Hera Dovey Katene-Horvath

Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Tama, Te Āti Awa, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua

1912 - 1987

Hera Dovey Katene-Horvath was born in Wellington where she lived all her life. She was a tutor of Māori culture and was the kuia of the Mawai Hakona Cultural Group and a life member of Ngāti Poneke. Her compositions for cultural groups won awards at Polynesian and Māori cultural festivals. "Te Ra Pouri" won the traditional section of the NZBC Māori Songs Contest in 1974. She received the QSO.

Biographical sources

  • Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Ed. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z., Heinemann, 1982. 15.
  • 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. 61.

    Music

  • "Te Ra Pouri: Waiata Tangi/The Day The Capital Mourned: Lament for the late Prime Minister, Norman Kirk." Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Ed. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z., Heinemann, 1982. 14-15. In Māori and English.
  • In this waiata written in Māori and English, Katene-Horvath pays tribute to the late Norman Kirk whose death she likens to the falling of ‘the great Totara tree’. This composition won the traditional section of the NZBC Māori Songs Contest in 1974.
  • "Heitiki." 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. 61.
  • This waiata written in Māori was composed in 1984 for the New Zealand Māori Chorale. It was ‘inspired by a particular tiki, "fashioned from the rare, light-coloured kahurangi, beautiful beyond compare, unusual in colouring and truly exquisite, truly Kāi Tahu, owned by Mihi Kerekere" [Te Ao Mārama: vol 1: 61].

    • Poetry

  • "I Ngā Rā/In Days Gone by." Trans. Hera Katene-Horvath. The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/Ngā Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Books, 1989. 268-269.
  • Written in Māori with English translation. The poet implores Māori youth to retain their te reo Māori and to ‘Learn the war dance, / learn the welcoming poi / beat the whirling double poi!’ She urges the old people to raise their children to hold onto their Māoritanga.
  • "Taupuhi." 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. 61-62.
  • This elegy was written in Māori in 1983. "My love, you whom I chose, my plume of high prestige, the time will come when we will meet and be together again. Until then, sleep in the sleep of no awakening.’

    • Sound recordings

  • "Nau mai ra e poi: Songs. [Sung by] Harriet Jaspers and Claire Metekingi; guitar, Jan Pairama. Wellington, N.Z.: Radio New Zealand, Replay Radio. [1987]