Q&A: Kapa haka, catering and children - the life of Kura Simon

(From left) Mere Wakefield, Virginia Sullivan and Kura Simon were photographed at the 10 year anniversary of Te Taikura o Te Awa Tupua. Photo / Bevan Conley

Titikura (Kura) Simon is a well known Whanganui figure, either by the side of her poet and composer husband the late Morvin Simon or playing guitar for Te Taikura o Te Awa Tupua.

She will always call Kaiwhaiki and Ratana home, she tells Laurel Stowell.

Where were you born and brought up?

I was born at the Cairnbrae maternity home on Somme Parade. My parents were of the Ratana faith and lived at Ratana Pā. My dad was from Kaikohe in Northland and he was in the Piriwiritua band that came down to Ratana every year. He met my mum and never went back again.

I went to the Ratana school for two years, and then our family moved to Whanganui and I went to Gonville School, Whanganui Intermediate School and Whanganui Girls' College.

How did you meet Morvin?

I was part of the junior kapa haka at the Hui Aranga one year, and Morvin was senior tutor and we just clicked. I was only 17 at the time. We married exactly 12 months later, on April 4, 1970.

Where did you live together?

We lived in Palmerston North, where Morvin was working for Māori Affairs. We moved to New Plymouth when he became a Māori Welfare Officer, then back to Whanganui when he worked for [the Department of] Social Welfare, then he got a job teaching at Hato Paora College, near Feilding.

We moved home to Kaiwhaiki in 1982.

How did the two of you come to be kaumātua for Te Awa Tupua: The Whanganui iwi exhibition at Te Papa, and what was that like?

Through Archie Taiaroa we got together with Piki and George Waretini and Julie Ranginui and we decided to share the kaumātua position down at Te Papa. We were just over three years down there.

It was beautiful down there too. They really looked after us well.

How many children do you have?

We have eight of our own, and then we whangai-ed three.

What are your sporting interests?

I was very much a sportsperson. I got into the New Zealand under-14 softball team. In Whanganui, at 14, I was in the senior Whanganui netball team that went to the national championships.

I was always the baby of whatever sports team I was involved with.

I took up tennis when I went to college and played for the Whanganui juniors and seniors.

We have just had a lovely few days at the Aotearoa Māori Tennis Championships hosted here in Whanganui. I have tuned into tennis again.

What kind of work have you done?

I was 18 when we married and then we had children one after the other and then all the grandchildren started arriving.

Everything I did was to support Morvin in his role with the community and the iwi.

I did nursing, and I was a caregiver at Nazareth Rest Home until it closed.

I was given many tutoring roles.

I spent 11 fantastic years as kaiarahi reo/kapa haka tutor and board of trustees member at Upokongaro School.

I retired from these positions when the 2020 school term ended.

When Te Wānanga o Aotearoa moved to Whanganui we were both involved in its foundation.

Titikura (Kura) Simon has a long history with kapa haka Photo / supplied

What has been your involvement with kapa haka?

Morvin and I were both part of Te Matapihi. It competed regionally for the first time in 1997, and we took his mate (memory) back there in 2015.

While we were in Wellington [at Te Papa] a kuia who ran an annual kapa haka event for older people asked us to start a group. When we got home everybody was so keen, and we ran Te Taikura o Te Awa Tupua for four years, from 2010 to 2014.

After Morvin died I did it by myself for four years and decided to retire - but that didn't happen. I had to find someone to take over and I chose Tania Te Huna. I retired properly on January 31 2020, 10 years after I started.

What's your most memorable marae occasion?

Kaiwhaiki Marae was hired for a worker collectives hui in 1983. That was huge.
I was in charge of the catering. It was very tiring.

There was some conflict, but it was beautiful in the end. [That hui] was where Morvin wrote the Te Aroha song. It's a good song, easy to learn and beautiful words that are very appropriate to any occasion. Everybody knows it, the world knows it. Prince Harry sang it.

What's your situation now and what do you wish for the future?

I am living in Palmerston North with my daughter, Turehu. It's lovely here but I am missing Whanganui very much.

I'm also getting fit to be ready for hip replacement surgery.

Obviously we want the world to be healthy and we would all love to be wealthy, but mostly to be good to one another, be kind.