December 20, 2022
Nau Epiha’s death leaves questions unanswered
Ngati Kura and Ngapuhi are mourning the death of Matauri Bay kaumatua Nau Epiha.
Quinton Hita, who served with him on the board of te Kura Kaupapa o Kaikohe, says he was a stalwart of the Ngapuhi dialect and the storehouse of a vast amount to cultural knowledge.
As a mentor he gave non-judgmental support to many younger people, and he was also known for always answering a question with a question.
“Which could be infuriating and sometimes it was a one word answer so you’d go home and you’d wananga for a week to get to the bottom of what the meaning of that one word was and I found with Nau, the more you insisted he give you a straight answer the more enigmatic his answers became. It was fantastic because it was actually about giving you the opportunity to do some self reflection and self-development and when you went back a week later you might not have figured out the whole puzzle but you were a bit further down the track,” Mr Hita says.
The tangi for Nau Epiha is at Te Tāpui Marae in Matauri.