Merenako - A Legacy of Leadership

Merenako of Motueka. Original photographic prints and postcards from the file print collection, Box 16. Ref: PAColl-7344-44. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

As part of the history of Te Tauihu, Merenako was a pioneer, one of the earliest in the first wave of ancestors who came into Te Tauihu and settled here. She is known for her leadership and her strength of character.

Three sisters and kuia, Judi Merenako Billens, Rāmari Joseph and Mairangi Reiher, grew up knowing about Merenako as a part of their whānau. In November 2021, as tūī sang in the garden, they spent an afternoon talking with Kerensa Johnston and Rōpata Taylor about their tupuna, sharing stories and memories about this important ancestor and reflecting on what her legacy means to them and for the next generations.

The three sisters whakapapa to Hana Te Unuhi Park and grew up in Mōhua. All three currently live in Te Tauihu.

Above: Hei tiki of Merenako.

Photo: Graeme Robertson

Mairangi: When our mum Hana was only three months old, her mother died, so her grandparents Huta Pamariki and Pare Paaka (Park), went and took her back to Motueka to live with them. Mum loved them dearly. They brought her up as part of their family.

Judi: Our mum used to talk a lot about Merenako.We would always ask her to tell us more stories about her.

Mairangi: We know that Merenako, from Te Ātiawa, came down from Taranaki with her family as part of the heke. She and her brother Te Karara went off into Motueka in the early 1800s, and that’s where her journey in Te Tauihu began. Merenako married twice – both men from Ngāti Rārua. Her first husband was Taare Te Ahimanawa. After he died, she married Pene Te Poa, the son of Te Poa Karoro, chief of Ngāti Rārua. Sadly, Pene Te Poa died before Merenako. Because she was alone again, Merenako approached her cousin, Hōani Kitakita, to ask if his eldest daughter, Pare, could come and look after her. Initially Hōani Kitakita opposed the arrangement, upset to think his daughter was just going to be a servant to a kuia, but Merenako, being the type of person that she was, she persisted and got her own way and Pare went and lived with her, cementing our family connections.

Merenako arranged the marriage between Pare and Huta, who are our great grandparents. Growing up, our mum always used to call Pare ‘Granny Park’. Pare was also known as Merenako. Judi was named after Merenako too. When we were younger, we used to tease her and call her ‘Mary Knuckles’.

Judi: I’ve always been proud to carry her name. She was a very strong woman. When I was young, my family would say, ‘Merenako, you’re just like her.’ I loved that and how she was very determined. I don’t know whether people today realise what a great woman she was.

It was said you could hear the clicking as she broke tree branches while she walked a path on her way to Kaiteretere. Breaking the branches was her way of claiming the land. But while she was exploring this area she hurt her knee walking on the spongy ground. This was near Riuwaka – but Riuwaka is only the name of the river – not the surrounding area. That land was named by Merenako, and she called it Turi Auraki after her sore knee. If you can visualise all the bush from Motueka through to Kaiteretere, Merenako went through there and she made a path all the way. She was determined to go right around that coastline.

Judi Billens and hei tiki of Merenako.

Photography: Virginia Woolf

Mairangi Reiher, Judi Billens and Rāmari Joseph.

Mairangi: Merenako and Pare were both from Te Ātiawa and from the same family in Taranaki. Even when they were in Te Tauihu, they maintained their connections to Taranaki. Huta and Pare had an orchard and farm where they grew potatoes and other fruit and vegetables, and they’d send food that they caught or grew to whānau and hapū back in Taranaki.

Those connections continue to this day. Huta would also go fishing and eeling and our mum has a memory of sitting in the cart and having to jump out of the way as Huta threw the squirming eels onto the back of it.

Merenako showed attributes of leadership, strength and courage – she has even been described as a warrior.

MAIRANGI REIHER

Judi: Huta was good at figures, and he knew how to put the pennies together. He was a smart businessman. Merenako learnt about business from him, and she eventually became better than him.

Mairangi: She was very astute and very aware about what was right and what was wrong. So, if there was anything that she felt was hers and needed fighting for, she would go to court and get it back.

There was an instance where she let someone use her land – the land was down by the old homestead on the corner of Whakarewa and Pamarika streets – they used it for years, until the council decided that this other person must own the land and started sending him the rates bills.

Rāmari Joseph and hei tiki of Merenako.

They didn’t even check with Merenako. This went on for some time. Then when that person died, Merenako found out he’d left the land to his own people instead of it reverting back to her. So, she went to court. Not only did she get it back but she also fought for restitution for all the time he had use of the land as well.

There was another time where there was a dispute with neighbours over the ownership of a tree that was by the fence. It was the tree where the pito was buried when children were born. Both parties said, ‘That tree belongs to us, it’s on our side.’ But really, that tree belonged to Merenako.

Rāmari: We’re not sure how old Merenako was when she first arrived in Te Tauihu or even how old she was when she died in 1888. The church records said she was around 90, and others said she was 105.

Mairangi: Her age doesn’t mean a lot to me, I mean, she’s just our kuia. But looking at the timeline, you get a sense of what a strong woman she was – whether she was 90 or over 100, she was still quite old when she died. She was noted as a chief of high standing. What she had achieved from her childhood onwards is what gave her this status that she ended up with. She showed attributes of leadership, strength and courage – she has even been described as a warrior.

It feels wonderful to be part of the legacy of Merenako. We are humbled to have her as a part of our family.

RĀMARI JOSEPH

Rōpata: In the well-known photo of Merenako she is pictured wearing a kahu kiwi, the kiwi feather cloak and her hei tiki, her greenstone tiki.

Kerensa: Do we know where the cloak is?

Mairangi: There are two kiwi feather cloaks. Other branches of the family are guardians of the cloaks: our cousin Mark’s family look after one, and our cousin James looks after the other.

Rōpata: Today, you brought her hei tiki with you. Can you tell us about it? It’s with you now, but the whānau hasn’t always been able to access it, is that right?

Mairangi: It’s a bit of a mystery, but we think that a family member of Pare gave this hei tiki to James Cawthron (of the Cawthron Institute) to look at and never received it back from him. Then eventually it disappeared altogether. Our whanaunga Janice Manson actually found it when she was visiting a storage unit around the Nelson waterfront. We don’t know why she was there, but Janice was led to it, saw this box, and opened it. She said, ‘I got such a shock. It was throwing out energy at me.’ It was the hei tiki that Merenako is wearing. I’m not quite sure where it went from there, but it disappeared again, until it resurfaced back at the Cawthron Institute.

Kerensa Johnston, Judi Billens and Lenaire Crockford.

I was on the board of the Nelson Provincial Museum at the time, and we decided that it wasn’t right for the taonga of our kuia to be locked away like that.

MAIRANGI REIHER

Mairangi: At that time, the hei tiki was then stored in the BNZ vault, and if anyone wanted to look at it, they had to go to Cawthron Institute first, and then to the BNZ to get permission to view it. We weren’t allowed to touch it, and after we had viewed it, it was locked away in the vault again. I was on the board of the Nelson Provincial Museum at the time, and we decided that it wasn’t right for the taonga of our kuia to be locked away like that. It took about five years to come to an agreement and for a memorandum of understanding between the Park whānau, Cawthron and the museum to be signed, to bring the hei tiki back out into the open and on display in the museum.

Mairangi Reiher and hei tiki of Merenako.

In 2009 we had an official handing over with karakia. This ceremony was supported by all Te Tauihu iwi – not just Te Ātiawa – everyone was there. It was appropriate, as her namesake, that Judi was the one to hand the hei tiki over to the museum. We no longer had to jump through hoops to see the hei tiki, it’s there on display in the Taha Māori exhibition area so everyone can see it, and we can be reminded of Merenako and her influence on the history of Te Tauihu.

Rāmari: It feels wonderful to be part of the legacy of Merenako. We are humbled to have her as a part of our family. We grew up knowing about her, to us she was special.

Mairangi: I’m proud of her and the more I know about her, the more I empathise with her for what she has achieved. She is our hero in life. The photo of her sits in my sun porch and I go in and see her every morning. Sometimes she’s happy and sometimes she’s sad. On another day I look at her, and think, you know, I’m having a bad day, is that okay? And she just looks at me as much as to say, get over it. Or other times she smiles. It’s like she’s understanding.

Lenaire Crockford with hei tiki of Merenako

I suppose some of the connection comes from having her name, but she's real, she's real with me all the time.

JUDI BILLENS

Judi: I think she’s smiling now actually.

Rōpata: Given the significance of Merenako and her legacy, have you passed her stories onto the next generation, to your children and to your grandchildren?

Judi: Yes, definitely. They know that they have this strong connection to Merenako. My moko Joseph knows all the stories.

Mairangi: My daughters Lenaire and Maree have been learning about their tūpuna through the cultural development programme, Matike Mai, and the Wakatū whakapapa wānanga and haerenga, Te Rākau Pakiaka. Maree researched and presented on our tupuna Te Meihana, and Lenaire chose Merenako. She now knows as much as I know about Merenako; maybe even more.

Judi: Merenako is still real to me every day. I suppose some of the connection comes from having her name, but she’s real, she’s real with me all the time.

This is just a glimpse into the life of Merenako from the perspective of some of her whānau. You can read more about Merenako on Ngāti Rārua Atiawa Iwi Trust website https://www.nrait.co.nz/our-stories/merenako and in Hilary and John Mitchell’s Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka series. We’d like to thank Rāmari Joseph, Mairangi Reiher, Judi Merenako Billens and Lenaire Crockford, and acknowledge all the descendants who are connected to the legacy of Merenako.