I tēnei rā, i te marae o Ōwae i Waitara, i hui tahi te iwi ki te whakanui i te kotahitanga me te maumahara ki ngā mate kua riro i te pō. Koinei te rā i whakatakotoria ai ngā kawe mate o te motu, e tūhono ana i ngā iwi, ā, e whakarite ana mō te whakanui i te 90 tau o te whare whakaairo o Tā Māui Pōmare.
E ai ki a Wharehoka Wano, he rā whakahirahira tēnei e whakakotahi ana i ngā iwi o Taranaki me ngā manuhiri. I a ia e kōrero ana mō te hiranga o te whare me te kaupapa o te rā, i kī ia:
“90 tekau tau tō tātau tipua tēnei tō tātau kahurangi tēnei tō tatau Tā Maui Pomare i whakatūria tēnei whare i te tau 19 me tana tiki ko tatau kingi o taua wā a kingi korokī nanā i tūwherahia nō reira mō te rā nēi ko te kawe mai i ngā mate te kaupapa matua o te rā nei rāua rāu kua riro ko te kawe mate te kaupapa matua enagri kei te āpōpō,” hei Wharehoka.
“Ko o mātau mate ko te mate nui nō waho kē o tātau o Taranaki a ko Hirini Moko Meed kei te haere mai tāna whānau i runga i te mea i roto i ngā tau kaha haere mai ki roto i tēnei whare, ā whiriwhiri i ngā hononga i waenganui ia Te Atiawa me Ngāti Awa tō tātau tūpuna a Awanuiārangi ērā tatai whakapapa,” hei tāna anō.
I te taha o Jamie Tuuta, i kōrero ia mō te hononga o te iwi me te hiranga o te kaupapa whakamaumahara, me te tūhono anō i a Ngāti Awa me Te Ātiawa.
“He kaupapa nui tēnei rā o Tā Māui nei, i tēnei tau ko te 90 tau mai anō i te whakatūtanga mai o te whare whakaairo nei o Te ika a Maui tai noa rā ki te tiki kohatu hei tiki whakamaumahara ki a Tā Maui nō reira ko te kaupapa, ā he rā whakamaumahara i ngā mahi a te hunga pēnei i a Tā Māui ana mahi i roto i te hauora, ana mahi hei kai torangapū ngā mahi i te moana nui a kiwa otinoa he tauira a ia mō tēnei whakatupuranga me ngā whakatupuranga te haere mai.”
A reflection on remembrance
Among the whānau present to pay their respects was Linda Tuhiwai, daughter of the late Tā Hirini Moko-Mead. For her and her family, the occasion was a deeply personal part of the grieving process, intertwined with the wider celebration of Tā Māui Pōmare.
“We came to bring the kawemate of my father here to Te Atiawa but also in celebration of Maui pōmare day as part of the hononga between Ngāti Awa and Te Atiawa and continuing that practice thats why we came,” Linda shared.
Reflecting on the raw emotions of losing her father, she noted the significance of the communal support at the marae:
“I guess its still raw for us but its good to hear again peoples stories about him to understand the impact that he made but also to share wih others because there were other kawemate our sadness with others so thats a good part of the process of grieving.”.