A GIFTED MAORI

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1953, Page 11

A GIFTED MAORI Mohi Turei was noted for his eloquence. He became a great preacher and often visited other tribes. He was a master of the Maori language, which he used to the best advantage. He was a disciple of the expert Pita Kopiti, of the Tapere-nui-a-Whatonga school. He composed hakas, of which one or two have become classics. During the fifteen years he was confined to his bed he contributed largely to the Maori journal, Te Pipiwharauroa. His masterpiece is undoubtedly his article on the great Ngati-Porou chief, Tuwhakairiora. He wrote also an excellent account of the Tokaakuku campaign in the Bay of Plenty. I have never forgotten his recital of the tau manu. He led a party, carrying a number of calabashes, full of preserved pigeons while he recited the tau manu. I have never heard the like of it since. Mohi Turei was also a carver. He helped to carve the two whares, Hinewaiapu and Tuwhakairiora. Mohi Turei had five children by his second wife, Kararaina, of whom only Teki, a dairy farmer at Cape Runaway, survives. Ngarangi died some years ago. For many years, before her marriage to Lieut. Henare Kohere, she was a schoolteacher. Paaka died recently. He worked most of his life in the Maori Land Court. Paraone, a clergyman, died not long after his ordination. Peta, who took part in the First World War, died some years ago. Ngarangi had three children. Huinga (Mrs George Nepia) followed in her mother's footsteps by becoming a teacher. Her husband looks after her dairy farm at Rangituka. Rina (Mrs Hawea Swan) lives in Gisborne. Hiki, who won his commission in the last war, is a carpenter at Gisborne. Mrs Swan has a large family. Mrs J. Parata, Te Kaha, Bay of Plenty, is a dental nurse, and her brother, Henare, is a teacher at Tokomaru Bay. It is reckoned Mohi Turei died at the age of 81. He was buried in the Okaroro cemetery, Hahau. His daughter, Waioka, at her last wish, was buried at the tribal cemetery, Taumata Pakihore, on the Kautuku block in 1930, despite the fact that her father failed to recover the cemetery. She wished to be buried alongside her forbears.