September 25, 2023

Hohepa language revival work to live on

Adam Gifford Posted On September 25, 2023

The funeral for Sir Patu Hohepa is being held today in Waima.

Sir Patu died on Friday at his home in Waima aged 87.

Relative Rereata Makiha says a constant flow of mourners has been through Otātara Marae over the weekend with tributes of his work as a teacher, an advocate for te reo Maori and his political activities fighting from Maori mana motuhake.

Many of them shared some of the korero tuku iho which he had passed on from whare wananga in the Hokianga stretching back over the past thousand years.

“I’m hopeful actually for the future that the work and all that work he has done overseas and with the work he has done here and with Indigenous people in Australia and Canada and the United States, that’s how far reaching his influence has been, I’m hopeful we are able to carry on that work for him in the future,” Mr Makiha says.