KEY POINTS:
One of the few acknowledged Maori tohunga, Hohepa Kereopa, has died after a battle with cancer.
Mr Kereopa, thought to be in his early 60s, was versed in traditional Maori rongoa, medicine, and as a tohunga also claimed a connection to the spiritual world.
A giant in Tuhoe, Mr Kereopa's tangi was held in the Waimana Valley in the northern Te Urewera National Park.
Pre-colonisation tohunga held sway over rites relating to religion, war, fishing, agriculture, hunting and building, but after the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act was passed their authority sharply declined, as was intended.
Historian Dr Paul Moon has published two books about Mr Kereopa, Tohunga: Hohepa Kereopa and A Tohunga's Natural World: Plants, Gardening and Food.
The final book in the trilogy, The Tohunga Journal: Hohepa Kereopa, Rua Kenana and Maungapohatu, will be published early next year.
Dr Moon believes Mr Kereopa's decision to save what tohunga knew for future generations was not an easy one.
"He was extraordinarily brave. He opened himself up for all sorts of attack because he broke hundreds and hundreds of years of tradition."
But Tuhoe people revered him. "He had this huge reputation. He was held in awe - some people wouldn't go and see him face to face because of who he was.
"He was humble, quiet, not a person who bellowed 'here I am'."
Initially, it was people who knew Mr Kereopa who broached the idea of the first book with the historian, who wasn't keen to write it at first.
"I'd come across those who claimed they could do things but when it came to the crunch, they couldn't.
"After two hours with him I knew he was the real deal. He told me a few things that no one else could have known," Dr Moon said.
Scientist Dr Meto Leach worked with Mr Kereopa on a research project in 2001 to find commercial applications for tribal medicinal knowledge.
For Mr Kereopa, things Maori and science didn't have to be at loggerheads, Dr Leach said.
"He certainly saw the potential of what science research might offer Maori. He felt comfortable exploring new fields that might challenge his thinking."
Dr Leach said while Mr Kereopa had confidence in who he was, he was aware that others might not believe in the same things.
"He knew that while he was at one with te ao Maori [the Maori world] what he thought was commonplace might be considered a little bit wacky by some of us less in tune.
"A comment that he would make to me was 'Meto, if I get a bit away with the fairies tell me because I don't want to lose you'."
