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Download AudioIt wasn’t in the maramataka so Rereata Makiha didn’t take his nomination for a prestigious tohu seriously.
He’s on the shortlist for the Ryman Healthcare Senior New Zealander of the Year award for his dedication to te ao Māori and his innovative style in passing on traditional knowledge about things like living by the phases of the moon.
“Bit of a hardcase nomination, aye, and when the word came through, I thought – nah, take my name off and then I had a sleep and got up the next morning and thought – ooo, could be one of my mokopuna that put my name through. So I said (I’d) better not disappoint them and just let it flow through the course and see what happens,” Mr Makiha says.
Also in the shortlist is his friend and fellow tohunga Te Warihi Hetaraka.
In line for the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year tohu are singer and music therapy leader Dame Hinewehi Mohi, Conservation Minister and cancer survivor Kiri Allan, Olympic athletes Lisa Carrington and Dame Valerie Adams, Ngāi Tahu kaumātua Tā Tipene O’Regan, immunologist Michael Baker and former Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft.
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