Dame Tariana Turia tangi live updates: MΔori Party founder laid to rest at Whangaehu marae
RNZ
7 Jan, 2025 10:51 AM3 mins to read
Kahurangi Tariana Turia. Photo / DefendNZ
By RNZ
The
founder of Te PΔti MΔori,
Dame Tariana Turia, is today being laid to rest at her marae at Whangaehu.
Turia died on Friday, aged 80, after earlier suffering a stroke.
Thousands have arrived in the small settlement south of Whanganui over the past four days to pay their respects.
WhΔnau spokesman
Che Wilson said todayβs proceedings would begin with karakia followed by a church service to send off the woman affectionately known among her iwi as Auntie Tari.
The nehu, or burial, is set to begin about 11am.
Wilson said the whΔnau were encouraging people to stay behind after the nehu for the hΔkari, or feast, which usually signalled the end of a tangihanga.
He said the village of Whangaehu may be small, but the entire MΔori community on both sides of the
Whanganui River had come together to farewell one of their own.
βYou canβt be from one side of a river and not from the other side of a river, or connected to the many rivers along here, so ... as a wider rohe [region] weβre supporting each other to ensure we can do the things we need to do to honour our queen.β
Colleague and close friend
Sir Bill English told
Morning Report the MΔori health provider movement and
WhΔnau Ora will be Turiaβs lasting legacy.
βIn Whanganui, she started one of the early MΔori providers ... and it was all based on a view that government services werenβt designed around people.
βShe set about doing a bit more than just talking about it, she started essentially the movement of MΔori health providers and WhΔnau Ora.β
English said Turia had a deep faith in the capacity of people to know what was best for them which allowed for progress if you gave them a little room to do it.
He also said she was quite sceptical about the structures and delivery of the welfare state.
Turia resigned from the Labour Party in 2004, before forming the MΔori Party, which English said took immense courage.
The Government and Labour lined up to pay their respects to Dame Tariana Turia who died on Friday.
βWillie Jackson noted this yesterday at the tangi, it takes a great deal of courage to break - particularly with a government - and form your own party because thereβs so much uncertainty about whether it will work or wonβt work,β he said.
βSecondly, in her case, along with Pita Sharples, who was there yesterday, she focused very much on the mana-enhancing way of doing politics.β
English said under Turiaβs leadership, the
MΔori Party focused very much on a style of politics which he believed people would find irrelevant today because of factors like social media.
He credited MΔori Party at the time for their research, constructive and well-thought-through speeches in the House, and conducting themselves with mana, which he said was very effective.
βWithin a few years of
leaving the Labour Party, she was part of a government, and able to conduct the MΔori Partyβs relationship in a government with quite a lot of tension, but always with integrity and that coalition lasted nine years and allowed her to persist with ideas like WhΔnau Ora and a lot of unrecognised work she did within the disability community as well.β
- RNZ
The MΔori Party founder is being laid to rest at Whangaehu Marae.
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