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Te Rawhiti Whanau Panui 28/8/10 18:16 A8/P8

T h e T e R a w h i t i N e w s l e t t e r

P ip iw h a r a u r o a T h e H e r a ld o f S p r in g

Volume 1 Issue 11, August 2010

Nga Tohu Aroha

No reira haere atu koutou e nga whanaunga, kua haere koutou i


te huarahi i takahia e o tatou maatua tuupuna, kua tu honohono nei
koutou i te Ao Wairua, kua okioki koutou i roto i nga ringaringa a to
tatou Matua nui i te Rangi. Haere, haere, haere atu koutou.

Ina Harawene, daughter of Turi and Raiha Hariwene, and sister to


Auntie Maraea Sullivan/Hakaraia from Ngati Manu, and buried at
Puhangahau wahitapu, Karetu

Waina Araroa nee Wynyard, eldest daughter of Sammy (Bigs)


Wynyard, from Ngati Manu, and buried at Puhangahau wahitapu,
Karetu. Died in Galatea where she lived but expressed a wish to be
brought back home.

Dave/Rewi Hoori, father of Te Miringa (Mingo) and father-in-law


of Murray Hemara, died at his home Waikare and buried there.

New addition to the Pipiwharauroa-


Nga korero o nga whanau o te ao: Whanau stories
from around the world.

If you want to tell your story, send it in. We have whanau


all over the world and all over Aotearoa.
We want to hear from you.

1 What lies on the bottom of the sea and


shakes?
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Waiana Collier, te kotiro o Taku Tenana Clendon


Collier.

From the left: Darrell-Rose, Cherish, Pagen, Waiana, Joshua.

My Story of Rawhiti in my life


I was fortunate to be one of the last of my generation to have been
bought up in Rawhiti by our Grandmother, Taurangi Clendon, along
with my brother and sister. There weren’t so many homes up there
nor whanau living back there as today. Boy has the place changed
since we were kids. It was a beautiful upbringing and I’ll carry those
memories with me until my last breath.

Back then tamariki belonged to everyone. Whanau was everyone


and everyone belonged to everyone so where we ended up at kai
time was where we ate. It was nothing for us to be gone all day
with a loaf of rewana bread that Nanny had made for us. From a
young age our Nanny taught us to provide kai for ourselves by
fishing, gathering kaimoana and collecting fruits from the orchard at
tawiriwiri. I even have memories of climbing up the hill behind the
marae to Nanny’s childhood papakainga to collect peaches from the
orchard up there. You would see us on the rocks, in the sea, in the
bush, surfing through the rocks on old Jock Noaks dinghy and the
whanau would say ‘there goes those mokopuna of Tau again’.

At the end of the day Nanny’s call would reverberate around the
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bays “Waiana, Darrell, Jodie”; it was time to go home to a
scrubbing brush and a bar of soap to wash away the ‘taapa’ that
seemed forever embedded in our feet. The day would be completed
with all of us cuddling our Grandmother trying very hard not to go
to sleep whilst she recited her hour long karakia; we needed to be
awake to confirm ‘Amine’ lest we got the dreaded clip across the
ear! That was some of our awesome upbringing and my precious
memories. There are many more.

Now I have children of my own. Pagen 21, Johan 16, Cherish 15,
Darrell-Rose 9 and we have a kuri, Pride, who is 10. I work for a
Primary Healthcare Organisation in the Franklin region as a
Community Health Coordinator linking our Maori and Pacific Island
clients and our clients who live in low socio economic areas into
services to better meet their health and social needs.

I get a great deal of satisfaction working with our Maori people and
I am passionate in my job to advocate for the betterment of our
Maori. I recently graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in
Business in Maori Development. I started that journey because I
realised if I wanted my kids to go to University, then I had better
lead by example! I plan on going back to do more study next year.
Since I’ve had children, it’s important to me to take them home as
often as I can so that they can know and experience their whanau,
their marae, their whenua and their moana. So they can then create
their own memories and begin to understand when they have their
own children how very important it is to continue with traditions.

And it is my dream to one day, when my own children are old


enough and making their way in the world, to return home to
Rawhiti. Then I will look forward to having my grandchildren with
me and I will teach them to fish, to gather kaimoana, to wash taapa
from their feet and I will have karakia with them at the completion
of each day, just like my Nanny did for me.

*****************

Has anyone solved the problem yet?

Was the Wharehui opened in 1910? or 1918?

Does anyone remember something someone told them?

*************************
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The Ngapuhi Treaty Hearings.

Ngapuhi is the largest iwi. It has been given only 4 weeks and 3 days for its
hearings. All the evidence has been very interesting and some of the
questioning a bit laboured and the questioners should have been stopped
when they made their point.

Ngapuhi is arguing that we signed the Whakaputanga to formalise ourselves


as a nation. Te Tiriti was the document which acknowledged that nation as a
partner and sharing in the country. There is another 8 days of hearings and
then the Tribunal makes its decision.

The Tuhoronuku, the Runanga’s committee for settling the Ngapuhi


grievances against the Crown, was confirmed by 90 kaumatua/Kuia and
others who went to the roadshow hui. Tuhoronuku wants to negotiate directly
with the Crown and not to enter in to Tribunal hearings.

Direct negotiation means the process may be quicker but this is not
necessarily so. Also, all the claims are put together under the Ngapuhi banner
and the claims we have for our rohe are claimed under Ngapuhi. Our hapu
don’t have to appear. Someone else speaks for us.

Giving our own evidence to the Tribunal means our voice is heard for our own
claims. The process may take a longer time. We may still not get a positive
settlement.

Takutai Moana is the group which has the coastal hapu in it. They want their
voice heard because it is their rohe which inland Ngapuhi will be using to
negotiate with and argue about. It is a powerful group because of its whenua
and moana.

There was a meeting at Te Tii on Saturday 21st August at 10am to discuss the
next steps. They do not want direct negotiations.

Have you been reading the evidences. It is wonderful Ngapuhitanga-just


great.

2 Who won when the two waves


raced?

3 Why can’t you tell jokes to an


egg?
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He korero mo Lamorna Rogers, te kotiro a Peti Ahitapu.

Lamorna, Chris, Blair and his youngest, Neil, Peti, Uncle Joe.

Kia ora te whanau aroha. Ko Lamorna ahau.

My grandad is Rahiri Pukepuke Ahitapu who was born at Omakiwi in


1911, and went to join his Whakatohea whanau on the East Coast
as a teenager. Grandad married my gran, Te Ani Dixie Biddle, there.
They had 12 children, the oldest of whom is my mum, Peti
Pukepuke Ahitapu.

Mum met my dad, Neil Rogers, in the air force, and they moved to
Dad’s home, the South Island, and raised their family there – me
and my brothers Chris and Blair. Chris, Blair and I have all travelled
and lived overseas for long periods of time: Chris in Australia and
Slovenia, Blair in Australia, France and now Reunion Island (a
French-speaking island off the coast of Africa) and me in England,
Finland, France, Germany and Australia.

Grandad’s passing brought us back to Rawhiti, when we all travelled


north with him for his tangi. I remember how beautiful and unspoilt
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it was in 1980 - evenings were spent around a bonfire on the beach
in front of the marae. We fished, filled our buckets with pipi and
collected oysters off the rocks. It felt like paradise. We have been
coming home ever since.

Living in Sydney is very different from that quiet life. I work at the
Reserve Bank of Australia as an economist – lots of number
crunching and reading, worrying about financial risks for ordinary
people and for companies. Most of Chris’s children are also here –
kia ora Fabe who has made the move back across the ditch – and it
is always great to spend time with them.

There is a strong Maori community with Te Wairua Tapu in Redfern


being the longstanding heart of the community, a growing Te
Ataarangi presence, and an active marae fundraising project.

Not surprisingly, there is constant traffic to and fro, with people


keeping one foot in Oz and the other firmly planted in Aotearoa. Our
people have always been wanderers, whether steering ocean-going
canoes by the stars, hitching a ride on Marsden’s boat or in the
waka rererangi of today. But Aotearoa remains the heartland.

E ai ki te korero, “E kore au e ngaro. He kākano i ruia ma i


Rangiātea”.

4 What can run but never walks, has a mouth


but never talks, has a head but never weeps,
and has a bed but never sleeps?

THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR

Na Te Kuia Nei a Marara, August, 2010


The old/previous terms for the months of the year I have taken from
Elsdon Best’ book “The Maori Division of Time.”. As these explanations
are very detailed, I have not given them here, but instead, I have listed
the names of the months of the year and their meanings. While most of
us grew up with ‘Hanuere, Pepuere, Maehe….’ etc, my mokopuna were being
taught the ‘new’ terms, actually they were ‘new’ to me but in fact were
‘old’ terms, and are being used more often at Kura, by radio announcers on
Maori stations and TV.
The new year is when Matariki-the star Pleiades- appears so there is no
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set date.
Pipiri :June: Hune

Kua piri nga mea katoa I te whenua I te matao, me te tangata.


All things on earth cohere owing to the cold; likewise man.

Pipiri Ia Pipiri, tīmata ai te hukapapa.

In June, the frosts usually start. Pipiri also means 'cling together' due to
the cold.

Hongonui: July: Hurae


Kua tino matao te tangata, me te tahutahu ahi, ko painaina.
Man is now extremely cold, and so kindles fires before which he basks.

Hereturi-Koka-August: Akuhata
Kua kitea te kainga a te ahi I nga turi o te tangata.
The scorching effect of fire on the knees of man is seen.

Mahuru-September: Hepetema
Kua pumahana te whenua, me nga otaota, me nga Rakau.
The earth has now acquired warmth, as also have herbage and trees.

Whiringa-nuku:October: Oketopa
Kua tino mahana te whenua. The earth has now become quite warm.

Whiringa-rangi: November:Noema
Kua raumati, kua kaha te ra. It has now become summer and the sun has
acquired strength.

Hakihea :December: Tihema


Kua noho nga manu kai roto I te kohanga. Birds are now sitting in their
nests.

Kohi-tatea: January: Hanuere


Kua makuru te kai; ka kai te tangata I nga kai hou o te tau.
Fruits have now set, and man eats of the new food products of the
season.

Hui-tangaru: February:Pepuera
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Kua tau te waewae o Ruhi kai te whenua. The foot pf Ruhi (a summer star)
now rests upon the earth. It is mid-summer.

Poutu-te-rangi : March: Maehe


Kua hauhake te kai. The crops are now taken up. Pou-tu-terangi-
Antares/Alitair star appears

Paenga-Whawha: April :Aperira


Kua puta nga tupu o nga kai I nga paenga o nga mara.
All haul (dead stalks and leaves of plants) is now stacked at the borders
of the plantations.The storage pits are made ready.

Haratua:May:Mei
Kua uru nga kai ki te rua, kua mutu nga mahi a te tangata.
Crops have now been stored in the store pits. The tasks of man are
finished.
Te mutunga o te tau / The end of the year

TE RAWHITI IN THE WINTER. Na te kuia nei, te roving reporter a


Marara.
As I sit here looking out at the sea in Kaingahoa, it is high tide, the
sky is blue grey interspersed with patches of cloud behind which the
sun is trying in vain to share her light. There is a stiff westerly
blowing in off the sea stirring up the muddy grey water. White caps
in the distance tell me it is blowing harder out of the lee of the land,
and I am glad to be inside….even the seagulls have disappeared from
sight…maybe they are seeking shelter on the eastern side of the
coast.

I do not want to venture outside because of the coolish conditions;


and I think of all that disastrous flooding overseas, and the effect it is
having on those who have managed to survive….. but for how long,
before they are struck by another disaster – disease. How fortunate
we are living in this Paradise despite the rough seas, the wind
blowing in from the sea, the wet weather, the unsealed roads, the
price of food……

As we live in the comfort of our homes, we ask our Matua i te Rangi


kia manaakitia ratou, nga hunga i roto i nga ahuatanga kua pa nei ki
a ratou.......
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Billie Rewiri, te iramutu a Marara
Her grandfather is a brother to Marara’s mother, and her grandmother
married Marara’s father.

From left: Tas Rewiri, Jim-James, Billie, Biddy, Kapene, Emma,


Watson, Gina Moohan, Burt.

He mihi tenei no te motu o Irirangi ki a koutou, nga kakano o


Rawhiti

I’m Billie, recently married to Alan, an Englishman and now living in


a Terrace house (just think Coronation St) Bristol, United Kingdom
for about eight months. It’s a long haul from the whanau in
Aotearoa but Facebook, Skype and a menagerie of four shared
children (one in Wellington) help close the gap.

I’m unashamedly vocationally idle. Prior to my departure from


Aotearoa I worked in a number of roles with Crown Forestry Rental
Trust. Assessor, Relationship Manager and Assurance Manager and
put my hand up retrospectively for some of the hoops that CFRT
have in place. My work with claimants covered Tamaki – south to
Wellington (not Taitokerau). Still it’s brilliant to see the results of
my ex-colleagues and nga hapu coming to fruition at the Paparahi
hearings.

I spend a lot of time writing, eating, swimming and travelling in and


around Europe. There’s not a lot of Maori faces about and I get
homesick so Aunty Ma, Helen ma, I appreciate the news that comes
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through the email networks no te mea – mokemoke au etahi wa mo
te reo, me te mita nona te kainga.

My connection to Rawhiti is through Dad’s parents Te Heu Rewiri


and Tina Te Tai and to the whenua o Te Kauri. Although our line of
the whanau has not lived in Rawhiti for over a century we recently
found a way keep our hand in by making small regular koha to the
Rawhiti Marae.

Finally I would like to share my favourite picture of my siblings and


my parents. Taken in the early 1990’s at Waima but given the
strong connection Mahurehure have to Te Kauri and Rawhiti I think
it’s appropriate and our height (at 5’11 I’m short) comes from
Rawhiti.

Nga manaakitanga ki a koutou oku whanaunga i nga wa katoa

*********************
Whakatauki
E kore e taea te oranga mo te tangata, i te aroha me te pipi
anake.
We can no longer live on love and pipi
This saying is an example of how whakatauki are still being composed and
passed on today. Sir James Henare is reported to have said this at a
Kaikohe meeting on the future of the Maori people in Taitokerau in July
1985. It is sure to be quoted again and again. It refers to the need to
adjust to change in Te Ao Hurihuri - the world moving on.

Whakatauki compiled by Dept Maori Affairs in 1987,


***************************

5 What is light as a feather, but even the


strongest man cannot hold it more than a few
minutes?

If you overdo things, you will be out of balance. Do everything in


moderation.

Psychiatrist: What’s wrong with you? Patient: I think I’m a chicken.


Psychiatrist: How long have you thought this? Patient: Since I was an
egg.

The Whanau of Rangimarie Heke and her partner, Warwick


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Smith, at his 70th birthday party.
Melbourne

Kelly and Warwick in the middle-and doesn’t she look like Puawai!!
Their children are front row: second from the left, Melanie; third from
right, Jennifer; and second from right her son, Phillip (and isn’t he a
Heke?)

Rangimarie is the sister of Wiremu, George, Carl and Hone Tenana.


°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Kia ora tatou.

When Helen invited me to submit a personal interest article for Pipiwharauroa I leapt
at the opportunity, the only criteria I had to fulfill were my;
Past - my roots related to Rawhiti and
Present - my journey to what has become of me today.
Oh, there was an unspoken criteria................keep it short! ha.

I was born in Rawhiti in1955 in a generation now labelled the “Baby Boomers”. It was
an era of significance, for myself the emergence of Beatlemania, Motown Sound and
notable worldwide figures like JFK and Martin Luther King come to mind.
I am the first born of Puawai Tenana (aka Blossom/Blossy) and soon after adopted
by my grandmother Ani Pihema Heke and living happily together with older brothers
Dennie and Guy in Henderson. It is with deep sadness the aforementioned are no
longer with us today along with so many of our wonderful loved ones, kuias and
kaumatuas from Rawhiti.

Today my wonderful partner Warwick, a pakeha from Orakei and our 17yr old son
Phillip are relishing our sea change lifestyle and living down on the south west coast
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of Western Australia, in Busselton. We used to have a gorgeous yellow canary who
delighted us with its sweet trill throughout the day, until he met his demise falling off
the perch. Warwick’s interest is in antiques and enjoys his part time work at the local
auctions otherwise, often seen on the bowling greens. Phillip is in his final year at
school.

I have been working as a part time nurse and educator at our local hospital for
fourteen years, the second largest health service provider in the south- west region.
Fortunately I was hospital trained at Greenlane Hospital in the early 1970’s, those
fundamental skills learnt in many multidisciplinary areas has equipped me to mentor
university nursing graduates during their practical rotations in hospitals.

One of the many challenges facing us in our clinical setting is increased number of
admissions diagnosed with depression. Circumstances are varied yet real, grief from
loss of a partner or loved one and loneliness has been the norm. In the current
climate due to recent financial market downturn you can add redundancies or
unemployment, domestic violence, the homeless, alcohol/drug abuse and the list is
endless. Sadly, the patients we see are pre-baby boomers and all generations to the
current “Gen Y’s”.

On a lighter note, I am to be blessed as a step-grandmother later this year, my first.


We are overjoyed with excitement and look forward to holding our mokopuna when
he/she arrives on Christmas day. What a great present!
I have included two whanau photos taken earlier this year at Warwick’s 70th birthday.
Kids with dad and group with stepdaughters, their mum and Phillip seated, rest of the
clan who travelled from all over Oz to share this wonderful milestone together.
Warm thoughts and Best Wishes to you all.

Rangimarie Heke

6 What vehicle is spelled the same backwards and


forwards?

7 When does a boat show affection?

SEA GRASS IN OUR ROHE

Sea grass, rimurimu takeke, meadows once covered all the bays in Te Rawhiti, Those
who remember these say, “All the bays were black with sea grass”. Another said that
she didn’t like swimming at low tide because of the grass meadows and the things that
moved in them”. Another said that when the king tides came (when the tides came
higher and lower than usual) they used to go into the previously covered grass areas
of the bays and gather scallops, cats eyes, puupuu and other shell fish. Takeke, baby
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Snapper, and many small fish use the grass as a nursery.

In 1980, that most of the sea floor of Urupukapuka bay was covered with a thick mat of
sea grass and in 1991, the bay was still covered with sea grass. These meadows have
declined, as they have across the whole of New Zealand’s estuaries . Urupukapuka bay
has a patch of sea grass now, which was a reason for the investigation in this bay.
Where the road has been sealed at Rawhiti itself, the grass is slowly re-establishing
itself.

We heard that NIWA had been contracted to rebuild the sea grass meadows in the
Whangarei harbour as the hapu and the NRC saw that their fishery depended on it. We
rang Dr Fleur Matheson in NIWA and met to talk about sea grass re-planting in our area.
This team then applied successfully for funding from the Northern Regional Council to
begin the project for the “[a]ssessment of the extent and cause of seagrass decline at
Urupukapuka Bay, Bay of Islands Phase 1.

They have established that there is a decline in the eastern Bay of Islands. They have
planted and are monitoring some 12 sets of sea grass plants around Urupukapuka
island, Poroporo, Te Whau and Kaingahoa and Hauai bays. This study is continuing.
And we are going to be part of the monitoring team, this time!

SCALLOPS

James Williams of NIWA has set moorings of scallops in three places iour rohe. They
have been monitoring them checking on the growth of the spats in the bracken fern
mesh. The growing of the spats can be done by us when the process is established.
Re-growing scallops in our rohe is part of a scallop enhancement plan for the north.
The NIWA report is due soon. We will keep you up to date.

RIDDLE ANSWERS: 1 A nervous wreck. 2 They tide. 3


Because it will crack up.4 A river. 5 His breath. 6 Racecar. 7
When it hugs the shore.

HUI again:

Saturday, 18 September, 2010 at Te Rawhiti Marae,


10am-4pm. Te Takutai Moana Wananga.

Sunday, 19 September, 2010 at Te Rawhiti Marae.


10-3pm, Ngati Kuta & Patukeha Claims working party.

Next issue October 18, 2010. Please send in your contributions


at least a week before. Kiaora kiaora kiaora kiaora kiaora
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nga mihi whanau ki a tatou/nga manaakitangahoki/ nga mihi whanau

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