New PM Chris Hipkins pays respects to Titewhai Harawira as tangi begins
Thursday, 26 January 2023
Ngā Kiko
I taria te kuia o Ngāpuhi, te tapairu Titewhai Harawira ki Hoani Waititi Marae i te uru o Tāmaki i te rā nei.
I tae atu te Pirimia hōu Chris Hipkins, rātou ko te Pirimia Tuarua Carmel Sepuloni ko ētahi atu māngai kia tuku i te aroha.
Hei tā Hipkins, ko Titewhai tētahi i whakamomori “mō te painga o te Māori te take”, ā, “e kore a Aotearoa e ōrite i tōna rironga”.
Ko Titewhai te whaea o te kaitōrangapū o mua Hone Harawira.
He kanohi ia o te rōpū mana Māori e kīia nei ko Ngā Tamatoa, he kaiwhakatū hoki o Hoani Waititi Marae.
Ka takoto ia ki reira tae noa ki te Hātarei, kātahi ka taria atu ki Te Tai Tokerau.
Key Points
Ngāpuhi kuia and renowned activist Titewhai Harawira was taken to Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland today.
New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni along with other government representatives attended to pay their respects.
Hipkins described Harawira as someone who strived for the “betterment of Māori” and said “New Zealand will not be the same without her”.
Harawira is the mother of former politician Hone Harawira.
She was a member of Māori rights group Ngā Tamatoa and a founding member of Hoani Waititi Marae.
The tangi is expected to run until Saturday at which point she will be taken to the Far North.
Government ministers and community leaders have gathered to pay their respects and say goodbye at West Auckland’s Hoani Waititi Marae on day one of the tangihanga for renowned activist Titewhai Harawira.
Hone Harawira, the politician and one of her eight children, announced her passing in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Titewhai Harawira was 90 years old. She celebrated her birthday in style last year, with hundreds attending to mark her ninth decade.
Titewhai was received by Hoani Waititi Marae in west Auckland at 10am on Thursday morning, Hone said.
**READ MORE:
* 'She was a fighter': Māori leaders react to death of Titewhai Harawira
* Moe mai rā, Titewhai Harawira
* Ngāpuhi elder Kingi Taurua laid to rest
**
In attendance was new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni. Other government representatives included Kelvin Davis, Kiri Allan, Andrew Little, Nanaia Mahuta and Aupito William Sio.
Officials were welcomed on with Toia Mai Te Waka, a haka often used to pōwhiri people onto marae.
Hipkins said although he never met Harawira, he knew very well who she was and her mahi for Māori.
“Titewhai was a woman with a strong heart, with integrity, with passion, and first and foremost a caring and loving mother and nan,” he said.
“She strived for the betterment of Māori, and we would not be where we are today without her. I know New Zealand will not be the same without her here.”
Hipkins recited a letter written by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to the crowd.
”Every year we shared a bond. We walked that path together. Each year as I arrived I hoped that what I had done for the past 12 months was good enough, because I knew if she didn’t think so, I would soon be told,” Ardern wrote.
”I will miss holding her hand, I will miss being beside her and I will miss our chats. But I will never forget.”
Kelvin Davis said Harawira was a loving mother and grandmother who would be missed, regardless of whether people agreed with her.
“Āe, i te tuatahi, he māmā, he nanny, he kuia, engari ko te mea nui, i whawhai tonu ia mō ngā moemoeā mō Ngāpuhi. Nā reira e pāpōuri ana mātou katoa o Ngāpuhi i te hingatanga o tēnei o ngā kuia.”
“She fought for what she believed in, she fought for what she thought was right. She fought for what she thought would progress Ngāpuhi in the first instance but also Māori,” Davis said.
Harawira has whakapapa to Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Hine.
Her activism gained her a national reputation, making her one of the most familiar faces at Waitangi each year.
She was a member of Ngā Tamatoa, a young activist group which formed in the 1970s to draw attention to Māori rights, land and language loss.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said she was looking forward to serving Harawira breakfast again at Waitangi next week, as she had done in 2019.
Davidson paid tribute to Harawira's decades of “feisty, staunch activism”, adding that the Northland kuia's passionate commitment to progressing te ao Māori aspirations should be honoured.
Harawira was a founding member of the West Auckland urban marae, opened in 1980.
The tangi is expected to run until Saturday, when she will leave for Northland.