Te Atiawa leader Ihakara Puketapu has been farewelled today at his marae in Waiwhetū by many mourners both local and from afar.
He will be best remembered as an influential and inspirational Māori leader, many of those who paid tribute over the past four days say.
“The call of death has been sent by our chief Ihakara. It is in his silence the nation will mourn,” Te Atiawa spokesman Kura Moehau says
Puketapu was born in Waiwhetū in Lower Hutt and was educated at Waiwhetū School and Wellington Technical College where he became school dux and head prefect.
Kurt Komene of Taranaki Whānui remembers Puketapu as a leader who was passionate about the Māori world view.
"He was also influential in inspiring the up-and-coming generations through oratory, reminding them to be resilient and for our language to be encouraged among them all, as well as all things Māori.”
Puketapu was the youngest person to be appointed permanent head of a government department and at the age of 43, he became secretary of Māori Affairs, the first Māori to hold that position.
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said Māori had much to thank Puketapu for.
“He wasn't a bureaucrat that shut his mouth, he was a bureaucrat that challenged the system. We are very lucky because of him. He was the first of our leaders who spoke of the term for Māori, by Māori.”
From 1955-56 he was a Māori All Black. In the 1980s and 1990s he coached the Wainuiomata Lions rugby league team to many national and Wellington club championships.
He was honoured with an "exceptional service to sport" award at this year's Hutt Valley Sports awards.
"His contributions, not only to te iwi Māori but also to sports here in the Hutt Valley have been significant," Moeahu said.
He also chaired the management committee of Te Māori, the first international exhibition of Māori objects as art.
“He has been acknowledged as the father of the nation,” Moehau said.
Puketapu was acknowledged for his contributions towards the renaissance of te reo Māori and many commented at his funeral on the meeting among elders in the 1980s that he initiated work that led to the birth of kōhanga reo.
Puketapu died on Friday, just weeks after his younger brother, Teri, himself a formidable community leader who served as Lower Hutt's first Māori deputy mayor. Puketapu and his late wife Jean are also mourned by whānau including their daughter Kuini.