Travelling to the place of his birth gives you a true sense of the man Tā Pou Temara was, and the essence of everything he stood for. Laid to rest in his beloved Te Urewera, hundreds made the journey to farewell this respected Tūhoe scholar, acknowledging his massive contribution to te ao Māori and the many lives he shaped through his knowledge, guidance, and commitment to his Tūhoetanga.
Yet beyond the dignitaries and manuhiri who gathered to pay their respects, the most poignant moments belonged to his own hau kāinga and whānau.
Among those carrying his legacy forward is McGarvey, recently appointed Professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi under Tā Pou’s guidance, a fitting continuation to ensure te reo me ōnĀ tikanga endure.
“Anei Te Parawhakawai a Tūhoe, nāna i tīmata, nō reira, ko rāua ko Mōwai Tihi ngā tohunga tū tauā i tā mātou wānanga i ngā tau 99 ki Maungapōhatu.”
To honour him, an ope of around one hundred protégés, made up of kitchen hands, hunters, gatherers, and ringa raupā, stepped forward to perform.
It was a tribute steeped in Tūhoetanga from descendants who knew just how central haka was to his life.
Tū Te Maungaroa
In 1993, Tā Pou established the Wellington-based Tūhoe kapa haka group Tū Te Maungaroa, known as Tūhoe ki Pōneke whenever they took the stage at the biennial Tūhoe Ahurei.
Still, the true foundation of Tūhoe kapa haka begins right here in te rohe pōtae o Tūhoe, the kōhanga of their cultural identity.
Amidst the mist and bush of Te Urewera, the people draw their mauri from te wao nui a Tāne, expressing it through haka and mōteatea.
Tūhoe call this matemateāone, a bond that defies translation.
If you know, you know.
McGarvey says it’s up to the next generation to continue to strengthen that bond.
“ko mātou ināianei hei ārahi i ngā āhuatanga i runga i ō tātou marae ahakoa ki mua, ki muri.”
A man of many achievements
His eulogy was delivered by his niece, Professor Rawinia Higgins MNZM, Tumu Ahurei o Te Herenga Waka, who affectionately called him Pāpā.
She recounted a list of achievements too vast to capture on paper, remembering him as a tohunga of karakia, te reo, tikanga, and weaponry on the paepae kōrero, while wryly noting the one discipline he claimed mastery over, yet never quite conquered, was golf.
Behind the scenes, the ringawera stepped away from their tireless work in the kitchen to join the farewell, with the ope tauā urged not to hold back.
It was a powerful reminder that while the nation came to honour his life’s work, it was the hands of his own people that gave him the send-off he would be proud of.
Covering the tangihanga was a contingent of Tūhoe media, all whānau, who promptly gave the Tūhoe media communications lead, a former Head of News at Whakaata Māori, a well-earned headache.
Balancing media expectations with the kawa and tikanga of the hapū is a delicate dance. Time and again, we were told not to “go there,” “do this,” or “do that.”
Yet at every opportunity, we leaned on our whakapapa and iwi relationships to push right up against the line.
It was the kind of boundary-testing only Tūhoe reporters understand and know how to navigate, and all done in the name of honouring a man who never shied away from the limelight, and whom we had spent decades covering.
Looking around, we knew as Tūhoe reporters that he would be smiling down on us, trying to push those barriers, knowing full well we couldn’t.
Tā Pou may have been laid to rest today, but his spirit will rise again through mōteatea, waiata, and haka when the Tūhoe Ahurei returns to Rūātoki over Easter in 2027.
Moe mai rā i roto i te korowai o ōu tūpuna. Ko ngā taonga i waiho mai e koe ka ora tonu i roto i a tātou.
