Unveiling for iwi leader ‘disrespectful’: ex-wife
An iwi leader says a lot of people needed the unveiling to heal
Arow has erupted after an unveiling was held for an iwi leader of Tauranga Moana, allegedly without his ex-wife or children’s approval or attendance.
Te Awanuia¯rangi Black died six years ago, aged 48.
Two years later his former wife of 26 years, Ani Zhou-black, climbed to the top of Mauao and broadcast claims on Facebook Live that he had been a paedophile involved in a child sex ring.
Police found no evidence of the ring. The incident, however, left enduring pain and division in Tauranga Moana, where Awanui, or Awa, had been a revered expert in tikanga and history.
His accomplishments included being a regional councillor and organising the haka for the 150thanniversary commemorations of the Battle of Gate Pa in 2014.
It is for this reason, Ngati Pukenga’s chairman said, the iwi supported the unveiling at a Welcome Bay urupa¯ on the Friday of Matariki weekend.
Unveilings are usually held a year after the death with the belief that those gone and the gods are present and watching.
But even after six years, Zhoublack said she and her children were not ready to unveil her former husband “at
any point soon”.
She told the Bay of Plenty Times they were still healing from the trauma of his death and the accusations of sex offending.
“There’s still the grieving process happening. Everyone takes their own time around that.
“Even I thought it would be quicker than it has been.”
She claimed the “disrespectful” unveiling came after “five years of hijacking”.
“There have been different attempts to unveil him by a small section of people,” she said.
Zhou-black said she had heard rumours of a planned Matariki unveiling but it was a “kick in the guts” when she saw social media posts confirming it went ahead.
In her view: “They took it upon themselves to unveil him. They created the headstone, they did the
wording, put the slab down. They literally undertook displaying of the unveiling and they did all of this without considering us.
“Who goes ahead and organises something like this . . . without including blood [relatives]? His children are his blood.”
She said the unveiling wound back any healing progress the whā nau had made.
Zhou-black believed the unveiling had been driven by a need for others to move on from the shame that had rightly or wrongly tarnished Black’s legacy.
She has been to see the headstone. “I wanted to see how easy it would be to take down.”
But she decided to leave it standing.
Zhou-black said there was a mistake made in the wording on the headstone which she took as a sign.
Part of the text on the stone reads: Ka mauharatia koe, ka whakairotia mai koe.
The line is believed to have been intended to mean: You will always be remembered.
However, Zhou-black believed an error in the word “mauharatia” changes the translation loosely to: You will always have shame (or sin/ transgression).
In Zhou-black’s opinion: “Basically, it’s telling the truth.”
Otukopiri Urupā is a cemetery of Ngāti Pū kenga, the iwi Black once led.
Iwi chairman Rehua Smallman acknowledged the situation regarding Black’s unveiling was “a very delicate matter”.
“All I can say is that Tauranga Moana was supportive of it going forward.”
Asked to be more specific, Smallman rephrased his response to refer to “a lot of people”.
This was because Black had been held in such high regard and each local iwi wanted to pay tribute to that, he said.
Smallman acknowledged Black’s ex-wife and children did not support the unveiling but said he believed “people that organised the unveiling had been in touch with whānau a number of times and in touch with the ex-wife a number of times”.
Asked who and when, Smallman replied, “that’s all I can say”.
“I wasn’t really involved. I wasn’t in direct contact with the whā nau but I certainly was in support of it.”
Smallman said some within the iwi needed to heal and move on and this could not happen until an unveiling was held.
“The whole issue that was his death, and also the issues that were brought up two years later, that still continues to rise up . . .
“A lot of people are still hurting around it,” Smallman said.
Eastern Bay of Plenty Mā ori leader Pouroto Ngaropo, Ngāti Awa, knew Black for many years and said he was invited to the unveiling.
Ngaropo described himself as an expert in te reo Māori and said this was why he was asked to write the wording for Black’s headstone.
Asked about the error, Ngaropo said the responsibility for checking the wording lay with those who commissioned him, which included “aunties” and “cousins”.
“I left it with the family to check it out — if there was anything, they needed to check with me.”
He said he emailed the wording to them and left it at that.
“[A mistake] wouldn’t have been from my part, it would’ve been from those who may have uplifted the words from the email.”
Asked if he noticed any mistake when he saw the headstone at the unveiling, Ngaropo said: “In terms of the wording . . . I did not notice anything to do with the unveiling.”
Ngaropo said Black’s unveiling was wanted by many Tauranga Māori leaders who “believed that he deserved to be at peace and at rest”.
“He should be remembered like anyone else, that’s what I heard.
“Awa was a respected leader and elder in Māoridom. Of course, in my view, the children should have been there but I didn’t get involved.”
In Ngaropo’s view, the need for Black’s unveiling was too great for it to be held back for Zhou-black and her children.
“I wish Ani and the kids the best in terms of what they need to do.”
The Bay of Plenty Times attempted to contact a member of Black’s whānau said to be involved in the unveiling.