Parihaka peace maker passes away

Submitted by Whetu (not verified) on 17 August 2010 - 11:51pm
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  • Tino Rangatiratanga

Ko te po te kaihari i te ra

Ko te mate te kaihari i te oranga

Te Miringa HohaiaKua mate a Te Miringa Hohaia i te ata nei kei tana kainga. No Parihaka a Te Miringa, te papakainga o nga manu e rua - Te Whiti o Rongomai raua ko Tohu Kakahi. E te rangatira, kua wheturangitia koe, haere ki Hawaiki-nui, Hawaiki-roa, ki Hawaiki-pamamao.

Nau mai, haere mai, ki te tangihanga, kei Te Paepae o te Raukura, kei Parihaka.

Te Miringa Hohaia passed away this morning at Parihaka. He is well known in Taranaki and beyond for his activism in the tino rangatiratanga movement and as an advocate for peace in the traditions of Te Whiti and Tohu. He will be sadly missed by his whanau, the whole papakainga, by his iwi, friends and colleagues, and by the motu.

Te Miringa is the festival director of the annual Parihaka International Peace Festival. Many of you would have seen him bike around the festival site organising the whole event over the years.

He was also the kaitiaki of Te Paepae o te Raukura, one of the meeting houses at Parihaka.

Recently, he has spent a lot of time researching whakapapa for the Taranaki Iwi land claim. He was instrumental in taking the Taranaki claim to the Waitangi Tribunal in the 80s and 90s.

All our love goes to his whanau.

His tangihanga is at Parihaka during the week with the burial planned for Saturday. Nau mai, haere mai.

Comments

ka tahi ano te manu ka tau

Submitted by taame (not verified) on 18 August 2010 - 12:09am.
ka tahi ano te manu ka tau mai ki weenei mauna tapu ko hina he totara o te waonui a taane , hotuhotu ana taku manawa. maturu ana te huupe me te roimata ki te mauna Taranaki e te hoa me te ranatira te Mirina oho rere te rono o te koorero ko riro koe te rina aitua o Hinenuitepoo no reira e te pou taahuhu oo Parihaka paa ...taranaki mauna ... kaati raa e te mirina takoto takoto takoto raa...

Ae. This is indeed sad news.

Submitted by IhuKoi (not verified) on 19 August 2010 - 10:45am.

Ae. This is indeed sad news. Much love to the whanau and friends of this mighty man. Kua hinga he totara i te wao nui a Tane.

VISIONARY BRINGS RADICAL CHALLENGE FROM TRADITION

Submitted by wahine (not verified) on 21 August 2010 - 2:58am.

Source

The late Te Miringa Hohaia is being remembered as a visionary who was able to take the Parihaka legacy forward.

Mr Hohaia died suddenly on Tuesday and is lying in state at the historic marae.

Taranaki kaumatua Peter Moehau says over the years Mr Hohaia clashed with many in the Taranaki establishment, but was able to bring the tribe together to support his dream of a Parihaka Peace Festival.

He was also committed to reviving and passing on traditions, and is the fifth person in recent years to opt for burial in the traditional kahu waka tere.

“He is lying in state at the moment not in a coffin or casket as such but simply wrapped in the flax containers that our women wove for him before he arrived at the marae. It should be a really interesting night tonight when the discussions take place about how and even where he may be buried,” Mr Moeahu says.

He says an extraordinary range of people, Maori and Pakeha, going through the tangi was testament to how Te Miringa Hohaia touched the lives of so many.

Early private burial disturbs peace at Parihaka

Submitted by Anonymous on 23 August 2010 - 9:45am.

Source

Early private burial disturbs peace at Parihaka

Hundreds of people descended on Parihaka Pa to pay their respects to Te Miringa Hohaia on Saturday, only to find the peace festival director had already been buried.

Mr Hohaia died suddenly last week, aged 58, but those who hoped to say their goodbyes in person at the weekend were disappointed.

Before dawn on Saturday Mr Hohaia's body, covered in a woven flax cloak, was carried from the pa to a burial site known only to a few of his family members.

Parihaka Management Trust chairman Ruakere Hond acknow-ledged the hurt and anger caused by the decision to carry out a private burial but said it was what his friend and relative had wanted.

"Many felt absolutely strongly that this should not happen," Mr Hond said, "but those who knew Te Miringa know that he liked to do things differently.

"To those who didn't have the chance to farewell Te Miringa in person, we belittle ourselves before you and give you our deepest aroha [love]. We ask that you farewell him in spirit now."

The private burial may have seemed dramatic but the practice was not new, Mr Hond said.

"There are numerous examples of this in the past and Te Miringa was a man who liked to challenge the way people thought," he said.

"People are upset for a number of reasons but we couldn't see another way to do this without starting a process of debate."

There was obvious disagreement among the speakers who followed Mr Hond, with one woman saying the process set a bad example for future generations.

"Why are we hiding from each other, making decisions in secret?" she asked.

"We are running around like headless chooks. Is that a good example for our children?"

But Taranaki iwi representative Peter Moeahu applauded the decision, saying it ensured Mr Hohaia would not be forgotten.

"People will want this for themselves because we will be talking about this for years," he said.

"People want to know where Te Miringa is and I can tell you – he is right here, in all of us."

Mr Hohaia was instrumental in the Motunui claim to the Waitangi Tribunal in 1978 and had also been involved in working on Taranaki's current treaty settlements.

He was an advocate for the arts, curating the exhibition Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance, and in 2005 he helped establish the Parihaka Peace Festival.