A charmed life beside the Whanganui

AT his retirement farewell last week from the Whanganui River Maori Trust Board, Mike Potaka was recognised in the style of This is Your Life for his contribution to iwi Maori from Whanganui.
He looks out to the Whanganui River, which was his playground when he was growing up at Parikino, the 10th child in a family of 11.
Some of his early memories include the big flood of the 1940s that came within two metres of his back door, and the abundance of food grown domestically and gathered from the wild: wild pork, venison, eels, pirihau, trout, kahawai, whitebait, smelts and koura.
Mr Potaka spoke of the river and the years that the water has been taken to help generate power for the growing population of Auckland.
"This has destroyed our fisheries along the river."
The taking of the water is the only rankle in an otherwise charmed life of living close to the Whanganui River.
Those were the days when the Wakapai and Waimarie picked up wool, produce and passengers for the day-long trip to the city from further upriver.
During the war years he remembered his father reading the paper at nights to kaumatua, or translating the news from the only radio in the pa.
October was the main planting of the communal garden when everyone turned out to help.
Parikino was well-known for its strawberries, which were taken to market ? but not before the young children targeted them on night-time raids.
"It was an experience sneaking out at night and crawling through the grass to feast on strawberries and watermelon."
Other fruit that was bountiful at the time included apples, peaches, plums, grapes, nectarines and apricots, but Mr Potaka said the greengage plums and gooseberries were the best.
From 1945-48 Mr Potaka attended St Augustine's College. He boarded with a Wanganui family for the first two years and then with his sister and her husband from the fifth form onward.
He returned to Parikino to work at home and in the shearing sheds during his senior student holidays.
Sport was an area he excelled in, and he made the rugby first XV and first cricket XI.
When he left school, Mr Potaka continued his sport and represented Wanganui in 30 games where he played against all the major provinces and was mentioned in the rugby bible of the day, the Rugby Almanac.
He also represented Maori for Whanganui, Te Tai Hauauru and was twice a trialist for the Maori team.
Mr Potaka was one of the few to receive the red coat for rowing supremacy with the Aramoho Rowing Club in the eights and fours.
His fours won the distinction to wear the red coat at Wairoa in 1955 when they won the Boss Rooster ? a tin trophy painted the colours of the winning team.
Mr Potaka worked for the then Maori Affairs Department in Market Pl for 35 years.
He started work, aged 18, as an apprentice and worked his way up to Manager of Social Services with a staff of 30 responsible for housing, education and training.
He took early retirement in 1986 to return to Parikino to develop the marae at Parikino and Pugarehu under the Kaitangata Trust.
Tourism, nashi pear orchards and education training for uri were all started under his leadership, and today the trust is preparing to build the first pumice-brick house on their land.
Mr Potaka was honoured for his work with the Whanganui River Maori Trust Board and contribution to the people of the river.
"I had the best of both worlds. I had the comfort and protection of the whanau and the opportunity to grasp the better things the Pakeha had to offer."