Marae Update

Matenga wha¯nau.

Kohunui Marae

He kakano ahau i ruia mai i Rangiatea

(I am a seed which was sown in the heavens of Rangiatea)

Marae renovations contracted with Tipoki Building are expected to be completed by the end of March 2022.

Kohunui is still engaging with Green Jersey Martinborough Cycle Tours every Sunday from November through until May. Matiu Te Maari, the son of Terry Te Maari, is an employee of Green Jersey. With the Marae still undergoing renovations we are having a mihi whakatau at Lacewood (Tuhitarata). When the Marae is re-opened, we will be holding a pòwhiri at Kohunui.

The Kohunui urupa has a committee to keep the grounds maintained where whànau are on a monthly rostering system. Thanks to the Matenga whànau for their mahi recently.

Kohunui is undertaking the Freshwater Cultural Monitoring alongside the Wairarapa Moana Restoration Project. Our next KFCmp hui is March 2022 at Kohunui Marae. Kohunui Native Plant Nursery started being developed after the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. The nursery foundations were excavated by Robert Carter and Vic Te Maari. The nursery’s shade house and potting shed were built by Tipoki Building. The tunnel house was erected by Brendon Kipa and the fence/shade house extension posts were put up by Johnny Rawhiti.

We may never have been able to establish our native nursery without the expert advice from the Haemata consultant team, especially Mark Fell.

Our funders to make the nursery possible are DOC, GWRC, SWDC and Aorangi Restoration Trust.

From Top (L-R): Excavation; Vic Te Maari and Robert Carter; Potting Shed; Tunnel House.

John Hancox checking out the nursery.

We are contracted to grow native plants for Aorangi Restoration Trust.

Kohunui Native Plant Nursery is a limited liability company with some of the Marae trustees as the directors. Business began on the 1st April 2021 and on May 10th, Riki Te Tau started as the Project Manager.

Kohunui Marae trustees wish to express their gratitude to Andrea Rutene and other whànau and community members who gave their time to help establish the native plant nursery.

Kohunui Marae Trustees 2021/22

Teresa Aporo Marae Chair 0220663088 Anne Firmin Deputy Chair 0276854976 Terry Te Maari Treasurer 020409124 Cassandra Connolly Secretary 02108154467 Violet Edwards-Hina Bookings Officer 02041478088 Lee Kuini Flutey Urupa Kaitiaki Fresh Water Monitor 0226098206 King Tipoki Trustee Building Maintenance 0274116211 Aperahama Matenga Kaumàtua 0274579756

Marae Update

Te Rangimarie Marae

Well, here we are again starting a New Year. 2021 gave us a few headaches with Covid-19 playing fast and loose with plans on the Marae.

Bookings fell by the wayside as Covid set in and mandates around safety changed how we do things. Services in Te Hepara Pai were set around caution, as we set about the new normals; signing in, masking up and sitting a metre apart.

Passing “kia tau te rangimarie” without close contact is just not the same. Receiving Eucharist in one kind only (no chalice) is indeed strange but it’s a new world and we must adapt.

The overnight stays became too hard for us to deal with if we were going to be obedient to the mandates, so it was decided to close down while we see where Covid is going to take us.

During this time, we lost our very dear kaumàtua, Hineari Babbington, (Ngàti Porou) beloved of our church whànau, loved and honoured in the kura and kohanga communities and loved and honoured in both worlds, Màori and Pàkeha. Gracious and delightful always; a living example of grace, strength, and compassion. May she Rest in Peace and Arise in Glory.

Christmas is always a busy time on a church Marae. We mark the four weeks prior as Advent, a thoughtful prayerful time when we prepare ourselves for the arrival of the Christ child. We hear the stories of old, are reminded of Jesus’s whakapapa and how the prophets told of a Messiah coming from the line of King David. We light a new candle each week for Hope, Peace, Joy and Love: tùmanako, rangimarie, koa, aroha; four things Christ stood for and things to strive for in this world.

Hineari Babbington

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