The weather for Hone Kaa’s sendoff was, at times, spectacular – rain lashing into Hinepare Marae, wild squalls gusting so furiously that they threatened to tear a giant tarpaulin from its moorings and send it sailing out over the Waiapu River, dragging the wharenui with it.
And some might have seen a certain symmetry in that – because if Hone Kaa was on the scene, if structures weren’t properly tied down they might just get blown away by the force of his passion.
He was forthright. He was fearless – and funny too. He spoke out for the rawakore me te pani,the poor and bereaved, all his adult life. Not just in his ministry in the church, but also in his other lives in broadcasting, TV commentary and political activism.
Hone’s tangi was divided into two parts. He lay in state at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Khyber Pass from Thursday to Sunday, and hundreds who knew the urban Hone, the campaigner for the downtrodden in the city, paid their respects to him there.
And on Sunday he was brought back to Ngati Porou, to Rangitukia, the tiny settlement at the mouth of the Waiapu River where he grew up, and to which he frequently returned.
Rangitukia, in fact, is “the Damascus of Ngati Porou”, said Api Mahuika in his eulogy. It's the place where Christianity had come to the Coast.
Hone had known his own Damascus Rd call in Rangitukia, he'd taken that call on to Auckland, and in death he had “returned to Damascus.”
Like the Apostle Paul, said Api, Hone didn’t care for mysteries or mystical wisdom – he came to preach Christ crucified, and to follow Christ’s commandments. Three times Jesus had urged Peter to “Feed my sheep”, said Api, and Hone had taken that instruction to heart, too.
That “feeding” sometimes took the form of mentoring or sheltering once-young firebrands like Joe Hawke, who paid tribute to Hone in Holy Sepulchre.
Hone was there for Joe after Bastion Point, when Joe was shunned by just about every employer in Auckland. Hone Harawira was another who'd often taken counsel from Hone, and he came to Rangitukia to deliver a eulogy to his old mentor.
“Hone Kaa stood by us,” he said, “when no-one else would stand by us.”
Hone’s sister Keri Kaa read Dylan Thomas’ poem Do not go gentle into that good night,and his son Hirini thanked the hundreds who had traveled to Rangitukia to pay their respects.
He said his Dad had sometimes been disappointed by his church – but he was never disappointed by his faith.
Archdeacon Tiki Raumati preached a rousing kauwhau, and after the committal Hone was carried across the road to Okororourupa to lie with the many members of the Kaa whanau buried there.
So many, in fact, that he’d quipped that the place ought to be called: “The Kaa Park.”
Comments
Log in or create a user account to comment.