Noa Akuhata-Brown was born at Te Rimu, Te Araroa, and was educated at Te Araroa Native School and St Stephen’s College. He worked as a farmer and was a tribal genealogist. His main area of writing was tribal lore. He was a member of the Rerekohu District High School Committee for thirty-five years and chaired the committee for 25 of those years. He was a Justice of the Peace and in 1964 was appointed as one of the Matakaoa representatives on the Waiapu County Council. At the time of his death he was chair of the Kawakawa Māori Committee and local representative on the Horouta No.1 Māori Executive Council. Throughout his life he had a long involvement with tribal affairs and served on tribal and marae committees of Hinerupe and Tutua. His obituary states that Akuhata-Brown did ‘considerable research into his local and tribal genealogy and had become the accepted voice of the people of Te Araroa at tribal gatherings.’ His three sons are Archdeacon Joseph Akuhata-Brown, Mick Brown and Busby Brown of Te Araroa.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence with Joseph Akuhata-Brown: 22 Nov. 1995.
- “Mr Noa Akuhata-Brown.” In ‘Haere Ki O Koutou Tipuna.’ Te Ao
Hou 53 (1965): 63-64.
Other
- “Letter to the Editor.” Historical Review: Journal of the
Whakatane and District Historical Society 10.2 (1962): 61.
- In this brief note accompanying his article, “The Story of Tai-Aroa and
Tai-Atea: A Māori Legend” which was printed in Historical Review: Journal
of the Whakatane and District Historical Society 10.2 (1962), Akuhata-Brown
expresses his appreciation of the Historical Society’s work in researching Māori
history.
Traditional
- “The Story of Tai-Aroa and Tai-Atea: A Māori Legend.” Historical Review: Journal of the Whakatane and District Historical Society 10.2
(1962): 58.
- Akuhata-Brown tells the story of brother and sister, Tai-Aroa and Tai-Atea, who
lived in an underwater cave between Hicks Bay and Punaruku beach. When Tai-Aroa became
thirsty he entreated his sister to go inland in search of fresh water, warning her that if
she travelled in daylight she would turn into a rock. When Tai-Atea finally discovered a
spring of water at dawn she was blinded by the daylight and fell petrified to the ground.
Her two gourds of water formed the swampy land and lakes near Hicks Bay.
- “Te Waha-O-Kerekohu: The History of a Famous Tree at Te Araroa.” Historical Review: Journal of the Whakatane and District Historical
Society 11.1 (Mar. 1963): 20-22.
- In this article Akuhata-Brown presents a brief history of Rerekohu, a descendant
of Tuwhakairiora, who lived for a period of time near a huge pohutakawa tree in Te Araroa.
While living in this location the Ohomairangi tribe supplied Rerekohu with the finest food
available which was stored in a pataka called Poho Tawiriwiri. When Rerekohu moved to
Whare-kahika (Hicks Bay), he called the pohutakawa tree, Te-Waha-O-Rerekohu, or Rerekohu’s
Mouth. Today the name of Te Araroa School, which is on the site of the tree, has been
changed to Te-Waha-O-Rerekohu. Akuhata-Brown provides a whakapapa of the senior line of
descent from Rerekohu.
Other
- “Mr Noa Akuhata-Brown.” In ‘Haere Ki O Koutou Tipuna.’ Te Ao
Hou 53 (1965): 63-64.
- Taylor, C. R. H. A Bibliography of Publications on the New
Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Oxford: Clarendon; Oxford UP,
1972. 71, 77.