Te Okanga Huata

Ngāti Kahungunu

1922 - 1988

"Te Okanga Huata was a major in the Māori Battalion. He lived in Hastings and was a teacher, taking his training at Wellington Teachers’ College, where he was a contemporary of Arapera Blank and other writers including Louis Johnson and Anton Vogt. ‘Aussie’ Huata descended from a family of composers and musicians. He was a member of the Ngāti Kahungunu Federation and brought a determined and passionate voice to the deliberations about the future of that iwi. His nostalgic ‘Tokomauritanga’ contemplates the assembly of survivors who, one by one, are leaving our midst." Huata wrote poetry in Māori with English translation.

Biographical sources

  • Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 227.

    Poetry

  • "Tokomauritanga/ Affections." English trans. Te Okanga Huata. The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/ Nga Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin, 1989. 213-214. Rpt. in Māori only in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1: Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 227.
  • A poem with evocations of trust in God, and the interconnections with the ancestors.
  • "Hinana/ Search." English trans. Te Okanga Huata. The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/ Nga Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Books, 1989. 214-215.
  • The speaker reflects on loved ones, home and ancestors, and is aware of his mauri rising up within him as he ‘searches / the many traditions and customs’.
  • "Nei te Hunga/ Here are the People." English trans. Te Okanga Huata. The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/ Nga Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Books, 1989. 215-216.
  • The speaker articulates his grief at the loss of a ‘departed friend’.