He was born in Wanganui and worked in the railways and on the wharves in Auckland until his retirement. He married Violet Reynolds in 1952 and had a family of nine boys and two girls. The family lived in Dargaville and later moved to Auckland. Writing poetry and family history were his great interests. In Outrigger Huruata is described as "a wharfie who saw a need among his own children and friends who were growing up ignorant of their very rich heritage. He set about collecting and learning all he could about his people, and transforming his learning into prose and narrative versions of the tales he had collected. His art is within the oral tradition, and his verse is a ‘memory-aid’..it should be listened to rather than read silently. In fact, the author has also made tape recordings of most of his work." Huruata is the pen name of George How.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Violet How and Mervyn How, 29 May and 19 Aug. 1998.
- Outrigger 3.2 (1979): 95.
Other
- "Nga Huihuinga." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writers’ Annual Magazine. Ed. Haare Williams. 2 (1978): 16.
- Huruata looks at the significance of holding the Māori Artists and Writers’ Annual Hui on marae and the kaupapa of the annual hui.
- "The Birth of the Gods." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge): Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 10.
- In this prose account, Huruata writes of Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, and the many sons they bore who eventually conspired to separate their parents.
- "Fertility." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge): Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A collection of Måori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 14.
- Huruata describes Tane’s search for the female element in the world of nature.
- "The Quest of the Waananga (Knowledge)." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge): Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 16-18.
- A description of Tane’s journey to the Tikitiki-O-Nga-Rangi, the Twelfth Heaven, to obtain the three baskets of knowledge and the two Sacred White Stones.
- "Ranginui and Papatuanuku." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge): Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A collection of Måori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 21.
- A discussion between Ranginui and Papatuanuku concerning where their offspring should go after death.
- "Hine-Titama." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge): Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 24.
- A description of Hinetitama - the first woman born on earth who changed her name to Hine-Nui-Te-Po when she fled to the underworld.
- "Nga Waiata a Patupaiarehe, from Pirongia in the Waikato." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge): Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 35-36.
- A two-part story of a woman stolen by the Patupaiarehe, or fairy folk, and rescued by her husband when he deflected the magic charms holding her captive.
Poetry
- "Yearning." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 1.
- The poet senses the call of his people to return to his Māori origins. Despite the inner dichotomy of two different cultures at work in his being, he instinctively follows the traditional customs of his people.
- "A Prefatory Song: Nga Waiata a Huruata." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 2.
- The poet explains the meanings of ‘pataka’, ‘waiata’ and his pseudonym ‘Huruata’.
- "Te Inoi a te Ariki: Invocation to Io (Lord’s Prayer)." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 3.
- Māori and English versions of the Lord’s Prayer.
- "The Brown Vikings." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 5.
- A poem describing the explorations of the Māori since the beginning of time.
- "The Birth of the Gods." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 11.
- A poem depicting Ranginui and Papatuanuku giving birth to many sons, and the sons conspiring to separate their parents.
- "Original Sin." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Måori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 15.
- Huruata writes of the Māori creation story and the rising preeminence of Tane which made Whiro jealous.
- "Te Kete Waananga." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 18-20.
- A description of Tane’s journey to the Twelfth Heaven where he was presented with three baskets of knowledge and two white stones.
- "Death comes to Eden." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 22-23.
- A poem about Hine’s great sense of shame when she discovers that her husband is also her father. She retreats to the realms of death and becomes Hine-Nui-O-Te-Po, the great woman of darkness and personification of death.
- "Hine-Titama." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 24-25.
- A poem about the dual identities of Hine: Hine-Titama and Hine-Nui-Te-Po.
- "Maui-Tikitiki-A-Ranga." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 26-33.
- A poem in six sections chronicling the story of Maui’s birth, childhood, rediscovery of his mother Taranga, and various other exploits.
- "Nga Waiata a Patupaiarehe." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Måori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 37-40.
- A poem recounting a tale from Pirongia of a woman stolen by the Patupaiarehe and rescued by her husband through the use of cooked food and kokowai which deflected the powers of the Patupaiarehe.
- "Te Waiata - Tangi a Patupaiarehe." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 40-42.
- A song of mourning by a Patupaiarehe grieving the loss of the woman he stole and then lost again.
- "Shadow and the Substance." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 42-44.
- A tale from the North of a woman captured by the Patupaiarehe. When she escapes her speech and pronunciation are totally altered.
- "Rona - The Man in the Moon." Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979. 45-47.
- Huruata acknowledges that the gender of Rona varies from story to story, but in this account Rona is a man who has been deserted by his wife and left to care for the children by himself.
- Pataka: Storehouse (of Knowledge):Being a Condensation of Books I & II: A Collection of Māori Legend and Lore Including the Marae Series in Verse and Prose. Mangere East, Auckland, N.Z.: Outrigger, 1979.
- This collection explores aspects of Māori mythology, culture and custom. It is divided into two books within the one publication. Parts 1 and 11 of Book 1 recount the Māori creation stories and mythology in poetic and prose form. Book 2 contains two sections on the marae: the first section describes Māori migration to Aotearoa, life on the Pa, different aspects of intertribal warfare, traditional clothing, the protocol for receiving visitors onto the marae, greetings, the meeting house, and customs of the marae. Part 2 deals with entertainment on the marae and includes examples by Huruata of an action song, recruiting song, memorial chant for the dead, invocations to Io, lament, and benediction.
Reviews
Pataka
- Empson, E. Outrigger 3.2 (1979): 95.