Dream HOUSE

Behind a new whare taonga and research centre in Hokianga lies the story of a collection built up over decades and the realisation of a dream to house it

WORDS: NIKI PARTSCH / IMAGERY: JESS BURGES

We all have dreams, but it takes a certain kind of person to get things done.

Raiātea, a hāpu-owned and -managed whare taonga and research centre, is the product of such a long-held dream – of a place to hold taonga and resources that tell the interwoven stories of the Catholic faith in the Far North and make them accessible to whānau.

But to understand this dream, you must first meet the dreamer.

Esteemed Catholic priest and Far North District leader Pā Tate was born Henare Arekatera Tate on 23 March 1938 in the tiny township of Rāwene at the apex of a peninsula in sub-tropical Hokianga.

The third child of eight, he spent his childhood across the harbour at Motutī. After attending a local primary school, he received his secondary education at Auckland’s St Peter’s Māori College (renamed Hato Petera College in 1972), where he excelled, before becoming a priest in 1962. As he was the first Māori from Tai Tokerau to be ordained, this was a source of immense pride to the people of the North, where Catholicism was long established and had a strong influence amongst Māori, particularly in Hokianga.

Known thereafter as Pā Tate, Henare retained a strong relationship with Hato Petera and became widely recognised for his deeply held faith and devotion, eloquence and subtle persuasion, and for his meaningful community work, endless energy, sharp intellect and wit. He was a man adept at drawing and captivating any audience – and getting things done.

As Pā Tate came from a musical family, composition and song were also strengths, and in 1972 he led a group across New Zealand performing the play Karaiti te Māori (Christ the Māori). It was later performed in Panguru in 1978 – the year that also marked Pā Tate’s return to Hokianga as parish priest of Panguru and the beginning of the realisation of his dream to build a new marae complex, including an archive and resource centre.

Following the Festival of Faith in 1978, five acres (two hectares) of land at Motutī were gifted by the local Kaanara whānau for the marae complex. Formerly the site of an orchard and a cow shed, the land is surrounded by native bush that erupts with birdsong at dawn.

The main wharenui, dining hall, car parks and residential accommodations were built in subsequent decades until eventually, in 2017, the ground was made ready for the final piece of Pā Tate’s dream: a new building to house an archive and resource centre, which would ultimately become Raiātea.

In the 1980s Dame Whina Cooper ONZ DBE, also famously from Hokianga, wanted to name the main meeting house Raiātea, but instead it was named Tamatea.

The name Raiātea relates to a South Pacific island to which many Hokianga Māori have deep connections. It is also the name given to the Tahitian-built ship that brought Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier and Catholicism to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dame Whina passed away in 1994, so in 2015 Pā Tate asked her children for permission to use the name Raiātea for the archive and resource centre building, and they agreed.

After a feasibility study was completed, Arcline Architecture prepared the design and Kaitaia firm Pouwhenua worked on the build. The project was overseen by engineer Craig Price, who generously donated his time. Funding came from several sources, including the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Manatū Taonga Regional Culture and Heritage Fund, NZ Lotteries’ Environment and Heritage Fund, Foundation North, the Far North District Council and hapū fundraising.

Chris Dixon lives at Motutī and is the key holder at Raiātea.

“Religion is so integrated with the Māori culture up here that I couldn’t tell the difference growing up. It wasn’t until I was at university in Auckland that I realised it wasn’t like that in other places.”

Chris is proud to have helped his father, master carver George Dixon, sculpt the sailboat that sits above the entrance to the whare taonga. (George is also working on other whakairo for Raiātea and the marae.)

“This was quite a big job,” says Chris. “The canvas used for the sails is the same as what they use on a real sailboat.”

He unlocks the main door and shows us a favourite detail: “The carpet squares here at the entrance match the bishop’s colours, purple and red. It’s nice in the daytime, but lit up at night it’s even better. You can see the glow from the roadway.”

Pā Tate passed away on 1 April 2017 and is buried in the urupā at Hata Maria St Mary’s Church in Motutī. While he did not live to see the fruition of his dream, he lived long enough to see that it would be achieved, and his dream was passed on to Ngā Kaihoe o Raiātea to complete.

The house where he lived is so close to Raiātea that it’s easy to see why a raised walkway between the two was considered early in the design phase.

Sister Magdalen Sheahan (Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion) lives there now. She knew Pā Tate for many years and confirms the project was his “long-held dream”.

“He would plant a seed and sometimes it would grow. He would bring a thing to people’s attention and then encourage them to follow it through – like he did with Raiātea – giving it some water from time to time,” she reflects.

Opened on 23 April 2022, Raiātea is a modern building. The whare taonga (for exhibition and education) is on the upper level and the archive (for research and storage) is on the lower.

Its opening ceremony was followed by the unveiling of Pā Tate’s headstone.

Displaying the taonga collection in the whare taonga ensures that the items are accessible to everyone for education and research purposes. Many items were collected by Pā Tate over three decades, and most relate to the history of Māori Katorika in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“The museum demonstrates Hokianga’s longstanding relationship with the Catholic Church,” says Motutī Marae Trust Chair Geremy Hema, “and how the Church and te ao Māori are connected.”

Some items were donated to Motutī marae by overseas visitors. The collection includes carvings, tukutuku panels and other taonga such as photographs, maps, letters, documents and an exquisite kākahu woven by Diggeress Rangituatahi Te Kanawa CNZM QSO and worn by Pā Tate when he received his PhD from the Melbourne College of Divinity (now the University of Divinity).

Whina Te Whiu, who co-ordinates the collection, says many items relate to Catholic history but from a Māori perspective. She recalls that Pā Tate told her: “Raiātea is part of the marae; it’s not in isolation, it’s not on its own. It is an extension of the marae.

1. The marae complex at Motutī with Raiātea on the left, the dining hall at centre and the wharenui to the right.

2. A graceful, modern build, Raiātea houses the whare taonga and research centre.

3. Chris Dixon shows some taonga pounamu from the collection at Raiātea.

4. The interpretation panels, carpet and display cases match the bishop’s colours.

5. A gold chasuble.

H Hi Katorika

The majority of Māori in northern Hokianga are Catholic. Most of them define themselves not as Māori who are Catholics but as Māori Catholics whose faith has been built from a unique relationship developed during the time of Bishop Pompallier in the early 1800s.

“It is a puna that nourishes my people, and it can provide nourishment for those who come. It does not stand alone. Our taonga are not just in this whare, the whakairo in our whare tūpuna are taonga, and our stories are our taonga.”

“Because it’s on the whenua of our marae it has the extension of its mana and tapu,” explains Whina. “Therefore, it has the extension of our aroha manaaki to that building and to our whakapapa for those who want to engage in that space and to our manuhiri who want to come and engage and be fed by it.”

Pā Tate’s youngest brother, Rennel (Ren) Tate, currently lives at Motutī, just a few steps from the whare taonga and wharenui. When asked what it’s like to live in such a place, he says: “It’s nice, quiet, beats living in the city. I lived in Auckland for 52 years from when I left home, then three or four years in Tauranga before coming here.

“I imagine if he [Pā Tate] were still alive and living in his house over there, he would get up and have a look over here every morning,” says Ren, as he looks across the divide between the rear deck of the whare taonga and the house where Pā Tate lived.

“The window closest to us here is where his office was. He’d open the curtains and have a look at this building, that’s where he would be looking from. It would be hard to miss.”

The whare taonga and research centre were only open to whānau during 2022, and groups from Auckland schools, including De La Salle College and St Anne’s Catholic School, visited and stayed overnight at the marae.

Public access is anticipated in 2023.

With no natural source nearby, water is a precious commodity; rainwater is collected and stored in several 20,000-litre tanks. All tours and noho must therefore be managed carefully in relation to the supply of water and other resources.

As Ren sits inside the whare taonga, he reflects on the realisation of his brother’s dream.

“I guess it feels like it was just a teardrop in the ocean. That’s how he operated, from an idea. It started out small and ended up big. He was right into museum stuff – so many things he brought here from all over the world.” aroha manaaki: loving care of/support hāhi: church hapū: sub-tribe kākahu: a type of cloak

1. A tukutuku panel gifted to Motutī reflects the relationship between Māori and Te Hāhi Katorika in Hokianga.

2. Crucifixes and statues are part of the collection at Rāiatea.

3. The house where Pā Tate lived and the window of his office viewed from Raiātea.

Katorika: Catholic/s mana: life force, prestige manuhiri: visitors noho: stays puna: spring tapu: restricted/sacred tukutuku: woven latticework urupā: cemetery whakairo: carving/s whakapapa: genealogy wharenui: meeting house whare taonga: museum whare tūpuna: ancestral house whenua: land