Hekenukumai lies in state
at Te Uri o Hina Marae, Pukepoto Northland.
Reporter Harata Brown has been observing the activities
at the marae today and joins us live, Harata.
Scotty, Sir Hec lies in the house behind me,
one of the houses he built in this region.
His carving skills are just one of the many talents
that are being celebrated today.
It's here within the ancestral house of Hohou Rongo
that the Ariki of Te Rarawa lies in state.
He was a very knowledgable man.
Here at this marae, the same marae he carved,
he built, he cared for, right up to this day,
he even made his own arrangements for his very own tangihanga.
Multitudes have descended on Sir Hector Busby
to mourn and acknowledge his craftsmanship
as an expert in waka building, celestial navigation,
traditional wood carving and more.
When he arrived at Taputapu Atea
we remembered the great feat of our ancestors.
Like the traditional saying "I am a descendant from Rangiatea,
I will never be lost" that's something I look back to,
and the teachings that he instilled in us.
Right now, it is lonely, we long for him.
Jack Thatcher is the Captain of the double-hulled canoe
Sir Hector built and named after his beloved wife
the late Ngahiraka Busby.
Thatcher says
that the knowledge that Sir Hector revived
will live on.
Well, the baskets of knowledge that he left behind for us
his students of the wananga of Kupe Mai Tawhiti,
traditional waka building, celestial navigation.
That's the task that's been bestowed on us now to carry,
that we must continue to do.
And it's some of the teachings that these Far North students
will indeed never forget.
He was one to encourage me
to continue speaking our own dialect here at home.
Last year we had a wananga with him
and he taught us how to read the stars at his star campus.
A great kauri of the realm of Tane has fallen.
You are now being called by the realm of Hinenuitepo,
so that you may ascend on the skies that our ancestor Tawhaki ascended -
may you go there and be with our friends,
our ancestors, as well as Mau,
those who have crossed the path of no return.
Farewell, safe voyaging.
And it's the descendants of many waka
that continue to mourn his passing.
It appears there's a lot of people who have come,
Harata tell us the key arrangements for the tangihanga?
Ngati Ruawahia,
that's the name that was bestowed on the people of Hawaii,
those who taught Sir Hector celestial navigation
and double-hulled canoe building.
They are expected tomorrow.
The burial date has been set for Wednesday.
Thank you for the update and your efforts, Harata Brown.