James (Jim) Kumiti Rukutai (born – 11 January 1940) was a prominent

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

leader, interpreter as well as a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. He played representative rugby league (RL) and coached

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early life

Rukutai was born at

Kāwhia Kawhia Harbour () is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. Ka ...

and affiliated to

Ngāti Hikairo Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in the Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zeal ...

and also of Pākeh ā descent. He was educated at St Stephen's School. He started his career playing

and was part of George A. Gillett's Goldfields team that defeated

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1906. Rukutai was working as a miner in

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...

at the time. He married Bella Rukutai (née Pera) who was a Maori welfare worker and fellow member of the Akarana Māori Association. They had two daughters.

Rugby

Rukutai played for the

City Rovers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

in the 1910 and 1911

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition and also toured Australia with the New Zealand Māori team.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009'', 2009. . He first made the New Zealand side in 1911, alongside former Union teammate George Gillett. He only played a handful of matches in his first two season with

because he was away on tours for Auckland, and New Zealand several times. Rukutai was the first captain of the

Manukau Magpies The Manukau Magpies are a rugby league football club based in Māngere, a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand, who compete in the Auckland Rugby League. The club was established in March 1912 after a meeting in Onehunga (where they were originally ...

when they entered the Auckland Rugby League competition in 1912. The Manukau senior team disbanded during the 1913 season and he moved back to the

club where he played until 1919. During the 1913 season he was thought to have contracted Smallpox and at the time he was the only known patient. He was living in Onehunga and was placed in the hospital at Point Chevalier in the isolation ward. His house in Onehunge was "thoroughly disinfected". It then turned out that he had actually been suffering from a severe case of chicken pox and he recovered well. This was not the end of his health issues in 1913. He fell from a horse on 16 November 1913 and broke his leg just above the right ankle in

Māngere Māngere () is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau City Centre and south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland city centre. ...

. The horse stumbled and fell on to him. He toured Australia with New Zealand in

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

and

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

and his career continued after the War when he again toured Australia in 1919. However, Rukutai played in no Test matches as during this time New Zealand played matches against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. In 1923 Rukutai requested to resume his playing career in the Mangere first junior team as a means to "coaching in a practical manner" however in the

Management Committee meeting on 13 June his request was denied. However the following year he was part of the Mangere United team which was a team made from the Manukau and Mangere teams which had been competing in the 2nd grade. In 1932 Rukutai served on the

board as the Clubs' delegate. He then served as the first chairman of the

New Zealand Māori Rugby League Board New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

when it was formed in 1934.

Coaching

Rukutai coached

during their 1921 tour of Australia. He remains New Zealand's youngest ever national coach.''Superleague'', Volume 6, Issue 4, Edition 28 2011. He also coached New Zealand Māori between 1922 and 1937. On 11 August 1937, he coached the New Zealand Māori to an upset 16–5 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 19 ...

Māori advocacy

Rukutai was a key figure to urban Māori advocacy in Auckland, working as chairman and treasurer of the Akarana Māori Association. He advocated for welfare, housing, employment, fair pensions and against prejudice to Māori. He also worked to uplight Māori youth and revitalise art and craft practices. In 1935, Rukutai presented a speech titled, '''The Māori and His Land Problems, Past and Present to the

Auckland Institute and Museum Auckland Institute and Museum, known as Auckland Museum Institute since 1996 and the Royal Society of New Zealand Auckland Branch, is a learned society in New Zealand. History Formed as the Auckland Philosophical Society on 6 November 1867, for ...

. He spoke about the impacts of Captain Cook, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and conflict between Māori and Pākehā over land.

Sir Āpirana Ngata ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

, who was also present, suggested remedy could be made by introduction of farm settlement schemes. Rukutai also worked as an interpreter and legal advisor in the Supreme Court.

Death and legacy

Rukutai died at his daughter's residence in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga in 1940, aged 62. His funeral took place at St James' in Māngere and was well attending by signigicant Māori and Pākehā community members. Rukutai was named one of the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

's Legends of League in 2008.Legends of League
''nzrl.co.nz''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rukutai, Jim 1870s births 1940 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland rugby league team players City Rovers players Manukau Magpies players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team coaches New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand miners New Zealand national rugby league team coaches New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Ngāti Maniapoto people People educated at St Stephen's School, Bombay Hills Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Waikato Rugby union players from Waikato