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Download AudioConservation Minister Kiritapu Allen says speaking at the tangi of Moana Jackson was about honouring a friend rather than breaking down barriers for women.
The East Coast MP was one of a number of wahine asked to speak in line with the wishes of the late legal theorist and indigenous jurist.
She says she’s spoken on many marae in Tairāwhiti and in the north, and in Heretaunga, she followed the lead of Ngāti Kahungunu leader Ngahiwi Tomoana, who came across to seat her on the paepae.
“Those are matters for the marae to determine but for my part, my role is to honour what the hau kāinga have requested, it’s about honouring the person that’s lying there and in this particular case the person lying in state was a dear friend but he was much more than that -he was one of our greatest jurists and thinker and an incredibly wise man that we will miss so damn much and I’m gutted that he’s gone.” Ms Allen says.
She says she was a dreadlocked 18-year-old when she first met Moana Jackson, and he was the teacher, mentor and friend she drove to countless hui.
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