Taranaki has marked the close of a 96-year chapter as the community gathered to honour the Taranaki Māori Trust Board. The event served as a space for reflection and connection, as whānau came together to pay tribute to the pillars of the past while looking toward the future of leadership in the region.
For many, the evening was deeply personal. Aroha Heremaia, a mokopuna of former trustee Hoani Pokai Atua Heremaia, attended to celebrate the kaupapa and honour her grandfather’s contributions.
“I have been in kōrero and karakia all week and to be honest kare on this trip home, this trip I felt like my car was full and I had our tupuna travel with me,” Aroha said.
“He was born in the essence of Taranaki, all of the mātauranga and stories that I have and what he imparted with our whānau, Ngāti Tupito, Ngāti Hine, was from his teaching,” she said.
“It feels like an inevitable change towards the future because we now have foundation with the Runanga and the Iwi. It is time for the guard to change, but what I most appreciate is the way in which it’s being honoured and the legacies can be remembered through this event this evening”.
Former Taranaki Māori Trust Board secretary Jillian Thorpe also attended, reflecting on the emotional weight of the transition. Describing her feelings about the closure, Thorpe admitted, “Oh. Makes me feel a bit mokemoke but it’s arrived, you know, it’s here”.
Walking through the exhibition, the memories were vivid for Thorpe. “Oh it brings up a lot of memories, yeah. But a lot of memories, just a lot of the people in the photos, you know I remember the trust board emblem that’s over there.”
Te Tōpuni Ngarahu me te Anamata
I te mutunga o te hītori o te Taratī Poari Māori o Taranaki, ka huri te aro ki te anamata. I raro i te Ture mō Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress, kua ara ake a Te Tōpuni Ngarahu hei rōpū whakakotahi i ngā iwi e waru o Taranaki, ki te kawe i te tohu o te kōtahitanga ki te pae tawhiti.
I te kōrero a Wharehoka Wano o Te Tōpuni Ngarahu mō te hiranga o tēnei wā, i whakamihi ia ki te hītori o te poari taratī me te whakaae ki te huringa o te wā. “Ko tata kotahi rau kua tū tō tātou taratī Māori o Taranaki, Taranaki Māori Trust Board, te tau kotahi mano iwa rau toru tekau i rewa, ēngari kua whakamoea nō reira ka tika me whakamihia i ngā kaupapa nui kua kawe i a ia i roto i ngā iwa tekau mā ono tau,” hei tā Wharehoka.
“Me whakamihia ki a ia he pou i au e tamariki ana, kua pou katoa tērā koroheke, tana reo kokiri i ngā iwi o Te Tonga, tātou o Taranaki Maunga. No reira ko tāku e whakamihi nei ki tērā mōmō ko ngā rangatira o ngā iwi i roto i ngā kotahi rau tau kua kokiri kua whakahaeretia nei ngā kaupapa mō tātou o Te Maunga”.
I titiro whakamua a Wano ki te hanganga hou, me te whakapono ka mau tonu te mauri o te poari o mua ki ngā mahi a te hinonga hou. “Kua whakamoea te tarati Māori o Taranaki, ka ara ake a Te Tōpuni Ngarahu ko ana kokiritanga ka kawe tonu te mauri o te Taranaki Māori Trust Board i roto i ngā tau kei mua i te aroaro”.
I te katinga o āna kōrero, i whakanuia e Wano te hiranga o te maumahara i tēnei wā hou: “Ka tika ki a kore warewaretia ngā mahi o tēnei poari Taranaki Māori Trust board me ngā kaupapa o te āpopo, mā tērā kaupapa e tarati arahi i a tātou”.