This story is also available in English.
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By Hanahiva Rose
Photography by Chevron Hassett
Translation by Piripi Walker
Featured in Capital #62.
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Mai rā anō he whānau mōhio te whānau Hetet ki ngā mahi toi Māori, he whānau whakaako hoki i ēnei taonga. I ēnei rā kei te kawea ā rātou mahi ki ngā huarahi o te ao hou. I haere a Hanahiva Rose ki te kimi i ngā kōrero mō te whānau nei.
I a ia e noho ana i te whare pora o tana teina o Veranoa Hetet i Waiwhetū, e pupuru ana a Lillian Hetet Owen i tētahi kōnae iti, he kōnae kōkau noa, i ana ringaringa.
“Tā tō mātou whaene he noho i tana tūru pīoi, i ngā rā o tōna māuiuitanga, me te raranga noa i ēnei maramara whenu, he toenga nō te mahi kete, me te kōrero, me te inu i tētehi waina iti. Ka whawhengia ake e ia tētahi mea whakamīharo, koinei anō tētehi.”
Āe rā hoki, he whakamīharo ki te titiro atu tēnei rourou iti, mīharo ōna tini putanga kētanga; te ngāwari ki te raranga kia tū tika, ki te titiro rā, engari nā te ringa rehe anō i mahi. Ka kitea te kai-ngākau o te whānau ki ngā toi Māori tuku iho huri noa i te rūma katoa. He kete i tētehi pātū, he kākahu i tētehi. Kei waho kei te iāri i muri i te matapihi tētehi waka iti. Nā tō rātou matua nā Rangi Hetet rāua ko te tāne a Veranoa, a Sam Hauwaho te waka rā i whakairo hei pikipikinga mā ngā tamariki.
Kātahi ka puta mai te kanohi o Sam i te kūwaha, kua peka mai ki te mihi. Kāore e noho mō te wā roa, na, ngaro atu ana, kua hoki ki te taiwhanga whakairo e mahi nei ia i āna mahi. Nā Rangi a Sam i whakaako. He tohunga whakairo a Rangi, i ākona hoki e te tohunga nei e Hone Taiapa, kua moe noa atu i te moengaroa.
I tūtaki a Rangi ki a Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, te whaene o Lillian rāua ko Veranoa, i tētehi whakangahau Kirihimete i Rotorua i te tekau tau 1950. Kua tata i tērā wā ki te whakatutukitanga o te moemoeā o te koroua o Erenora, kia hangaia he wharenui i Waiwhetū.
“I puta tana kōrero ki tō mātou whaene, ‘Kua reri mātou ināianei mō ētahi ringaringa whakairo.’ Ka kī atu a Mamā ki a ia, ‘Kei te mōhio au ki ētahi tohunga whakairo’,” te kata a Lillian. “Tokowhā ngā tohunga whakairo i heke mai – tētehi ko tō mātou Pāpā tonu – ka noho i konei i te taha o te iwi kāinga, ki te whakairo i te whare nui. Rite ki te tini i mua, ka tata haere a Māmā rāua ko Pāpā, ka whaiāipo.”
I kawangia te whare, a Arohanui Ki Te Tangata i te 10 Hepetema 1960. He rerekē anō i te nuinga, arā, i tapā te whare mō tētehi ōhākī, kāore i whakaingoatia mō tētehi tupuna: arā, ko te ingoa ko te ōhākī tonu a ngā kaihohou rongonui o Taranaki, a Te Whiti o Rongomai rāua ko Tohu Kākahi. Kotahi marama i muri i te whakatuwheratanga o te wharenui, ka mārenatia a Erenora rāua ko Rangi i roto.
“Ko te mahi a ō māua mātua i ō rāua rā katoa, he whakaako, he whakaahua i ā tātou mahi toi tuku iho.”
Ka taea e ngā toi tuku iho pēnei i te raranga me te whakairo te whakakōhatu, te whakaora hoki i ngā mahi a te iwi. Kei tēnā kākahu, kei tēnā kete ōna whenu, ōna aho, kei reira te mātauranga o te iwi, otirā kei ia kākahu, kei ia taonga anō ōna āhuatanga motuhake. Heoi anō, i aua wā kua tīmata te memeha haere o ngā kōrero, o ngā mahi a ngā tūpuna.
‘Ka tae tēnei ki te tekau tau 1950 ka kitea e ngā pakeke i te tāmatemate te tini o ā tātou mahi toi,’ te whakamārama a Veranoa. He ringa whatu kākahu rongonui, he kaiako rongonui hoki a Veranoa. ‘Nā tō mātou tupuna wahine nā Rangimarie Hetet rāua ko tō mātou whaea kēkē nā Diggeress Te Kanawa, i whātoro atu ki ngā iwi maha ki te whakaako, me kore e whakaorangia mai ngā toi. Kāore i tino whakaaetia ērā mahi whakaako i te iwi kē i mua, heoi anō, nā te Rōpū Wāhine Māori i taea ai.’
He mahi ēnei e ngākau-nui nei a Veranoa rāua Lillian ki te kawe whakamua. Nā rātou katoa ko Rangi ko Sam i whakatū tētahi kura e mōhiotia nei ko te Kura Toi o te Whānau Hetet, (Te Hetet School of Māori Art), arā, he akoranga tuihono i te ipurangi e tīmata ana i te atawhai i te harakeke i tōna tupunga, ka mutu atu i te mahi whatu kākahu tūturu. Kei te whakawhirinaki rātou ki ngā mahi a ngā kaiako me ngā kaiwhatu kākahu o mua, arā hoki te kaupapa i roto i te waiata nā te Rangimarie i tito:
E ngā uri whakatupu
Whakarongo
Kia kaha
Hāpainga ake rā ngā mahi huatau
a ngā tūpuna i waiho ake nei
hei painga mō te iwi o Aotearoa e
Mā te whakaako i waho anō i te hapū taketake, i whakawhānuitia e Rangimārie te haonga o te kupenga, i runga i te whakapono, tērā tonu e ora ngā mahi nei, mā te tiritiri ki te katoa. E ai ki a Veranoa rāua ko Lillian, ko te kura nei, me tōna wātea mā roto i te ipurangi, te huarahi hei whakapūmau i taua ōhākī. Ka taea e ngā ākonga te ako noa iho i ngā wā e taea ai, kāore he tāmitanga mai, kāore he whakamā pēnei i uaua o te noho ā-rōpū i ētahi wā.
“Ko kōrua anake ko tō kaiako, he ngāwari noa iho te haere,” te kī a Lillian. “Ki te ako te tangata i te ao whare wānanga i roto i tētahi rōpū, kei te ahu whakamua te tira katoa i runga anō i te wātaka ā-tau o aua whare mātauranga. Ko te ako ā-ipurangi he tata kē atu ki ngā tikanga tuku iho. Mā tēnei huarahi ka piki te māia.”
Kāore e mutu noa tā rātou mahi i konei. I tērā tau i whiwhi tō rātou kura i tētahi New Zealand Open Source Award mō tētehi kaupapa whakamātautau nā rātou ko Ara Poutama i hanga, he kaupapa tuihono ako i ngā mahi harakeke mō ngā wāhine kei te whare herehere. Ā, i tērā marama ka hainatia e rātou tētehi kirimana ki Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (i mōhiotia rā ko te New Zealand Correspondence School i mua), hei whakamātau i tētahi kaupapa hou, ko te wawata kia āhei ngā akonga kura tuarua puta noa i te motu te ako i ngā mahi toi Māori mā ngā kaupapa tuihono anō.
“Ka titiro koe ki te whakataiwhenuatanga o Aotearoa, me ōna putanga mā tātou te iwi. Ki a au he mea kino kia whakataimahatia te iwi Māori ki te utu mō te Mātauranga Māori. I te korenga o tētehi tātai pukapuka, he tika te kī kei te whakairo, kei te mahi whatu, raranga ā tātou pukapuka, ina hoki ka tirohia e te tangata. Ki a mātou he rite te whāinga hua ki tō te reo. Nā reira he rawe tēnei huarahi ki a mātou, mā konei pea ka taea e te Māori me ētahi atu ākonga te whakauru mai ki tēnei mātauranga tuku iho mā roto i ngā hangarau o te ao hou. Ana, kāore he utu. Ka taea hoki e rātou ēnei mātauranga te tāpae hei tohu whai mana.”
Ka tata nei ki te wā o Matariki, ka noho tēnei whānau piripono ki te purutanga me te whanaketanga o ngā mātauranga tuku iho ki te āta whakaaro.
“Ka nui anō ngā mahi o Matariki mō mātou!” te kī a Veranoa ki a au i taku wehenga atu. “E mōhio ana au ka tino harikoa a Māmā.”
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