The calling out for Mei with wailing lament to come and lay amongst her people was a pōwhiri called from the depths of an ancestral world, so fitting for this kuia and mother. It was a karanga with tapu, purposed to open the door to the afterworld to begin kawa and tikanga procedures to assist Mei on her way to Hawaiki Nui, Hawaiki Roa, Hawaiki Pamamao.
The whaikōrero which followed was also befitting, from a world extinct, binding Mei to her ancestors to carry her to Hinenuitepō and on to become Whetūrangitia amongst the stars of our night sky, to be remembered every Matariki.
Large groups gathered over three days coming into Ngāti Toaharapaki, Ngāti Hawea, Ngāti Hori, and Ngāti Hinemoa whenua to weep. They came from many Ngāti Kahungunu hapū, but her long arm reached out to people from outside of Te Matau-a-Māui.
These visitors linked themselves to her from their own tribal whakapapa, descending from tīpuna and iwi from Rongowhakaata, Tūranganui-a-Kiwa iwi, from Ngāti Konohi, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Tauranga Moana Iwi, Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa, Waikato, and Ngā Puhi. To the south, also toward Mūaupoko and Te Whanganui-a-Tara, with others all laying claim to her through ancestral waka links.
Mei was born of Mei Pere from Ngāti Pahauwera of Ngāti Kahungunu and her father Ike Robin, descended from Maniapoto of Tārewaanga Marae. In this Waikato region, the Ngāti Hinewai, Pare te Kawa, Rungaterangi, and Urumia Iwi are Tainui waka and famous for their stand in the battle known as Rewi’s Last Stand.
With Ngāti Kahungunu, this collective of tribes merged, making her complete and well-loved.
There were also groups from different kaupapa and schools. Hukarere Girls College, her own kura, was a constant presence. Mei was only a young third-former at Hukarere when chosen to be the model for Pania. When selected, her parents took her to visit Kapi Tareha, chief of Ngāti Pahauwera, as they, Pahauwera, are entwined with Ngāti Ponaturi of the sea, to whom Pania belongs. Pania descends from Tangaroa of Rangi and Papa and birthed a son named Moremore to a mortal. Moremore also links through his whakapapa to Mohaka Awa, as does Mei through her Pahauwera whakapapa, with the Mohaka also flowing through it.
This important connection, highlighted by Kapi to Mei and Ike, was to serve as a sentinel to guard and kaitiaki their daughter Mei as she represented Pania of the reef and mother of Moremore into the future.
Kohupātiki Marae has served the Anglican Waiapu Diocesan religiously for decades. Mei’s relationship with the Anglican Church was a total surrounding relationship with the likes of Bishops Bennett and Panapa, Canon Rangiihu and, most importantly to her, Canon Gaga Robin. All based and domiciled on Kohupātiki Marae. This gave Mei a constant living relationship, surrounded in her faith, often taking communion in her own home in the late afternoons. She was also supportive of the Catholic and Mormon faiths, as she saw them on the same waka, just sitting on a different pew.
Her final church service was attended by three ministers of the Anglican faith. Various denominations in the crowd, including Rātana and Ringātu, all prayed for her as one, as she did throughout her life. Many of the devotions sent her to the arms of her husband Bill Whaitiri. Although of Manutuke Rongowhakaata, together they sleep at Kohupatiki Marae, Ngāti Kahungunu.
There are many public records of Mei: writings, photographs, and videos, with her presence never far from sight. One of these precious records is on screen in the Kuru Taonga: Voices of Kahungunu Exhibition at MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri museum. Mei’s talking memoir of being the model 73 years earlier for Pania of the Reef, is now of priceless value.
Mihi atu rā e Kuia, he mihi aroha, he mihi tangi.
