Sharples Pita: Obituaries — Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu 
Sharples Pita: Obituaries — Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu 
[Volume:633;Page:4741] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Speaker. Tena tatou katoa i te Whare nei. He honore maku ki te korero ki to tatou Ariki kua ngaro atu. Engari tuatahi kai te mihi au ki a koutou nga mema Paremata i tae atu ki tera tangihanga i whakaeke i runga i te marae atea o Turangawaewae a i noho tahi me te whanau te hapu me nga iwi o Tainui. Kai te mihi au ki te Pirimia ahakoa kua whakamanahia e Tainui i noho whakaiti ia mai i te timatatanga tae noa ki te whakamutunga. Kai te mihi hoki au ki te kaiarahi o te Pati Nahinara nana i noho tika i te pae tapu. 
I tera wiki i tu te hui wananga i konei i tenei Whare mo nga mema Paremata o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Na te Kaiwhakahaere o to tatou Whare a Margaret Wilson i whakahaere me ona hoa kaikorero o te Whare nei. I tenei hui i tae mai nga mema Paremata mai i Ahitereiria i Whiti Vanatu i Hamoa i Tonga i Tuvalu me era atu o nga moutere o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. I tu katoa mai ratou ki te poroporoaki i te Kuini Maori puta mai o ratou whakaaro o ratou pouritanga. Na te Kaiwhakahaere o te Whare nei hoki i whakatu tetahi wa whakangu wa hoihoi kia tangi atu tatou ki to tatou Ariki. 
“Ua papaki ana nga tai ki te wahapu o Waikato ngarungaru te wai o te awa o Waikato. Ru ana ru ana te whenua ka paoro ka paoro te whenua. Ka haruru te whenua i te takahanga o nga iwi i tae atu ki a koe kai Te Ariki. E i pupuhi mai te hau o te tonga pupuhi mai te hau makariri pupuhi mai te hau e kawe nei te Ringa Kaha o Aitua.” 
Na reira kai Te Ariki nohou ra te reo nohau ra te reo i whakahuihuitia ai matou. Nohou ra te karanga kotahi anake te reo i rongohia e matou. Nohou ra tena i tatu atu. I tae atu matou ki te hui ki te kawe atu i nga taonga whakamirimiri o nga tipuna matua he waihotanga o ratou ki a matou. Kua mimiti te tai kua haroa te tai i timu te tai. Maroke ana te takutai moana i a koe kai Te Ariki. Na reira kai Te Ariki haere haere me nga tini korero nga taonga kua uhia kei runga i a koe haere. I tae atu matou ki te kawe atu nga taonga hihira mo koutou nga mate mohou ra. Ko te tino taonga no matou ko te hupe me te roimata kia ringihia kei runga i a koe. Na reira kai Te Ariki takoto takoto takoto. Kai te hahae te tau o taku ate nga moteatea nga whakaaro kei roto i a au. Na reira haere haere haere. No reira ko te korero koutou ki a koutou matou ki a matou kai Te Ariki haere. 
Ka tipu te whakatauaki: “Ara mai ra he tete kura hinga mai ra he tete kura.” Na reira kai Te Ariki Tuheitia nau mai haere mai ra. Ahakoa kua mihia koe e ahau i runga i te marae i Turangawaewae tenei au e tu atu i roto i te “Whare Raiana” i tenei rangi. Na reira kei te tautoko matou o Ngati Kahungungu ki a koe otira nga tangata i tenei Whare kai te rangatira tena koe tena koutou. 
Ko te tumanako na te mahi a te pouaka whakaata a te reo irirangi a nga niupepa kua kitea e Aotearoa te ataahua o tatou te Maori. Tena koutou tena koutou kei raro. 
[An interpretation in English was given to the House.] 
[ 
Greetings to you Madam Speaker and to all of us in this House. It is an honour for me to pay a tribute to our lady who has passed away. But first I want to acknowledge you the members of Parliament who got there to that mourning who went on to the courtyard of Turangawawae and who mingled as one with the family the subtribe and the people of Tainui. I acknowledge the Prime Minister’s humility in remaining in the background from the beginning to the end even though her presence was acknowledged formally by Tainui. I acknowledge the leader of the National Party as well who treated his position on the sacred speaking perch with dignity.  
Last week a conference for Parliaments of the Pacific Islands was held here in this House. The Speaker of our House Margaret Wilson officiated with her presiding officers. At this conference were parliamentary representatives from Australia Fiji Vanuatu Samoa Tonga and other Pacific Ocean Islands. They all stood up to farewell and pay tribute to the Maori Queen and to express their thoughts and sadness. Madam Speaker called for a moment of silence and we stood to observe that and paid respects to our lady. 
“Behold the sound of the tides crashing at the mouth of the Waikato River and the waves that resulted from this. Behold the lightning in the heavens the flashes of sheet lightning—alas it lights up the sky. The land rumbles the crescendo mounts. Hark the land resounds as the people descend upon you Te Ariki. Woe is me—the southerly blows and brings with it coldness and the great hand of death.” 
So Te Ariki it was your voice that gathered us. The call was yours and it was the only one that we could hear and respond to. That is the reason they descended upon you. We arrived to bring you the comforting treasures of the ancestors that they left for us. The tide has ebbed; it is at its lowest. You have left the foreshore dry Te Ariki. 
So to you The Lady I say farewell depart with the many many tributes and treasures draped over you—farewell. We arrived there to bring the most treasured of all gifts for the dead and in particular for you. That priceless gift of ours indeed is tears to be cast over you. So my lady lie there lie there lie there. I am cut up inside poetically and emotionally. The source of my emotions is lacerated. So depart leave farewell. The saying goes: to you the dead and to we the living farewell The Lady. 
The proverb comes to bear: “A fern frond rises as another falls.” So welcome King Tuheitia welcome. Although I acknowledged you on the courtyard of Turangawaewae I stand before you today in the “Lions’ Den”. We of Ngati Kahungunu support you as indeed do the people in this House. Greetings to you the chief and greetings to you all as well. 
Because of the coverage by media television radio and newspapers alike I hope that we Maori endeared ourselves to New Zealand 
.]