We came from all over the motu to celebrate our kuia.
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See below for English translation
He kitenge kanohi, he hokinga mahara
Rere ana ngā wharawhara i ngā huringa rā itiiti. Mai i te rārua ki te rāwhā o te wiki kua pahemo i mau katoa taku tinana ki tētehi huihuinga aroha nui. Ko te tangihanga o Hereana Sally-Ann Eileen Roberts tāku e kōrero nei .
Ko te amokura nui tēnei i hinga ohorere i te hui ahurei o Maeva Nui i Rarotonga i te marama o Akuwhata. Auahi pai ana te Papa Rere o Ratorua i Ngapuna i te kaha o te iwi ki te tuku i tō rātou kahukura ki te kōpere nui o te rangi. Haere rā e te pōtiki.
Kāti kia tāhuri noa ki te kaupapa o taku tuhinga iti nei. Nō te ahiahi o te rārima, he pāraire i haere mātou ko āku taina ki Tamaki-makau-rau. Ko te kaupapa o tā mātou haerenga he kawe i tā mātou pōtiki ki te taunga rererangi ki a hoki ia ki te whenua o Hapani. He mahita kura ia. Engari tūturu ko te tino tikanga i haere ai mātou ki taua tāone nui, ko te hura i te kōwhatu o tō mātou tupuna kuia.
He kuia rangatira nō te whānau Brady. Kua roa tō mātou tupuna kuia a Ngatau Te Hirata Keremeta Brady e takoto kau ana i tōna rua kōiwi i te urupā o Waikaraka i Onehunga.
He rīpeka mētara noa hai tohutohu i tōna takotoranga. I hinga noa ia i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e wha tekau mā rua. Kua tupu noa atu te māheuheu ki tana rīpeka kāore e tino kitea ana tōna ingoa, i waimarie mātou i ngā kanohi o Jaimee Raymond, nā reira i kitea ai tōna rua kōiwi.
Kua tika tana kōwhatu ināianei. He mea tū ana, kua tūhia hoki ngā ingoa o āna tamariki, ā, kua whakanikoniko ngā tahataha ki ngā whakairo putiputi.
Kai Te Puke tōna hoa rangatira a William Joseph Brady e takoto ana. Kai te whakaritea hoki e matou tētehi haerenga ki a ia.
Kotahi tekau mā whā ngā tamariki a Ngatau me William. E ai ki ētehi ka piki taua nama ki te rua tekau mā tahi. Ko ētehi o rātou ko Rawiri me Ataraiti he kuia nōku a Ataraiti. Ko Hohepa, ko Paretuawatea Popoki, ko Henare, ko Harawira, ko te Waiti Hodge, ko Little Joe, ko Huhana Kayes, ko Titihuia Langdon, ko Edward (Ned), ko Makarita Thomason ā ko Hariata Richardson.
Ka moe a Ataraiti i a Waretini Te Mutukuri Eparaima ka noho i Whakarewarewa. Nō reira he Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, he Ngāti Ranginui, he Ngai Te Rangi, he Ngā Pōtiki a Tamapahore, he Tūwharetoa mātou.
Toko-ono ngā tamariki a Waretini me Annie B, he ingoa tapa hoki tēnei nō Ataraiti, nā ko tētehi o rātou ko Ihapera tō mātou kuia ko Watu tētehi anō o ona ingoa karanga. Kai reira hoki tō mātou kuia e takoto ana. Kai te kōwhatu e mea ana ko Ihapera Heeney i mate i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau e rua tekau mā rima te tau.
E rua tekau mā whitu noa tōna rahi. Kai Waikaraka ia e moe ana. Kai tētehi pīhi whenua o te urupā e takoto ana me te whānau Brady. E kōrero tahi nei māua ko taku tūngane a Roku ka hoki mai tētehi kōrero iti i māturu noa i te waha o tō mātou matua tāne kaokaoroa a Sonny Sewell, he hiahia nōna ki te hahu i a Watu, ki te whakahoki mai i a ia ki Rotorua.
Kāore i whakaae tō māua matua wahine ki tana tono. Hai tāna, e pai noa tana takoto me tana whānau Brady. Kāore he aha ki a mātou.
Ka wā itiiti mātou e hakoke ana i te taone pakupaku nei a Onehunga ka hau atu ki te RSA ki reira mātou kaitahi ai. E tangi ana te ngākau i te kaumatuatanga o te whare nei kai te rite ki ēra atu o ngā whare RSA e kaumatuatia ana, kāore he aroha ki te whakahou i a ia i te itinga o te pūtea tautoko. E wāuna hoki.
Wheoi ano, he wāhi tika tēnei ki te kaitahi katoa mātou. Ka tūtakitaki ahau ki te whānau o Amy Raymond he whaea nōku, e hoki ana ngā māharatanga mōna. Tētehi wahine ngākau tuwhera, ka moe i tō mātou kāinga i ētehi wā mēnā ia kai te tāone e mahi ana ko ētehi atu taimā he mahi kooti.
I taua wā i te wāhanga o te rima tekau me te ono tekau te tau, kāore he kooti whenua Māori i Tauranga. Me tae kē ngā tangata ki Rotorua, wheoi anō ka whai moenga ki tō mātou kāinga tēnei kuia.
Ka whakahoungia hoki āku whakamihi ki tō mātou kiritata ki a Bella Parker ko Hepine Ransfield tōna kuia. Nōna tētehi kāinga ki tahaki o tō mātou kāinga i Whakarewarewa.
Kua nanakia rawa atu te wā ki a māua, kai te whenua Moemoeā ia e noho ana. Wheoi anō koia tēnei te take o te haere mai o Bella rātou ko āna tāina ko Airini Turner me Huia Jones. He hura i te kōwhatu o tō tātou kuia rangatira.
Tae mai ai te rahi o te whānau Hodge. He uri katoa ēnei nō Alice Waiti. Ā I tae mai tō rātou tuakana a Peter Keremeta mai i Ōtautahi.
Ka whai wāhi ai ahau ki te kōrero tahi me te tamāhine a Sonny Brady ko Lani tērā wheoi anō he hoa tawhito māua. E hoki ana ki te wā e whakahaerehia ana māua i te kēmu wharewhare i Manurewa.
He whakamihi hoki nāku ki a Trevor Ashe. Me i kore tēnei rangatira kua kore mātou e whai wāhi ai ki tō mātou kuia ki a Ngatau.
Kua tūhia hoki e ia tētehi pukapuka engari kua pau katoa. He whakapae nōku engari he tata ki te kotahi rau e toru tekau pea ngā tangata i puta ki te whakanui i te rā whakahirahira i te rāhōroi kua pahemo.
Kai te pae tawhiti taku ngākau panapana e hui tahi ai anō tātou katoa. E mihi atu ana.
From Tuesday to Thursday last week I was caught up in a great outpouring of love and whanaungatanga at the tangihanga for Hereana Sally-Ann Eileen Roberts who died so tragically at Te Maeva Nui festival in Rarotonga.
The tangihanga at Te Papa Rere o Ratorua Marae at Ngapuna was loud, colourful and busy with visitors and whanau.
On Friday afternoon I was heading to Auckland with my siblings and our nephew to see him off on his return to Japan where he is a teacher.
But the prime reason for our trip to Auckland was the unveiling of a memorial headstone for our great, great grandmother and tupuna whaea of the Brady whanau.
Until our ceremony on Saturday, our kuia, Ngatau Te Hirata Keremeta Brady, had been lying in a grave marked only by a metal cross in Waikaraka Cemetery at Onehunga. She died 80 years ago.
The cross was moss-covered and her name was barely legible. It was thanks to sharp-eyed Jaimee Raymond that Ngatau's grave was found.
Watu Mihinui with Eva Brady's mokopuna Lynn and Jan and Uncle Sonny Brady's daughter Lani.
Now she has an upright headstone bearing the names of her children and decorated with carved roses.
Her husband, William Joseph Brady, is buried in Te Puke and a haerenga is planned to visit his grave in the future.
Ngatau and William had at least 14 children and as many as 21. They include Rawiri, Ataraiti who was my kuia, Hohepa, Paretuawatea Popoki, Henare, Harawira, Te Waiti Hodge, Little Joe, Huhana Kayes, Titihuia Langdon, Edward (Ned), Makarita Thomason, and Hariata Richardson.
Ataraiti married Waretini Te Mutukuri Eparaima and settled at Whakarewarewa. We are Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao, Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Nga Potiki a Tamapahore, and Tuwharetoa.
Waretini and Ataraiti, also known as Annie B, had six children including my grandmother Ihapera, whose nickname was Watu.
Our kids found her grave at Waikaraka too, in the name of Ihapera Heeney, who died in 1925 at the age of 27.
She is in a plot with other members of the Brady whanau.
Roku and I recall that Mum's brother, Uncle Sonny Sewell, wanted to exhume Watu and return her to Rotorua but Mum said no because she was safe with family.
That was a fabulous find for us.
After a short tour around Waikaraka we retired to what used to be the Onehunga RSA for kaitahi. Like many RSAs around the country this once-grand building is showing her age and lack of funds to maintain her. But it was an ideal place to hold a celebration and a great way to meet our new relations.
I introduced myself to Aunty Amy Raymond's whanau.
I remember the sweet lady who used to stay with us when she came to Rotorua from Tauranga to go to the Maori Land Court because at the time in the 1950s and 60s there was no land court in Tauranga.
I renewed acquaintance with cousin Bella Parker, whose grandmother Hepine Ransfield lived next door to us at Whaka.
I hadn't seen Bella since their family left Rotorua while we were still at Whaka School. As she said, she has spent more time in her adopted home of Melbourne than she has in New Zealand.
Bella came especially from Melbourne for the reunion which she attended with her sisters Airini Turner and Huia Jones.
A group shot showing descendants of Ngatau and William Brady at Waikaraka Cemetery on Saturday.
A number of Aunty Alice Waiti Hodge's family from Rotorua were also at the gathering. Their brother Peter Keremeta came from Otautahi for the event.
I also renewed my acquaintance with Lani, Uncle Sonny Brady's daughter, who I met years ago when I was running housie in Manurewa.
It's thanks to Trevor Ashe that we know as much as we do about Ngatau. He has produced a book about this Much-Respected Kuia and every printing is quickly snapped up.
I estimate about 130 of us celebrated on Saturday and I can't wait for the next gathering because I am sure many more of us will turn up.
