Te Hira... Shepherd and warrior of the Heart

Tu Tangata, Issue 36, 1 June 1987, Page 40

Te Hira. . . Shepherd and warrior of the Heart

na Cliff Hughes (formerly Cliff Drown)

KUPU WHAKA M I H I

His grin is as wide as the sleeping giant of old Te Mata, Havelock North, who guards the skyline as he guards his secret. But the giant is stirring, whakapapa and mokopuna, kua whati te mata o te tai and if the tide has not fully turned, Te Hira says it’s turning. In a world that yearns for aroha and for human recognition, and there just ain’t enough always to go around, Te Hira has heaps. Te Hira (“Thie Chief’) Mura Nathan Nat when he shakes your hand, and when the chips are falling.

Te Hira Mura Nathan Ngapuhi, of paternal and maternal Ngapuhi was born in Takahiwai, eight miles south of Whangarei. He moved to Whangarei, took a plumber’s course, “got itchy feet two months before the five-year course finished”, and moved to Taumarunui National Park timber mills, tailing out and stacking for about nine years. He landed in Hawke’s Bay in 1952, and in 1952-53 met Haroma Hilda, the lady who was to become his wife. In 1953 he worked at Te Hauke as shearer and farm worker, and has been in Hastings 13 years. “My father died when I was five. Te Hira Niha, a nephew to my father, chose my name, ‘The Chief, for me. Te Hira Niha, since my father’s death, virtually brought me up.”

“My wife has been secretary of the Heretaunga Wardens’ Association for two years, and secretary of Kohanga Reo O Heretaunga five years. Her father was George Rongomai Kara Carroll, from Masterton. Her mother was Pohe Hapi from Bridge Pa. Her tribe is Kahungunu on both sides. We have 13 children, the youngest is 11, the eldest 32. “Caroll? Any relation to Sir Turi? “Same crowd,” says Nat. Te Hira: “In 1979 I started the Flaxmere and District Maori Committee. I was the chairman. Flaxmere was a new urban area of Hastings.

“In 1982-83 we approached the Hastings City Council for a portion of Chatham Park so we could erect an urban marae. “We received favourable response sanction in principle. “Then came a barrage of objections.” “Objections were mainly against use of part of the park for a marae. Plus the wailing noise during a tangi. As committee chairman I assured objectors we would apply for any permit necessary. Te Hira hands me a newspaper cutting with an artist’s impression of the proposed marae on the north-eastern corner of Chatham Park. The drawing shows, at left, a meeting house and ablution block; centre, community hall and kitchen; right club rooms for three sports organisations. The then secretary of Te Aranga O Heretaunga Maori Committee, Mr Graham Stubbs, said planners had to compromise between Maori and non-Maori. The plan cut across tradition yet tried to retain traditional aspects as much as possible

where a building is shared by the community. “It should be a place to be shared by the whole community, regardless of race or creed,” said Mr Stubbs. Hughes: And then? Te Hira: The Maori people didn’t know how to follow through and I withdrew for health reasons. I now have one kidney. My son, Barry, has the other. The kidney transplant occurred on Barry’s 21st birthday. We received a lot of publicity at the time. Hughes: And Barry? He’s a box of birds? That grin again. The mouth opens wide. No sound. Just that big grin. Then: “Thriving. “Barry is 27 now with three children. They all arrived after the transplant. I reckon “(here comes that grin again, no Te Hira is laughing now like

it’s been under wraps and now it’s coming right back into fashion in buckets) “I reckon, he repeats, Barry’s got my drinking kidney.” The midnight to 3 a.m. shift. Operation: Friendship, rain, hail, wind, cold or heat. Maori Wardens are there. “I started the night patrol in March this year because the police were picking up children on our streets after midnight. “Our Wardens patrol the Hastings, Havelock North, Flaxmere circuit. Seven nights a week,” says Te Hira. “We find between one and 20 children roaming the streets each night after midnight. “Ages range from 11 to 17 years. We drive them home where they and we and their parents can hope they will be safe. “Last night my home phone was red hot after the Hawke’s Bay HeraldTribune published my recruiting appeal for more Maori Wardens (see letter).

“The callers, including local business people, were enthusiastically supportive. Three callers last night, and two this morning, men and women, wanted to become Wardens. And that’s only the start. “I’d like as many Wardens as I can get. Half on our books now are not active. The motto being: Family first and foremost.” The background, as Nat tells it: 1979: With part of the then new Flaxmere District Maori Committee, Nat helped revitalise the Heretaunga Maori Wardens’ Association. The association had been out of action four or five years, although one or two in the association still met the national body, the New Zealand Maori Wardens’ Association. Flaxmere, as a new urban area, was growing fast. But in that growth, there was a big hole where the heart should have been.

NO TURANGAWAEWAE. And ... by April, 1987:

There are 11 maraes around Flaxmere, says Nat. Maori tangi, he says, should not be held in private homes. Grief sharing, and the ritual involved in that grief, hygiene, tangata whenua, a place to stand, tribal shrine need turangawaewae. Any one of the 11 marae around Flaxmere could offer help. But, says Nat, just as in family, so in tribe. Sometimes, because of a special sense of “home”, and for other sacred reasons, turangawaewae needs to be “home”. Nat cites a large Maori population, about 20,000, in the Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere area. Maori of

nearly every tribal affiliation have come to Flaxmere to find work since the first major move for a marae in Flaxmere to serve home needs.

“A new marae doesn’t necessarily have to be in Flaxmere, as long as it is local and central,” says Nat. “But, preferably, such a marae should be here.

“For instance, if a relative of Ngaphui dies here in Flaxmere, Ngaphui have to go North for the tangi. This can mean two thousand bucks”. The Cook Islands group has a multi-cultural centre in Flaxmere, says Nat, but Maori tangi involves a different tradition.

Thirty wardens comprise the Heretaunga (Omahu) Maori Wardens’ Association. A separate group, the Hastings Maori Wardens, directly under the now Te Aranga (“The Awakening”) Heretaunga Maori Committee, operates in the local area.

“Members of this committee have got to get themselves going, or the Maori Wardens will help to get them going,” says Nat. April, 1987: No Flaxmere Turangawaewae. 1988? Te Hira Nathan is dedicated to the philosophy of Maori Wardens, and to mauri, the life principle of humankind. Two years ago, he says, the Minister of Maori Affairs said he would like to see a Maori Warden on every street corner in New Zealand. “At that time, the Otara crisis prompted a 24-hour Warden Service. We had one here our own crisis. We just kept on patrolling.

“The problem in our local area has quietened, but we still see a need for Maori Wardens.” Te Hira says the problem with street kids burglaries, theft, school absenteeism, staying out and away when homework’s tonight, school’s tomorrow has eased in his special area of concern partly because of: • Kohanga reo and taha Maori programmes • Works schemes.

• More understanding between the cultures. • More participation in community ventures. • A grant of $4,600.00 from C.O.G.s Community Organisation Grant Schemes towards travel and uniform expenses) Te Hira hopes to have training assistance programmes, using the Maori Wardens’ Association as learning assistance provider, operating courses including: Training: Maori Wardens (men and women); training men and women in hairdressing; training in beautician consultancy: what I term commercials skills”, says Te Hira. Out in the field he sees Maori Wardens as a lifeline: certainly not as “coopers’ narks.” “As long as someone is a Maori, and a problem has not gone too far, we can help without having to report to the police.