Kumara patch learning put Kaa on rewarding pathway

Photo: Natalie Robertson.

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A nephew of the late Keri Kaa says the writer, actor and educator was formed by a generation of Ngati Porou who grew up in the shadow of Apirana Ngata.

Ms Kaa died on Wednesday in Te Puia hospital aged 78.

Hirini Kaa says as the first Māori graduate, a trailblazing politician and a master of Māori culture and language, Apirana Ngata showed his people how they could walk in both te ao Māori and the Pākehā world.

"Auntie Keri’s parent's generation grew up in his shadow, walked alongside him, worked with him, they lived these stories, and so they grew up unafraid of the Pākehā world and they grew up in Rangitukia so every day they were in the kumara patch, literally in the kumara patch weeding and learning haka in there and learning karakia and learning who they were," he says.

A funeral service will be held for Keri Kaa at Rangitukia on Tuesday.

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