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See below for English translation
Matariki atua ka rewa mai i te rangi e roa e
Kia whakataukīngia nei e ahau, ko Matariki ahunga nui, ko Matariki tāpuapua, ko Matariki kanohi iti.
He pānuitanga tēnei ki ngā iwi katoa kia kawea mai ngā huhua mate o ngā rā, o ngā wiki, o ngā marama o ngā tau tawhito me ngā rangatira ora o te rā ki Te Paparere-ā-Rātōrua, tēnei a Ngāti Hinemihi e koke whakamua ana i te ara haukore a Tāne, e tūhonohono ai tātau katoa ki ngā paiaka o te taiao, ka rewa Matariki pai a ha hā, pai a hā hā.
Nō te atapō,ka whakahuatia katoatia ngā whetu kimokimo i roto i te hautapu. Koia nei,kua pae mai te tau tuarua ki runga ki te mauri ora o Ngāti Hinemihi me tā rātau kaupapa mana nui. Ehara i te mea he kaupapa ware noa i taka iho i te puku o Te Mangoroa.
He kotahi pekanga noa tēnei i pupū ake ai nō te hiahia o te iwi ki te whakaaraara i te ahurea taketake o Ngāti Hinemihi. Nō te mimititanga o te arero o ngā tuatahi ka karanga hui te hapū ki te whakatakoto rautaki e kaha anō ai ōna rangatira.
Nō te tau, e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā whitu ka hui te iwi, nā reira i mōhio ai ngā taratī o te marae ki ngā hiahia o ōna rangatira.Ka tahuri te iwi ki a Taiawatea Knight. Na tana kaha, i tutuki ai ngā wānanga me te hautapu o te tau tawhito. He ahakoa ngā whakapōreareatanga o te māuiui urutā ka ūpoko mārō te iwi.
Nō te tau nei,ka puta katoa ngā rangatira o te pā taunaha ki te tautoko i tā tātau kaupapa mai i ngā taratī o te marae tae atu ki tō tātau tohunga a Takuta Anaha Hiini me ōna hoa rangatira,ko Rangitihi Pene, Tuakiri Fairhall, Te Taiawatea Knight, Colin Tihi, Taipari Mc Leod, Tīahomarama Fairhall me tō tātau whaea ko Anahera Wilson. Kātahi ka whakatika ake a Ngāti Hinemihi ki te hoe.
Ka wāwāhingia ngā whaitua mahi. Kai te arahina rātau e Takuta Anaha Hiihi. He tohunga, he mātanga reo, koia hoki te amokura o tōna pūkai kahurangi.
Māna te ara o te ahurewa ki ngā atua, māna hoki a Matariki e tataki. Ko Rangitihi te kaumātua koia hoki te māngai mō Ngāti Hinemihi.Mā Tiahomarama Fairhall me Anahera Wilson te kāhui e karanga.
At Hinemihi last year, from left, Dre Rikihana, Rangitaikaiho White, and Te Rahui Wi Neera with baby Sentry Wi Neera.
Nō te tau tawhito i karangangia ngā whetū e Tiaho me Simone Liddell. Ko te taha ki a Ruakiri me Te Taiawatea ko te whakahaere me te tiaki pūtea e ngawari ai ngā kawenga mahi. Ko tā Colin Tihi me Taipari McLeod ko te umu kohukohu.
Me te whakamānawa hoki o Simone Lidell, tō tātau pou whakahaere ki a Hinemihi Marae Charitable Trust, Ngāti Tarāwhai Iwi Trust, Tūhourangi Tribal Authority, Te Arawa Whānau Ora, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Aini Grace, Kelly Kingi me ngā tohunga Rongoa, mō te pūtea tautoko e tere ai tēnei waka whakahirahira o te iwi.
He karanga hoki tēnei nā Ngāti Hinemihi ki ngā hau e wha,ki ngā puna rau a Atuamatua, nau mai e hoa mā ki tō tātau marae ki te whakanui i a Matariki, kia noho ngātahi hoki ai tātau katoa, ki te tangi i ngā mate, ki te kauawhiawhi i a tātau katoa, whaihoki ki te kai tahi e tika anō ai te whatumanawa mō te tau hou e ai ki a tātau te Māori.
Ko oti noa i a Ngāti Hinemihi ngā wānanga huhua. Ko te wānanga rongoā, ko te wānanga karanga, ko te wānanga whaikōrero whaihoki ko te wānanga mō Te Kāhui Matariki. E kare mā, i whakaturia hoki e Ngāti Hinemihi he pō kanikani e tīpatapata ai ngā waewae o ā mātau tamariki.
Hai tāpiritanga ki tēnei kaupapa ko te kawenga mahi o te pō.He tātai arorangi. Ka haere ngā tamariki me ngā mātua ki te pō ki te rapu i Te Kāhui o Matariki. Rokohanga ake e rātau ngā whetu tokoiwa o te kāhui e kimokimo kau ana ki runga ki te pokowhiwhi o te pae whenua. Ko te mahi tuarua ko te kuhu i ngā whetū ki tētehi pikitia whakaahua e whakamana nei i a Matariki.
Kokōia, kokōia e ara e.Wheoi anō ko ngā mahi nui ērā o te tau tawhito, he karanga tēnei ki ngā whakaaro o te tauhou.
Ko te aronga nui mō tēnei huinga o Matariki ko te whakakao i ngā tini tamariki o Ngāti Hinemihi ki a noho mai ki tō tātau pā taunaha.
Ko Simone Anahera Adrah Liddell te ingoa kua tūhia ki tana pepa whānautanga.
Nā tōna tupuna nā Ngamihikiteao Pene a ia i tapā ko Parekaawa.Nā reira ko mātika ake a Parekaawa hai māngai karanga, hai pouako reo mo tōna iwi he ahakoa e toru tekau mā toru noa te rahi. Ko ōna kāwai, he kānoi rangatira anake.
He uri heke iho ia nō Ngāti Tarawhai me Tuhourangi, ā, he taniwha mako hoki ia nō Ngāti Te Wehi.I whānau a Parekaawa i Rotorua e tika ana pea te whakapae i whānau mai ia i Te Paparere-ā-Rātōrua. Ko Hori me Te Taiawatea Rikihana ōna kaumātua i whakapau kaha rāua tokorua mō te marae te take. (Ka nui hoki ngā maharatanga ōku ki ēnei hoi-kurupounamu nō te wā e whakaaraara ana tātau katoa i tō tātau wharekai i a Hinewai)
Tūturu, ko te reo te moko o te whatumanawa o te wairua e mōhiotia atu ai he Māori. Nō reira te huarahi e haerehia ana e Parekaawa, nā tōna mahita nā Anaha Hiini enei kupu nui ki a ia: ‘Kāore he mutunga ki tēnei mea te ako’.
He ahakoa ko tōna reo whānau ko te reo Ingarihi,e ngunguru kau ana ōna whēkau ki te reo reka o ōna tūpuna. Nōna e kura tuarua ana, ka timatangia tana ako, nā wai rā, ka kaha tonu ia i te wharekura tae rawa ki Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata ki reira ia ako ai mō te kotahi kaupeka, engari nō ngā tau e ono kua tahā ake nei e noho tauira ana ia ki tōna matua tāne kaokaoroa ki a Uenuku Fairhall.
Nō te tau nei,ko whakaara ake a Parekaawa hai pouako reo ki Tarimano ki Hinemihi me te marae o Manoeka.
He mōhio hoki nōna kai te paewai o te moana te mana o Ngāti Hinemihi e tere ana engari e noho ngākau itiiti nei hoki a ia i ngā whakaaro pakeke kua tītia ki tōna kauwae engari hoki he mōhio nōna me i kore ōna hoa huhua kua uaua ake tana haerenga.
E titiro ana a Parekaawa ki ngā tamariki o nāianei ka hākoakoa tōna whatumanawa, ko tā rātau reo, he reo Maori, hai reo tuatahi . Ko āna kupu pakeke hoki ki te rangatahi, hōhoro, hōake ki ngā pā taunaha hai ringaringa awhina mō te iwi.
E hāneanea ana te wairua o Parekaawa me te mōhio ake ko te āpōpō kai tana pī whakamautaringa, kai tana tamāhine ki a Rangitakaiho White te uho o tōna ao hurihuri te puhi taioreore o tōna waka whakarei.
Kati kai te rangatahi taringa rahirahi mai, he pukepuke māunga e pikitia e te tangata,he pukepuke moana e ekengia e te waka, he pukepuke tangata e kore e pikitia.Hokia ki ōu maunga kia toutouhia ngā ahi o te kāinga, o tō ngakau, o tō wairua.
Celebrating Matariki is a continuation of the journey of Ngāti Hinemihi and their marae Te Paparere-ā-Rātōrua to reinforce their identity and connection to Te Ao Māori.
As the sun rises this Sunday morning prayers will be offered in hautapu.
This is the second year Ngāti Hinemihi have performed hautapu but it is not a random act.
It is a part of their commitment to revitalising the language, tikanga and kawa. The cupboard of language and language speakers was nearly bare.
Marae trustees listened to concerns from iwi at a hui in 2017 and embarked on a programme to remedy the situation. They were approached by one of their own, Te Taiawatea Knight, who organised wānanga about hautapu last year during Matariki.
That’s when the marae team stepped up, led by Dr Anaha Hiini. Anaha is a tohunga and an acknowledged expert in the field of ancient karakia. It is he who led Ngati Hinemihi on their Matariki journey. Rangitihi Pene is the kaumātua who clears the marae and is the spokesman for Ngāti Hinemihi.
Tiahomarama Fairhall and Anahera Wilson were the first chosen to karanga to the stars. Tiaho this time will be accompanied by Simone Liddell. Ruakiri Fairhall and Te Taiawatea are in charge of administration and funding.
Colin Tihi and Taipari McLeod are in charge of cooking the food in the umu kohukohu.
Nga tamariki mokopuna o Hinemihi.
This year, all trustees and leaders of the Hinemihi marae including Dr Anaha Hiini, Rangitihi Pene, Ruakiri Fairhall, Te Taiawatea Knight, Colin Tihi, Taipari Mcleod, Tīahomarama Fairhall, and Anahera Wilson are participating.
Simone as a member of the team organising the hautapu, thanked the Hinemihi Marae Charitable Trust, Ngāti Tarāwhai Iwi Trust, Tūhourangi Tribal Authority, Te Arawa Whānau Ora, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Aini Grace, Kelly Kingi and their team of tohunga Rongoa, whose financial and other support made the days possible.
The hautapu is open to everyone. It is a time for learning, to remember loved ones who have died. It is a time to mourn and laugh.
Last year in the week leading up to their hautapu, Ngāti Hinemihi held wānanga for rongoa, waiata, karanga, whaikōrero and about Matariki.
The children’s night consisted of their own wānanga about Matariki, learning waiata and haka.
There was also a night-time hunt for the stars where tamariki and parents went out in the dark with only a bag, a spotlight and a map. Their mission was to find all 9 stars of Matariki, return to base and create a poster of the Matariki constellation using the stars they found.
Afterwards was tacos, nuggets and chips from the Kai Lab Truck. The kids and parents loved it!
To prepare for the hautapu on Sunday Ngati Hinemihi began their wananga series yesterday.This year the main aim is to get uri to return to the marae.
Simone Anahera Adrah Liddell is the name on her birth certificate but her maternal great-grandmother, Ngamihikiteao Pene, gifted her the name Parekaawa. It is thanks to Nanny Mihi’s influence that Simone, 33, has taken up the mantle of leadership including in karanga and reo.
Her whakapapa is to the master carvers of Ngāti Tarāwhai, to Tūhourangi as a mōrehu of the eruption of Tarawera and he taniwha mako o Ngāti Te Wehi.
She was born and raised in Rotorua, almost literally on the marae at Te Paparere-ā-Rātōrua. Her maternal grandparents, Hori and Te Taiawatea Rikihana, worked tirelessly for their marae.
(The writer has very fond memories of Uncle Georgie and Auntie Chooky particularly from the big fundraising days when we built the wharekai Hinewai.)
Simone has dedicated her life to learning the reo.
She has taken on board the words given to her by Takuta Anaha Hiini : “Kāore he mutunga ki tēnei mea te ako.” (There is no end to learning.)
Simone grew up with English as her first language. Despite that she knew she was hungry to learn her reo and started to study while at intermediate school.
She also studied at wharekura and then for a year at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata.
For the past six years she has studied under Uenuku Fairhall.
This year she has started teaching reo at the marae of Tarimano, Hinemihi and Manoeka.
Simone is confident about the future of Hinemihi and says she is fortunate to have had so much support from whanau, elders and youngsters. The hapu is fortunate that most of their children have the reo and teachings from the old ways.
She urges rangatahi to return to their marae and continue the work that has been started.
For Simone, the future lies with the generation of her daughter Rangitakaiho White. Her advice to the young: Return to your marae, to keep alive the fires of the kainga, heart and spirit.
