Pukepoto

Transcription

On leaving his birth place, a new home was made. Meet Joe O'Connor. An elder who descends from the Tainui canoe. For a while now, he has lived amongst his wife's relations of Pukepoto and Te Rarawa. A person who is taught at home will stand collected on the marae. This is his greatest hope for his children and grandchildren to uphold in the future. We first met in 1968. She brought me back here to meet her mum and her family. She was also working at the Whenuapai Airbase. Maybe it was a fluke that we met. But I saw this beautiful flower sitting on the other side of the room. I thought to myself, maybe there was a partner for me here. That's when we knew we would eventually marry. We married in 1970. Our first set of twins arrived, then our second set of twins and then the many tears that followed. My son, taken by Tangaroa. A tragic drowning. In the early days, I was very close with my wife's parents who were alive at that time. Te Uri o Hina is the marae. Te Uri o Hina is the sub-tribe. The main speaker for this place was 'Papa'. His name was Hapi Puhipi. When we were growing up here in Pukepoto, our elders didn't want to tell us about our tribal affiliations. They didn't really explain those things to us, because they didn't want us to come to any harm carrying that knowledge. When my mate here came to stay when we were young, that was when our Granny Moera gave us the responsibility to sit upon this prestigious seat. At that time, we were still quite young, running away and courting future partners. We didn't think about these duties. There are three main mountains here. 'Taumata Mahoe' and its many stories. 'Kokohuia', the food pantry of Poroa. 'Kokorimuka' is the shelter. This place was also known as Huria. That name comes from the Scriptures. The sub-tribes here are Ngati Te Ao, Te Tahawai and Te Uri o Hina. Genealogy is sacred to me. I descend from Uerata. I was brought up by my grandmother, Mihitaurangi. I was about 6 or 7 years old when she died. On that side, I descend from my ancestor, Kahu Ruruhi from the Taranaki area. I also have links to Ngati Maniapoto. Uerata descends from Ngati Mahuta. Mihitaurangi descends from Ngati Kiriwai. That's the long and short of it. My dad is of European descent. My ancestor was brought from Ireland to Australia on a boat with shackles around his feet. My dad worked in the rock quarry in Kawhia. He owned four rock quarries. In those days he serviced the roads from Kawhia to Te Kuiti to Otorohanga. He also worked as a fisherman. He fished for the families and also sold his catch. That's what he did. When I was 7 years old my dad died. He drowned. He drank too much whiskey and fell overboard on returning from a rugby game at Kinohaku. That incident happened after my grandmother died. Pirongia is the mountain, Kawhia is the harbour, Tainui is the canoe, Maniapoto is the chief, Ngati Maniapoto is the tribe, Ngati Mahuta and Ngati Kiriwai are my sub-tribes. Here I am today sitting here with one foot in our Maori world and one foot in the European world. But in my heart, it is my Maori world guiding me in all that I do. I was born at Oparau. We moved to Te Kauri. My mum was staying there with my Aunty Hemotitaha. My grandmother requested my mum to return to her side. She stayed there. As I said, I was 6 or 7 years old when my grandmother died. There were 23 children in my mum's family. She was a nurse. She helped birth her sisters' and aunties' babies. She would massage their aches and pains, and made them well. She had three partners. Her first husband was Wiremu Taukiri. They produced one child. She met my dad and had myself and my sister, Mere. Those are all the children she had. I lived with my mum for a while. My Uncle Homai died. When we got back to our homestead at Mokoroa, and the funeral finished, my Uncle Ikimoki requested that I go live with him and work for him. Back then, the stick was used many times on me after my mum had left with her new husband, Turangarau Martin. He took my mother to live in Rakaunui at Rotopupu. My first job was milking cows. I was 7 years old. I wasn't brought up like their own children. I was brought up like a slave. If things were wrong, I was beaten. In those days, my uncle would never leave me at home. When he went to a meeting at the marae, we all went. The whole family would attend the occasion. When all the other children went outside to play, I had to stay inside and sit at their ankles. When I was being beaten, that's what I thought. That maybe this was another form of punishment. I didn't know what the old people were saying as I was only a child. I was only 7 years old and I didn't understand a thing. By the time I was 10 years old, the work got harder. Erecting fences, clearing manuka, pulling out ragwort and digging drains, all that type of work. When I turned 15, I wasn't really going to school. I'd maybe go one day a week. My last beating was with a supplejack vine. The wounds would open and salt was rubbed in as added discipline. That was it. I no longer wanted to stay in that home. I prepared myself to run away at 1am in the morning. I hit the road in the dark. I was scared on the road so I went to my uncle's place. He was also our school bus driver. He was the one who said, "You're going to see the policeman." But the policeman said to take me back to my mum who was living in Rakaunui. So I was taken back there. They wanted me to have a future in either the Army, Air Force or Navy. I really liked aeroplanes. I lived and worked on Turangarau's farm. There was heaps of work to do on that farm. He looked after me well. I felt sorry for him and my mum because there wasn't much money in those days. If the wool sold, only then would they make money. I thought I'd better find me a job. One of my step-brothers arrived and we both left to find work together. We moved to Hiona Marae at Ngutunui and stayed with Aunty Rangi for a couple of weeks. Then we went to find work. We went to the Horotiu Freezing Works, but I couldn't work there because I was too young. But when I returned to Te Awamutu there was a message for me that I had a job in Taupo. I worked in forestry there for eight months. After eight months I had arrived at the correct age to enter the Air Force. Once I got in I stayed for a long time. Fourteen years in that job. It was in those years I met my wife. Due to the increasing size of our family and the low wages I was getting from my job, we moved to Tokoroa. There was a lot of money to be made there. For nearly 18 years we lived there. I worked at the mill for 12 years. Then I changed jobs and went to work in the Corrections Department. I was a warden there for the Probation Detention Unit. I spent three and a half years there. My wife had already moved home here. We got this house. We returned our children and our adopted children here to live. I stayed in Tokoroa continuing my employment. I saw the job here and I thought about all the skills I had learnt and how I could transfer those skills from working in Tokoroa and also in Auckland at Forest Products. My transfer was successful. Te Rarawa welcomes us. So too does the courtyard of our ancestors. Anything to do with Pukepoto links here. Yes, and this is where you two were married. When I was 27 years old, my mate Dicky and I were asked to sit on the orator's bench as all the elders had returned home for their morning bath. A group from Te Aupouri came onto the marae. There was no one to welcome them. My mate and I were asked to come. We were the cooks. We came up to the front. We felt comfortable sitting on the orator's bench. My mate stood to welcome the group from Te Aupouri. Then, the old man from the visiting group stood. He said to us, "That's enough, don't belittle us!" "You are only children. "Get at the back and wash your pots and peel the potatoes." My mate got scared and went out the back. But, I thought this is very sacred practise. So I stood. I said, "To you, my esteemed guests have compassion on me." "If we are to return to our traditions "and look at the practise "of welcoming visitors onto the marae, "to remove the sacredness of the welcome, "then it is appropriate that we sit here "because our elders have all returned home." "Therefore, I stand here "and I welcome you all." "If my words are wrong, "I will return to my elders to correct me." "But just now, "you didn't hear our words of welcome." "You only looked at our skin colour and our age." "So, welcome, welcome into your marae". I hadn't yet finished my speech when the old man stood and said to me, "Young man, you are correct." "We were wrong. We are sorry." "Don't let this incident burden you in days to come." It was then, as I was preparing to return out back when I saw the elders of the marae sitting in the corner of the veranda outside. One of them signalled to me to go and sit with them. It was Uncle Jimmy Davis. They had entered the marae, Uncle Jimmy Davis, Papa Hapi Puhipi, Vivian Gregory and Puni Makene. They came inside the house and said to me, "Young lad, we've got something to share with you. "We've had a chat outside. "There will come a day "when an orator's staff will be carved for you." "This will signify your position amongst us." The name of this staff is Ihiihikiterangi, representing Tainui, Mamari, Mamaru, Tinana, Ngatokimatawhaorua. It was blessed by Kingi Ihaka and given to me. In the old days there was one chief whose word was law. All the tribe and sub-tribes would listen and adhere. Nowadays, that's not the case, it's looked at differently. There is a selection process for elders and then it's passed down the generations. There's no single leader left to guide and show the people the way. Everyone's a leader. 'Houhou te Rongo' comes from a proverb from Poroa. Derived from the war between Poroa and Te Rauparaha. At that time, they were fighting and becoming weak from fighting. Standing face to face, one said to the other, "Strike me with your club." The other one said, "No, you strike me with your club." Poroa said, "This is my club." Their clubs touched one another. It was then said, "I have peace within me, "let it cross over to you and I will instil it in my people." That's the name of this house, Hohou te Rongo. Moving down to our ancestress, Ngamotu. She is an ancestress in the geneology who descends from Tarutaru. She had many children. One of them was Te Ruakuru. Te Ruakuru begat the ancestor behind me, Puhipi Te Ripi, the beginning of the Puhipi line. Returning to Tarutaru. Before he died, he said to his people, "My people, my family. "Reference my white hair as a name for our sub-tribe." That's how the name, Te Uri o Hina came to be. Come and talk about the mats hanging here on the walls. So, sister, tell us a little bit about these mats. I must acknowledge two old women from Pukepoto. They taught me how to make these beautiful creations. They were Totty Robson and Martha Te Maru. We started making these mats in 1993. We are very lucky to have been graced with these treasures in our marae. That's the oldest house here. That's the Dominion Hall. I remember when Cyclone Bola hit. It lifted the house and flipped it and smashed it on the ground. The committee is talking about moving this house up the front to restore the life force of the house. When this marae was established there were only a few elders involved. It was built to help, to foster compassion amongst the families, to unite the families. The elders made sure to lift the sacredness of our customs to keep the descendants safe. The chiefs we have here are Hekenukumai Puhipi and Uncle Mika Robson, there are many of them. There is not many of us doing the work. The elders are still looking at what the youth are doing today and are still yet to pass on the mantle. However we need to continue working on the issues. We need to talk about those issues and find a solution, and then all our relations will be called upon. Here I stand on Te Kohanga, here in Ahipara. There lies Te Oneroa a Tohe all the way up to Te Reinga. To the ancestors, the elders who have passed on, I thank you all at this time. To my relations, I thank you all. To the many orators and supporters in my life. You are all at the forefront of my thoughts. May God continue to bless you all with good health, strength and understanding. Taranaki is the mountain and my name is Doreen Ngawai Erueti. Taranaki is also my tribe. Those are the things that were taught to me. To be good and never turn your back on anyone. To watch previous Waka Huia episodes, visit our website.