Hohepa Kanara

Te Ao Hou, June 1967, Page 2

Hohepa Kanara Almost the last of the grand old men of the Aupouri Tribe, still resident at Te Kao, Mr Hohepa Kanara (Joseph Konrad) died on 26 February. He was a link not only with the tribal days of the past but with New Zealand Pakeha and European history, for he was descended from a Colonel of the Prussian Army who fought at Waterloo, and his grandfather, Joseph Konrad, a draughtsman, who was born in Poland, came to New Zealand and was captain of Militia during the Taranaki campaigns in the Maori War. Mr Kanara began his schooling at Kaitaia and was later sent to Auckland and apprenticed to the blacksmithing and wheelwright firm of Jones and Power for whom he worked for two years. Then he ran away to sea, first serving for two years as a cabin boy, then carting sulphur from White Island, and afterwards in sailing vessels engaged in the timber trade to Australia. He continued his education until he was 17 and after a year and a half on the Australian run gained his third mate's certificate and joined the Government vessel Hinemoa, making many voyages from New Zealand to the Islands and Australian ports. Mr Kanara enlisted for the Boer War, but his contingent arrived after hostilities ended. Sometime after 1903 he left the sea and after a variety of jobs took up about 45 years ago a big block of land near Te Kao and worked to break it in from the teatree and scrub that covered it. He ran a butchery and bullock

teams, and had a launch. In these years he gained a deep knowledge of the land, coastline and sea, and learned much history and many genealogies. This knowledge was sought by many in his last days, and he told visitors their family history and descent. He also gave much information that could be of use to the Lands and Survey Department in their development of Te Paki Station and other parts of the far north, for their announced policy is to respect historic sites, and he located many on a survey map. Through his Taranaki ancestry Mr Kanara was related to many leading figures in Maoridom including Sir Maui Pomare and Te Rangi Hiroa (Sir Peter Buck). He leaves a son and three daughters: Mr Fred Konrad, Te Kao; Mrs Agnes Tahitahi, Waihopo; Mrs Liza Tahitahi, Auckland; and Mrs Bella Melville, Thames. His tangi was attended by visitors from New Plymouth, Rotorua, Thames, Auckland and all over Northland. The funeral was conducted by the Revd Waha Tauhara at the family cemetery at Te Kao.