Kāhu ki Rotorua: Team player’s talents help to build legacy

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See below for English translation

OPINION

Ehara ma te aitanga o Rangitihi

Ko te pae tawhiti e ora kaha ai ngā tamariki me ngā mokopuna te take e whakakipakipa ai te manawa o Rangitihi Pene.

Hāunga tona taha ki te kōti poitūkohu.He mātanga nui a Rangitihi. He rangatira tuhi pukapuka, he tohunga ki te rangahau kōrero, he rangatira ki te ao Mātauranga Māori, kai te kaunihera hoki ia o Rotorua, otia he wahakākā kōrero hoki e kitea nuitia ana ki te papa o Te Pākira me Hinemihi.

Kua eke noa ia ki te hokorua o ngā tau whakapau kaha ai ki te ao poitūkohu. Nō te wā tata nei ka whakanuia tēnei kaupapa ōna e te tini tangata.

I whānau a Darrell Guy Rangitihi Pene i Taumarunui. Ko te ūkaipō o tōna matua wahine. He Ngāti Tuwharetoa, he Ngāti Hauaroa, he Ngāti Pūkeko, he Ngāti Kahungunu hoki ia.

Nō Ngāruahinerangi me Ngāti Ruanui tōna makau a Sue.Tokorima ā rāua tamāhine. He toki enei taitamāhine ki te pūrei poitūkohu, ā, nā ō rāua matua rātau i ako ki tēnei porohīanga.

I pakekengia a Rangitihi i Waimiha i Te Wehtū i Mōhaka i Pātea engari tuturu i Tūrangi. Ko ia te tiamana ki Hinemihi me Māniaiti ki te puku o Tūwharetoa.He mahita kura tuarua mō ngā tau e toru tekau mā rima.

Ko tana kaupapa tuatahi he ako whenua, nā wai rā ka tahuri ia ki te reo Māori.Ko ngā piki me ngā heke he ahakoa he ahakoa he mōhio nōna ka ora i tana whānau. Ko te poitūkohu te uho o tō rāua ko Sue ao.

' Ka taka tona manawa ki te putake o te maunga ia wā ka hinga tona tima’.Ka kitea ōna pukenga me tōna kaha e Watu. Ka toko ake te whakaaro ka pai tenei rangatira hai kanohi mō tātau.

Nō reira ka kitea a Rangitihi ki te marae o Hinemihi, koia hoki kai te taumata o Tūhourangi Tribal Authority, Te Pūmautanga o Te Arawa, Central North Island Iwi Collective me Te Arawa Lakes Trust.

Ki te taha o te reo, ka nui tana hiahia ki te Whakaaraara hangarau hou e ora ai te reo me ngā tikanga o tātau te Māori. E noho kokohu ai te tangata ki te kāinga, ki whea rānei ako ai.

He tohunga tito mōteatea, haka, waiata-ā-ringa me te aha noa atu. Kua oti hoki i a ia te tuhituhi pukapuka mō te ao kapa haka me tona orokohanga i Ōhinemutu. Ko tetehi anō o āna pukapuka ko Kepa Ehau ko tōna tupuna koroua rongonui.’ Kai te wā nei e whakaemi kōrero ana e ahau e hangai pū ana ki a Ngai Te Arawa me Rotorua.

Kāpuia katoatia hai kete mātauranga ko tapā ki te ingoa ko ‘Great Te Arawa Stories’. Hai paetukutuku inakuanei.He awhinatanga nā mātau nā Te Aka Mauri ki ngā mahita kura o te hāpori o tēnei takiwā'.

Ko taku ki a ia, āhua whetū kōmata kē koe e te kiriwhānaunga. Ko tana whakahoki:’ He waimarie nōku he mahita kura ōku matua, he tokorua noho marae. I whakapakekengia au i wē pārai otia me ngā tāone ririki.

E hoki ana ngā mahara nōku e tau tuarima ana i te kura tuarua o Tongariro i Tūrangi e tono ana mō te kararehe whakatika motokā i Otautahi. Tahuri kau te tumuaki o te kura ki ahau, ka kī mai ia, e hoa kia rangatira ake te titiro ki te tihi o te maunga. Nā reira ka whakatika ōku waewae ki te whare wānanga ki reira ako haere ai’.

Kua tu te awatea ki te rae o Rangitihi me tana mōhio ake ko te pae tawhiti e ora kaha nei tātau he mea huri kau ia te rā, ia te marama, ia te tau.’ Titiro mai ki ahau ki a Ngāti Hinemihi ka nui te ora o te pā i ngā tamariki o te kura kaupapa Māori. Ko aku pōtiki katoa ēnei. He ahakoa tēnā he pakeke kē ngā whakaaro.

E huri ngā kanohi ki Te Pākira e tū ana Te Whare Kōrero o Tūhourangi kua pau ngā tau e whia kē i te kōmiti te whakatū wānanga, te whakahaere ahurei e tatakī ai te paepae kōrero. Tāne mai, wāhine mai.

Kia tikina atu e ahau te pepeha a ngā tuatahi, mate atu he tētēkura, ara mai he tētēkura.E huri ngā kanohi ki te papa poitūkohu me te pakari hoki o ngā tima o Rotorua nei. Tū ana ko Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Koutu te tima tamāhine me te tima taitamatāne ki Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata. Taniwa kau ana ēnei tima.

' I ngā tau tata kua hori nei kua tino eke te kura o RBHS & RGHS ki te taumata nui o ngā whakataetae kura tuarua. Wheoi anō kai te pae o matahauariki kē rātau. Ko te kaupapa e kaha hakoke haere takiwā nei, nā ki a Hinemihi tō tātau whare whakairo.

Kai te tataku haere he ahakoa ēnei rā nui.Kua oti nei te ‘Brief for an Architect’ i te Tarati Nahinara o UK .’ Ko te wāhanga nui ināianei mā Ruakiri Fairhall otia a Ngāti Hinemihi ko te kimi pūtea hai whakaara i te anganga o te whare, ā, ko te kimi pūtea hoki hai nama i ngā tohunga whakairo rākau me te hunga raranga wheoi anō hai whakawana i tō tātau wharenui.

He kore hiahia nō mātau ki te mahue kainga kore ana te iwi o Rānana. Nō reira kua aua noa atu te wā e noho, e hui ngātahi ana tatau te iwi o te whenua kura me ngā rangatira o taua wāhi rā ki te whakatakoto he whare pai ki a tū ki Clandon Park, Guildsfod, Surrey, England’.I taupāngia te huarahi o tēnei kaupapa e te māuiui urutā . ' Hai tauira ake.

Kua whakahuringia e tātau te tikanga o te hongi manuwhiri hai wā karakia kē, he mihi ā tuke rānei. E titiro nei ahau ki te hāpori, ā, kua āhua mimiti te hunga mahi. Ka murakehungia e ahau, ha -kai whea kē te hunga mahi e ngaro nei!”

Hai kupu whakamutunga āna ki ngā tamariki me ngā mokopuna:He ahakoa te momo o te mahi. Me rangatira koe kia tū koe hai pou awhina hai pou arahi mō te iwi. Whakatikangia ngā pukenga kai roto i a koe hai oranga mō te whānau, te hapū, te marae me te iwi.

E tū koe, e puta ki te ao whānui, pai te noho ki te tūru hāneanea engari he aha te hua ka puta ?”

— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori

English Translation

OPINION

Building a legacy for our tamariki-mokopuna is key to what makes Rangitihi Pene tick — and not just around basketball courts.

The published author, researcher and Mātauranga Māori and Engagement Lead for Rotorua Lakes Council sits on the paepae tapu at Te Pakira and Hinemihi.

His 40 years’ service to basketball was recently recognised by that sport’s national body. But it is his work and commitment to our people that have earned him wide-spread respect in our community.

Darrell Guy Rangitihi Pene was born in Taumarunui, his mother’s hometown, and has whakapapa to Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Hauaroa, Ngāti Pūkeko, and Ngāti Kahungunu.

His wife Sue is of Ngāruahinerangi and Ngāti Ruanui in Taranaki and was raised in Pukekohe. They have five daughters who all played basketball and were coached by their parents.

Rangitihi grew up round Waimiha, Te Whetū, Mōhaka, Pātea, but mostly in Tūrangi. He has strong connections to his pa and is chair at Hinemihi and Māniaiti in Tūwharetoa.

He was a secondary school teacher for 35 years. He started out teaching geography and ended up specialising in teaching in immersion Reo Māori units.

High points in life have always included whanau. He and Sue share a passion for basketball and that’s why they have been involved for so long. “Low lights are EVERYTIME my team lost.”

At the beginning of the year, Rangitihi and Sue run the National Māori Basketball Tournament collaboratively with Ngāti Toarangatira of Porirua.

Hundreds of players converge on Rotorua for a week and every court in town is used.

“They actually asked us 10 years ago to host it. Sue does most of the hard yards during the week. I mainly hang around the food table!”

My teina Watu recognised Rangitihi’s drive and ability to get things done and she persuaded him to become involved with iwi trusts, to build a legacy for the future.

As a result he is a member of Hinemihi Marae, Tūhourangi Tribal Authority, Te Pūmautanga o Te Arawa, Central North Island Iwi Collective, and Te Arawa Lakes Trust.

In the reo space, Rangitihi is keen on developing a Reo App and a Tikanga App, so people can learn in their own time.

He has composed haka, moteatea and songs for our kapa and written a book about the evolution of kapa haka in Ohinemutu. Another published work is a biography of one of his koroua, Kepa Ehau.

“At present I’m researching and writing stories on Arawa and Rotorua for our ‘Great Te Arawa Stories’ website. The stories related to the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum that is now part of the Social Studies area.

“It’s something, we Te Aka Mauri – Rotorua Library – can do for the teachers and students of our community.”

I suggested to Rangitihi that he might be considered an over-achiever.

He replied: “I had the advantage of having parents who were teachers and kept strong connections to their marae. I was mostly raised in the countryside and then in two small towns.

“I remember being at Tongariro High School in Tūrangi and in the fifth form applying to go to an apprentice course for Motor Mechanics in Christchurch. The principal refused to endorse it and said I ought to raise my sights. In a back-handed way that motivated me to go on to university.” Rangitihi has come to the conclusion that a succession plan for our iwi is a cycle, ever evolving.

“At Hinemihi Marae, we’re fortunate to have a strong group of committed ex-Kura Kaupapa Māori students, our nephews and nieces who are already stepping up.

“At Te Pākira, our Te Whare Kōrero o Tūhourangi committee has been working for years to run wānanga, ahurei, hīkoi, to build up our paepae – both men and women. I’ve come to the realisation that it’s a never-ending process, a cycle – Mate atu he tētēkura, Ara mai he tētēkura!”

On the Maori basketball front, Rotorua has some strong rep teams and schools like TKKM o Te Koutu girls and TKKM o Ruamata boys punch way above their weight.

“For the last few years RBHS & RGHS have made their mark at national secondary schools, so the future is bright. We just need keen committee members to step up!”

On the issue of the return of the tupuna whare Hinemihi from England, Rangitihi said some progress had been made.

The National Trust UK have just finalised a ‘Brief for an Architect’.

“As part of the partnership, forged after a huge effort from Ngāti Hinemihi’s Ruakiri Fairhall, the National Trust are going through a process to approve funding to build a wharenui structure, while we are setting up here to seek funding to hire a team of carvers and weavers, to furnish the proposed wharenui.

“We didn’t want to leave our iwi resident in England without a spiritual home, which Hinemihi has become, so a new collaboratively designed whare will one day stand at Clandon Park, Guildsford, Surrey, England.”

Since the advent of covid marae had not yet returned to normal practices. “For example, often we replace the hongi with a karakia or elbow bump. In the wider community, it looks like our workforce has shrunk. I often wonder where all the workers have gone!”

For future generations, Rangitihi has this advice: “In whatever you do, be someone others can rely upon. Develop a skill or a set of skills or knowledge that your whānau, hapū, marae and iwi can gain benefit from. Be active, do stuff, sometimes it’s good to stay on the couch at home but you don’t achieve things doing that only.”