Tom Roa
Te marama ahunuku; Te marama ahurangi; Te marama ka takoto i te hau o Tū – Te taueke; te marere kura; te marere pae. Tēnā te whaitua nui, Ka pū te taha wānanga, He āpiti nuku; he āpiti rangi. He whakaotinga aroha ki Te Kīngi Māori Tūheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII. Te tōtara haemata o te Wao-tapu-nui a Tāne. Me tana tira haere – A Mahoe, a Hinau, a Patatē. Haere koutou – haere mai Te Arikinui Kuīni Ngawai hono i te pō. Tātou te hunga ora ki a tātou
Tom Roa
Te Motu – the Māori nation – Aotearoa-New Zealand, parts of the Pacific, and of the indigenous world were glued to their television sets and various devices watching the farewell of the Māori King Tūheitia Potatau VII, and the ascension of Te Arikinui Kuīni Ngawai hono i te pō to his throne.
Those of us who have lost a beloved parent will know of the pull at the heartstrings. How much greater must be the emotion of losing one’s father, and then have to carry the weight of expectation not just in the Māori world, but I daresay, nationally, indeed internationally?
Kīngi Tūheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII has left a legacy of aspiring to ‘kotahitanga’ – unity – to which every spokesperson who attended the tangi – on their own behalf as well as their various groupings, many of whom also there in person, – expressed a wish to see the fulfilment of his inspirational aspiration for unity not just amongst Māoridom, but nationally and internationally.
Te Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po
Our Māori Queen will have seen the heavy burden her father bore. She will be aware of the burden and the legacy she now bears as Māori Queen, and the expectation on her to realise her father’s dream. She will also be aware of her mother’s grief, her brothers’ sadness, the Royal Family mourning the loss of their cousin, brother, uncle, grandfather – this and everything else on her very young shoulders – or should I say on her head with the placing of the Holy Bible there?
My hope is that she might be given time to heal from that grief. And that the support systems around her will see that through, and then allow her to grow into her job.
The Rangatira o Te Motu, the chiefs of the land have deemed her worthy of this position. They will have committed themselves and their iwi to supporting her in this huge responsibility.
The tangi for her father was a splendid example of kotahitanga, with everyone working in concert at so many different levels. There we saw the model of best business practice, of agile teams, of a working in concert, each playing their part, knowing their role, and how they should fulfil their responsibilities in contributing to the success of the event.
Kei taku Arikinui Kuīni Ngawai hono i te po, kua riro i a koe te torōna o tō matua, o ngō tūpuna e moe mai nā ki tua o te ārai. Kia tuia, kia honohia te ao ki te kotahitanga ki te Kuīni Māori. Whiti ki te tika! Whiti ki te ora! Whiti ki te whai-ao, ki te ao-mārama. Paimārire.
Tom Roa speaks on Te Kūiti paepae
