OPINION
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Whakaihi ake rā i tua i te tini o ngā pae māunga whakaataata mai rā i tua o Hāwaiki, whakaarahia ake te āhuatanga o tō tupuna o Pūhaorangi i huaina ai tou karangatanga i te ao tūroa ko Te Heketanga-i-a-Rangi. Kōkōia e ara e kui e.
He aha te mea nui o te ao, māku e kī atu ko te whānaungatanga. Ka nui taku whakaaetanga ki tēnei whakaaro, mātua e noho tahi ana tātau te hunga ora me te hunga kua whetūrangitia. Engari anō hoki te aroha kāore kē atu he painga o tērā. Nō te Tīhema, nō te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā rua nō te rua tekau o tēnei marama kua ekengia tō tātou matua wahine a Dorothy Huhana Mihinui nē Sewell DCNZM MBE JP ki te kotahi rau mā toru o ngā tau me e ora tonu nei.
Kāti. Hāunga te tumanako o te ngākau ki te whakanui i a ia me tōna rā nui whakaharahara ā tīnana nei, kai te urupā o Kauae kē te whānau e hahu ana, e kohikohi ana me te hari atu tēnei kuia hūmarie mai i Kauae ki te urupā o Peka. Nō te Hune, te rua mano mā ono te tau i tanumia tō tātau ruruhi ki te urupā o Kauae. Kua kotahi tekau mā ono o ngā tau ia e okioki ana.
Ka haria tō tātau matua wahine ki Peka. Nō Tuhourangi Ngāti Wahiao ngā whenua, hai whenua taurikura mōna. He wairua nui te hua, he roimata, he hupe te kai, he rā e kore pea e taka iho i ngā whakaaroaro, haere ake nei, haere ake nei. E kōmanawa tonu ana te puna o te mahamaha, kai kōnei ahau e tātari tonu ana, e haupūaroaro a hinengaro ana ko taua rā tonu te take.
Kua pepehangia e ngā kaumātua. Rukutia ngā tangata, whiria te kaha tuamakatia kia ū, kia au. Nā taku taina nā Watu ngā whakaritenga mō te rā, nā reira i ea ai tēnei rangi whakamiharo. Ko tāna he whakahau i a mātau, ko ā mātau mahi he whakarongo. Tino ora nei mātau i a Watu me tā māua tūngane a Roku. Ko te tini o te tangata awhina kai ōu rāua maikuku he huahua noa atu. Nā reira ka ara ake te pātai, he aha te tikanga o ēnei whakaritenga?
Ka mate ana tō tātau matua wahine, ka tākohangia tētehi wāhi takotoranga māna ki Kauae e Charles Ngarepo Eparaima me tana makau rangatira a Ani. Ka tau te manawa tere o āna tamariki i tēnei whakaaro rangatira e okioki ai ia me āna kiriwhanaunga otīā he tata tonu tana takotoranga ki a tātau te hunga ora. Nō te Tihema nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau mā rua ka mate tō mātau matua tāne a Nikora Whakapu Erueti Mihinui. Kai Ōhaki tō mātau matua tāne e okioki ana. Wheoi anō rā ko tō mātau matua wahine he uri heke iho nō Tūhourangi. Nā reira i tau ai te whakaaro i roto i a mātau, āna tamariki, ka pai ki a ia kia takoto ia ki te puku o Rotorua. I taua wā he itiiti noa ngā mokopuna a Matua Charlie me Whaea Ani, engari ināianei, hōtō e tupu ana te pā harakeke. Ko Kauae te urupā matua o Rotorua, e wāuna hoki kai te kī haere i ngā tupapaku. Ka ara ake anō tētehi pātai i a mātau ake tamariki: Ki whea rā mātau okioki ai?
Ka hamama katoa ngā waha o ngā tamariki, ' ki tahaki o tō tātau kuia’, nā wai ka hē, kātahi ka hē rawa atu. Kāore ō mātau whenua i Kauae. Ka huri ngā whakaaro ki Peka. E rua urupā ki tēnei whenua tūturu i whakawateangia hai whenua okiokinga mō ngā uri nō te pā taunaha o Te Whakarewarewa, ā, ka whai wāhi hoki ai mō ngā uri hoki o Wāhiao. Ko te take tuarua kai te aroaro, ko te kimi whenua hai okiokinga mō tō mātau whakapakanga a Mahara Ruth Johnstone i mate atu i te Hune o te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā tahi. Koia anō tētehi ka haria ki Peka, ā, he kōrero anō tērā.
Ka waihongia atu ma Watu te kaupapa e wāwāhi. Ka whakaaengia tana tono e te kaunihera o Rotorua me te Manatū Hauora
Ka whakaritengia e te kaunihera māna te tupapaku e hahu, ka whakaae mātau. Ko tētehi anō mea nui, kia whakahaerengia tēnei hahunga e tētehi mātanga whakatakataka tupapaku, waimarie katoa mātau i tō mātau hoa tata otīā he whānaunga tata hoki ko Olive Rudolf, māna tēnei tūnga e whakakīkī. E ai ki a tātau te Māori ka tīmatangia ngā karakia e pō tonu ana te ao. Kāore rawa te kaunihera e whakaae ki a tīmatangia ā rātau mahi e pōuri ana. Ka hī te ata kai te waru o ngā haora, ka tāti ā rātau mahi.
Ko te kupu a te kaunihera ka wha hāora pea te roa rātau e kari ana, ka aro noa atu tō mātau tohunga a Mataia Keepa ki ēnei whakaritenga. Ka tīmatangia e ia āna pure me āna karakia. He tapeha tata a Mataia ki ngā tamāhine a Roku, ara ki a Nikora me Aneta, wheoi anō he Tūhourangi hoki ia. Nā reira i rangatira ai te rā i te momo o te tangata i tae, he ahakoa he iti he mana nui. Ka rua, me tika hoki te tangata ki tēnei tūmomo take. Kāua mā te take kore noa iho. Ka oti ana, i nui te pirangatia hoki o ēnei tohunga ki te kotahi mai ki tēnei hahunga.
I rangatira hoki te hahunga i a Karl Leonard me tana makau rangatira a Ruiha Ruwhiu nānā te ohu kōpaki i arahi, nānā hoki te mātauranga, hai tākai, hai whakakopaki i tō mātau matua wahine ki tōna kahu whakamutunga hai kawe i a ia ki te Hāwaiki o ngā kaumātua. He harakeke te kopaki. E rua ngā wāhanga hai tākai i a ia. Tētehi mahi nui hoki. Ka oti i a rātau te hunga whatu e whia kē i ngā mīta taura harakeke, hai tākai i te amo manuka hai papa mō te tupara. Herea rawatia hai waka puraku mōna. E taipakeke ana a Karl ka whiwhi i a ia tētehi tūnga mahi ki te New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute. Ko āna mahi, he arahi turuhi, he pou whakairo rākau, he whatu me te raranga nā, ko tō mātau matua wahine te Kākākura nui o te pōkai kawe turuhi hoki i taua wā. Ka nui tana whakamihi atu ki tō mātau matua wahine rātau ko Aunty Denny Anaru ko Homai Balzer nānā ia i poipoi nā reira e whai hua nui ai tona oranga ināianei.
Kāore aku manawa kōrero ki te hunga i puta i tae ki te tautoko i a mātau. Kai te hunga raranga, Para Matenga, Renee Taykor, Julaine Rangipuawhe Raimona, nā te hakeketanga o ngā tūara ka noho rātau ki te tēpū mahi ai. Hai ētehi taimā ka awhinatia rātau e Josie Herewini Selwyn me Kimberley Todd me Courtenay Mihinui. Kāore a Aneta me Nikki i raranga ko tā rāua he whatu taura whaihoki he kauawhiawhi i te hunga mahi kia hākoakoa ai ngā wairua. Ka rua pō rātau e mahi ana, ki te tiriti o Froude nama 34, he pō nui, he pō roa, he pō whakahirahira. Ka tae ki te rā o te hahunga huihuia kātoatia tātau ki Kauae. He waimarie nō mātau he whānau kaha ki te waiata, ā, he mōhio hoki nō Aneta ki ngā waiata katoa o tōna kuia, he mōhio hoki nōna koia nei te hiahia o tōna kuia ki te whakarongo ki ngā waiata pai katoa ki a ia nōna e ora ana.
E tū nenehawa ana ngā mokopuna ki te tahataha o te rua kōiwi kai te whāia ngā mahi e ngā kanohi he ahakoa ka uru mai te hiahia ki te awhina. Ka kitea e te hunga keri rua tētehi pēke kirihou, ko te whenua tēnei o Tamahou, te mātāmua a Nikora, ki tahaki he pēke pūeru nō tō mātau matua wahine ēnei. Ka haria wēnei ki Peka me ngā toenga harakeke me ngā wāhi whawhati o tōna waka puraku. Kai te tāhūroa o te rangi ngā kekeao e haere ana, he tohu ua, ka uru mai te āmaimai ki taku ngākau kai uangia pea mātau. Kāore. Ka tere kē ngā kapua ua ki Mokoia. Nā te mea i uaina ahau ka mākū ōku kaka, ka hoki ahau ki te kāinga ki te tīni pūeru, he ahakoa e tāria nei au e te whānau ki Peka. I tae moata a Matetu, te mātāmua a Watu me tētehi anō pōtiki ko Kihote Mikaere ki te urupā o Peka ki te kari rua
Nā te mea i uaina mātau kāore e roa ngā karakia ki Peka. E oti tika ana ngā mahi, kua ua patapatanui te rangi waipuketia ana te whenua. Nā tēnei tūāhuatanga i tūreiti hoki te hākari nui e taumaha ana te nuinga o tātau i ngā kaka mākū. Wheoi anō ka iti ki mua ka nui ki muri e noho ana mātau ko Mataia ko Matetu e whakaroaro ana ki te rangi me te hahunga rangatira kua oti nei i a mātau. E noho puku ana, e huritao ana. Ka kino te haere. — Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori.
Life is all about whānau and that is never more true than when dealing with dying and the dead.
Particularly with us Māori.
On December 20, 2022, our mother, Dorothy Huhana Mihinui, nee Sewell, DCNZM MBE JP, known the world over as Guide Bubbles, would have celebrated her 103rd birthday.
Instead, we, her whānau, were disinterring her koiwi from Kauae Cemetery where she had lain since June 2006.
We took her to Peka Farm, to an urupa set aside for the uri of Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao.
It was a spiritual, emotional and tremendously moving experience. Days later and I am still trying to work out how it affected me.
Such an event could not happen without pre-planning. That was down to my teina, Watu, who allocated us all jobs and checked to see they were carried out.
Watu and our brother Roku have fantastic networks throughout the rohe, many more than me because I spent about five decades working away from Rotorua.
Why did we undertake such a drastic action?
When Mum died our koroua, Charles Ngarepo Eparaima and his wife Ani, offered a plot at Kauae. We were all thankful because she would be near close whānau and we could visit her easily.
Our father, Nikora Whakapu Erueti Mihinui, died in December 1982 and is buried at his whānau urupa at Ohaki, near Broadlands, where the Ohaki Power Station now stands.
But Mum is tuturu Tuhourangi and we knew she would prefer to be in Rotorua.
At the time, Uncle Charlie and Auntie Ani had few if any mokopuna. Now they are full of mokopuna.
And Kauae is the main Rotorua cemetery and filling up.
Our kids wanted to know: Where are we going to go?
They stated categorically that they wanted to be “with Kuia”, which presented us with a problem. We owned no space at Kauae.
So we turned our eyes to Peka where there are two urupa, set aside for the people of Whakarewarewa among others of Wahiao.
We also needed somewhere to inter the ashes of our potiki, Mahara Ruth Johnstone, who died in June 2021.
She also will go to Peka but that is another story.
The whānau left Watu to cut through the red tape.
She acquired permission from the Rotorua Lakes Council and the go-ahead from the Ministry of Health.
The council insisted that cemetery staff dig up the grave and we had to agree with that.
The whole process had to be overseen by an undertaker and we had our friend and relative, Olive Rudolf for that role.
Usually, Māori rites are performed before the sun comes up but the council were immovable: 8am was when their staff started work and that was that.
The council staff told us it would take about four hours for them to dig Mum up.
Our tohunga hahunga Mataia Keepa worked within those confines and began proceedings with karakia.
Mataia is a first cousin to Roku’s daughters Nikora and Aneta and we share Tuhourangi hononga.
So we were lucky again that we had within our wider whānau people with the right credentials — and who were honoured to be taking part.
Master weaver Karl Leonard and his wife Ruiha Ruwhiu were keen to participate and willing to lead the team to weave a final waka for Mum’s journey.
It is of flax and in two parts that wrap securely around her. The weavers produced metres and metres of harakeke rope for the manuka stretcher to which the flax tupara was tied.
Karl was a young carver and weaver at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute when Mum was chief guide. He credits her, Aunty Denny Anaru and Homai Balzer among others for what has become his role in life.
I just love the whanau who turned up to help, took time off from their jobs.
Weavers among our whanau — Para Matenga, Renee Taylor, Julaine Rangipuawhe Raimona had to move their work from the floor to tables to ease the aches in their backs.
They were joined at various times by Josie Herewini Selwyn, Kimberley Todd and Courtney Mihinui.
Nikora and Aneta helped and made ropes and ensured the weavers had enough supplies. For two days they worked at 34 Froude St, long into the night.
Up at Kauae on December 20, we were all there and other whānau members joined us.
We had music going the whole time because we are musical and Aneta knows Kuia’s favourite song. And she knows Kuia would want to hear it.
They gathered around the open grave and watched but wanted to help.
The council diggers found a plastic bag containing the placenta of Nikora’s son Kaisa and a bag containing some of Mum’s clothes.
Those went to Peka with Mum as did the leftover flax and rubbish from her waka. At Kauae the sun struggled to stay with us but there were ominous dark clouds coming in from Ngongotahā. Luckily, they headed across to Mokoia Island.
I got caught in a shower so on the way to Peka went home and changed clothes, never dreaming everyone was waiting for me at Peka.
Watu’s son Matetū and another nephew, Kihote Mikaere, had been out the day before with a digger and dug the grave.
It was a short ceremony because the watery sunshine was being washed away.
By the time everything was finished the heavens opened.
Our kai hakari was delayed because so many of the whanau had to go home, shower and change.
I was with Mataia and Matetū and we spent time just sitting and reflecting. Recharging.
That tremendous downpour was testament to just what an auspicious occasion it was — and perhaps a tohu that our mother was pleased.
Mark Hohua, known as Shark, was allegedly beaten to death by fellow gang members in 2022.