Pipiwharauroa

The Herald of Spring

The Te Rawhiti Newsletter

Volume 1 Issue 10, June 2010

The Matariki issue

Matariki is the name of the Pleiades stars. When they appear the planting season began. They signal the new year; the change fromwinter to summer; the winter solistice-around June 21.

He Tohu Aroha

June, 2010

Naini Hiriwanu Hepi nee RewhaThe life of a great woman!!

Tena Koutou Katoa,My name is Naini Hiriwanu Heremaia I am the oldest daughter of

Mavis Meteria Heremaia nee Hepi and James Toretore Heremaia. Mymother is the third oldest daughter of the late Kara Teina Hepi andNaini Hiriwanu Hepi nee Rewha.So for those of you that haven’t figured out the obvious I am namedafter my grandmother which I find in itself a true honour.Earlier today I was approached to write a piece for Pipiwharauroa onmy late grandmother and for once in my life I am truly speechlessthe only obstacle is where to start?? I can only write about mygrandmother from my own perspective and hope that I am able tocapture the very essence of her life without hurting or insultinganyone close to me and her.Born in 1927 on February 16th her first name was taken from NannyWiti Davis mother Naini and her middle and last names were herfathers. The daughter of Ene Paaka and Hiriwanu Matutaira Rewha.She was born a happy healthy able seeing child in Te Rawhiti HauaiBay in a one room shack. She attended the local school house inKaingahoa where Maori was not to be spoken so instead of beingcalled by her given Maori name Naini her teacher named her Nancywhich was normal in those days. I recall her saying her cousins useto tease her “Nancy pancy tickle your fancy” or “Nancy Harry”.At the age of 14 she had a school accident where an ink quillstabbed her in the left eye and the eye was later removed. Shelived a normal life with her disability because Te Paea (Nanny ma)had no eyes and her father was also blind her accident wasn’tlooked upon as an obstacle or even considered a disability. She wastreated just like everyone else. She never actually went completelyblind until around 80 years old. She could fish as good as any ableseeing person she could get kina and pipi as good if not better thananyone and her skill at opening an oyster was awesome. Shelearned to knit and weave kete which she later in her life becamewell known for in the whanau.At around the age of 21 years old she met and married Kara TeinaHepi and together they had seven girls, Polly, Te Aroha, Mavis,Elaine, Bebe, Dianne and Queenie and three boys, Kud, Francis andBoxa. She also mentioned having stillborn twins hence the twogenerations of twins in our family. Thru the years the pressure onher good eye took its toll and it eventually went blind. She lived herlife like any other person if not to the fullest she was also wellknown for her humour. I remember she spoke about walking homeblind drunk singing and stumbling home from Kaingahoa and Tetawa, my initial reaction was utter shock then pure laughter thethought of a half blind old lady stumbling home drunk and in thedark seemed so hilarious and it was the way she told it.

Her life with Kara was not all roses like we’d all like to think. Theyhad their ups and downs they both liked to drink and she evensmoked cigarettes until she was about 50 years old they attendedchurch service every Sunday at the Te Rawhiti Marae. They kept awell knit family and taught their family all the necessities in life onhow to survive and gather food in the big wide world and especiallyto remember to be there for each other no matter what. They tried their luck and moved to Auckland for a few years with thehope of making more money and a better life for their children untilher mother Ene became sick and went to Auckland to ask Kara andNaini to move home to look after her. Nana did not want to movehome she had made her life in Auckland and loved every momentbut like the abiding wife she followed her husband because herespected his mother in-law and loved his wife so much he felt theneed to honour his mother in-laws wishes and returned to TeRawhiti.Kara did many things in and for the community of Te Rawhiti andWhangaruru, where he came from he was especially well known forhis hospitality so he always made sure the table was always set,the cupboards were full and ready for visitors and nana was alwayswilling to get the tea ready if people should stop in. She supportedhim in everything he did.In her late 70’s she was diagnosed with dementia she spent a lot of the time being passed around to family at first she was home sickbut she came to realise that her children and mokos were busyworking to make a living it was easier to go to them rather thanthem go to her because it was unsafe for her to live in Rawhiti byherself and she got to spend time with most if not all of her childrentheir partners and also her moko.In May of this year she was sadly diagnosed with lung cancer it wasa shock to all the family but we as a family pulled togetherand realised time was of the escence and we needed totake too many photos and laugh with her as much as wecould. Tell her we loved her spend those preciousmoments with her in the place she loved the most HauaiBay Te Rawhiti. The family organised to spend QueensBirthday with her and celebrate her life but Nana sadlypassed away on Tuesday 01 June 2010.I think back now at the reality of our situation and now know that wehad a life time to spend with nana and learn everythingabout her in one weekend was impossible if we couldn’tenjoy her in the 83 years she was alive then why start nowwhen she spent her whole lifetime doing all the wonderfulthings she did and touched the hearts of the many people