Remembering Te Kei o te Waka Wirihana Merito

E ngā mana hiamo tiketike te mārohirohi, te whakaio, ko te kinūka ngā uri ō tua-uki-uki

Rātou te tūtū ngārahu whakapūehe whenua

Te whakataki i te onetūi ngā wā i takatū ai rātou, Arā ngā waka kua marewa atu

Ki ngā moana hūkerikeriki ngā wai tua-ranga-rangaki ngā hau tāhengihengiki  te aio mōwai rohirohi, Ko roimata te hunga whakaea Tūturu whakamaua kia tīnā, tīnā!

Whano! Whano! Haramai te toki!

Haumi ē! Hui ē! Taiki ē!

Greetings O exalted chiefly personages, the staunch, the brave and unflinching, progeny of the ancient ones they who has assembled in the myriads of Hawaiki, they the performers of war battles.

The raconteur of oratory splendour when they were at their magnificence. Alas their spiritual canoes have departed to the turbulent seas to the boisterous waters eventually into the calming breezes and into heavenly serenity.

Our tears will be their everlasting memorial. Come, let us be steadfast and united, come hither the adze our work is done.

Unite, unite.

Nā Te Kei Merito

Kāti rā, ko tēnei te hunga whakaea e tangi nei ki tō tātau kei o te waka, kua tāhuri ki ngā moana hūkerikeri

Kāti rā, ko tēnei te hunga whakaea e tangi nei ki tō tātau kei o te waka, kua tāhuri ki ngā moana hūkerikeri, ki ngā wai tua-ranga-ranga, ā, kua tau atu ki te aio mōwai rohirohi.

Ko te mana hiamo tiketike tērā, ko te mārohirohi, ko te whakaio, ko te kinūka, he uri ō tua-uki-uki.

Ko te whītiki o te kī tērā kua ngaro nei. Kua waiho ake nei mā āna kupu te kapua pōuri e hiki. Nāna te waiata ō runga nā i tito hei wai ki tētahi o āna repoata Tiamana o Te Tapatoru ā Toi. E rere tonu ana te wai mahu nei ki a tātau i tēnei wā, kia noho mai ia hei mahara, hei whitinga i te pōuri.

Tekau mā waru ngā tau i noho mai a Te Kei Merito hei Tiamana mō Te Tapatoru ā Toi, nō tōnā orokohanga. I mārama katoa a Matua Te Kei ki te hiranga o te kōmiti nei. Kāore anō te motu i kite i tētahi whakaritenga pēnei, arā ko te noho taurite a te Kawanatanga me te Iwi hei mana whakahaere. Nō ōna pakahiwi tērā wero i kawe. I aua tau, nāna te huarahi i para ki te ara takitu

He mātanga ia ki te reo ake o taiao, o te tini whakapapa anō hoki. He ngākau mahaki, heoi, he koi anō hoki tōna whakawhiu i rō hui. Ko ‘Ngā Tikanga me ngā Kawa’ o Te Tapatoru ā Toi, me te Tāpui Tokotoru Conservation Management Plan ētahi o ngā rirohanga ōna. Engari, ka whakaaro ake ki ngā tini kaupapa, hui, wānanga, tangihanga, uiui, kapu tī aha atu aha atu, i whakarangatira i a ia me tōnā mōhio. Ao noa, pō noa, ko te mana Māori, ko te mana taiao, ko ngā taonga tuku iho o tau-uki-uki te take. I te tau 2017, nāna te New Zealand Order of Merit, NZMSM mō āna mahi mō te Iwi Māori me te taiao.

We have lost the only person capable of articulating the expressed and shared grief deserved by this moment. For that reason, we have left his words in the waiata above to capture it best. A composition he included in one of his many reports as Chairman of Te Tapatoru ā Toi. The impact of his oratory splendour continues to move us even when he is no longer here with us.

An expert orator, historian, rangatira, and custodian of mātauranga, Te Kei Merito has gifted his life in service to his people, to conservation, to Te Tapatoru ā Toi, and to upholding the mana of the taonga inherited from our ancestors.

 In 1988, he took up his first position with the Department of Conservation as the Senior Manager Māori Conservation Ethics Bay of Plenty Conservancy in Rotorua.

He served as Chairman of Te Tapatoru ā Toi Joint Management Committee for 18 years since its inception out of the Ngāti Awa Settlement.

He was instrumental in developing and implementing the committee’s ‘Kawa me Ngā Tikanga Protocol and Guidelines’ as well as in designing Te Tapui Tokotoru Conservation Management Plan.

Te Kei led the establishment of the nationwide Te Pūkenga Atawhai Cultural Competency training programme and Māori Language policy for the Department of Conservation.

In 2017, he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, NZMSM for services to Māori and Conservation.

We feel the deep grief and loss for Te Tapatoru ā Toi, and the void he leaves in his wake. For as long as Te Tapatoru ā Toi has been known, it was known through the design and influence of Te Kei.

The committee is committed to ensuring the wisdom he has imparted continues to lead us forward into a future that Koro Te Kei always dreamed of.

We anticipate the opportunity to design a Conservation Management Plan entrenched within his legacy and lasting aspirations for the three reserves and for Ngāti Awa leadership.

“Kia pukeke Manawa rahi, kia maunga tapopore

Kia pupuri I te hihiri o ngā taonga tuku iho o tau-uki-uki

Kia kore ai e kōpikopiko

Hei aitua taimatemate

Ngaro atu, ngaro atu, ngaro atu”

“Cherish, appreciate, and enjoy. Be determined and unyielding. Perpetuate the cultural ethos and dynamics of the resources handed down by our ancestors. So that is does not wander aimlessly. To become a casualty of decay. And consequently disappear.”

Ā tūriki tūriki, pāneke pāneke! Tūriki tūriki, pāneke pāneke! Eke pānuku, eke Tangaroa e, eke tonu atu ki te pae tawhiti e.