Hereana Roberts took on a number of active roles in basketball.
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See below for English translation
Hereana ringa raupā, te ūpoko kākā nō roto i te pōkaitara
Ka puta te haurongo o tēnei tūhinga itiiti nei ki te mārea, kua tae noa atu tana pahi kapa haka ki te ātea nui o Tūrangawaewae ki roto o Ngāruawāhia ki te kawe atu i tōna wairua ki te pae ariki. Ko te kawe mate o Hereana te kaupapa e haere ai a Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao ki ngā waiwawara o Waikato.
E tika ana ki a hoki rātou ki te pā nui o Waikato. Tuatahi ki te whakamihi i ngā hononga whakapapa, tuarua ki te whakamihi atu ki te Kīngitanga mō tō rātou kauawhiawhi i te pahi kapa haka i te wā rātou e whakarite ana i tō rātou tupapaku i Rarotonga. I ora te pahi i a rātou.
He whakamīhā nā te kapa ki Te Kahui Ariki. E kore e tāea i ēnei kupu itiiiti noa.
Āe rā. I hinga te poukaiāwha o te kapa haka o Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao i te whenua o ngā tūpuna i Rarotonga. He wahine toa a Hereana. E toru tekau o ngā tau a Hereana e arahi nei i tana kapa haka kia eke ai rātou ki te tihi o te whakataetae kapa haka.
I hinga ohorere i te hui ahurei o Maeva Nui i Rarotonga. Kai te urupā o Hato Pāora ia e tanumia ana. Nō te rāwhā o te wiki kua pahemo i tukuna tōna tinana ki te rua o ōna tūpuna.
E noho whakaiti nei te rōpū kapa haka i te nui o te aroha i tae ki runga ki a rātou nō rātou i Rarotonga. He ahakoa ngā taumahatanga kāore he otinga o tēnei mea te aroha i waenganui i a tātou ngā iwi o Poronēhia.
Ka nui te whakaparanga i a mātou he tai mihi tangata, he aroha momona, me te kaha o te manaakitanga. Nā reira i koropiko ai te tihi o ngā māunga i ngāwari noa te whakahoki mai i tō rātou kura ki tōna ūkaipō. Nō te ata hāpara ka wehe ai te kapa me te kirimate o Hereana nō Ngāti Hinemihi ki te Koroneihana ki te kawe i tōna wairua ki te huinga ariki ki reira ia whakarangatira ai.
Nā Kīngi Tūheitia tana hokinga mai ki Aotearoa i ngawari ake ai. He aha rā hai patu i tēnei aroha nui ōna? Kāore e taea, engari nā te mea he pahi kapa haka mātou, mā te waiata, mā te haka, me te poi kia ora ake ai tēnei aroha nui ōna.
He pueru mā ngā pueru tangi mōna, ka heia ngā mahunga ki ngā pare-putiputi hai tohu māharatanga i tōna huringa tau e rima tekau. E ai ki a John Turi tētehi o ngā ika-a-Whiro o te rōpū.
Ka kūwhewhewhewhe ōna pāpāpringa e hoki ana ōna maumaharatanga mo Hereana. He tuhi waiata tā rāua mahi engari hai tāna, he reo Māori anō tāna, he reo nānā anō i waihanga, engari koia te wairua o Hereana he hākoakoa, he hātekēhi.
The kapa away from the stage in Rarotonga.
Ko Tuhoe Huata me ōna tohunga hoki i puta mai ki te kawe i ngā karakia me te tuku i ā rātou tātai kōrero mōna. Ko te tiaki tinana tētehi o ngā kaupapa i kaha kōrerongia e ia, otīā rāua tahi nōna e ora ana.
Kātahi nei ahau kia oti taku uiui i a Hereana, kāore anō kia pau te kotahi marama pea. Me te ia o tana uiuinga, he rangatira katoa ngā kōrero. Kātahi nā ahau ka kite atu i tētehi wahine tōu tīrairaka.
He matua wahine, he kuia pukumahi. Me te tihi o tona aroha ki āna tamariki katoa. . ' He wahine puhakehake ana ki te aroha. Mō te menemene me te whakaakiaki i ngā tangata katoa ki a pau te kaha o te wairua' .
Hai tā June Tahuriorangi, tētehi o ngā mēmā o te rōpū Bball Mamas, nā Hereana tēnei rōpū i whakaaraara.
Ka tini kē āna kaupapa. Koia hoki te wahine whakahaere i ngā tīma wahine o Rotorua mō te U13, U15, U17, U 19. Ki a ia hoki te tūnga whakahaere mō te rōpū kōtiro Pacific Koru U 16 , ngā tīmā pahikitepōro o Te Arawa U15, U17.
E rima tau ki te taumata poari mō te RBA, he poutakaro hoki ia mā te tīmā Bball Mamas, he rōpū nāna anō i whakaaraara. He wahine whakahaere hoki i te pahikitepōro ki te kura o ngā kōhine , whai hoki he matua wahine, aroha mutunga kore ki āna ake kōtiro ki a Dekoda me Jahzell me tō rāua aroha nui ki te kēmu nō te wā rāua e itiiti ana.
He wahine hāneanea hoki a Hereana tūturu me ōna hoa pahikitepōro ara te rōpū o Bball Mamas he tata ki te kotahi tekau o ngā tau rātou e whakapiritahi ana. Engari anō tana kaha akiaki i āna hoa ki te tiaki i tō rātou tinana kia piki hoki te kaha o te hauora me te ako i te reo.
'Tū nenehawa nei ngā manu korohīmako i tana korenga, kua kore te uho tawatawa o tō mātou pahi toa, koia te whakaihiiihi, koia te whakawanawana'. — Raimona Inia
By the time this tribute to Hereana Roberts is published, her kapa and her iwi would have made their way to Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia for her kawe mate.
Kawe mate means "carrying the dead."
The solemn journey will have been made to acknowledge kinship ties and the leadership shown by the Kahui Ariki in Rarotonga and when the kapa returned home to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Hereana, a Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao kapa haka performer and tutor for more than 30 years collapsed and died in Rarotonga while the kapa was at Te Maeva Nui festival. She was buried at St Paul's Urupa, Ngapuna, on Thursday last week.
Members of the kapa cannot speak highly enough of the help and kindness they received from various groups and individuals in Rarotonga.
We are humbled by the aroha and manaakitanga the kapa received, and the mountains moved to help bring our taonga home.
Before sunrise today the kapa and at least one bus load of Hereana's whanau from Ngati Hinemihi made their way to the Karaneihana to take her mate and celebrate this auspicious occasion on the Maori calendar.
Kingi Tuheitia honoured our kapa in facilitating their return to Aotearoa, providing practical and spiritual help in Rarotonga and at home.
There is no way we can repay this, except in the Maori way where the actions and kindness of his house will be forever remembered in our stories and songs.
Members of our kapa wore garlands of flowers on their heads and white clothing on her nehu day, acknowledging her 50th birthday celebrations and demands that people wear white.
Senior kapa member John Turi spoke of his collaboration with Hereana in writing songs for the kapa. He chuckled over 'her' version of te reo Maori but she knew he would insert the correct terms.
Hereana me etehi o ana hoa o te kapa ki Rarotonga.
Tuhoe Huata and his tira of tohunga from Ngati Kahungunu offered karakia and stories of his interaction with Hereana over their health and weight journeys.
Less than a month before she died I spoke to Hereana about her hauora journey and how she was involved because she wanted to be there in the future for her children and mokopuna.
Hereana loved her children and basketball above all else.
"She was so full of life, always ready with a smile and encouragement for us," said June Tahuriorangi, a member of Bball Mamas, a group founded by Hereana.
Hereana took on a number of active roles in basketball.
She was team manager for Rotorua Rep teams: ■ U13, U15, U17, U19, women. ■ Basketball Pacific Koru Tour U16 Girls ■ Te Arawa U15, U17 ■ RBA board member for about 5 years ■ Played 3x3 basketball for Bball Mamas ■ Created Bball Mamas group ■ Rotorua Girls High Basketball Academy teams - juniors (2yrs) & Seniors (3yrs)
Totally devoted to her daughters, Dekoda and Jahzell's basketball since primary school. Hereana also enjoyed socialising, especially with the Bball Mamas and had been involved with them for about 10 years.
She also pushed them into more hauora and exercise.
June said that during the last few months Hereana encouraged them on a reo as well as a hauora journey.
"Her passing has left a huge hole in our group. She gave us hope and inspiration."
