Hon Dr Pita Sharples
Minister of Maori Affairs

20 October 2009
Media Release
Poroporoaki ki a Mate Kaiwai

E hikohiko ana te uira ki runga i te tihi o Hikurangi maunga!
Ka papa te whaititiri, ka pakaru mai te awha!
Kua ehu nga wai o Waiapu!
He waipuke i te Tai Rawhiti, he waipuke roimata!
Ngati Porou, e tangi, e tangi, e tangi!
E tangi ki to koutou morehu kuia kua mate, ki a Mate Huatahi Kaiwai.

E te kokara, e Mate – haere, haere, haere atu ra.
Kua wahangu to reo, e kore e rangona tona rite. He reo marama, he hohonu, he ngawari, he whakawai i te maringi noa i nga ngutu.
I te mohio matou, e whakarongo ana matou ki te wairua tipuna, heke iho mai ki to matua ki Ta Apirana, tuku iho ai ki a koe. He reo rangatira, he reo mana.

E Kui. Ka tangi te ngakau ki a koe e ngaro nei i te kitenga kanohi. Kua mokemoke to whanau, to iwi, te motu whanui.
Haere ki o matua, tipuna. Haere ki te okiokinga tuturu mo te tangata. Haere i runga i te aroha o nga reanga kei muri i a koe. Haere ki te Po! Haere ki te Po!

The Minister of Maori Affairs joined Ngati Porou and the nation in mourning the passing of a pillar of Maoridom, Mate Huatahi Kaiwai, of Ngati Porou. She was 94.

“Mate Kaiwai was the daughter of Sir Apirana Ngata, the legendary leader of Ngati Porou and the nation,” said Dr Sharples. “She carried her mana with the greatest humility.”

“When she spoke, her reo was so beautiful we knew that we were listening to the spirit of her ancestors and forebears. She had a clarity of vision and thought, a depth and richness of expression, and a gentle way of talking that was quite captivating. Yet hers was undoubtedly a voice of authority, of leadership from the heart of the community,” he said.

“Her death is a great loss to her whanau, and to the whole of Ngati Porou. And it is a loss to the nation. We may never hear anyone quite like her again.

“Auntie Mate has left us a great legacy - a standard of excellence, of integrity and quality of language and culture that challenges the aspirations of future generations,” said Dr Sharples.

“So as we grieve at her death, we can also be grateful to have known her, and to have benefited from her wisdom,” he said.

“I also want to express the condolences of my Parliamentary colleagues, and the government, to Mate’s family and her iwi in their sad loss,” said Dr Sharples.

ENDS

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