Ahipara

I’ve been a weaver for twenty years, not that long in terms of some people. I have completed a Bachelor in Visual Arts in Raranga with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and I’m now half way through my Masters in Māori Visual Arts with Massey. Weaving has really changed my life. It’s just been amazing. I’m currently teaching rāranga at Kaitaia Intermediate. Many of my students are from Ahipara and it really is a privilege to be able to pass on my knowledge to the younger generation of my community.

I moved from Raglan to Ahipara four years ago, after many years away, because this is where my tūpuna are from. I wanted to be closer to my ancestral lands, to look out my window and see my maunga, my awa, my moana. I wanted to be able to go to the meetings of my iwi and hapū and learn my Te Taitokerau dialect and mita. It makes me happy to be able to walk along Te Oneroa-o-Tohē and know that I am in the exact place that my tūpuna were. My older sister is also buried here. Sometimes, my mum and my daughters will come up and we will do the urupā trail, refreshing flowers and visiting the graves of our loved ones who have gone.

Ahipara is about fifteen kilometres out of Kaitaia towards the west coast and, along with Shipwreck Bay, it marks the start of Ninety Mile Beach. The moana here is named Te Karirikura and the tai is Te Oneroa-o-Tohē. As you drive into Ahipara the primary school is on the left and the rugby grounds are on the right. Then there’s a dairy and a small bottle shop, and on the other side of the road is Bid’s Takeaways. If you keep going to Foreshore Road – the road I live on – it takes you out along the coast. Ahipara is probably most well-known for its kaimoana, its surfing, and its marae-culture. There are three marae here, Korou Kore, Roma and Wainui. They meet regularly at hui called Te Takiwā to talk about their aspirations, events that are coming up and just keep in the loop with each other.

I have quite a few whānau in Ahipara, but most of my whānau live in Manukau. I am of Te Rarawa and Te Aupōuri descent. My great-grandmother was born and raised in Ahipara and my great-grandfather was from Manukau, a little settlement twelve kilometres inland from Ahipara. When my mum was eight the family left Ahipara and went to live in Auckland. When I was born, I was brought up on the Northshore, so growing up, we didn’t really come to Ahipara much, maybe once or twice, over all those years. We would always to go to Manukau instead, because that’s where my mum’s favourite aunty was, so that’s where we went. But the few times that we did visit Ahipara, I loved it. I can remember going crabbing in the rock pools, and once we went down the coast to Tauroa, which had next to nothing there, just shanty baches and the ocean.

The beach is what I love most about Ahipara. It’s part of my wellbeing and I love being able to dig up tuatua and kohikohi ngā kūtai. I also love that the people here are still real, living their own dream in their own way. Ahipara a great place to just get away from it all, it has a really beautiful way of life. I feel the support of my tūpuna here and I talk to them a lot. All of my friends know that I always say, “When the time is right, my tūpuna will sort it.” I have faith in them that they will guide me to where I’m meant to be.

Glossary. Tūrangawaewae, a place where one belongs through kinship and whakapapa. Raranga, weaving. Tūpuna, ancestors. Maunga, mountain. Awa, river. Moana, sea. Mita, pronunciation. Ūrupā, cemetery. Iwi, tribal kinship group. Hapū, extended family kinship group. Tai, coast. Te Karerekura, the Māori name for Ahipara Bay. Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē, the Māori name for Ninety Mile Beach. Kaimoana, seafood. Marae, ancestral gathering place. Tuatua, edible mollusc. Kohikohi, collect. Ngā kūtai, mussels. Taonga, valuable resource. Kaitiakitanga, guardianship.

This story appeared in the Kōanga Spring 2021 Edition of Shepherdess.