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Kua hinga a Hereana. Ko te ia wairua o te kōrero rangatira ka tae ki te hoi taringa o Ruakiri nōna i Tawhitinui i Mehiko.
'Kai te takiwā te tangata e tere ana ka mate ohorere tētehi, ka uaua ake mēnā kai tawhiti kē te hingatanga o te tangata' hai tā te mema o te kōmiti o te marae o Te Papa Rere o Ratorua. 'He aha rā ia te tikanga i te kāinga?'
E whakangā ana a Ruakiri i te whenua o Amerika nā wai rā ka peka atu ia ki te noho tahi me ōna mātua a Uenuku rāua ko Aroha i Oxaca i Mehiko.
Ka whakatepērā rāua i te wā o te takurua i Aotearoa nei.
He tuakana, he taina a Sally Pirihi, kātahi nei ia ka mate, rāua ko Miriama. Ko Sally te matua wahine o Aroha, ko Miriama te matua wahine o Hereana. I tā Tiaho poroporoaki ki tana tapeha tata, ka whakapuakina e ia te āhuatanga o te noho o te whānau nei. He whānau tino tata nei katoa rātou, hai tāna hoki ko te ingoa o Hereana te take.
Ka kawea tonungia tēnei ia kōrero e ngā mahanga a Ruihi me Kiri Winiata ko Ngahuinga Eileen tō rāua kuia he tuahine anō hoki nō Miriama rāua ko Sally. Ka nui te hākoakoa o te ngākau o Hereana ki āna māhanga a Jahzell me Dekoda he tokorua tamariki ēnei i āna tamariki tokorima. Ka whakatata aroha mutunga kore rātou ko Shyan ko Hoani ko Eqypt. Whaihoki ko Anita-Rose (Fatty) me Iyla-Mae te tino tau o tana ate. He mokopuna tokorua ēnei nōna.
Nō te poroporoaki a ngā māhanga urukehu a Laurelle me Jaylene Tamati ka whakaputaina hoki e rāua ngā pūrakau muri aroha mō tō rāua poutokomanawa, mō 'Girly' ko tō rāua ingoa poipoi tēnei mō Hereana. Ka rere te roimata i ngā kanohi o te whakaminenga. Hai aha i a rātou ka tika, kia tangiahia nuitia tēnei amokura kua ngū.
He mōhio pū nō Ruakiri ka matararahi te tangihanga he ahakoa i Mehiko ia e noho ana. Ka huri torotika ia ki te whakariterite i te tangaihanga. He tono tēneti kaitā, he kimi kimi tūru, me te aha noa atu kia ea katoa ai ngā pōreareatanga ka pā ki tōna iwi. Ka whakarongo katoa mai ngā pākihi o Rotorua ki āna whakahau.
Nā wai rā, ka tāhuri a Ruakiri ki te tīni i āna tīkiti kia tae kē noa atu ia ki te pā o Hinemihi i mua i te taenga atu o tana kiritata a Hereana.
Nō te wiki, te tuawhitu o Akuwhata ka ū mai a Ruakiri ki tōna whenua tupu, ko te tikanga kē kia hoki mai ia ā te tuawaru engari he tino hiahia nōna ki te whakahaere i tētehi wāhanga o te tangihanga.
He ahakoa ki whea a Ruakiri e haerere ana, e kōrero tahi ana rāua ko tōna matua wahine kaokaoroa a Miriama (Bubbles), kia mau tonu ia ki te tukinga manawa o te tangihanga. Ka noho a Hereana ki tōna kāinga ki te waipuna o ōna mātua ake.
Ka moe tahi tonu ia i tōna matua tāne a Tom me tōna matua wahine a Miriama me āna tamariki me tōna tūngane i mua i tana hekenga ki te pā taunaha o Hinemihi.
E taria ana tō rātou tupapaku e te iwi, kai te kaha manaakingia te tini tangata e whaea Oriwa Crook, tētehi o ngā kuia kaha o te pā taunaha, he tuku paraikete kia kāua tētehi e ngaua e te kōtaotao hauwai.
Wheoi anō nō te Tūrei te rā tuatahi o te nohanga mai o Hereana ki tōna pā taunaha ka uangia te iwi. He hauhunga e pā nei ki ngā pāpāringa o te iwi kua pāngia ai ki te mate. Ki waho mātou tatari atu ai kia tae mai te kirimate. Tērā tētehi wāhanga noa he whakariterite i tō mātou pōwhiri kia tika ai te whakatau me te whakamihi ki a ia.
Ka tangi te manuao. Kua pae te manu korohī mako ki matahauariki. Ka maranga te iwi. Ko Whaea Kahu Ehau te kanohi pakeke o te pā taunaha.
Koia tō mātou manu-whakatau pahi, whakatau tupapaku, ka rere te karanga, me te taumaha hoki o te ngākau, kua whati ngā tahataha katoa o te ate kua hemo te iwi. Ka whakaeke atu ai te kirimate me tō rātou amokura ki te marae. Kai ngā paripari o te pā ko te hunga whatu 'ei katu' he āhua rite nei ki te pare raukawa engari he āhuatanga nō ngā moutere nō ngā kuki airani.
Ā, he whakamihi hoki tēnei ki taua moutere rā nā rātou a Hereana me tōna whanau pani i manaaki i tana hinganga nō rātou i reira.
E tika ana te pepeha a Te Arawa, anō nei ko te whare whaowhao a Te Aokapurangi, whakapiritahatahi ana te iwi, e tū ana ngā tangata, ka oti ana tētehi wāhanga e tika ana hoki ki a puta ētehi ki waho kia hau anō mai te tai mihi tangata. He rangatira katoa ngā whaikōrero, me ngā waiata, ka nui hoki te whakaihiiihi i tētehi wahine pēnei i a ia. He ngākau whakaiti, he wahine hūmarie engari rā, te moumou hoki.
E tū nenehawa ana te iwi i tana rironga moata nei. Me te tini o ōna herenga ki ngā iwi me ngā hapū o te kāinga. He Ngāti Hinemihi, he Ngāti Pikiao, nō Te Whakatōhea tētehi wāhanga ōna, ā nō Ngapuhi hoki ia. Puta katoa mai ēnei hapū me ngā iwi ki te tangi ki tō rātou kuru-tangiwai.
E mea nei a Ruakiri i tika katoa te pā taunaha nā te aroha nui o te iwi ki tō rātou kiritata. ' Kāpuia te iwi kia kotahi mai he āwha ka whakamārietia'. Ka whakaritea te wharekai a Hinewai ki te whāngai i te rau tangata, ā, ka tutuki noa tēnā i te hākari nui. " Katoa, he tata ki te toru mano tangata i whāngaingia i tana tangihanga'
I kaha manaakingia te hunga whakaeke e te hau kāinga i te rangi tuatahi o te tangihanga , nā wai rā ka riro tēnā mana ki a Whariki Gardiner me Phyllis Tangitu me te kapa haka ka hau atu rātou ki te wharekai. Me te ataahua hoki.
Ko tētehi o ngā mea kai te tino ū ki te whatu o te manawa ko te whakawhanaungatanga o te iwi, me te muri aroha o te kapa he kauawhiawhi, he manaaki, he tiaki, he aroha kau. Ki te ātea nui o te pā taunaha rerere kau ana ngā korohī mako me te hāngai tika hoki o ngā kōrero ki tō tātou rangatira.
Me i kore te pōuritanga o te tangihanga kua mea atu ahau ki a tātou kātahi te tangaihanga nui whakaharahara ko tēnei. He whakamihi nui whakaharahara ki tētehi wahine wairua hākoakoa, ngākau momona.
Hōake e te Manukura. Haere rā.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
Ruakiri Fairhall was in Mexico when he got word his whanaunga Hereana Sally-Ann Eileen Roberts had died in Rarotonga.
"You are in limbo when somebody dies suddenly, especially when it happens overseas," said the committee member of Te Papa Rere o Ratorua Marae in Ngapuna.
"What do you do back home?"
Ruakiri was on holiday in the United States and had been visiting his parents, Uenuku and Aroha Fairhall, who spend the New Zealand winter in Oxaca, Mexico. Aroha's late mother, Sally Pirihi, and Hereana's mother, Miriama, are sisters.
During the eulogies, Tiaho Fairhall said their family had a special relationship with Hereana because of the name she bore.
Those sentiments were echoed by twins Ruihi and Kiri Winiata, whose maternal grandmother was Ngahuinga Eileen, another sister of Miriama.
Hereana felt extra blessed to have twins Jahzell and Dekoda among her five tamariki. They formed an especially close unit with Shyan, Hoani and Egypt. Her mokopuna Anita-Rose (Fatty) and Iyla-Mae were the icing on the cake to their indulgent nanny.
In their eulogy, the urukehu twins of Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao kapa haka, Larelle and Jaylene Tamati, waxed lyrical about "Girly" whom they had known most of their lives. Girly was their special name for each other.
It was hard to spot a dry eye.
Ruakiri knew the tangihanga would be huge and from Mexico made arrangements to cater for the expected hundreds.
He co-ordinated the hiring of marquees, extra seating, and catering equipment from firms around Rotorua. Ruakiri was in a race against time to beat Hereana to Hinemihi and he arrived back in the country on Sunday, August 7.
He was originally due back the next day but wanted to oversee the setting up of the marae in person.
During the whole time he was in contact with his Aunty Bubbles (Miriama).
Hereana was kept at home with her parents, Miriama and Tom, and her children and brother Troy before coming to the marae on the Tuesday.
While we waited, Ngati Hinemihi kuia Oriwa Crook handed out soft blankets to the women sitting in the mahau of Hinemihi and in the marquees because the weather was super cold. And on Tuesday, the first day Hereana lay in state, it was wet as well.
It was bitterly cold as we sat outside and watched and waited until the kirimate arrived.
Part of our waiting time was spent brushing up on the haka pohiri. When the cry finally went up that the cortege had arrived we all stood in anticipation.
Whaea Kahu Ehau, the senior kuia of Hinemihi, sent out the first cries of the karanga.
They were answered and the cortege moved onto the marae.
Spotted around the marae were women and girls wearing 'ei katu, garlands of flowers on their heads in acknowledgement of the Cook Islands connection.
There was standing room only as the tangihanga began, and it was necessary to move out so the next crowds could come in.
The korero was beautiful, singing the praises of a larger-than-life personality who was taken before her time.
Hereana had hononga to Ngāti Hinemihi, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Whakatōhea, and Ngāpuhi and her relatives came from all over to share their grief. Ruakiri said the smooth running of the tangihanga could be attributed to all the hapu working together as one iwi.
"When we work together we can do anything. "Hinewai [the dining room] was set up to cater for 240 people and 280 at the hakari.
"All told there were about 3000 people fed at the tangihanga."
The hau kainga looked after visitors the first day of the tangi then the kapa, under the guidance of Whariki Gardiner and Phyllis Tangitu, took over the wharekai.
What stood out to me at the tangi, particularly in the kitchen and dining room, was the whakawhanaungatanga and the way the kapa supported each other.
It was wonderful to see.
Out on the atea, the korero was wonderful and in most cases to the point.
If it wasn't such a sad occasion I would say this was an awesome tangihanga — a real celebration of a wonderful wahine.
'On the surface, it seems tricky, but there’s a real good story of unity here.'