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Download AudioNgāi Tahu is today saying their final farewells to Banks Peninsula kaumatua Peter Ramsden, who died last weekend.
Mr Ramsden was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2020 for his services to conservation, and he represented the iwi on the Canterbury Aoraki Conservation Board and the Environment Canterbury Water Zone Committee.
Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene says he was a pou of Tūtehuarewa Marae at Koukourarata/Port Levy.
“He was a straight talker. Didn’t muck around when it came to hui on the marae. Had a huge ngākau. He was always Waitangi Day. There’s another place in the Banks Peninsula, Okains Bay where there’s a beautiful museum and he would go over many years and lay this massive hāngi for the whole community but still come over to celebrate Waitangi day there, feeding hundreds of people. He was a real ringawera, a great passion kaumātua for our environment as well”, he says.
Nō reira kia koe e Peter Te Rangi Hiroa Ramsden, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.
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