Special place for a loved companion

FAREWELL: Taika lies next to his master's casket during the service for Ngati Hine leader Erima Henare at Motatau on Monday.

Of the hundreds of mourners at Erima Henare's farewell on Monday, among them past and present MPs, government officials, judges, a Mayor, even a head of state, was one that stood out.

Taika, Mr Henare's beloved bulldog, appeared unfazed by the solemnity of the occasion. He circulated among the guests at Motatau Marae, greeting newcomers and accepting scratches from groups of children and cooing aunties, his stumpy tail waggling. Later, when Mr Henare was brought out on to the porch of the whare tupuna for the first of two services, he comforted the grandchildren seated around his master's casket.

Later still, after Mr Henare made his final journey by hearse to Takapuna Wahi Tapu to join his parents, Lady Rose and Sir James Henare, one of the most respected kaumatua of the 20th Century, Taika was there too, hanging back on the edge of the crowd gathered around the grave.

Mourners began arriving early on Monday, even before the sun rose and the mist lifted from the valley. So many gathered to pay their final respects that the wail of the karanga was almost uninterrupted as new groups of visitors were ushered inside.

The Samoan delegation made the most colourful entrance. In traditional costumes and their bodies glistening with oil, they presented Mr Henare's family with several gifts of tapa cloth and finely woven mats.

Samoa's paramount chief and head of state, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, explained through Mangere MP Su'a William Sio that he had travelled to New Zealand to farewell a "dear friend" and acknowledge his efforts to preserve all indigenous languages, not just Maori.

Fittingly for a man who dedicated much of his life to te reo Maori, virtually the only English spoken in many hours of oratory was part of Education Minister Hekia Parata's speech. She recalled Mr Henare's intellect, sense of fun and ability to bypass confrontation by finding common humanity.

"There wasn't a negative bone in his body," she said.

At the cemetery gates he was greeted by a stirring haka powhiri performed by the 60-strong Te Matua Taua o Ngati Hine. Mr Henare set up the group for the Waitangi Tribunal hearings at Pipiwai last year.

He was laid to rest near the top of the hill as hundreds crowded around his grave. Tucked inside his coffin was a copy of that day's New Zealand Herald; a man like Erima Henare needs some reading material before he starts the long journey back to Hawaiki.

Takapuna Wahi Tapu was named in honour of Mr Henare's grandmother, who died in Takapuna in the influenza epidemic of 1918 while tending the wounded of World War I.