The small Northland community of Panguru in Hokianga celebrated a momentous occasion with the reopening of the Waipuna Marae wharekai, Waipuna o Hine Te Aparangi.
The refurbishment of Te Waipuna o Hine Te Aparangi took four years, with major delays, including a global pandemic.
Mike Te Wake beams with pride when speaking about what the wharekai means to his people.
Hine Te Aparangi is said to have been the wife of the famed Wayfinder, Kupe, who first discovered Aotearoa.
“Kupe is at the top of our wharenui, and in symmetry with this side of the marae, with the wharekai we now have Hine Te Aparangi. Waipuna o Hine Te Aparangi is now open for business.”
Waipuna o Hine Te Aparangi has all the mod cons, with a restaurant-grade kitchen to serve all the whānau who belong to the marae.
Maihi Makiha, one of the uri of Waipuna, says the rebuild has not been without its challenges.
“The cost of materials has gone up as well as for contractors. So those are the concerns we had for wharekai, not to mention as well the many elders who have passed away while our marae was closed.”
Waipuna marae is one of the principal marae that sit under the local maunga Panguru and Papata.
Maihi says Panguru, while just a small community, has many descendants.
“This is not just for us but for all hapū and iwi across the country because this is also one of kuia Dame Whina Cooper’s marae.”
One of the main issues the iwi faced while the wharekai was under construction, was the ability to host manuhiri and tangihanga.
Neddean Peita says Waipuna called on other marae in the rohe for assistance at times.
“We’ve been very lucky to have our other marae to be able to use their kitchens to cater — we’ve had a few tangi here and used our other marae to work out of a marquee here.”
Peita says the community will need to adjust to the new state-of-the-art equipment, a far cry from the old days of lighting ovens manually.
“Probably be a mission. We’re used to using a lighter and sparking the ovens up, now everything’s a push button.”
“Excited, very excited about it and just looking to feeding many manuhiri to come.”