“Papa te whatitiri, hikohiko te uira, ngarue te whenua ki te rauhihi, ki te rauhaha. Kumea mai kia piri, kumea kia tata ki runga ki te marae e takoto nei, i te piringa e tū nei, ko Te Herenga Waka!”-Nā Rangiāhuta Alan Herewini Ruka Broughton
Herenga Waka, e tāwharau ana, e korowai ana i ngā manu e kai ana i te mātauranga i te Whare Wānanga o te Upoko o te Ika. I te tōnga o te tau, te tuaono o Hakihea i te tau 1986 i ea, i tutuki ngā āwhero i moemoeātia e ngā ihorei, a Ahorangi Wiremu Parker rāua ko Rangiāhuta Ruka Broughton me ngā kaitautāwhi i te kaupapa. I te aranga mai o ata hāpara, i tukua e te rangatira o te maunga tītōhea, a Huirangi Waikerepuru, ngā karakia kia whakatūwheratia te whare tipuna nei.
“Te Herenga Waka I-e!
Te Herenga Waka I-e!”
Hei te tōnga o te tau nei, ka whakanuia, ka hākaritia e te Whanau o Te Herenga Waka tēnei tau whakarae mō te marae. He kaupapa ka whakanuia e te whare wānanga, e ngā tauira anō hoki. Ka huraina te waharoa hou o Te Herenga Waka marae i te tuaono o Hakihea. Nā Takirirangi Smith te waharoa i whakairo. Ko ia te kaiwhakairo matua o te whare tipuna.
“Tini whetu ki te rangi,
Ko Rangitāne ki te whenua”
Ko te mauri o te whare o Te Tumu Herenga Waka i ahu mai i Te Ahu a Tūranga i ngā tihitihi o ngā pae maunga o Ruahine. Nō reira i te hui ā-tau, arā te hākari mō Matariki i whakanuia e Te Whanau o Te Herenga Waka a Rangitāne iwi. Me mihi ka tika ki te rangatira, arā te uri o Rangitāne a Tākuta Mason Durie mō ōna kōrero i tērā pō whakahirahira.
“Ka mate kainga tahi, ka ora kainga rua”
Ko Te Herenga Waka he kainga, he taunga whakaruruhau mō ngā tauira o te whare wananga e piki ana i ngā ara tukutuku o Poutama. Inā anō te nui o ngā wā ka kitea ngā kāhui ākonga o mua e hokihoki mai ana ki te marae kia hoki-māhara ki ngā wā rātou i te whare wānanga. Ko Te Herenga Waka he āhuru mōwai mō ngā tauira, he tohu mō te aroha, mō manaaki hoki.
He aha tēnei mea te manaakitanga?
He nui ngā kōrero e rere ana mō tēnei mea te ‘manaakitanga’ engari he aha kē te tino ngako o tēnei kupu? E ai ki ētahi, ko tōna ngako he tiaki tamariki, he whāngai manuhiri, he kanohi kitea, he whakawhanaungatanga i raro i te rangimārie, he aha kē atu, he aha kē mai.
Tēnā, kia tirohia e tātou te kupu nei. Ko tōna pūtake ko te kupu ‘manaaki’, ā, ki te wetewetea tēnei kupu ka hua ko te ‘mana-aki’. Nā tēnei āhuatanga ka toko ake te whakaaro he mea akiaki te manaakitanga i te mana o te tangata. Nō reira, ka taea pea te kī, ko te manaakitanga, he mea hei tū whakahīhī ai te tangata.
I runga i ēnei whakaaro, ka tika, kei te whakatinanatia e te marae o Te Herenga Waka ngā āhuatanga o te manaakitanga.
Ka tāea e te tauira te noho ki ngā rekereke o ngā tipuna poupou, te whakakī kete ki ngā korero o te Pātaka Iringa Kōrero, te whakakī puku i te hora o te kai ki ngā tēpu.I kī mai tētahi tauira tawhito “I ngā wā o mua i haere au ki Te Herenga Waka i ngā wā i toutou ngā pēhitanga o te whare wananga i tōku ahi, koira te take kua ea tōku tohu”.
Nō reira, marika ana te rere o te reo aumihi, ngā mihi matakuikui ki Te Whanau o Te Herenga Waka. Inā te kōrero, “ko te mahi a te rangatira ko te manaaki.” Nō reira kua rangatira te Whare Wānanga o te Upoko o te Ika i a koutou ō Te Herenga Waka Marae. Ngā mihi nui mō ngā tau kua pahure me ngā tau kei te heke mai nei. Ra whanau kia koe, kia koutou, kia tātou katoa o te whanau o Te Herenga Waka.
Nā Kereru o te Kāhui Manu