Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi tangi: Māori Queen arrives at Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae

New Maori Queen Ngā Wai hono i te pō leads manuhiri on to the grounds of Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae for a pōwhiri at midday on Wednesday, as part of the tangihanga for Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi. Photo / James Pocock

Tangi rang out across the grounds of Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae in Gisborne as a contingent from Waikato-Tainui, along with the Māori Queen Ngā Wai hono i te pō, arrived to pay their respects.

Pōwhiri for visitors at Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi’s tangihanga at the marae took place under shade and clear, sunny skies on Wednesday.

Her legacy with the kōhanga reo movement was a strong theme of the kōrero throughout.

Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi will be taken to Rahui Marae in Tikitiki on Thursday. A burial at Rahui Marae will take place at 11am on Friday. Photo / James Pocock

Rahui Papa, a spokesman from Waikato-Tainui, told the Gisborne Herald Tāwhiwhirangi was oneof a special kind of kaumātua.

“She was a staunch supporter of language. She was a staunch supporter of the establishment of kōhanga reo. She was a staunch supporter of allowing rangatahi to rise through the ranks and take their place,” Papa said.

“She would growl us incessantly, but in growling us she allowed not only us, but others around us to see the potential in this day and age.”

Manuhiri gather at Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae for a pōwhiri at midday on Wednesday to pay respects to Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi. Photo / James Pocock

Papa said members of the “generation kōhanga reo” developed throughout the ’80s, ’90s and beyond were now taking their place as leaders, parliamentarians and council representatives.

“All of that was because Iritana had a very, very firm belief that we can be better,” he said.

“She had seen more than one generation in her lifetime. She has had a hand in shaping te ao Māori and representative leaders.”

Papa said Tāwhiwhirangi set up a platform for rangatahi that was better than the one she inherited, and he described her as well-rounded.

Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi passed away peacefully, aged 95, on Saturday. Many have paid their respects to her in Gisborne this week.

“There is an obligation for us, as pakeke, as adults, to create a platform for the rangatahi that is better than the one we inherited so that generation upon generation will only get stronger and stronger and stronger.

“I look at Dame Iritana and I see a servant of her people. She was a leader in her own right but also served her people, not just Ngāti Porou people, not just her tribal affiliations.

“She encouraged walking in the boardroom, standing on the marae and doing the dishes out the back.”