FINE MAORI PASSES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 64, 27 February 1935, Page 7

FINE MAORI PASSES

His Last Impressive Appeal : DEATH OF MARE NEPE Large Gathering at Funeral The largest Maori gathering for many years took place yesterday at j \\ aipawu Pa, when the mortal remains of a fine Maori lad, Mare Nepe, were | placed by the side of his chieftain fore- ' baurs in the church cemetery at the | Maori settlement. I The deceased, who was the son of Mrs. Hakiwai, was in his 21st year, and gave Hue promise of becoming a useful leader of his people. He came of high rack on both his late father and ’ mother's side, and in addition to his rangatira blood, he had the characteristics of leadership. Unfortunately, he was weak in the lungs, and although I he spent some months at the Pukeora ■Sanatorium, where everything was , done to restore him to Health, he was I brought home to Waipawa a fortnight ago, and passed away peacefully on i Saturday morning. | His last few days were remarkable ! for the strong appeals he made to his I people to return to the church. So earnest were his appeals that several .of his nearest relations responded, | being unable to withstand any longe, | the spiritual force of his arguments, i He also sent sympathetic messages to i many' of his friends far and near. He j was particularly drawn towards the j Omafiu and Waipatu and Kohupatiki j Choirs. He gave explicit instructions I about the funeral arrangements and that his body should be taken into the church before being placed in its final I resting place. The funeral arrangements were car- ■ ried out just as he would have wished. The “marae" (courtyard) was under , the supervision of a fine local commitI tee under the leadership of Mr. Stewart I Meha, while the funeral part was I supervised by Messrs. P. H. Tomoana, Hori Tupaea, Ike Robin, and Others. i The burial service was conducted by the Right Rev. the Bishop of Aotearoa, assisted by the Rev. P. Hakiwai, anti the Rev. W. Moana, the vicar of the pastorate. The hymns were sung by the Waipatu-Kohupatiki Choir under the leadership of their conductor, Miss MeHutcheon. The choir also sang as an anthem “The Lost Chord.” The Bishop gave a Maori address in the marae, and spoke in English at the grave side, referring to the many remarkable qualities of deceased that stand out as both an example to all who know him, and as a cause for j thanksgiving to God for the victorious i life of deceased. | There were close on a thousand i people present at the funeral, almost every settlement in Hawke’s Bay' being ; represented.