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E tika ana te kōrero anamata. He pukenga wai ka puta te totara, he pukenga tangata ka puta te kōrero. He ahakoa kai te wiki hou tātau ināianei kai te mutunga wiki kē tonu taku ngākau e kakapa kau ana. Ko te putanga mai o ngā taonga a tūāukiuki ki tō mātau tupuna ki a Wāhiao te take.
Nā reira e tika ana kia mihia kotou te kaunihera o Rotorua i whai wāhi mai ki a mātau ki ngā uri. Tēnā hoki kotou kai te hunga whakapau kaha ki a koe e te rangatira whakahaere e Joana Doherty, kai te pou rangahau ki a koe e Ben Manley, whaihoki ki tō tātau tapeha tata ki a Aneta Morgan. Engari hoki. Ko ngā whakmīhā taioreore ka tukuna ki a kōrua tahi e ngā himu o ngā pā tawhito.
Kai te pōtiki e Manaaki Pene me taku karangatahi ki a Clark Pirika, nā kōrua i rangatira ai tēnei rā whakaharahara, tēnā kōrua. Me tangata pura, me tangata kāpō hoki i tana kore kitenga atu i te aroha nui o te tokorua nei ki tā rāua mahi. E tika ana rāua ki aua tūnga hai amokura mō tātau otīā mā te kaunihera me te whare pupuri taonga o Te Arawa.
Ko te wānanga tuarua tēnei i tu ki tō tātau pā taunaha. He whakahonohono te iwi kāinga ki ā rātau taonga kai te poho o Te Whare Taonga o Rotorua te take. Wheoi anō, he wā rongo kōrero e pūpuritia ana e ngā whānau nā rātau ngā taonga nei, ā, me ngā tātai kōrero kua ketua e ngā pou mahi hai mātauranga ki te iwi.
I tū te wānanga tuatahi ki te ātea nui o Ngāti Kearoa – Ngāti Tuara. Ka puta hoki ētehi o ōku hoa pakeke o te kāhui Pukenga Kōeke o Te Whare Taonga, whaihoki ngā pou tautoko o Ngai Tūhourangi. Ko Wairangi Jones tētehi, ko John Waaka, ko Te Ariki Morehu, ko Ken Raureti me Dinny Mohi.
Kai te takiwā o te whitu tekau o ngā tangata i puta ki tēnei wānanga tuarua nei. He ahakoa e whakataetae kapa haka hoki ana ngā kura tuatahi I tēnei rangi tonu. Nā te mea kai te whakatikatika haere ngā tohunga i te whare pupuri taonga, kai wāhi kē ngā taonga e noho ana engari e pūare ana te whatitoka ki te iwi kia kitea e rātau ngā taonga a ngā tūpuna. Kāore anō kia tino whakatōkia tētehi wā tika e pūare anō ai te whare pupuri taonga wheoi anō e whakapono ana tātau katoa, hai te pae tata nei. He mahi nui, he mahi taumaha, ā, he nama nui hoki. A kāti ki a hoki tātau ki taku kōrero nei.
Ka hui ngā mema o te kaunihera ki tāwāhi ki te hāpai me te kawe i ngā taonga ki Te Whakarewarewa. Ka pōwhiringia ngā kura e te hau kāinga ki a rangatira tā rātau ekenga mai ki runga ki Te Pakira. Ka oti ngā mihimihi, ka kapū tī te mārea hāunga te kaunihera ko tā rātau mahi he whakarite ngā taonga hai whakakitenga mā te hau kāinga.
Kotahi tekau mā rima o ngā taonga i puta. He taiaha tētehi, he mere pounamu tētehi, he patu, he hei tiki me tētehi kō. Mauria ana ka whakatakotoria ki ngā whāriki. Ko te ture nui. Tirohia anake, kāua e pā atu ngā matimati ki ngā taonga. Kīhai i puta ngā kakahu me ngā kaitaka e ai ki ngā tohunga he makuhane katoa ēnei taonga. Wheoi anō e noho tahi ana mātau me ēnei rangatira – kua kī katoa ngā wāhanga o te whatumanawa ki te mana ki te wehi. Anō e tika ana ki a hoki mai rātau ki tō rātau koroua oroko, ki a Wāhiao. Tupuna manaaki, tupuna mana nui, tupuna ngākau whakaiti.
Ko te wāhanga rangatira ki a Tuhourangi. He taiaha tēnei taonga nā te whānau Kerei.
Ko Stephen Clarke te māngai kōrero mā te whānau. Hai tāna he kotahi tekau mā rua whakatupuranga tangata te taiaha kātahi ka hokona atu ki tētehi Pākehā rangatira. Ka ngaro atu ki tēnei whānau mō ngā whakatupuranga tangata e toru, kātahi ka whakahokia e tētehi o rātau ki te whānau Kerei. Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e iwa tekau mā rua te tau. Ko te mea whakamīharo hoki. He utu kore.
He aroha anake. He ahakoa kai te Whare pupuri taonga e tū ana, ko te pae tawhiti o ngā whakaaro kia whakahokia a Tuhourangi ki Tapuika ki tōna kāinga ki reira noho ai, wheoi anō ko te mana tuatahi he whakahou i tō rātau whare. Tāria tēnā. Ko te nuinga o ngā taonga rangatira nei nā Ngamahinui Tonihi Rihari, ara, a Tony Rihari i whakawīrangia ki te whare taonga nei. Nō te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e whitu tekau mā rima ka mate a Tony.
Kāore ana tamariki. I te tiriti o Froude tōna kāinga āhua tata iti nei ki tō mātau kāinga. He matua tāne kaokaoroa nōku. E ai ki a Kataraina Tonihi he tamāhine nā Kahuroro, ko te pōtiki a Tony tēnei. ' Ko tō mātau whānau, he whānau riri. He whānau tuki tangata, he whānau unu waipiro’.
E tika ana hoki ia. Ka tū taku tuahine a Watu ki te tuku kōrero ki te iwi. Ko te raruraru nui i waenganui i te whānau Tonihi me te whānau Heretaunga nā Remihio Heretaunga ki a ia te ia o tana kōrero. Hai tāna, hai ngā pō o te Hatarei ka kōtahi atu te whānau ki te papara kauta ki te Hob Nob ki reira unu ai. Ka iti e unu ana kua rere ngā ringaringa, kai te kurukuru, kai te memeke. Porohaurangi ana. Kāti. Ka whakangā tātau ka noho tahi nei māua ko Dinny, hai tāna ki ahau. He tika tā Watu kōrero. ' Ko ahau te manu taiko, tētehi o ngā manu taiko i te Hob Nob. Nā kai reira rātau e mekemeke ana i ngā wā katoa. Hōhā tahi!”.
He tino whānaunga tata te whānau Tonihi ki a mātau. Ko tō rātau matua wahine ko Nehi hei tuahine ki tō mātau matua tāne. Ko Anaru Rangiheuea te taratī whakamutunga e ora nei. Kai te takiwā o ngā waru tekau te pakeke. Kāore ia i puta engari i kawea e Manu tana tamaiti ētehi taonga hai whakakitenga mā mātau. He ahakoa kāore e nui ana āna kōrero he mātau ia ki ngā herenga whakapapa.
Koina te mea whakamīharo katoa o te rangi nei ki ahau. He ahakoa e itiiti te kōrero, kai te mau tonu i a mātau ngā kāwai herenga. He mihi nui anō ki a Stephen Clarke me Tarewa Rota mo tana koha itiiiti. Ko te katoa o ngā tātai kōrero me ngā whakapapa kua hopukina ki te rīkoata. Kātahi te rangi whakahirahira. Ka pōngia tātau katoa, ka pōngia hoki a Manaaki me Clark e tākai ana ngā taonga ki ngā kahu manaaki me te whakahoki ki ngā pouaka tiaki i a rātau.
E moko pūruangia nei e ahau te kōrero. He pukenga wai ka puta te totara, he pukenga tangata ka puta te kōrero. Kia ora kōrua.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
Warm fuzzies are not normally what I would expect to experience at a day-long forum to see taonga and hear korero about them. But I was buzzing after our wananga held in our tupuna Wahiao on Saturday.
Congratulations to the team from Rotorua Lakes Council for bringing our taonga to us and sharing korero about them.
Great work everybody — team leader Joanna Doherty, lead researcher Ben Manley, our cousin and team lead of Rotorua Lakes Council’s Te Amorangi Unit, Aneta Morgan.
But I reserve the biggest shout-out for Manaaki Pene and Clark Pirika, the people on the ground who made our day happen.
A person would have to be blind and deaf not to recognise that they love their jobs. They are great ambassadors for the council and the whare taonga.
The wananga was the second held on marae this year, an initiative to take taonga held by Te Whare Taonga o Rotorua to the people and hear korero about them from the families who have entrusted the museum staff to care for them.
The first was held at Ngati Kea-Tuara.
Also in support of the council team were my fellow members of the Pukenga Koeke o Te Whare Taonga. As well as the Tuhourangi representatives, Wairangi Jones and John Waaka, Te Ariki Morehu, Ken Raureti and Dinny Mohi were in attendance. We had close on 70 people for the first session, pretty cool considering Rotorua hosted the Te Arawa Primary Schools kapa haka competitions on Saturday.
Since the Whare Taonga o Rotorua has been closed because it needs to be brought up to code, its taonga are held in off-site premises in an industrial part of Rotorua. The facilities are fit for purpose and Manaaki and her on-site team find the time to welcome whanau who want to see their taonga. The completion date for the whare taonga — also known as the Bathhouse and part of which also used to be Tudor Tower nightclub — is not confirmed, but expected to be some years off.
The work is complex and expensive.
But back to our day.
The council team gathered off-site to uplift the boxed taonga and bring them to Whakarewarewa.
A rousing haka pohiri welcomed the taonga and their guardians to Te Pakira.
After the mihimihi the wananga broke for kapu ti while council staff stayed behind to set up the exhibition. Fifteen taonga — including taiaha, mere and patu, ko, and a flag — were brought along and unboxed.
We could look but not touch because the taonga are fragile. No cloaks were included because they are extremely fragile.
But just being in their company was enough. It might be because Wahiao is home to me and he is a warm, welcoming koroua that I felt that way.
Tuhourangi, a taiaha from the Kerei whanau, was afforded pride of place.
Stephen Clarke spoke on behalf of the Kerei whanau who had held Tuhourangi for 12 generations before he was sold to an English aristocrat. That family held Tuhourangi for three generations before the last of their line returned it to the Kerei whanau in 1992. At no cost.
Tuhourangi is held by the whare taonga but the whanau indicated he would find a home at Tapuika when their whare tupuna is rebuilt.
A number of items were willed into the care of the museum by Ngamahinui Tonihi Rihari, aka Tony Rihari, aka Naama. He died in 1975. Our uncle had no children and lived two doors away from our family home in Froude Street.
Kataraina Tonihi, a daughter of Uncle Tony’s nephew Kahuroro (Gus) told the hui why her koroua did that. “Our family was full of violence and drunks.”
She was right. My sister Watu told the wananga of the feud between the Tonihi and Heretaunga whanau as told to her by the late Remihio Heretaunga.
Apparently on Saturday nights the respective whanau would head to the Hob Nob pub in Hinemoa Street where, almost inevitably they would fight, either each other or anyone stupid or drunk enough to get in their way.
During one of our breaks, I caught up with Dinny. With a big grin on his face, he said what Watu said was true. “I was a bouncer at the Hob Nob, and they were always fighting.”
Those Tonihi were our first cousins as their mother Aunty Nehi was one of our father’s sisters.
The last trustee for the items left by Uncle Tony is Anaru Rangiheuea. Now in his 80s, Anaru was unable to attend the wananga, but a number of items were brought by his son Manu. While Manu did not have big korero, he gave whanau whakapapa. That was a pleasing aspect about about the day. Even if not, much was known about the taonga, we learned a lot about whakapapa. Much of that was thanks to Stephen Clarke and Tarewa Rota helped illuminate some of the connections.
All the korero and the taonga have been captured on film.
It was growing dark when Manaaki and Clark packed up and headed off. It was a long day and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Kia ora kōrua.
'Representing the history of this area. This ridgeline was a kauri forest.' - Barry Potter