Pōkākā ana te moana
Āritarita ana te Tai o Poutini
Haruru i te pō
Haruru i te ao
He paiao kaniawhea i te rangi
Ka heke ko Roimata
Ka pukea ko te whenua
Tau ana te pūweru tauā
Ki runga i tō rahi
Ka auē, ka auē
Kāore ia nei he tohu o te mate
Mōhou e te toki
Mōhou e te pā whakawairua
I manaaki mai te whakaeke
I waha mai mō mātou
Ka kino tō pounamu
He kino pounamu onamata
Waiho atu nei te tewe muri nei
Ki te whare o Tūhuru e tū ake nei
Hai tūkeka, hai uhunga mōhou
Hanatu rā ki a rātou
Ki te kāinga wairua i te rangi
Auē te mamae e
E pōua, e oki e.
It is with a heavy heart that we inform whānau of the passing of our kaumātua and Uncle Ben Hutana. Uncle Ben passed away peacefully on 3 August, surrounded by whānau.
There is so much to say about Uncle Ben and the following doesn’t cover all of his amazing mahi.
Ben dedicated his life to Arahura, working tirelessly to support whānau initiatives for the betterment of our whānau and the community.
He was part of the Ngāti Waewae executive team for more than 10 years and in that time he was deputy chair and alternative representative to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
Ben worked on behalf of the rūnanga with local councils, businesses, schools and other external parties. He represented Ngāti Waewae on a number of boards including Poutini Waiora, and he was the chair of Tatau Pounamu (the DHB Māori Advisory Board), a member of the WestReap board, a Westland High School trustee and many other boards.
He was the key person supporting the urupā komiti and led the development of the urupā maintenance and preservation work.
He was a strong advocate for te reo Māori and the revitalisation of culture. One of his proudest moments was when he was acknowledged by Kotahi Mano Kāika in 2009, with the Te Pā Whakawairua award at the inaugural Ngāi Tahu Reo Māori awards, for his contributions to the rūnanga and Te Tai Poutini.
Another proud moment for Uncle Ben was sitting on the paepae at the opening of Arahura Marae. He was part of the marae development committee for eight years and we acknowledge his wonderful contribution.
Uncle Ben’s tangi was held on Friday 7 August at 1pm at the Arahura Marae.
Uncle Ben.