend. In 1969 he stabbed to death his girlfriend's new lover, which he unsuccessfully tried to blame on diabetes induced psychosis, and was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Imprisoned at Mount Eden jail, Awatere continued to immerse himself in his Māori culture; he took on a mentorship role for other prisoners, teaching them Te Reo and haka. He wrote extensively and also successfully worked towards improving his fitness. Still incarcerated but due to be paroled, he died unexpectedly on 6 March 1976. After an extended funeral cortège with stops at several marae along its route, he was buried at Waitetoki in Northland. He was survived by his wife and five daughters, including Donna Awatere Huata, who was a member of parliament for a time.

His autobiography, which he wrote while at Mount Eden jail, edited by his granddaughter and including several of his poems, was published in 2003 as Awatere: A Soldier's Story. A reviewer found that it was not particularly informative and lacked insight in this complex character.