NGĀTI Rora kaumatua Aunty Ngahuia James.
THE commemorative documentary, 150 Years of Te Tokanganui-a-Noho had its world premiere earlier this month. The showing was part of a weekend of celebrations at the Pā. It was commissioned by the Pā trustees for the occasion, with support and funding from Te Māngai Pāho. Pā trustee Leesah Stockman Murray provided oversight. “It aims to reset the narrative about our whare tupuna, its establishment and the connection with our people. “This is our story, our way,” said Maniapoto FM’s Rāniera Winikerei, the day’s MC, in his introduction to the screening. The film’s creators were a husband-and-wife team, writer/producer Claire Varley and director Jake Mokomoko of award-winning Papamoa-based production company Ten Canaries, and a team including local documentary maker Wikitoria Day. “It is a privilege of ours to be part of the celebrations here at Te Tokanganui-a-Noho,” Jake said, via a video message broadcast on the big screen at the meeting house. “One hundred and fifty years is huge. It is a testament to the blood that runs through the place, the iwi, the people, the rohe, the hapū. “We actually managed to capture that, I hope, in the documentary. The essence of the place is definitely the people” Jake said. “It is something we will cherish for a long time to come.” Ngāti Rora kaumatua Aunty Ngahuia James, who featured in the film, felt the final product was as surprising to her as to others. “We didn’t know what was going to come over, because we didn’t know what they were going to edit. “We knew what we said, but the edited version, it was awesome,” she said. After exploring the impacts of colonisation and the history of the meeting house, the documentary also explained the different roles tangata whenua played on the marae from tamariki to adulthood. Little children started off by peeling potatoes for meals, progress to making the beds, before playing more adult supervision roles all the way through to – if appropriate – sitting on the paepae as kaumatua. Ngahuia said the film was a personal message for generations to come. “It was for the whānau … this is the tikanga, the proper way to do things.” The film will be made available as a kura resource around Te Nehenehenui.
