Tributes flow for no ordinary son

By MIKE BARRINGTON THE taniwha guarding the route to Cape Reinga were roused by a rangatira heading for Hawaiki yesterday, and it wasn't Big Ed.
On the same day as the state funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary in Auckland, the funeral of another of New Zealand's favourite sons - poet Hone Tuwhare - was held at Kaikohe.
Sir Edmund's funeral was conducted with pomp and ceremony, befitting his position as New Zealand's most famous man.
Hone Tuwhare's funeral was at the Te Kotahitanga Marae, a low-key affair with some tears but far more laughs as family and friends comforted each other with recollections of the amusing and mischievous man they loved.
Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi chairman Sonny Tau started the accolades with a story about the sale of a violin which had no value until a master played it. Comparing this to Tuwhare's mastery of language, Mr Tau than sang, in a tuneful light tenor, six verses of a song about people all being flowers in the Creator's bouquet.
"You were a rough diamond, Hone - I hope you are a petal today," Mr Tau concluded.
Tuwhare's fondness for strong liquor was described by the Rev Wayne Te Kaawa, of Tauranga, who helped the Rev Rui Kawhe Matene, of Kaikohe, conduct the service.
Mr Te Kaawa said that, while training as a minister in Dunedin, he enjoyed visiting Tuwhare, who would put a gin and tonic in one of his hands and a whisky in the other, straight after opening the door.
They would drink and discuss literature and art half the night, then Tuwhare would write poetry from 1am-5am, he said.
Heather Ayrton read from Tuwhare's book No Ordinary Sun, which he had given her. Janet Hunt, author of Hone Tuwhare -a biography, paid tribute to his talent and humour. Among the others who spoke, a young member of the poet's family wept in grief that he was gone.
The coffin was then carried out to a hearse, with veteran Ngapuhi activist Dun Mihaka and Tuhoe terrorism suspect Tame Iti among the pallbearers.
Mr Iti said he and Tuwhare had been "comrades in China together" in 1973 when they had shared communist politics and "followed Marxist, Leninist, Maoist thoughts".
Mr Mihaka said that Tuwhare had visited him in a Christchurch prison during the mid-1970s Maori land march. Through Tuwhare's correspondence with him, Mr Mihaka was able to "put my two and six-pence into the land-march issues".
The hearse took the body to the Whare Paepae urupa on Mangakahia Rd, where Tuwhare was buried on the brow of the hill, facing north-east to catch the morning sun, alongside his mother, sister and uncles.
He may not be the only rangatira resting in that spot as the most fabled Ngapuhi warrior of colonial times, Hongi Hika, is reputed to be there too in an unmarked grave. Hone Ana Tipa Te Pona Tuwhare was born at Kaikohe in 1922 to Pene Tuwhare and Mihipaea Anihana. The Depression was soon upon the family, which moved to Auckland for work and 17-year-old Hone first began to write while employed at the Otahuhu Railway Workshops in 1939.
His first collection, No Ordinary Sun (1964), was the first book of poetry by a Maori writer in English. He was passionate about Maori issues, helping organise the first Maori Writers and Artists Conference at Te Kaha in 1973 and participating in the 1975 land march.
Tuwhare was awarded a Robbie Burns fellowship in 1969 - and again in 1974 - and while in Dunedin he met Ngapuhi painter Ralph Hotere, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. A venture into drama produced the play In the Wilderness Without a Hat in 1991.
Tuwhare won the poetry division of the Montana Book Awards in 1998 and at the end of a two-year term as poet laureate in 2001 he published Piggyback Moon which won the poetry division of the Montana awards in 2002. In 2003 Tuwhare was named among 10 of New Zealand's greatest living artists as the Arts Foundation's Icon Artists.
The poet had been in poor health for some time. He died last week at Dunedin, where he had lived for many years, and was brought home to Kaikohe on Sunday.
Tuwhare had been long estranged from his wife, Jean McCormack, but her respected status in the family was unchanged by his escapades outside their relationship. She was at the funeral with their three sons. Tuwhare is also survived by eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.