Ko Mana Elizabeth Hunkin, nō Rākaipaaka o Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whare, Ngāti Porou. Ko tōna moko kauwae, ko tētehi taha, ko tōna Ao Māori, tērā atu ko te Ao hurihuri. I tae mai a Tākitimu ki te ngutuawa. Ko Rūāwharo te tino tōhunga o te waka. Ko Nūhaka te ingoa o tētehi o ana hoa wāhine. Kāore i kuhu mai te waka o Tākitimu, i noho i waho i te taha o te moana i Te Pari-koau, engari i heke a Rūāwharo ka haere ia ki te taha o te ngutuawa, ka tanumia te pā harakeke nei, ka tapaina ko Ngā Nūhaka.
I whānau mai ia i Wairoa, i te hōhipera. I tipu mai ia i Nūhaka. I aua wā i te heke iho ngā tāngata ka kōrero Māori. Ka reo Māori rātou ki te kāinga, ko ngā tohutohu tēna o tōna kuia. Ka mate te kuia, i huanuku rātou ki Waikaremoana. I haere ia ki te kura o Kōkako, i te taha o Rose Pere, Naina Buxton, Timoti Karetū. I haere ia ki te kura o Turakina, i haere ōna whanaunga kātoa ki Turakina. Ko ia hoki tētehi o ngā kaiako ki Porirua i te wā i haere a Ngoi Pēwhairangi rāua ko Kāterina Mataira ki tana taha.
Ko Tāne-nui-ā-rangi tō rātou nei Whare. He hapū o Ngāti Rangi, he uri o Rākaipaaka. He rerekē ngā tukutuku i ngā taha e rua. Ka mihi atu ia ki ana tūpuna, Iraia Te Hānene rāua ko Rāwinia. Nā tana whaea, tōna ingoa i tapaina, engari ehara ko te kātoa o tōna ingoa a Manauea. Nō Ngāti Porou tērā ingoa. Ko tōna whakapapa i roto i tōna whare, he rite ki tētehi pukapuka mō ngā uri whakaheke. I tōna hokinga atu ki te kāinga mai i Pōneke, i nāna ia ki te whakamārama atu te whakaaro kia ako i te reo me ngā rākau. I tīmata ia te kura i te tau Kotahi mano, iwa rau, iwa tekau mā ono. I te tau tuatahi, tekau ngā tauira, i te tau tuarua, rua tekau ngā tauira, te tau whai muri iho, he tokomaha ngā tauira, i tono atu ia ki ētehi tauira tawhito kia hoki mai, ki te whakaako. I hoko tōna hoa rangatira a Graeme i te whare, ko tērā te wāhi ka whakahaeretia nei e ia i Te Ataarangi. He wāhi anō tēna mō te Kapa Haka. Ko te reo Māori te reo rangatira. Ko tōna hoa rangatira, tōna hoa tautoko.
Nā Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi rāua ko Kāterina Mataira ia i akiaki. Ko tōna hoa rangatira a Graeme tōna tauira tuatahi.
He tangata hūmarie, i whakaaro ia kia ako i te reo kia whakaatu i tana aroha.
Ko Te Raita tōna kuia, he moko kauwae tōna. Nā te whao. I te tau Rua Mano mā whitu, i tāngia tōna moko. Nā tētehi o ngā tauira o Te Ataarangi, ko Broughton Johnson tōna ingoa. I kiikii rawa te whare i te tāngata. Ko ngā tāngata nō Te Ataarangi ki Tūranga nui a Kiwa, ki Wairoa hoki, me tōna whānau nō Nūhaka. I waiata rātou neke atu i te rua hāora. Kia mutu ngā mahi.
I hoki mai a Miriama Hammond mai i Paraparaumu ki te mahi ki Wairoa. I pātai atu a Mana ki a ia kia āwhina atu ki te whakaatu komiti mō Te Ataarangi. Kei reira tonu ia e mahi ana.
Mana Elizabeth Hunkin, Rākaipaaka o Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whare, Ngāti Porou.
Beneath my lips are two spiral motifs. These show I am a Māori language speaker. One side represents the Māori world, the other side represents the modern world of today.
Takitimu arrived at the mouth of our river. Ruawharo was the high priest of the seafaring vessel, Nūhaka was named after one of his wives.
Takitimu did not enter the river but remained at Te Pari-koau.
Ruawharo came ashore and along the river mouth planted flax which he named Ngā Nūhaka.
The full name of this area is Ngā Nūhaka,
She was born in Wairoa at the hospitals maternity ward, but grew up in Nūhaka. Over that time te reo Māori had started to decline. But her grandmother insisted that she spoke Māori at home. When her grandmother died, they moved to Waikaremoana. She studied at Kōkako school alongside Rose Pere, Naina Buxton and Timoti Karetu. She was immersed in māori language, but rarely spoke due to the difference between Rakaipaaka and Tūhoe dialects. She then attended Turakina Māori Girls’ school. She followed in her families traditions as they had all attended Turakina school. She was teaching in the Porirua area when Ngoi Pēwhairangi and Materina Mataira arrived and asked her about teaching te reo Māori.
Their meeting house is Tāne-nui-ā-rangi. They are a subtribe of Ngāti Rangi, a descendant of Rākaipaaka. The lattice work is a unique feature of the meeting house. It is different on one side than the other, because there is a different ancestor on that side. She greets her ancestors Iraia Te Hanene and Rāwinia. Her Aunty Manauea bestowed her name on her, but did not give her the full name of Manauea. The name Manauea comes from Ngāti Porou.
Her genealogy is there in the meeting house like a book waiting for future generations.
When she returned home she tried to explain to everyone this idea of learning te reo Māori with coloured rods and who she was having just returned from Wellington.
She started the kura in 1996, although she had only 10 students in the first year. In the second year she had 20 students. By the third year she had so many students that she needed to recruit previous students to help with teaching.
Her husband Graeme bought the building which Te Ataarangi operates in. The building now hosts kapa haka, performing arts and waiata performances and rehearsals. No matter what they are teaching or learning, it is all done with te reo Māori. Her husband was a huge support in all she did. When she was recruited by Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi and Mataira, her husband Graeme was her first student. He gave her inspiration in changing her style of teaching. He was a humble man who thought he should learn te reo Māori because of the strength of his love.
Her Grandmother Te Raita had a tattoo on her chin. It had been done the old way. In 2007 She had her own tattoo done. It was done by an Ataarangi student, Broughton Johnson. The meeting house was full with people from Te Ataarangi in Gisborne and Wairoa and her Nūhaka whanau who sang for the whole 2 and half hours it took to finish the tattoo.
Miriama Hammond, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata.
She had returned from Paraparaumu to work in the Wairoa health sector. Hunkin asked her to help in establishing a committee to manage Te Ataarangi and she is still there helping today.