Ka mua, ka muri
Ka tū au ki te tihi o Maungarei, e piri ōku kākahu ki tōku tinana. Ka rere he kōtonga, he hau mātaratara, ka hūwiniwini te pokapū a ōku wheua. Ka kapi au i ōku karu, ka hōhonu taku hā i tōku ihu. Kei te paetawhiti, e kōmingo ana te kahurangi ki te karaka. E māwhe ana te marama.
Kei te whakaaro au e pā ana ki te ingoa o te maunga, ngā hītori e poupoua ana ki kōnei. Nō te wā roa, i pōhēhē au i te pūtake o te ingoa i a Reitū rāua ko Reipae, ko ērā māhanga nō Tainui, i haere rāua ki Maungarei i te waenganui o tō rāua haerenga mai i a Waikato ki a Whangārei.
I stand at the top of Maungarei, my clothes sticking to my body. A strong wind blows, piercing down into the centre of my bones. I close my eyes and take a deep breath through my nose. Out on the horizon, where the blue mingles with the orange, the moon fades.
I think about the true name of this mountain, the histories embedded here. For the longest time, I’d thought that the name had come from Reitū and Reipae, those twins from Tainui who went to Maungarei as part of their journey from Waikato to Onerahi — the place that would become Whangārei.
I tuhi tēnei tuhinga roa mō te kaupapa o Tupu Takirua. He whakaaturanga hou a Tupu Takirua nā te ringatoi matapaia, nā Cindy Huang 黄馨贤, rātou ko te kaihoahoa, ko Micheal McCabe, ko te kaihautū auaha, ko Rosabel Tan.
This essay was written for the Twin Cultivation project. Twin Cultivation is a new work that brings together ceramic artist Cindy Huang 黄馨贤, designer Micheal McCabe, and creative producer Rosabel Tan.
