Legendary All Black Hooker Norm Hewitt is being remembered fondly by those whoknew him, friends and fans alike.
The Ngāti Kahungunu descendant passed away last night after a battle with motor nueron disease, an illness that leads to paralysis.
Friend and Te Aute old boy Julian Wilcox recalls Hewitt as someone who treasured those he loved, and that which he held dearly.
“He tangata manaaki tangata, he tangata e aroha ana ki te tangata, he tangata e aroha ana ki tōna whānau ki āna tamariki, ki tana hoa. He tangata kaha ki te mahi. he tangata taikaha anō hoki, he tangata e aroha ana ki tōna ao Māori. He tangata aroha anō hoki ki tōna iwi, ki a Ngāti Kahungunu. He tangata arohanui ki tōna kura a Te Aute.”
He was a generous man, a man who loved others, who loved his children and his wife. A hard worker and a physically strong man. He loved his Māori culture and his iwi Ngāti Kahungunu. Not to mention he held a lot of love for his school Te Aute College.
Hewitt was born and raised in the small Hawke’s Bay community, Pōrangahau, where he also attended Te Aute College. Wilcox fondly remembers his senior idols from his time at school where he witnessed the battle between the Magpies and the British Lions.
“Ka tū te tākaro ki McLean Park ki Ahuriri, i reira mātou o Te Aute, taku tau mutunga i Te Aute ka hakahaka mātou, ka kite mātou i a Norm mā, i Orcades mā, me tō rātou kī ake i te mutunga o te tākaro i te mea i haukerekerehia te kapa raiona e te Te Matau a Māui. Ka puta te kōrero a ngā poumua pēnei me Norm me Orcades Crawford mā rā, he ngohengohe ngā pākehā nei.”
The game was held at McLean Park in Napier and we, Te Aute College, were there too. It was my last year at Te Aute and we performed, we saw Norm and Orcades, and they told us at the end of the game because the Lions were smashed by Hawke’s Bay. The Forwards like Norm and Orcades Crawford came to us and said, ‘Those Pākehā’s were soft.’
But it’s not as if the sun was always shining over Norm - in the 1990s, his life was ripped apart by a streak of public alcohol abuse.
“Ko te mea nui ka puta ērā kōrero, ka kī ake a Norm, āe i hē āku mahi. Kaua koutou e whai i tēnei huarahi.”
The main thing is he came out and said, Norm admitted, ‘Yes the things I did were wrong.’ Don’t you follow the same path I did.
However, his strength and guts are still stories of legend today.
“Kanohi ki te kanohi, rae ki te rae, pokowhiwhi ki te pokowhiwhi. Tata tuki ō rāua mātenga ki a rāua anō, i te taikaha o te koro rā me te taikaha a Norm. Nō muri ka piritahi rāua hei hoa tata. Engari ko te kōrero a Richard Cockerill i kite au i te mana o te iwi Māori i roto i te haka a Norm.”
Face to face, forehead to forehead, shoulder to shoulder. Their heads were nearly bunting each other, because of the hard-nosed nature of Richard Cockerill and Norm. But afterwards they became close friends. But Richard Cockerill said that day he saw the power of Māori people within Norm’s haka.
Thousands will remember this leader of Ngāti Kahungunu with love.
“E te tuakana e Norm, ka maharatia rā ō mahi, me tō āhua ki roto i ngā whatumanawa, kua ngoto iho ērā maharatanga ki roto i te whatumanawa o te tangata haere ake, haere ake, haere ake.”
My brother Norm, your works and presence will remembered dearly, those memories will pierce the souls of many for years to come.
Hewitt is survived by his older and younger brothers, children, and his wife.
E te manu tātāriki rere atu rā koe ki Hawaiki Taurikura, Hawaiki Mamaekore, Hawaiki Kāinga Tūturu.
