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See below for English translation
E ai ki te pepeha onamata, kāore he mutunga o tēnei mea te ako.
Tae noa mai ki tēnei rangi nōku e tuhituhi ana mā Kāhu ki Rotorua kua teitei taku kete mātauranga i ngā kōrero papai, ā, kua tahia atu hoki e ahau ngā kōrero pirorehe. He mea hoki kua kitea e ahau ko ngā painga o te māuiui urutā.
Hai whakatauira ake, tēnā kia tirohia e tātau ngā tangihanga me te hurakōwhatu. Kua uru mai te hangarau hou ki ngā tangihanga, anei tātau e whakapāoho atu ngā tangihanga ki ngā whānaunga noho kāinga ana. Nōku i te hiku o Te Waipounamu ka kitea tuatahingia e ahau tēnei tūahuatanga. Ko Hana Morgan tō tātau tupapaku, he whānaunga tata nōku.
E tāmī nei tātau i te māuiui urutā, ā, e kore hoki e puta ngā pakeke ki te tuku i tō tātau tupapaku nā te mea e noho rāhui ana tātatu.
Ko tētehi atu taumahatanga ko te āta tiaki i te rahi o te tangata kia kāua e nui rawa te ope tangi, kai hāmenetia te whānau e ngā ture o te wā. Kāore au i tae ki tō Kataraina Taiaroa tangihanga, engari anō mō tana hurakōwhatu, āe katoa taku wairua.
He ahakoa i pau i a ia te whitu tekau o ngā tau ki wāhi kē mahi ai, nō tana ekenga ki te waru tekau o ngā tau ka whakairia e ia tana pōtae mahita. Nō te Maehe, nō te rua tekau mā rua, nō te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā rua ka mate ia.
E waru tekau mā whitu te rahi. Kai te urupā o Peka ia e tanumia ana. Nō te marama o Tīhema ka whakatakotoria e mātau tō mātau matua wahine me tō mātau tuahine ki tahaki o Dovey hai hoa mōna. Nōna e kotahi tekau mā rua te pakeke ka kawea e tōna matua wahine a Dovey Makiha ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Engari ko tōna ngākau, tūturu nō Tūhorangi.
He hoa tata māua. I Te Whanganui-a-Tara hoki ahau e ako nūpepa ana. He ahakoa tana patipati mai ki a tahuri ahau ki tana kapa haka o Ngāti Poneke, nā te tini o aku mahi, kīhai au i tae.
Ko tana whāinga tuatahi, ko te huarahi o te mahita kura tuatahi, ka iti ki mua, ka tahuri kē ia ki te huarahi ako taitamariki. Nō te rāhoroi ko hori, mangu katoa a Wahiao i ngā kura mahita, ko ia ton ate take. Puta mai āna hoa mahi ki te tuku i a ia ki Hāwaiki. Nō mātau, nō tātau katoa te maringi nui.
Ko tona hahi. Tūturu, he Katorika ia. Hai ngā wā hoki mai a Dovey ki te kāinga, ka tutaki i ahau a Dovey ki ngā hīrere. Ki reira tāua pahupahu ai.Me taku whakamīharo hoki ki tana tamāhine ki a Hinemarie Tomairangi.
He ahakoa haere ai tōna matua wahine ki whea, haere hoki ai tana whiore.Ka huri ngā kaupeka, ka huri ngā tau, ka taumaha a Dovey i te māuiui wareware. Nā taku hoa tata a Shauni James i tuhituhi tētehi kōrero rangatira māna, hai korero rangatira mō te wiki o whakamōhiotanga māuiui wareware.Ka whakahīhī katoa mātau.
Nā, ka rere tonu rā taua wairua whakahīhi ki te rā o tana hura pōwhatu.
Nō te ahiahi kē timata ai te hurakōwhatu. Kai reira ngā whānaunga me ō rātau pūeru waipoporo – ko tō Dovey tino kara tēnei.Ka takahia e tātau te huarahi ki Peka, ka oti ana te hura ka tahuri te ope ki te karapu o Cits.
Kai reira te tino kaupapa whakangāhau ki a Dovey. Kāore he painga o te kēmu wharewhare ki a Dovey. Kātahi te mata-ika hai whakangāwari i te wairua o te whare. Ko te mahi tuarua, he aha rā? Ko te kapa haka.
Kai te hurahura ngā hope o Tūhorangi, ka tū hoki te kura o Hato Hohepa, ko Ngāti Poneke anō tētehi o ngā rōpū whakangāhau, otīā kī pai te whare i ngā manu hakahaka me ngā ringaringa aroarowhākī.Ko te whakakapinga o te rā, ko te mātakitaki i te kiriata whakateitei i a Dovey.
He mea nā tana whānau anō i whakarite.Ko taku koha ki tēnei rā whakahirahira, he pūreni mamao.Tētehi o āna kai papai ki a ia. Nō mua rawa i taku hekenga ki ngā puna waiariki ki te tunu i aku pūreni mamao ka puta taku hoa a Blaine Hoete.
He rangatira ia nō te ope Watene Māori o Aotearoa. He tangata kaha ia ki te tiaki tangata, matua ko ngā tamariki kāinga kore. Ko ia hoki tētehi o ngā rangatira whakahaere mō te kaupapa o te āwhā nui o Karapiao.
Ka whoatu etehi pūreni māna, kātahi ka tahuri tona waka ki Taihape.Ka pau ngā rangi e whia kē i a ia e hakoke ana, ka puta a Blaine me ana pou mahi ki te kāinga, kātahi māua ka kai nui, ka mākona te puku ka tika tonu rātau ki Uawa.
E hoki ana ngā maharatanga ko tetehi o aku tuhinga moata mō te nūpepa nei ko te kawenata i whakaritea hai tūhonohono i ngā hapū e toru o Ngāti Whakaue me Scion.
Ko ngā hapū e toru ko Ngāti Te Hurungaterangi, ko Ngāti Taeotu, ko Ngāti Te Kahu. Kātahi tēnei huinga inaianei e hoa mā, e tupu matomato ana! Nō te Mane ko hori, nōku anō te whiwhinga ki te noho hai mana whenua ki te puku o Scion ki te whakatau i a Matene Haimona, he uri nō Ngāti Pikiao – Te Tokotoru o Manawakotokoto me Ngāti Rongomai.
Nō Scion hoki te whiwhi. Ka wehe ia i tana mahi i Te Pouhere Taonga i Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Ko Jim Schuster te pou korero tuatahi, me te papai hoki o tana kōrero. I kaha kōrerongia e ia mō te wā i tūwhera ai a FRI, koia te ingoa matua o tēnei wāhi, nā wai rā ka tapā ko Scion. Ko Hemi Rolleston te pouwhakahaere Te Ao Māori me te taha Pūtaiao.
E rua rau e waru tekau katoa āna poumahi. Hai tāna ka mana nui rawa atu te tīma i a Matene me āna puna mātauranga o te ao tawhito. E mea ana te pae tawhiti, taihoa pea te ao tawhito me te ao hou e haere ngātahi ai.
Me te pai hoki o tā Matene whaikōrero engari anō hai tāna kia waiho mā te maramataka o Matariki ia e kawe.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
OPINION
You’re never too old to learn, the saying goes, and since beginning Kahu Ki Rotorua I have added hugely to my kete of knowledge and thrown out some outdated ideas.
And I have found the changes positive even if some came about because of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Take tangihanga and unveilings for instance.
Whoever would have thought we would have livestreaming of tangihanga. I saw it first in Bluff where the whanau pani hired a professional film crew to video the tangi of cousin Hana Morgan (nee Bradshaw) so whanau unable to be present at Te Rau Aroha could watch proceedings.
That was when borders were closed by covid.
Then there were schedules for ope to attend tangihanga so that numbers could be restricted.
I was unable to attend the tangi last year of our aunty, Kataraina Dovey Taiaroa, so nothing was going to keep me from her unveiling at the weekend.
Although she spent 70 years away from Whakarewarewa she came home as soon as she retired from teaching at the age of 80 plus. She died on March 30, 2022, at the age of 87 and is buried at Peka Urupa.
In December we placed our mother and sister close to where Dovey lies.
Dovey Makiha was taken to Wellington by her mother Teitei when she was 12 and she was proud of her Tuhourangitanga.
I knew of her and met her in person when I studied journalism in Wellington. She encouraged me to join her Ngati Poneke Cultural Club but I had too much work on to make the commitment.
Aunty trained originally as a primary school teacher but retrained so she could teach older students.
On Saturday Wahiao was full of people from the teaching community who had been touched by her as a teacher and a colleague.
We, the hau kainga, were feeling really proud as the speakers told of her dedication to her students, her club and her iwi.
And her faith. She was a devout Catholic.
When she first came home I used to see Dovey at the Hirere bath and loved having a korero with her.
I admired the way her daughter, Hinemarie Toimairangi (better known as Mardi) used to accompany her.
As the years passed it became obvious that Dovey had dementia and I admire Mardi even more for the way she cared for her.
My colleague Shauni James wrote a beautiful story for Dementia Awareness Week that Mardi was proud to be able to care for her mother.
And so it was at the unveiling.
For a start it began in the afternoon when normally marae activities begin in the morning.
Many whanau were wearing splashes of purple — Dovey’s favourite colour.
After our trek to Peka it was off to the Cits Club downtown.
That’s when the fun really began in a wonderful tribute to Dovey orchestrated by Mardi.
Dovey loved Housie so we played a few games to start the afternoon off. It was a great ice-breaker.
Then it was time for haka.
We performed our classic Tuhourangi and then old girls from St Josephs, Ngati Poneke and other organisations she was associated with took the stage. Miharo.
A video of Dovey’s life was a fitting end to an afternoon of whanaungatanga, fun and kai.
As part of the celebration of Dovey’s life I thought I would contribute some steam puddings.
I hadn’t made any for months but she was special.
Out of the blue, and only a short time before we were to go to Whaka to take them from the hangi, a really close friend and pudding monster from Auckland turned up.
Blaine Hoete, national co-ordinator for Maori Wardens and whose life has been spent caring for people, in particular homeless children, is a lead part of the Civil Defence response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
We gave him some puddings and sent him on his way to Taihape. A couple of days later we had lunch when he was on his way back to Gisborne with some young workers. Uncanny timing.
One of the first stories I wrote for Kahu Ki Rotorua was the kawenata between Nga Hapu E Toru o Ngati Whakaue — Ngati Hurunga Te Rangi, Ngati Taeotu, and Ngati Te Kahu (HTK) — and Scion.
How Scion and its te ao Maori team have grown.
On Monday I was honoured as mana whenua to take part in the whakatau to welcome Matene Simon (Ngati Pikiao-Te Tokotoru o Manawakotokoto, Ngati Rongomai) to the staff of Scion.
Scion’s gain is Pouhere Taonga’s loss as Matene was in charge of Maori Built Heritage Matauranga Maori at Heritage New Zealand.
The wairea (type of challenge) alerted us to their arrival as the party made their way up the stairs and to the boardroom where we waited.
It was spine-tingling.
My old school mate and Heritage New Zealand representative Jim Schuster was the first speaker for the visitors and recalled the days when the FRI (Forest Research Institute) occupied the site where Scion is.
Hemi Rolleston is general manager of Te Ao Maori and Science services responsible for all Science and Research Capability within Scion, and has staff of approximately 280.
He said Matene would bring specialised knowledge and be a much valued member of his te ao Maori / Matauranga Maori team.
It could be that the stars are aligned for a new, magical era of discovery in the blending of matauranga Maori and western science.
Matene was humble in his response to all the accolades accorded him.
He had one condition of employment: He must be free to run his life by the Matariki calendar.
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