The garden at Pukemokimoki marae

Marcia and Lionel in the hothouse

Lionel and others tending the mara kai gardens

Watering the trees which will
one day replace the picket fences.

Ahuriri Maori warden and Maraenui resident Marcia Crawford has been bugging me for weeks now to come down to Pukemokimoki and take some pictures of the awesome garden that she and other EIT students have developed and are tending, to grow fruit and veges for the community.

So with the tangihanga over, the way was clear for me to visit and have a look at this garden, which I have watched grow over the last few years.  I was impressed.

The 16 adult students, under HB EIT tutor Jackie, are now potting up summer veges as well as native tree plants.  

Their hot house gives the baby plants a warm boost before they are planted out into either the raised beds or around the marae.

They have recently planted about $500 worth of native trees, Jackie told me - kowhai, akeake, coprosmas, tarata and hebes.  The trees are around the edges of the marae property, and will serve as an attractive windbreak.  

Those being planted by the picket fence at the front of the marae will eventually replace that fence.

Marcia said schools who come to the marae are asked to bring a tree to plant.  She showed me some kaka beak trees donated and planted by Porritt school students who had come to the marae for a visit.

Marcia standing at
the gate - waharoa - to the marae.

"When the schools come, they learn about the inside of the marae, but I like to show them a special connection with the garden.  

Tu Ahuriri, one of the main figures at the front of the whare, looks like he's holding a spear, but it's a hoe.  He was a gardener and they too can plant a tree for the future.

"So when they plant their tree, Nanny Kahu does a karakia and they sing a song. When they come back to this marae in future years, their tree will have grown, just like they have."

Pukemokimoki marae is becoming more and more beautiful every time I visit, and has become the heart of a caring community who appreciate the special role it plays in bringing people together.

Pukemokimoki marae

I joined the friends and whanau mourning the sad, untimely passing of Maraenui stalwart Wally Hooper at the Pukemokimoki marae last night then again as he was taken off to his home marae in Te Araroa this morning.  It made me realise how important having our urban, community marae is to the people of Napier.

Last night, I went on to the marae with a group from the Maraenui Rugby and Sports Club (I'm on the committee) of which Wally was a long-time member.  He lay in state, surrounded by his family, as we all paid our respects, cried and sang and then hongied and hugged each other.  Shared kai in the dining room afterwards enabled us to share our stories of Wally, and strengthen our connections with each other.

Since Wally arrived at Pukemokimoki late Sunday night, thousands of people, including Kohanga Reo tamariki,  have come to say goodbye to Wally.  He was a pou, an important senior manager, in one of Maraenui's kohanga reo, E Tipu E Rea Taraia Kohanga Reo, which he had strengthened and supported in very practical, loving ways.  So tamariki and staff from the many Kohanga in the area visited him at Pukemokimoki.

Where else could this have happened?  Today when I attended the church service at the marae, in the whare where he lay, about 200 people were there, till he was carried out the gates and started his final journey up the coast.

If we had no urban marae, his body probably would have laid in state at a family member's house, putting untold stresses and strains on the family, the street (parking problems!) and probably put many of us off visiting.  But at Pukemokimoki, the facility is almost purpose built for people to stay overnight, to host and feed large numbers of people, in tikanga Maori fashion.  It is warm, it is welcoming, and the hospitality genuine.

As well, the marae is alcohol free, so no one was drowing their sorrows - and often creating more! - around this sad event. 

So I'm grateful that we have this urban marae - a truly beautiful place, where our Maori and pakeha history is honoured and celebrated - to allow us all to experience tikanga Maori without feeling like an outsider.  

Haere Ra, farewell, Wally Hooper:  you made a huge difference to those whose lives you touched, and you will always be remembered.