Obituary - Sir Paul Reeves

Sir Paul Reeves ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, QSO

TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki):

Whatakaka te hau ki te uru

Whakataka te hau ki te tonga

Kia mākinakina ki uta

Kia mātaratara ki tai

E hī ake ana te atākura

He tio, he huka, he hauhunga

Tihei mauri ora!

Kua tanuku te toka i te whenua. Kua hinga te tōtara o te wao. Kua ngū te kaiwhakarite o te Hāhi. E Pāora, e moe. E te ringa raupā o te iwi, e te kaituitui i te tangata, e te kaikauhau o te rongopai, e te kaiwero i ngā Kāwanatanga o te motu, e te kaihāpai o Te Titiriti o Waitangi, e te kaikōrero o Irihāpeti, e te tauira o te whakaiti me te rangimārie, e te uri o Te Āti Awa, e te kaikawe o te raukura ki ngā tōpito katoa o te motu, o te ao, takoto mai, takoto mai, takoto mai. Whai atu koe e koro ki te āhuatanga o Tirikātene, whai atu i a Te Atawhai Taiaroa, a te Haunui, whai atu i ngā pīhopa, a te Manuhuia, a te Whakahuihui, whai atu i ngā mate o nā tata nei, o tērā o ngā uri o Kahungungu a Meagan, a Te Heikōkō. Nō nā tata nei te uri o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, haere koutou, haere koutou, haere koutou katoa.

Arā nō te kōrero o roto o Taranaki. He ngeri mana whenua te kōrero. Anei te kōrero: “Titiro, titiro, ki te maunga Tītōhea runga o Parihaka, Waitōtara. Ngāti Moeahu, Ngāti Haupoto. Ko te tākiritanga i te kāhu o Wikitōria, kaitōa, kaitōa. Ko Tohu, ko Te Whiti ngā manu e rua i patu te hoariri ki te rangimārie, kss auē, kss auē! Ahakoa te pāhuatanga o Parihaka, uē, uē, uē hā!”. He kōrero tēnei nō roto o Taranaki, arā, nō te whakapapa o te pīhopa e takoto mai rā ki Tāmaki-makau-rau.

He pai tonu tēnei rārangi kōrero i te mea, arā nō ngā kōrero e pā ana ki a Tā Pāora. I kōrero nā tērā o ngā kōrero mō te maunga tītōhea, ko Taranaki tērā, kākahutia e te hukahuka, e te hukapapa. He tohu tērā o te mate. Koia tēnei whai i ngā mate o Taranaki. Ko te Meringa Hōhāia tērā, ko Lindsay MacLeod tērā, ko Matarena Rau-Kūpā tērā, ko Tom Ellison tērā, ngā uri o Te Ātiawa tonu kua mate inā tata nei i te tau kua hipa ake. Kai reira anō hoki te kōrero mai mō Parihaka, te kāinga o te koroua nei, te wāhi i huihui ai ngā iwi i ngā tau kua hipa ake. Arā nō ngā marae tapu, ko Parahuka, ko Toroaānui, ko Takitūtū. Arā nō te kōrero, ko Waitōtara te wai tuku kiri o ngā mātua, ngā tūpuna e rere atu rā, mai i Parihaka, ā, ki te takutai moana. Arā nō te kōrero mō te kāhū o Wikitōria. He kōrero tērā mō te āhuatanga o Tā Paora i te wā i a ia i mau nei te kākahu o Wikitōria hai Kāwana Tianara mō te motu.

He kōrero kai reira mō Te Whiti o Rongomai rāua ko Tohu Kākahi. Tā rātau ko te kawe i tēnei kōrero, he hōnore, he kororia, he maungarongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa. Arā, ko te tauira tērā o tēnei mea o te rangimārie nā Tā Paora tērā i kawe ki ngā tōpito katoa o te motu. I whai ia i te āhuatanga o ngā poropiti nei. He aha he kōrero i tua atu atu? E kī ana te kōrero, i patu te hoariri ki te rangimārie. Mēnā, ka āta tiriro ki ēnei kōrero, ka noho taupatupatu ngā kōrero. Patu i te hoariri ki te rangimārie, arā, te kōrero nui. Koia Tā Paora i kawe nei te āhuatanga o te rangimārie ki te ao.

Nā, te kōrero whakamutunga, ahakoa te pāhuatanga o Parihaka—uē, uē, uē, hā! He whakamārama ake i te rangimārie o Taranaki ahakoa i patua rātau e te raupatu, e te muru o te whenua, he aha tā Taranaki? Kaua ki te hiki i te pū, kāo. Ko tā rātau, ko te kawe i te āhuatanga o te kōrero o te Whiti o Rongomai rāua ko Tohu Kākahi, he rangimārie, he rangimārie, he rangimārie. He aha tā Tā Paora? He rangimārie, he rangimārie, he whakaiti. Koinei te kōrero nui ki a ia, koia tēnā e takoto mai rā i Tāmaki-makau-rau.

Ko tā te Pati Māori, he tautoko i ngā poroporoaki nui ki a ia. Koia tērā kua riro ki ōna mātua, ki ōna tūpuna. E te Pāpā o te Motu, e te ringa raupā o te iwi, takoto mai, takoto mai, e moe. Ki te whānau, e tautoko ake i ngā āhuatanga o ngā kōrero o te hunga kua tū ake i mua i a au, ko te kī atu ki a rātau, kia kaha, kia toa, kia manawanui. Kai wareware i a tātau, Tā Paora, koia tēnei e whai i ngā tapuwae o rātou kua ngaro. E koro, takoto mai, takoto mai, takoto mai, e moe.

Cease the winds from the west

Cease the winds from the south

Let the piercing cold winds blow over the land

And the intensely cold winds blow over the ocean

As it heralds a red-tipped dawn

With a sharpened air, a touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day.

Behold the breath of life!

The rock has crumbled to the ground. The great tōtara of the forest has fallen. An archbishop of the Anglican Church has been silenced. Sir Paul, rest. To the worker with chafed hands of the people, the challenger of the nation’s Governments, the one who raised the profile of the Treaty of Waitangi, Queen Elizabeth’s representative, the epitome of humility and tranquillity, the descendant of Te Āti Awa, the bearer of the legacy to all extremities of the country and the world, lie there, rest there, recline there. Sir, your death follows the deaths of Whetū Tirikātene-Sullivan, Te Atawhai Taiaroa, Tione Haunui, bishops Manuhuia Bennett and Te Whakahuihui Vercoe; the recent ones of Ngāti Kahungunu, Meagan Joe, and Te Heikōkō Mataira; and only a few days ago a descendant of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Dean Stebbing, passed away as well. So to all of you, farewell.

There is an aphorism in Taranaki. It is derived from a rhythmic chant with actions. Here it is: “Gaze towards the barren mountain above Parihaka and the Waitōtara River, Ngāti Moeahu and Ngāti Haupoto. It is the casting aside of Queen Victoria’s cloak; good riddance, good job. Tohu and Te Whiti were the two prophets who defeated the enemy with peace. Kss oh, kss oh! Despite the plundering of Parihaka, the blows have landed, the blows have landed. Ow!”. This is a maxim from within Taranaki and from the genealogy of the bishop who is lying there in Auckland.

The line that this saying takes is a good one, because so much of it is about Sir Paul. It speaks about a barren mountain, which is Taranaki, being cloaked in snow. That is a sign of death. This death then follows the deaths of Taranaki in regard to Te Meringa Hōhāia, Lindsay MacLeod, Matarena Rau-Kūpā, and Tom Ellison, actual decendants of Te Ātiawa who have passed away over the past year. It mentions Parihaka, the home of that elder, the place where people gathered in past years. There were other sacred marae mentioned: Parahuka, Toroaānui, and Takitūtū. It describes the Waitōtara River as being the conveyor of the ancestors from Parihaka to the sea. It mentions the cloak of Queen Victoria, which pertains to the time when Sir Paul was the Governor-General of the country.

The maxim also mentions Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi. Those two preached the message of honour, glory, peace on the land, and goodwill to all people. Sir Paul was the epitome of peace and carried that message to all extremities of the country. He followed the example of these two prophets. What more can be said? According to the proverb, the enemy was defeated through peaceful means. If one looks closely at these words, the message contradicts itself. Defeating the enemy through peaceful means is the important message. And Sir Paul carried that message to the world.

The final statement is that despite the plundering of Parihaka—“the blows have landed, the blows have landed. Ow!”—to further demonstrate Taranaki’s peace it should be noted that even though they were hurt and affected by the confiscation of land, what did Taranaki do? They did not pick up the gun, no. What they did instead was to pick up what Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi preached, which was peace, peace, peace. What did Sir Paul advocate? Peace, peace, humility. This was the greatest thing to him. He who lies there in state in Auckland is an epitome of that.

The Māori Party endorses the great farewell tributes being made to him. He is the one who has gone to his forefathers, his ancestors. To the Father of the Nation, the worker with chafed hands of the people, lie there, rest there, sleep. To the family, I endorse the tenor of the tributes expressed by those who stood before me. I urge them to be strong, courageous, and stout-hearted. Lest we forget, this is Sir Paul, the one who now follows the footsteps of those who are gone. O elderly one, lie there, rest there, recline there, sleep.