The King (centre) at Takitimu Marae in Wairoa. Photo: Pokere Paewai/RNZ
By Pokere Paewai, RNZ
King Tuheitia has finished a four-day visit to cyclone-hit communities across the Ngāti Kahungunu rohe.
The Māori King's chief of staff Archdeacon Ngira Simmonds said the visit was about offering support and hearing the stories of residents in person.
"One of the big principles for the Kingitanga is we wanted to hear from the locals, we didn't want to just turn up and think we had the solutions. We wanted to hear from them and respond as they determined us to respond."
The visit began when Kiingi Tuheitia was welcomed by more than 500 people on to Omahu Marae on Monday morning.
He spoke with iwi leaders who told him of the ongoing needs of the communities still battling with silt and insurance claims, before touring the hard-hit community of Waiohiki, where he met with local whānau whose homes had been red or yellow-stickered.
Simmonds said he heard stories of hope, as in an area where local hapū were planning to build more resilient housing, but there were also stories of heartbreak.
'Very emotional visit'
"The King visited some homes and met with families directly standing outside their homes as they shared the heartbreaking story of what happened when the flood came.
"They talked about how they thought they were going to die, they talked about swimming through the floodwaters, it was a very very emotional visit."
On Tuesday, Tuheitia was flown by helicopter to Wairoa where staff from Waikato-Tainui and Ngaati Tamaoho were setting up camp for a week to support local marae and communities.
He even got the chance to pitch in by getting on a digger and helping to clear silt.
Tangoio Marae north of Napier was the final stop on the trip. It is the worst affected marae in the region, where the carvings have been removed and the whare may need to be demolished.
Simmonds said he had never seen so much silt in his life as piled up at Tangoio.
Still showed manaakitanga
He said despite everything the whānau of Kahungunu had faced, they still put kai on the table and showed manaakitanga to the Kingitanga.
Simmonds said there was still much more that needed to be done in the region.
"The level of support is not unified across the rohe. So some areas received a lot of support and other areas are struggling. Some of the people told Kingi Tuheitia that they have yet to see any officials from any council or from any government department.
"So the king has issued a call to the government and to all councils to continue and to start working with these local communities."
The message from the Kingitanga is for those who are responding, government, local councils, insurance companies to respect mana motuhake.
- RNZ