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See below for English translation
Parangia te huarahi mā murī e whai
Nō ngā kanoi huhua o Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi me Tainui a Phyllis Tangitu. He wahine rongonui i te ao hauora.E ono tekau mā tahi te rahi. I whakamanuwhiringia ahau e tēnei wahine purotu ko te take he whakaonoono ngā kongakonga ā maumahara e kite ai tātau i te āhuatanga o te pā i nohia nā e ia nōna e itiiti ai.
Nā tona koroua na Tamehana Gardiner rāua ko tona matua wahine a Mihipeka Moanaroa Tangitu ia i poipoi nō te wharanga o tona matua tane ake i te aitua motuka.I whānau a Phyllis i Whakatāne i tamahinengia i Te Teko nā wai rā ka nuku tona whānau ki te pāmū i Rotomā.E iwa noa te rahi o Phyllis. Nā reira ka timatangia tana hīkoi i tōna ao Māori, hai tamāhine whakarongo kōrero, hai tamāhine noho marae.
‘Ko tōku koroua ake ko Tamehana, koia tetehi o ngā māngai tuatahi i noho ki te Poari o Te Arawa, ko Meketanara Tukuru rāua ko Tai Whata anō etehi tokorua.He kaha nōna ki te whāngai kōrero hangareka. Ko mea atu ia ki toku matua wahine, kai te haria e ahau tā mātau kōtiro ki te kura, nā wai kai te huarahi kē māua e tika tonu atu ki ngā hui marae.Ko Tapuaeharuru tō mātau marae nui.’
E noho kōrero tahi ana māua ko Phyllis kai te tino rangona te mana o tōna koroua me te mōhio ake ka noho mātua ia ki te whatumanawa o tana mokopuna nei.
‘Kaore he tangata hai rite ki a ia ki te manaaki me te aroha tamariki ki te mata o te whenua. E tika ana koia te uho o tōku ao, ā, moroki noa iho nei.He kaha nōnā ki te tiaki i a mātau, ā, kāore i whakaaengia kia noho ahau ki etehi tangata me he pīoi ki a ia. Ehara ia i te tangata kaha ki te kōrero Pākehā, me e kōrero Pākehā ana, he ouou hoki.He tauira ia nō te kāreti o Te Aute. Mō te pupuri mātauranga ko ia hoki.He tohunga Māori hoki ōku kaumātua.Kai etehi taima ka puta mai ki tō mātau kāinga etehi tangata e māuiui ana.
“He tangata rongoā hoki tōku koroua, kī pai tō mātau kāinga i ngā pātara rongoā puta rānō ki te kāreti, kapi ana i te rongoā. E kūware nui ana ahau i taua taima ki tēnei tūāhuatanga, he kore mōhio nōku ki te tikanga o aua pātara nōku e taitamāhine tonu ana.Kai etehi wā ka puta mai ngā tohunga, ko ōku whaea me ōku matua tāne kaokaoroa ēnei, nā wai rā e haurangi haere ana rātau kī hoki ngā pihapiha ki te wai rorirori. Wheoi anō ko te wā haumaru noa tēnei e tika ai ki a rātau ki te tuku i ō rātau taimahatanga he ahakoa ehara i oku kaumatua i te hunga unu waipiro, he kāinga e noho haumaru katoa ai te tangata.
Ki te marae, ki te kāinga haere ngātahi ai a Phyllis me tana whānau, koia nei te āhuatanga o tōna ao.
' He kotahi ngāhuru mā waru katoa ngā tamariki a tōku matua tāne kaokaoroa a Lewis Gardiner. He kotahi tekau mā ono katoa mātau. E hoki ana ngā maharatanga tae noa ki te wā e kotahi ngāhuru taku rahi, he tokowhā katoa mātau ki te moenga kotahi. Engari koia te āhuatanga o tō mātau kāinga, me he tuakana, me he taina, me he karangatata rānei, ka nui te mahanatanga o tō mātau kāinga i ngā tini whānaunga.
Āe rā. Rau noa ōna maharatanga mō tōna koroua, engari kai te rae o te mahunga ētehi tino kōrero. Koia wēnei te whai iho nei;
‘Ka mutu ana te kura, e taria ana ahau e ia i tona motuka, he Morris 1100, kai te rangona te harurutanga o te whatumanawa motuka i te karaehe. Ā, ka mutu ana te kura ka kotahi atu mātau ki Waitangi ki reira kaukau ai, ki tūā o te kura o Rotomā a Waitangi’. Ko Soda Springs ki te marea, engari ko tōna ingoa tika ko Waitangi. Ka kaukau katoa mātau, kirikau noa iho, kāore he paku aha ki a mātau koia te tikanga o Waitangi. E rite tahi ana ki ngā wai puna kaukau ngāwhā o Te Whakarewarewa. Wheoi anō tēnei mea te kaukau kirikau – ka pai ki ētehi, ka whakamā hoki ētehi.Nāu tāu, nāku tāku.
' Ka nui taku whakamā nā runga i tō mātau tikanga o te kāinga, ki te kaukau te tangata me kirikau. Wheoi anō ka noho ahau kai te takawheta noa ōku waewae, e hoki ana ngā tamariki ki te kāinga i te kura, kai kitea pea ahau e rātau. Nōku e pakeketia Ko te take pea tēnei kāore au i kaukau i Te Hirere i Te Whakarewarewa, he whakamā nōku’.
Always whānau first, aunty Phyllis and ancle Wi with their beautiful mokopuna.
Ka noho a Phyllis i a Whariki Gardiner, kātahi ka herea rawatia e ia te aroha nui ki Te Whakarewarewa. Nō te wā rāua e whakangāhau turuhi ana ka tupu te hoatanga.
‘Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whitu tekau mā whitu i timatangia ai taku haka ki Cultural Theatre. Ko Len rāua ko Mel Ruhi ngā rangataira whakahere. He kotahi tekau mā rima anake taku rahi, ko ahau te manu waiata takitahi me te wahine whakatangi kūtā hoki. Ka hinga te kotahi kaupeka ka pataingia ahau e Whaea Leah rāua ko Matua Gus ki a tu ki rōpū kapa haka o Te Amokura. Nā ka noho tuturu ahau ki a rāua tae rawa ki te tau e rua mano te tau. Ko te take i wehe ai ahau he mahi i Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
“Ka hoki mai ahau ki Rotorua ka whakangāhau turuhi kai etehi mutunga wiki. Kai pōhēhētia he wahine whakatangi kūtā anake ahau; he mātanga hoki ki te poi. Nā reira tēnei hononga i a māua ko Whariki. He tino hoa hoki māua, nā reira taku huarahi ki te kapa o Tuhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao. He ahakoa kua hinga ngā tau hokorua kai reira tonu ahau’.
Nō mai, nō mai anō tona whānau ki te kapa o Tuhourangi, Ngāti Wāhiao. Ko Wi Huata tōna hoa rangatira, he toa kapa haka me ā rāua tamariki tokorua, ko Te Kahu o te Rangi te mātāmua, ko Tahangawari hoki tetehi. Ko Tahangawari anake kai te kapa haka o Tuhourangi. Engari ko tōna whakapakanga a Tamihana i kotahi atu kē ia ki Te Hekenga-a-Rangi, ki reira haka ai. Ko Huia anō he tamaiti nāna, whaihoki tokowaru hoki āna mokopuna.
Ki te titiro tātau ki te huarahi o tana mahi. Āe e tika ana me wehi te tangata. Tata ki te wha tekau o ngā tau a Phyllis e whakapau kaha ana i te ao Hauora.
' Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau mā ima ka heke ahau ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Nā Aunty Inez rāua ko Uncle Pihopa tēnei mahi i whakarite māku. He kura mahita kē ahau e whakaako tamariki ana i te kura takawaenga o Tō te Rā. Kāti, kai te kāinga e noho ana ka tangi te whōnā, ko Aunty Inez, me tāna ki a hau,’ E hoa he uiui nui tāu i Te Whanganui a Tara hai te wiki hou, kia tika koe ki a Uncle he pūtea awhina māu, e haere ana kōrua ko Aunty Leah. Kia tika hoki ngā kaka, te makawe me ngā hū kia tāngari kau te rarapa’.
Ka whakarongo ahau ki āna whakahau, nā kai kōnei tonu e mahi ana.Ka wehe ahau i Rotorua ka tae ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara ko taku mahi he Āpihā kawe i ngā kaupapa Māori i te ao hauora e kaha ai tātau te Māori.Nō te tau e iwa tekau ka hoki mai ki te kāinga hai rangatira whakahaere mā Te Runanganui, nō te tau e iwa tekau mā tahi ka whiti atu ki te hōhipera ki te wāhanga māuiui ā hinengaro. Kāti, kua takiwā o te toru tekau mā rima o ngā tau ahau e mahi nei i te ao hauora, ko te nuinga o te taima kai te paepae whakahaere ahau. Inaianei he rangatira ringatohu mā te wāhanga hauora me te hunga hauā.
E noho nei ahau me aku whakaaro rau, ka hoki kau ngā aumihi ki oku hoa rangatira huhua. Ki a Annette Sykes, Rea Rangiheuea me Karen Grant. Ko māua ko Karen te tokorua i noho ki Te Runanga Rangatahi o Te Arawa, nā reira i hau ai tō māua rongo ki ngā pāpāringa o te motu. Ko māua ngā kanohi mō Te Arawa. Ka nui hoki taku whakahīhī'.
Ko te pātai whakamutunga ki a ia, me he kupu ruarua āna hai whakaakiaki i a tatau katoa tae ki ngā whakatupuranga pae tawhito.
‘E tū e tū hai poutiaki mō te wā tātau e haere tu ana. Puritia ngā tātai kōrero o nehe e rangatira ai ā mātau tamariki-mokopuna’.
Hailing from Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Awa, Ngati Ranginui, Ngaiterangi and Tainui, 61-year-old Phyllis Tangitu invited us to relive her days at the pā, a respectable career in the Health Sector and all the bits in between.
She was raised by her Pop Tamehana Gardiner and her mum, Mihipeka Moanaroa Tangitu after her father was hospitalised due to an automobile accident.
Phyllis was born in Whakatāne and grew up in Te Teko before the whānau moved to Rotoma when Phyllis was 9. This was when her learning on the marae and at various hui really began.
“My koroua Tamehana was one of the first members of the Te Arawa Trust Board with Meketanara Tukuru and Tai Whata. He would often say he was dropping me off at kura (Rotoma Primary School) but I would end up going with him to the Hui.
“I loved these occasions where I would sit outside the Te Arawa Trust room (Nukiteapiapi) and peep through the glass at my Koro. Tapuaeharuru was our Marae and as children, we were there often.” We were very close with our Gardiner cousins, who lived at the bottom of the pā. The “homestead” is just behind my cousins (the late Donna Grant) and Davey Gardiner live.
Talking about all her memories on the marae or tikanga being practiced then, you can clearly hear that her Pop and Mum held a special place in Phyllis’ heart.
“They were my favourite people in the world, my Pop was like a dad to me and an incredibly huge influence. He was very protective of us and there were only certain people that I was allowed to stay with. I was allowed to stay at my Aunty Kiri Tahana (Mum of Uncle Arapeta Tahana) home, and my Nanny, Nan Francis.
“The Lake, stream and Ngahere were our playground. Especially “The Skids” a famous swimming place in Te Tahuna. My Pop rarely spoke English and if he did, it was always with a glint in his eye.
Mana Whakahaere of the Group Executive team Emerge Aotearoa.
“He was well educated having been a pupil at Te Aute College. My Pop and nannies were tohunga and there were often people coming through our home, especially those who were afflicted with Mate Wairua. My pop was also a Rongoa man, there were always large jars of concoctions in the back garage, I had no idea what they were as a child but understood later in life.
“My tohunga aunties and uncles used to come to my Pop’s home, and they would ‘Haurangi Haere’. In hindsight, this was probably the only time they could release whatever they had to in the safety of my Pop’s home, even though neither my Pop nor my mum drank.” My mum was an incredibly special lady known at home as “Moa” a quiet, dedicated incredibly special human.
“She was Mum and special aunt to many of my cousins.”
Whether at the marae or at home, Phyllis was always surrounded by a lot of whānau, and it was just a way of life.
“My uncle Lewis Gardiner had 18 children, we had heaps of whānau all the time. I remember, up until I was 10, there used to be four of us in a bed. Our whānau were around us often, even the distant cousins as my Pop was special and attracted whānau.”
Phyllis’ shared many great memories about being raised by her Pop, but there a couple that really stood out as being her fondest.
“He used to pick me up from Rotoma School in his Morris 1100 and you could hear the revs from inside the classroom. Also, every day after school, we would go for a hot pool at Waitangi, just past Rotoma School”.
Known to many locals as The Soda Springs, Waitangi hot pools were commonly used for bathing and relaxation, so as you would bathe in the nude at home, so too was the custom at the Waitangi Hot Pools.
It is the same for the two bathing pools in the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village. But, bathing naked in public is not everyone’s cup of tea.
“I used to shy away from it as you never wore clothes in the pool. I would just sit there and paddle my feet as all the kids were going home from school and may have seen me. Possibly why later in life when Whakarewarewa was a big part of my adult life, I never went for a Hirere, too shy.” Sadly, the Hot Pools are now no longer, the recent floods have taken this beautiful spring away.
Time in Whakarewarewa for Phyllis would begin after forging a close friendship with one of the village locals, Whariki Gardiner. The two ladies met while doing concerts together.
“I started professional Kapa Haka with Cultural Theatre in 1977, run by Uncle Len and Aunty Mei Ruhi. I was 15 and the first female guitarist. The following year, Aunty Leah, and Uncle Gus asked me to perform with them in Te Amokura. I was with them for many years until 2000 and the only reason I stopped was because I went to work in Wellington.
“I would come home and perform some weekends. I wasn’t just a guitarist though; I could perform and Poi too. This was where I met Whariki and we became best friends and thus my life with Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao began. I am still with them 40 years later.”
All of Phyllis’ whānau have been active members of Te Kapa o Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao. Her partner, Wi Huata and two of their sons, Te Kahu o te Rangi and Tahangawari have all stood for the kapa and Taha is still part of the rōpu today. Her younger son, Tamihana stood for the newest Te Arawa Kapa, Te Hekenga-a- Rangi earlier this year at Te Matatini. Phyllis is also māmā to Huia and adored nan to her eight mokopuna.
When looking at the career path that Phyllis has been for the past 30 to 40years, one can’t help but be inspired by her dedication serving her people.
“In 1989, I went to work in Wellington. This job was set up for me by Aunty Inez Kingi and Uncle Pihopa. At the time, I was teaching at Sunset Intermediate. I remember Aunty calling me and saying “Phyll, you have an interview in Wellington next week, so you need to go to uncle, he has a pūtea for you, and you need to go with Aunty Leah, buy you a decent dress, get your hair sorted and some new shoes”.
“I did that and the rest is history. I left teaching and went to Wellington and had my first job as Project Officer Māori, developing affirmative action programme for Māori in the health sector. I came home in 1990 and worked as the Operations Manager for the Runanganui.
“I started working in Mental Health at Rotorua Hospital in 1991. I have worked in the Health Sector for 35 years, mostly in Management and Senior Management. Now I am a Group Director in the Health and Disability Sector Emerge Aotearoa.”
“I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people. Annette Sykes, Rea Rangiheua and Karen Grant. Karen and I were Te Runanga Rangatahi o Te Arawa, this experience made us famous. We were there to represent our people of Te Arawa, such a privilege.”
Phyllis acknowledges that she has had a privileged life and an incredible upbringing. We asked her if she had one message for our future generations and this is what Phyllis shared.
“We are the Poutiaki in our lifetime. We need to preserve the korero of our tupuna and ensure that this is known to our Tamariki mokopuna.”
