Te Whaea Hihita by Mona Riini “Kua pōrangi pea koe! Ka patua koe e ngā Māori ra, ā, ka kainga koe!” He kupu ēnei i kōrerotia ki tētahi wahine. Nā tōna whānau ēnei kōrero, he tūpato i a ia. Ēngari, i kī te wahine nei me haere ia, kei te kī tōna ngākau me haere; he tono, he karanga na te Atua, na te Kaihanga i ngā mea katoa. Ko Hihita Ani Hēnare te wahine nei. I haere mai ia ki Ruatāhuna i te tau kotahi mano iwa rau tekau mā whitu. ki Ruatāhuna, te whenua o Tūhoe, e kīia nei ko ‘Ngā Tamariki o te Kohu’, kei roto i te koawa, kei raro i ngā hiwi, i ngā ngahere ā, i a Huiarau. Ahakoa nō mua noa atu i ōku rā whānau ia i tae mai ai, hei aha koa. I te mea i reira ia i ahau i whānau ai, ā, i tupu ake ai, i te mea hoki he mīharo ki a mātau ana mahi katoa, ka hihiko tōku ngākau kia mōhiotia e te katoa āna mahi. Ko ētahi o aku kupu ka tuhituhi, he mea hōmai e ōku mātua, e ngā uri-tata, e Hihita tonu, ana ko ētahi nāku tonu. I te taenga mai o Hihita, kāhore he huarahi whānui, kāhore he motukā, he kura, he whare karakia, he toa hokohoko kai, he tākuta hoki, otirā ko ia pea te Pākehā tuatahi i kaha ki te haere mai ki tēnei kāinga ka noho tūturu. Ko ngā huarahi i tērā wā, mō ngā hōiho, ā, i piki, heke i ngā hiwi kei te tipua e te rarauhe. I tumeke pea a Hihita, me te mīharo anō, i tōna taenga mai ki Ruatāhuna. I whakaaro tonu ia, ka tūtuki ia ki te rarararu, ēngari i te kaha o tana whakapono ki tōna Atua, tino pai kē ngā tāngata ki a ia. Tērā pea ētahi koroua, kuia rānei i āhua whakatūpato, ā, roa noa atu ka tata mai ki a ia. He hoa tō Hihita i haere mai ēngari, kāhore i roa i muri mai ka moe tāne ā, ka nuku rāua ko te tāne ki tētahi wāhi noho ai. Ko Miss Monfries taua wahine. Karanga ai mātau i a ia ko Hihita. I mahia he whare mōna e ngā tāngata, ā, ka meatia e ia hei wharekura. I karangatia e “You must be out of your mind. Those natives will kill you and eat you.” These were words spoken to a lady, whose family was worried about her safety. But she felt she had to go, she must accept this calling, a call from God, the Great Creator. She was Sister Annie Henry, who came to Ruatahuna in 1917. Ruatahuna, the land of Tuhoe, Children of the Mist, nestled in the bush cleared valley, surrounded by bush clad hills and by the Huiarau ranges. This was many years before I was born, but because she was there at my birth and during my childhood, and because she made such an impact on many people's lives, I have felt the urge to reveal to all, some of the work of this great woman. Some of the information that I write was given by my parents and by relatives, some by Sister herself, and some comes from my own experience of her. When she first came, there were no roads, no cars, no school, no mission, no shops, no doctors; in fact, she was the first Pakeha who dared to come to this valley and settle. The only roads were packhorse trails which twisted and turned, climbed up, down, and around steep, rocky scrubcovered hills. She was rather surprised and very thankful at the reception she received. She came to Ruatahuna with the idea that she would meet trouble, but because of her faith in God and in herself, she found quite the opposite. Undoubtedly there must have been some, especially among the older “korousa” and “kuias”, who were suspiciously resentful until they came to know her. Sister had a friend with her. Miss Monfries, but she later got married, and not long after, she and her husband left the valley. Sister Annie or Hihita as we called her, had a little house built as a schoolroom. She invited the people to this room, and