Haami
My friend Haami (pronounced Har-me) Moeke QSM is a kaumatua. That is, a respected elder in the Maori community. I call him matua. To me, he’s like the Ruahine Ranges that have an abiding presence across the eyeline of my hometown of Waipukurau. They are a part of its pastoral fabric and like them too, his presence among the people here in Central Hawkes Bay has been both long and abiding.
“The Ruahine Ranges are one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand that form a ridge running parallel with the east coast of the island between East Cape and Wellington. The ridge is at its most pronounced in the southern part of the island, where it comprises the Rimutaka, Tararua, and Ruahine Ranges.
The Ruahines run northeast-southwest for 110 kilometres from inland Hawke’s Bay to near Woodville. They are separated in the south from the northern end of the Tararua Range by the Manawatu Gorge.
Haami is like that range to me, running long and deep into the heart of this and many other communities throughout the country. He personifies to me, that old Maori saying:
He aha te mea nui o te ao, Maku e ki atu
You ask of me, what is the greatest thing on earth,
I reply, He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is people, it is people, it is people
Samuel (Haami) Richard Moeke Snr
Is of Ngai Tuhoe and Ngati Awa descent with tribal affiliation to Ngati Pukeko (formed through intermarriage between members of the Ngati Paraheka hapu of Ngati Awa and Ngati Paeko of Turanga, Gisborne) and Kohupatiki Marae in Hawke’s Bay.
“Ngai Tuhoe take their name from an ancestral figure, Tuhoe-potiki. The word tuhoe literally means ‘steep or high noon’ in the Maori language. Tuhoe people also bear the sobriquet Nga Tamariki o te Kohu or the Children of the Mist. Ngati Awa on the other hand trace their origins to the arrival of Maori settlers on the Mataatua waka or canoe. The Mataatua settlers established settlements in the Bay of Plenty and Northland. He’s a former pupil of the Poroporo Native School.
A Son of the Wind
To me, he’s a son of the wind, not easily backed into a corner tho’ some have tried. I had a chuckle to myself about that. I like that a characteristic of wind is it’s impish capacity to elude grasping hands. Matua, has been behaving intellectually like that wind for years, staying just out of reach of those that might seek to lock him down in his thinking. I love that about him.
He’s a diligent and contemporary thinker whose life of learning and teaching support my notion that even in ones’ advancing years, curiosity and learning appear like a garland around the wearer’s neck. Their scent fresh and aromatic. He’ll chuckle infectiously when he reads I think he smells! I can hear his voice in my head now, “hey, you think I stink?”
He told me a story recently as we were sitting on the paepae (the bench where the male speakers from the home side sit ready to speak and welcome the visitors) outside the Waipukurau Community Marae whare. He recalled getting ready to speak one day when all of a sudden he heard a cacophony of loud intestinal expulsions behind him. The paepae was right outside the toilet! Aue!
Matua taught me how to karanga (“calls performed by the women usually during the welcome ceremony of visitors” to the Marae). Among many Maori, this would be most unusual because he’s a male but then we’re both unusual individuals. He taught my cousin Davina too and it never actually occurred to me that being taught to karanga by a man would be unusual, I suppose that’s my matter-of-fact nature. I wanted to learn and he offered.
Learnings
I learnt this way. He sang some words to me. He said, “this is what I want you to sing and this is what I don’t want to hear!” Then he walked a quarter of a mile away from me toward the Ashcott Bridge. When he finally turned back to face me, he simply nodded his head which was an indication he wanted me to begin. And so I did. Singing the words he’d spoken to me and paying particular attention of what he did not wish to hear! That’s how I learnt to karanga. Another day I’ll tell you some more about Haami, my friend Matua, there’s so much more to tell.
UPDATE: Haami passed away on 5 November 2010, he was 70 years old. “Ahakoa nga uaua l Kia kaha, kia toa, kia manawanui” translated “When you find things that are difficult in life, Stand strong, stand tall and be of great heart”
If you liked this THEN you might also like: 1. All Haami-less Fun 2. Matua: Sun through a Rock 3. Matua: His Mandate with Destiny 4. Matua: Tippy Haeres of a Principal Carver 5. The Treasure Box
