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A colossus of the Maori performing arts is gone.
Ngapo Wehi from Te Whakatohea, Ngai Tuhoe, Ngapuhi, Te Whanau-a-Apanui and Ngati Kahu died yesterday in Gisborne aged 82.
Mr Wehi, or Bub as he was known, led two great kapa haka roopu to national honours.
His first group, Waihirere, won the national championships in in 1972 and 1979.
Te Waka Huia, the group he and wife Pimia formed when they moved to west Auckland in 1981, brought home the trophy five times.
The pair led groups representing New Zealand at four South Pacific Festivals, the opening of the 1988 Seoul Olympic games, and the closing of the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada.
He was awarded a Queens Service medal in 2011 for services to Maori, as well as an honorary doctorate from Massey University in 2001.
His tangi is a Parihimanihi Marae in Waihirere.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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