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Tuhoe identity Matt Te Pou says the iwi has lost a strong leader with the death on Monday of Paki Nikora.
Mr Nikora’s tangi is at the Ngati Rongo marae, Tauarau in Ruatoki.
Mr Te Pou says Mr Nikora, who was 83, lived a full life in business, the Anglican church and the administration of various land blocks, as well as his contributions to the tribe and its Treaty of Waitangi claims.
He would speak out where he saw injustice, such as in the conduct of Tuhoe elections.
He led the rebuild of his marae at Tauarau so he was really hapy, marae focused, and he said the mana of the hapu has been downgraded. What’s been elevated is the structure we all helped put together, our post-settlement governance entity. He says it seems to be sucking all the mana into there and forgetting about where the claims came from, from the hapu,” Mr Te Pou says.
He says where Paki Nikora led, others would follow, and he also gave support to smaller iwi on the borders of Ngai Tuhoe.
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