HOANI WAITITI MEMORIAL MARAE

Kaea, Issue 4, 1 September 1980, Page 12

HOANI WAITITI MEMORIAL MARAE

Pictures from the opening by Ken George

Happily, the opening of a new marae is not such an unusual event these days. But in recent months there have been two openings of special significance. Both in our largest cities, these marae are avowedly multi-tribal even multicultural. Each was the triumphant result of years of planning and fund-raising, each was marked by tremendous support from the various tribes of Maoridom, and that support was honoured by lavish hospitality. For many thousands of people, the hui to mark the opening of the Hoani Waititi Marae in Te Atatu, Auckland, and Ngati Poneke’s Pipitea Pa in the heart of Wellington City, will be remembered for years to come.

It has been said that one picture is worth a thousand words. So on the following pages we offer you several thousand words’ worth of photographs from these two hui. Ken George took the pictures, and they enable those who attended to relive the occasions. For those who were unable to be there, here are some tantalising glimpses of what you missed.

The Hoani Waititi Memorial Marae opening has already passed into legend. No one knows exactly how many people were there, but estimates range from 14,000 to 20,000 —half the total Maori population as it stood at the beginning of this century. But the precise figures don’t matter so much as the fact that people came, and in huge numbers, from the Auckland region and from all over the country. Few went away disappointed.

Situated among playing fields and open country, the marae has a distinctly rural feel. But it exists to serve the largest Polynesian city in the world, and it is only a few miles away from the heart of Auckland, at Te Atatu.

The marae is named in commemoration of the late Hoani Waititi, celebrated educator and leader from Te Whanau a Apanui, and even before the whare whakairo was begun, the wharekai (completed five years ago) was being used to further the kinds of activities for which Hoani Waititi had worked so hard: educational activities for children and their teachers; cultural activities, including language teaching; and welfare and community development work.

Inevitably, this last sphere of community involvement has meant that the marae is under pressure from nonMaori goups, but it is nevertheless one of the stated aims of the marae committee, chaired by Dr Peter Sharpies, “to provide an institution for which rules are totally Maori and thereby contribute meaningfully to New Zealand’s multicultural society, sharing with non-Maori folk the positive aspects of Maoridom’’.

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