P ip iw h arauro a The H erald of S pring

T h e T e R aw h iti N ew s letter

Volume 1 Issue 9 October 2009

Te Karaka Ahitapu 1931-2009

This tribute is made to the memory of a generous funny loving sociable hardworking and intelligent rangatira whose life I was fortunate enough to share. Our grand parents were brothers, Pukepuke and Rewiri Ahitapu.

Whakatauki:

He aha te mea nui? He tangata! He tangata !  He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world ? It is people! It is people! It is people!

Te Karaka (Joe) Rewiri Ahitapu was one of fourteen children,( many died as infants). His father was Kanuta (Dan) Rewiri Ahitapu of Te Patukeha Hapu  of Te Rawhiti of Ngapuhi and mother Rea Kora of Te Whakatohea (Ngati Ira of Waioweka Opotiki. ) He was born at Kukumoa Opotiki in October 1931. In the morning when his mum Rea went to do the milking he decided to arrive early and so she had him under a karaka tree, hence his name. Joe is a nickname.

As Te Karaka says on his Bebo web site: " I was born under a Karaka tree and lived in a raupo whare. Grew up living with whanau and extended whanau. Whanau schools here and there. Waioweka native school was built by our whanau/hapu in 1879 and it's still going strong. Farming, bushfelling, hunting pigs, kereru ( plenty of them in the Urewera) fishing, white baiting, horse riding,  outdoors the good life! " Like many Maori from the rural communities Te Karaka headed to the towns and city where his whanaunga and parents were to start a new life. Just as his father before him had gone to Opotiki where their whanaunga lived. So they were big changes for this maori boy from the sticks. He worked at the freezing works at Westfield and Hellaby's along with whanau. And during this time met a lovely lady Val, whose children he brought up as his own, Kerry,Andrea and Simon. Even while working full time, he developed a sideline business which won him a trip for two to Hawaii where he met Englebert Humperdink who was there for the same reason as he, business!

 Te Karaka came to Te Rawhiti in the 1960's and built a garage on whanau whenua on the beach front at Kaingahoa assisted by his first cousin Arthur Hakaraia, of Whiorau and Walter Mountain senior and his children, from Te Tawa.

He committed his life to his father Kanuta' side and to the development of Te Rawhiti. He often travelled up from Auckland to Te Rawhiti for meetings along with other trustees and hui at their own expense. He was a trustee on the Te Rawhiti Marae and the Te Rawhiti School Reserve Trust and later became the chairman. He was also a founding trustee of the Motukokako Trust which gave out education grants for tertiary education but retired last year due to ill health. He became Chairman of Patukeha Kaumatua Committee which was responsible for all 'take' relating to resource management, conservation, environment and appeared at hearing submissions.

In addition Te Karaka was chairman of Te Runanga o Taumarere ki Rakaumangamanga which represents Patukeha and Ngati Kuta to Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi. He worked on fisheries going to marae all over the north to discuss maori customary uses, and the tools to do it. As well as attending national hui. Whatever he did was driven by tikanga Maori, matauranga Maori and kaitiakitanga whether it was commercial or cultural or not, not forgetting Te Tiriti oWaitangi and He whakaputanga the Declaration of Independance. A great believer in our tino rangatiratanga, mana Maori, put it into practice and walked the talk.  Te Karaka’s tupuna Moka and Rewa were signatories to these key documents, the first re-affirming the Declaration of Independance which claim is now to  be taken by Te Runanga o Ngapuhi on behalf of hapu and heard by the Waitangi Tribunal in the near future. He attended the Waitangi Tribunal pre hearing at Waitangi earlier this year.

And he was always on the Taumata at the marae. A man of strong principles  - he was not afraid to stand up for his convictions. He opposed both the Nga Whenua Rahui which was signed by the Te Rawhiti 3B2 Trustees. However the covenant still went through, and the other was the moana for a marine reserve - no take and closed forever to our whakapapa. Fortunately it didn't happen. A temporary rahui was put in force earlier this year.

 The first meeting to be held about papakainga on the whenua at Kaingahoa was held at Karaka's bach in 1987.  Most of those present at that hui,  Arthur Hakaraia, Aroha Beaumont,Te Hae Wihongi,  Kaa Hemara, and others  have now passed away. But it was an important decision which set in motion preliminary meetings and submissions to put papakainga in place at Te Rawhiti which were successful. Housing Corporation NZ planner, Maori Affairs planner,  Northland Regional Council, and the Tai Tokerau District Maori Council spoke in support of us. Henry Titore who sadly passed away recently came to support the submissions put up by Te Karaka, my brother Bill and myself to the Bay of Islands Council as it was then known.

Te Karaka statement on Bebo

"  I have committed myself to the development of my whanau hapu of Te Rawhiti where I  live. "

Te Karaka wished to establish his father's whanau back at Te Rawhiti on the whenua at Kaingahoa. This he has done. And so have the other whanau. The Kaingahoa papakainga project led by Te Aroha Beaumont our niece was supported by the whanau of the whenua.Te Karaka was one of these, he built a home up at the top of the hill along with two of his sisters, the Sherman's and the Tawhara'. This project included

papakainga houses which were built at Whiorau, Hauai and Kaimarama, Kaitaia and Waikare. 

Talking about fishing. He loved it and used to take his little dingy out or the bigger one until someone pinched it and it was found on the rocks around past Hauai. Ringa used to park his boat up in Joe's garage before it got a floor and was done up.  Ringa took some of us on his flash boat fishing. He had big game fishing gear on board. On the way out to Motukokako we saw heaps of blue maomao but didn't catch anything.So he called up cousin Arthur Hakaraia and Te Karaka on his radio to see how they were doing. They pulled alongside in their humble dingy near Deep water Cove and passed over their fish ( we have a picture ). Ringa fried up some scones and the fish on board. It was tuumeke! Awesome!

When the koiwi were brought back to Te Rawhiti marae a few months ago, Te Karaka got his first  chopper flight from  the beach in front of the marae  to fly across to Urupukapuka. Marara and I went too.  We landed with her remains. And  Marara conducted a beautiful service, then back to Kaingahoa where our moko were waiting to hear all about it.

He never forgot his Whakatohea side and always went back there when he could to the various hundred year centennials and openings celebrations and tangihanga. As a family man he loved children. Our mokopuna have been so lucky to have him as their koro. He has shared his matauranga with them and his whanau and extended whanau.

Something they will never forget.  We will never forget him.

Te Karaka is survived by his whangai children Kerry, Andrea,Simon Swasbrook, mokopuna Kelly andTristan, mokopuna tuarua Jasmin, step children Lamorna, Chris and Blair, mokopuna Fabian ,Dylan, Natasha, Tiana, Emma, Kalani, Leana, Jessie, Neil, mokopuna tuarua Cody, Hayley and Jayden, and in laws, Karen, Tony, Raelene,  Angela, Marie, Gwenaelle,and Courtney He mihi aroha nui ki a koe e te rangatira, mo ou mahi rangatira me ou manakitanga Haere, haere, haere Moe mai e roto e nga matua tupuna. Moe mai ra moe mai ra.

Na Peti Pukepuke Ahitapu.

Henare, known also as ‘Wobby’, was the son of Tarau Titore and Moe Le Noel. Wob was a quietly spoken humble person, who was raised here in Te Rawhiti. He attended Te Rawhiti Native School, and Northland College and worked in a series of jobs in his life. His knowledge of fishing was passed down from his father Tarau, who was a lookout on the whaling ships in the early 1900’s, and a commercial fisherman in the ‘20’s and 30’s. Henare also had an outstanding knowledge of the fishing grounds in and around our rohe, right down the coast beyond Taupiri, using land marks to guide him to them. Henare was married to Elizabeth Parkes, who was the widow of his cousin Jack Parkes, and he raised her children as his own. Elizabeth

and Henare had one son, Henare, who now lives in Australia. When Elizabeth died Henare moved to Western Australia to live and work in a mining town called Pannawonnica. In recent years,Wobby’s health troubled him but he still worked when he could – his last job was on the wharves at Whangarei with his daughter Robin’s

Henare Titore02.08.45-

husband from Takahiwai. His whanau and our community will miss him. Moe mai e te matua…..

Ae Marika! A column published in the Northland Age 

By Hone Harawira MP for Tai Tokerau 29 September 2009

HOWIE THE MAORI

I called in to Sir Howard Morrison’s tangi last week (he gets buried today), and even though the rain was pissin’ down, still, there would have been a thousand people there when he arrived, led on to Tama Te Kapua marae by Wetini and some of the warriors from Te Matarae o Rehu.

He was one of the first Maori I ever saw on TV, back in the days when he was tearin’ up the airwaves with the Howard Morrison Quartet, energy to burn, a glint in his eye, a grin to light up the world, a swagger to match his never-ending confidence, a voice to charm and a sense of humour right up there with Billy T James and Tui Teka.

But my everlasting memory is of a man who could break a million women’s hearts with his crooning, then tell a joke to keep all the husbands and boyfriends happy too!!

The country has lost a legend. Haere e te rangatira, haere.

TOBACCO UNDER FIRE

Last week the Maori Affairs Select Committee approved my request for a formal inquiry into “the impact of tobacco use on Maori”.

Tobacco kills 5,000 Kiwis every single year, more than 100,000 New Zealanders in the last 25 years alone. It’s time we held those responsible for these tobacco deaths, accountable for their actions. This inquiry is New Zealand’s opportunity to make Tobacco companies explain their actions of promoting and maintaining tobacco addictions which lead to these horrific and painful deaths.

Committee hearings don’t start till next year, so over the next few months I’ll be organising with cancer patients, whänau, health researchers, teachers, tobacco control groups and the tobacco industry itself to get ready to come before the committee.

We’ll also be taking this inquiry on the road to make it easier for whänau to attend. By the time we finally get to the tobacco companies, we will have gathered enough testimony to really take them to task.

To be brutally frank I’d like to lynch these bastards. I’ve watched too many people die horrible deaths because of their addiction to tobacco. I’ve seen too much pain and heartache in those left behind to want to be objective about this. “And I’ve heard too many chilling comments from tobacco executives like – ‘We don’t smoke the shit. We reserve that right to the young, the poor, the black and the stupid’ – to have any respect for these people.

Hopefully, with the help of the people of New Zealand, we can finally bring all these unnecessary deaths to an end.

THAT ‘H’ WORD

TV 7 were asking all the politicians what they thought about the ‘H’debate. The best one I heard came from Shane Jones (who turned 50 on the weekend, bless his little heart) who is hoping to climb to the top of the Labour Party over the top of some of his colleagues like Clayton Cosgrove and David Cuniliffe.

Shane reckoned that “Whanganui without the ‘H’ is like Cuniliffe without the ‘T’.”

Great stuff my brother!!

DUMPING OF RUBBISH BAGS ON MY WHENUAna kuia marara hook

There has been an increase of rubbish dumping on my whenua. This is to inform you that my whenua boundary starts from Jummy Kidd’s gate, on the right, all the way to Tangatapu Bridge. The same applies on the other side of the road, that is, from the quarry all the way down to the swamp beyond the macrocarpa tree before the TeNana driveway. If you cannot be bothered putting your rubbish bags out for the pick-up Waste truck on a Monday morning, you can drop them off at my kaumatua flat and I’ll TAKE THEM TO THE DUMP MYSELF. I much prefer that than have people(whoever you are) dumping them on my whenua. I know it’s been happening for years and there’s a pile up of old bottles and stuff down by the macrocarpa tree on both sides of the road which is part of my whenua too!

------------ooOOoo----------

This aerial photograph, entitled Yates property Parekura Bay, was taken in the 1950’s by Whites Aviation. I found it online in the National Library archive. Maungaroa is on the right and the sea in the middle must be heading down past Whangamumu .

HOW  TO CALL THE POLICE  HOW  TO CALL THE POLICE WHEN YOU'RE OLD AND DON'T MOVE FAST

ANYMORE. George Phillips of Gold Coast,  Australia was going up to bed when his wife told him that  he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could  see

from the bedroom window. ( Boy does this sound familiar!  ) George opened the back door to go turn off the  light but saw that there were

people in the shed stealing  things. He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone  in your house?" and he said

"no". Then they said that all  patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door  and an officer would be along when available. George said,  "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again.  "Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because  there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you  don't have to worry about them now because I've just shot  them."

Then he hung up. Within five minutes three  police cars, an Armed Response Unit, and an

ambulance showed  up at the Phillips' residence and caught the burglars  red-handed. 

One of the Policemen said to George: "I  thought you said that you'd shot them!" 

George said,  "I thought you said there was nobody available!"  (True Story) I LOVE IT  -  Don't  mess with old people!! 

TREL UPDATE1. Project Rakau 

We have acquired the Manawahuna/Cape Brett DOC contract from mid October. This means an increase in our work force from 4 to 6 boys. We have located our camp site on Rakaumangamanga so that the crew can service both contracts more efficiently. This will change once we get our trap and bait station coverage achieved. Our team on the Cape is

Alvin Rewha (Job Supervisor),Francis Hepi,Kayne Higgison,Karl Te Nana, Iti Arama,Bella Clendon,

Once this is done we will reduce our team down to 5 with Karl Te Nana coming down to take on a supervisory

role with our community max team which start on 2nd November. Our community max is a new contract targeted at 16-24 year olds. Their work will be to push into the cape trapping out the areas Wairoa, Tangatapu and Te Kauri, starting from the Ngaiotonga – Rawhiti Rd and pushing up into Cape Brett. Their mission is two fold,

a. To set a buffer zone to stop re-invasion from possums and stoats, and

b. Start knocking down pests already established in these areas

 Blandy will be conducting training for the community max team at Kaingahoa Marae from 2nd November for 1 week before we deploy them into the field. 

2. Guiding

We have been asked from both Fullers and Explorer NZ to do guiding tours on their boats and on the islands starting from 2nd November. We have an experienced guide in Gloria Martin who will lead this kaupapa but her services are in demand from the operators. We have Salisha Hepi who would like to do guiding work and Gloria will train her on what to say and do, but we need at least two more guides, whanau who would like to learn this work? Please contact Robert on 094037012. 

3. Glass Beading

We are currently working with Kororareka Marae Society to set up a live work station in the DOC building in Russell. We will have one of our ladies in there every day beading and talking to tourists about the designs and selling the pieces. We have come to an arrangement with Annie Rose to set up the station at the DOC centre and also to work with us on getting the fusing underway at the Te Rawhiti Marae workshop. Anya has been suggested as the key worker person for the Marae workshop and Barb the DOC centre. Part of this setup would be weaving and Gloria would like to teach our ladies Kapa Haka at the DOC centre by giving live poi dances free of charge at set times to attract tourists into the DOC centre and hopefully we make it up in sales.

Robert

Some Uncle Ringa Jokes…Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: 'Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?' Slim says, 'I feel just like a newborn baby.' 'Really!? Like a new born baby!?' 'Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.' …….

Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn't need my help to leave the hospital. After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator. On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him. 'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.'

Te Rawhiti Rural Firefighters Annual General Meeting will be held at the Fire Brigade November 16 at 11 am.

The Te Rawhiti Rural Fire Fighters Mana Wahine Social was held on November 9th and by all accounts it was a great evening. Thanks to all who made it happen and all the supporters who went along.

IN FLANDERS FIELD…from Hone Harawira…October 27 2009..

I thought this was important to add, as we lost some of our young men in the Great War…..

Most Kiwis grow up knowing a bit about Flanders, where more soldiers died on one day than in any other single military action before or since during the war on the Western Front in World War 1, so this part of our trip was always going to be very special for me.

Our first stop was the Ramparts Cemetery on the outskirts of Ypres (Ieper) where a dozen young men from the Maori Pioneer Battalion lay alongside other Kiwis who had travelled across the world to die in the biting cold of a northern winter, fighting an enemy they rarely saw, for a cause many of them didn’t even understand.

Then we travelled a short distance to the world’s largest Commonwealth cemetery, Tyne Cot in Passchendale (the valley of the suffering), host to more than 12000 graves dedicated to the hundreds of thousands who had died around Ypres, including walls with the names of thousands of soldiers who died there but didn’t get the honour of a proper burial, and whose graves bear the inscription “A soldier known unto God”. Again a very moving experience, wandering amongst the graves of soldiers who had died in defence of a land they knew only as a battlefield.

Then we laid a wreath at a monument specially dedicated to NZ soldiers who died on what is

called the blackest day in NZ history, Oct 12 1917, when NZ suffered its largest ever loss of NZ troops defending a mound of earth no more than 50 feet high.

After that we met with the Mayor of Ypres, and took a special guided tour of the In Flanders Field Museum, an interactive expo of war memorabilia, short movies and simulated war scenes. Apparently 6 Kiwis were shot for desertion (all recently pardoned by the NZ government), the last of whom being a young Maori who after several“tours” escaped to France for 9 months before being caught and executed. His whanau presented a waka huia to the museum which will become part of the war exhibition next year.

The undoubted highlight of the day though was being invited to take part in the Last Post, a ceremony which has been held since 1928 (except during WWII), when locals and visitors gather every night at the Menin Gate memorial arch with its roll of 55,000 fallen soldiers, for the playing of the Last Post. I was given the honour of reading the Ode to the Fallen and Katrina Shanks laid a wreath on our behalf.

I asked the Chairman of the Last Post Association in Ypres why, 100 years after the event, they still cared so well for the graves of our people and honoured their memory every night with the Last Post. His answer, given in all humility, said it all.

“My boy - if we played the last post just once each day for every Allied soldier who died in defence of our little town, we would still be doing this in 4005. No, it is our honour and our privilege to do this.

Restoring the old voices:October 2009 update

An update on the pest-reduction—and biodiversity-enhancement—projects out here in the eastern Bay of Islands is well overdue.

To remind you of the various projects: Project Island Song, the collaborative endeavour of Patukeha and Ngati Kuta, as well as several government and local agencies, has focused on the islands of Ipipiri and seems to have been 100% effective in eliminating mustelids and rodents. Two other projects exist in support of Project Island Song. Project Points, which takes in all the headlands from Orokawa to Rawhiti Peninsula, has pest-control measures in place that either meet or are approaching the DoC standard. And, in turn, to reduce the chances of reinvasion of the headlands themselves, pests are being stripped from the roadsides from Dick’s Bay to Hauai—Project Strip. Finally, as you will all know, Project Rakau is a local initiative—with Nga Whenua Rahui, under the umbrella of Department of Conservation—to clean up essentially the entire Rakaumangamanga (Cape Brett) Peninsula, and is very well underway.

To fund the hardware for Project Points and Project Strip, we placed three applications this funding round with the NRC Environment Fund—and were successful with each, being granted close to $16 K of equipment.

Just yesterday Robert Willoughby and I were delivered the vast majority of this equipment, which should be in place by the end of November. Once it is all there, Te Rawhiti Enterprises will take over the checking of much of it—all according to DoC Best Practice.

But there is a point we need to make.Please all of us look after our gear in place. Already we have had a double stoat trap (value about $100) stolen. It happened this last long weekend when a heap of boats were anchored in Omakiwi Cove, the missing trap having been removed from the bottom of the (beautifully reconstructed) track leading up to the Urupa.

If anyone knows of a boatee (or anyone else) who has this valuable (but to them useless) stoat trap in their possession, let us or the Police know.

Happy to discuss these and any other associated issues.

John Booth and Robert Willoughby

MARAE EQUIPMENT AND CARE

Kuia Marara Te Tai Hook

Kia ora whanau, I am going to talk about our marae and equipment. You all know how much time and effort the late Ringa and Mayron have put into our marae over the years, and Mayron has continued to do this after he passed away. However, it has been very frustrating for her and her helpers to have to go over to the marae after a whanau hui and re-do the cleaning, the mopping and check the plates, pots and pans.

We women have found that the people who book the marae by phone or internet, leave the place in an excellent condition, but not so our locals I’m afraid. Now, please understand, this is a generalization and does not mean everyone, but some local whanau hui leave the place in a shocking state.

The taking home of kai after a hui is a problem. It gets taken away in marae dishes and containers, but the dishes are not returned. Would the person who took the oven trays from the electric oven, return them please? YES, you! The ears and eyes know who has them. Bring them back.

Also, bins, large containers, mops, brooms and buckets are well marked but they still get used in the wrong places e.g. toilet buckets get used in the dining room.

The mattresses are another problem. They are not to be stacked one on top of the other. The mattresses are to be stood on their sides in the passageway. Being stacked on one another, flattens them over time and we end up with very thin mattresses.

The linen is another problem. They are taken out in the cars (with a mattress sometimes) and never returned.

Mayron and her team are to make out an asset list. If a booking is for, say, 100 people, we will leave out say 110 cutlery, plates etc, and we’ll be there to check a group in and check out. The Trustees have decided that that at least three people will take turns to check the equipment before a hui and check after the hui. They will also check on dishes and plates leaving the marae. They suggest that plastic bags be used to take home food instead of pots, plates and dishes. These people checking equipment in and out, will be given a koha for each hui.

Please take this as a reminder to return all Marae equipment now. Don’t take from your Marae tupuna.