“Haere mai ki ahau ki runga o Hikurangi Maunga Kia rongo koe i te tākiritanga o te Haeata Kia tauria koe e ngā waihukarere o te rangi”

Koianei te karanga a Ngāti Porou i puta ki ngā mana, ki ngā reo, ki ngā mātāwaka puta noa i te motu. Nō te 25 o ngā rā o Haratua i hui mai te tini me te mano ki te pūtake o Hikurangi Maunga ki te hui whakatā i te uri a Porourangi a Tā Tāmati Muturangi Reedy.

I te whakaeke o ngā iwi o te motu ki runga i te marae-ātea o Kapohanga-ā-rangi, maru katoa te Pā o Hiruharama i te tangata. Mai i te Hiku-o-te-Ika, ki te maunga tītōhea i te Taihauāuru, whakawhiti atu ki Te Matau-ā-Maui, ā, heke rawa ki te Whanganui-ā-Tara tae rawa ki te Waipounamu, ki Murihiku, ki Wharekauri rā anō.

Oti ana te whakatau i ngā iwi o te motu, ka pāoho anō te reo karanga ki te ope o Te Kāwana Tianara o Aotearoa a Tā Anand Satyanand me tōna hoa rangatira a Lady Susan Satyanand. Whakaeke kotahi mai rāua me Hon Hekia Parata (Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Minister of Women’s Affairs), Hon Dr Pita Sharples (Minister of Māori Affairs), Hon Parekura Horomia (MP for Ikaroa Rawhiti), Whatumoana Paki (te mātāmua a Kingi Tuheitia), Rāhui Papa me te iwi o Tainui, te Kaihautu o te Tahuhu o te Matauranga a Karen Sewell, me te Kaihautu hoki o Te Puni Kōkiri a Leith Comer.

Maringi noa te whaikōrero a te Kāwana Tianara, a warowaro ana i ngā taringa o te whakaminenga. I hoki kōmuri ngā whakaaro ki te tipuna kōka o Tā Tamati kia Materoa Ngārimu, ki ērā hoki o ana pakeke kia Hanara Te Ohaki Reedy me Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu VC. Ko te kaupapa whakatā tuatahi hoki i tū ki roto i te rohe o Ngāti Porou, ko tērā i tū ki te papa o Whakarua i te marae o Uepohatu i te tau 1943. I hoaturia e te Kāwana Tianara o taua wā a Tā Cryril Newall te Ripeka Wikitoria (VC) ki ngā mātua o Te Moana, kia Hamuera me Maraea Ngārimu. Nā Dr Apirana Mahuika te kōrero, ‘ko Materoa Ngarimu, he ariki, he wahine whaimana’. Nā Materoa hoki te whaikōrero i te rā whakanui i a Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu. Otirā, i hua ake ko te ngako o ngā kōrero i puta e mea nei, i hekeheke mai a Tā Tamati i ngā kāwai rangatira.

He hōnore nui tēnei mō te whānau a Tā Tamati rāua ko tōna hoa rangatira a Lady Tiri Te Kōingo. I puta anō ngā mihi mō tā rāua māiatanga i runga anō i te mōhio nō nā tata nei i kapohia ta rāua tamāhine a Rachel e te ringa kaha o aituā. Heoi, nā te Kāwana Tianara te kōrero, he tohu whakahōnore hoki tēnei hui ki ngā maharatanga mō Rachel.

Arā noa ngā mana i tae ki te whakanui i a Tā Tāmati Muturangi Reedy mō ana mahi i roto i te ao Mātauranga. Hei whakarārangi i wētahi ko Tā Hēnare Ngata, Tā Wira Gardiner, Tā Peter Tapsell, me Kahurangi Iritana Tawhiwhirangi.

I pupū ake te mīharo o te iwi kāinga mō tēnei hōnore nui i ūhia ki runga i tēnei o a rātau pāpā, otirā ki runga i a Ngāti Porou nui tonu. Nā te heamana o te Pā o Hiruharama a Selwyn Parata i whakatau, “he tauira tēnei mō ngā uri whakatipu, otirā mō te iwi Māori katoa”.

I horahia hoki e ia te whakamārama mo ngā tini mahi a Tā Tamati i te ao Mātauranga, te ao Māori, ā, me te ao Hākina hoki. He toki whutupōro hoki a ia mō te karapu o Hikurangi tuatahi, te tima o Ngāti Porou East Coast, ā, eke rawa atu ki te Kapa Māori o Aotearoa i tōna wā. Ngākau nui hoki ki a ia te takaro tēnehi.

I te taunga mai o te kaunenehutanga o te pō, i tino rongohia te hohonutanga o tēnei mea te manaakitanga. Nā te hapu o Te Aitanga-ā-Mate, otirā Ngāti Porou whānui te hōnore nui ki te manaaki i ngā manuhiri-tuarangi. Me te aha hoki, kāore he kaupapa i tua atu i tēnei hei whakakotahi i ngā iwi katoa. He kaupapa nui, whakaharahara mo te iwi Māori whānui. Arā, i whakataukitia e Tā Tāmati Muturangi, “kei runga i te kotahi, kei runga i te katoa”.