FUNERAL ORATION

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1954, Page 41

FUNERAL ORATION by Pei te Hurinui Jones At Okoki Pa before the service for the interment of the ashes of Sir Peter Buck (Te Rangihiroa) and the unveiling of the Memorial on Sunday, 8th August, 1954. Ki te reo o matou tupuna, ko Te Rangihiroa kua hokimai inaianei ki tona u-kai-po. Ko Te Rangihiroa kua noho tahi i tenei wa ki ona matua me ona hoa i roto i te wharekura i Matangi-reia i te Rangi Tua-ngahuru-marua o ona tupuna onamata. I a ia ka noho tahi ki a Timi Kara, ki a Maui Pomare, ki a Apirana Ngata me nga kai-arahi o te Iwi i ona ra he roa nga korero e korero ai a Te Rangihiroa. I roto i te wharerunanga o Io, i te marae o Te Rauroha; ara i roto i Whakamoe-ariki i Tikitiki-o-rangi he maha nga po e kore e moea i te korerotanga i tuhia ai e ia ki nga tuhi ataahua hei mea whakahirahira i roto i nga korero nunui o nga iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Kua tohungia tenei ra hei ra i whakatapua hei ra whai tikanga hoki i roto o nga tau whakamiharo, i nga tau whai hua, i nga tau whai kororia o Ta Te Rangihiroa. Na tenei ra i kawe mai ki te tuunga waewae o nga tupuna i Okoki nei nga tangata nunui o te Motu, a he honore nui he tohu whakatiketike hoki te taenga mai ki waenganui i a tatou o Te Kawana-Tianara ki te hura i te tohu i peka ke nei tona ahua me ona tohu whakamaharatanga e tu nei i tenei waahi ka tokoto nei nga pungarehu o tenei tangata rongonui. Kei te hoki i tenei wa nei o matou whakaaro mo Te Rangihiroa i tapae ake ai, i roto i nga honore huhua, i te taonga kanapanapa ara i te uru ona hei tangata tuturu i raro i nga ture o Amerika, puritia ana e ia a tae noa te mutunga ko tona piripono ki raro i te Karauna o Ingarangi. No reira ra matou e ora nei o matou ngakau ki te Kawana-Tianara mona i homai nei i te tohu whakanui ki te Iwi Maori me to ratou aitua nui a takoto nei, i a ia kua taemai nei i tenei ra hei mangai mo Kuini Irihapeti te Tuarua, te kuini manaaki e whakamoemititia nei. Ko nga whanaunga o Te Rangihiroa o roto i a Ngati Mutunga kua mama nga whakaaro kei te ora hoki nga ngakau ki tenei whakaminenga i hui mai nei i te mea ka riro mai ki o ratou ringa nga parapara tapu o tenei o ratou i whakawhiwhia nei ki nga honore maha a i whakanuia hoki e nga iwi nunui o te ao. I taurite ra ki ona ahuatanga i a Te Rangihiroa e ora ana i te mea kua hui mai nei nga mangai o nga iwi e rua ki tona toma ki te ata whakatakoto i ona pungarehu ki te taha i ona ake iwi o Ngati Mutunga i runga o Okoki In the words of our ancestors our kinsman, Te Rangihiroa, has returned to his u kai po, the breast which sustained and comforted him in the fretful night hours of his infancy. Te Rangihiroa is gathered to his fathers and with his comrades in Matangi-reia, the Temple of Fragrant Breezes, in the Twelfth Heaven of his Polynesian Valhalla. In the company of Timi Kara, Maui Pomare, Apirana Ngata and other contemporary leaders of the Race, Te Rangihiroa will have a long tale to tell. In the guest-house of Io, the Supreme Being, on the marae, the couryard of Te Rauroha, the Limitless Bounds of Space; in Whakamoe-ariki, the Sleeping-place of High Chiefs, in Tikitiki-o-rangi, the Topmost Heaven, many a night will pass unheeded as the story is told of a full rich life, which painted in brilliant colours and added lustre to the story of the peoples of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa—the Great Ocean of Kiwa. This day marks a solemn and memorable occasion in the remarkable, eventful, and brilliant career of Sir Peter Buck. It has brought to the historic soil of Okoki the great ones of the land, and it is a great honour and the highest form of tribute to have His Excellency the Governor-General with us to unveil the unique and symbolic memorial which will mark the last resting-place of the ashes of a great man. We recall at this moment the fact that Te Rangihiroa could have had, among other honours, the glittering prize of United States citizenship, but he chose to remain to the end a loyal subject of the British Crown. We are, therefore, most grateful to His Excellency for honouring the Maori people and their illustrious dead by his presence here today as the representative of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. The Ngati Mutunga kinsmen of Te Rangihiroa are comforted and acknowledge with a thankful heart the gathering here at this hour to receive the mortal remains of one of their own who was showered with honours and received the plaudits of the great peoples of the world. It is in keeping with the life of Te Rangihiroa that representatives of both races should be gathered by his tomb to reverently place his ashes alongside his Ngati Mutunga tribespeople on Okoki—a place for ever hallowed in the stirring history of the Tokomaru

nei … he waahi hoki tenei kua whakatapuria i roto i nga korero nunui o Tokomaru me Tainui. I te mea kua riro nei tenei tangata nui kua puare he whawharua e kore nei e mama te whakaki e matou. Ko nga whanaunga o Te Rangihiroa o roto i a Ngati Mutunga e ora ana nga ngakau i a ratou ka hui tahi ki nga iwi maha ki te whakaputa i te mihi mo te mahi rangatira i tutuki nei i te Honore Kopata, Minita mo nga Mea Maori, i te whakahokinga mai ki Aotearoa a tae rawa mai ki Okoki nei nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa; a ma roto i a ia, i te Minita, a matou whakamihi ki te Kawanatanga mo te katoa o nga whakaritenga nana i whakatutuki. He puna no te ngakau harinui he mea hoki e mama ai te pouritanga nui ki a Ngati Mutunga i te mea kua hui mai tenei whakaminenga ki te mihi ki tona aitua, a kei runga i te ngakau humarie te whakamihi atu mo nga whakanui mona i aroha nuitia nei e matou. Mo te taha ki a Tainui me ona iwi kua taemai ra nga kaumatua me nga whanaunga o Kingi Koroki ki konei ki te tuku i nga pepeha e rite ana mo tenei aitu a ki nga hapu o roto i Taranaki me nga iwi o te waka o Aotea, koinei nei nga iwi i panui ai a Te Rangihiroa ki te ao katoa, i runga i tona ngakau hari, he iwi tuturu nona. Kei te whakakotahi atu hoki a Tainui ki o ratou whanaunga o Ngati Mutunga ki te whakaputa i te kupu mihi mo te whakahokinga mai i nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa. Kei te tukua atu a matou mihi ki te Kawana-Tianara Ta Wiropi Nori, ki te Honore Kopata, ki te Pihopa o Aotearoa, Ki nga Mema o te Paremata, ki nga tangata whakahaere tikanga nunui, o te matauranga hohonu, o te akoranga hohonu, o te whakairo korero a-tuhituhi o tenei motu whiti atu ki nga whenua o tawahi, na ratou i roto i nga ra ka pahemo ake nei a taemai hoki ki tenei ra i whakaputa nga kupu mihi nunui mo Ta Te Rangihiroa. Kei te tuku atu hoki matou i te mihi ki nga tangata whakaaro rangatira, ngakau aroha hoki i manaaki ai i a Te Rangihiroa i roto i nga tau i hua mai ai i roto i tona hinengaro etehi o ana mahi nunui i a ia e noho ana he tino manuhiri ki roto i tera iwi mana nui ki Amerika. Nga tangata katoa i mohio i noho tahi hoki i a Ta Te Rangihiroa i pupu ake he ngakau whakamiharo mona me te whakaae he tangata nui a ia. Ratou katoa i riro i runga i te ngakau hari mo tona manahau me nga mahi whakamiharo i tutuki i a ia, a ko matou o te whakatupuranga tamariki iho i tino whakaaro nui a i aroha tuturu hoki ki a ia, e kore nei e taea e au te korero i tenei ra. Kei te maumahara hoki matou i tenei haora nei mo tona hoa wahine mo Reiri Pakaa a ki and Tainui peoples. The passing of this great man has left a gap which we shall not easily fill. The Ngati Mutunga kinsmen of Te Rangihiroa gratefully join the several tribes in expressing their gratitude for the part played by the Honourable Mr Corbett, Minister of Maori Affairs, in bringing back to Aotearoa and to Okoki the ashes of Te Rangihiroa; and, through him, we thank the Government for all it has done. It is a source of pride and much comfort to Ngati Mutunga to share with all those gathered here their bereavement, and to acknowledge in all humility the high tribute paid to one they loved most dearly. On behalf of the Tainui and associated tribes, the elders and members of the family of King Koroki are here to extend their condolences to the tribes of Taranaki and the people of the Aotea Canoe whom Te Rangihiroa was proud to proclaim to all the world as his own people. They also join their Ngati Mutunga kinsmen in expressing gratitude for the return of Te Rangihiroa's ashes. Our thanks are given to His Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Willoughby Norrie, the Honourable Mr Corbett, His Lordship the Bishop of Aotearoa, Members of Parliament, leading men of affairs, of science, of scholarship, and of letters of this country and from overseas who have at various times and today paid tribute to the memory of Sir Peter Buck. We render thanks, too, to those fine and generous-hearted people who befriended Te Rangihiroa during some of the most creative years of his life whilst he was an honoured guest of that mighty nation, the United States of America. All who came in contact with Sir Peter conceived an admiration for him as a great man. All felt the utmost pride in his inspiring character and wonderful achievements, and we of the younger generation had a presonal regard and affection for him which I must say is beyond my power to express today. We remember, too, at this hour Lady Buck, and we feel that the manner in which the last tributes and rites have been rendered to her husband's memory will comfort her—she who shared life's joys and sorrows with Peter through the years. To Margaret we say, Aroha nui. Te Rangihiroa's ashes are being laid to rest with befitting ritual and ceremony with the sun past its meridian and on its way to sink beyond the Tides of Kupe, off Okoki, just as he wished it to be. And I will conclude, in the time-honoured manner of our people, with some lines of a famous lament:— My ornamental greenstone pendant,

te whakaaro iho ko nga ahuatanga o te whakanui me nga whakahaere tapu mo tona hoa tane e whakatutukiria nei ka meinga hei mea e mama ai te pouritanga nui i a ia—ko ia nei hoki ra te mea i whai waahi i roto i nga koanga ngakau me nga wa i pouri ai raua ko Pita i roto i nga tau maha. No reira ki a Makareti ka tuku atu matou i te aroha nui. Ko nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa ka tukua ki te waahi e takoto ai i te wa kua titaha nei te ra i tona poutu-marotanga, a taro ake nei whakangaro atu ai ki tua o nga Tai a Kupe i waho o Okoki, ka rite pu ai ki tana i hiahia ai. No reira hei mutunga iho, i runga ano i nga tikanga nunui o mua mai a nga tupuna, ka whakahuatia ake enei kupu no roto i tetehi o nga tino tangi apakura:— Taku tiki pounamu Ko te huanga anake; Taku koko tangiwai Ka motu i te taringa; Taku rake tihau-ora Nau i tamoe. Moe mai, e Pa, i runga o Aotea Utaina atu koe Ki te waka rangaranga. Ngaro noa ra te rau o Te Rokuowhiti, I tokotokona ai e koe ki mamao. Kia tika, e Pa, i te harakeke tapu I te Uru-o-te-ahu, I runga o Taniko. Ki to tupuna ra, Kia tungia koe te whare o Uenuku; Kia horahia iho ki te takapau kura Ki te pu tahi Kia Rehua na ii. Alas, we but saw thee as in a dream; My treasured eardrop of translucent jade Cruelly torn from off my ear; My grove of shady sheltering trees Death hath ruthlessly trampled underfoot. Sleep on, O Sir, on Aotea; From here thou art being borne afar off On a forlorn and drifting canoe. The shimmering blade of Te Rokuowhiti No more will flash afar. Proceed, O Sir, and pluck the sacred leaf That grows on Te Uruoteahu, High up there on Taniko. Go thence to meet your ancestor, Until you stand in the house of Uenuku. They will spread for you the sacred red cloak, And you will abide there with the exalted ones In the far-flung realms of Rehua. Addresing His Lordship the Bishop of Aotearoa:— E te Pihopa me o minita, tenei ra ka tukua atu nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa, i puta mai nei i te ahi-parapara tapu, ki o koutou ringa. Ki te reo o nga tupuna ma koutou hei whakatakoto ‘Ki te urunga te taka; ki te moenga te whakaarahia.’ (To you, O Bishop, and your clergy, we now reverently commit the ashes of Te Rangihiroa, brought forth from the sacred and purificatory ritual fires. In the words of our ancestors you are to place them on ‘The pillow which will not fall; and on the couch from which there is no rising.’)