2023 winners

Mahora ana me he raukura ka rere i te hau, ka tau ki taku taumata ki te keokeonga o Tongariro.
Mā te hau o te tonga e kawe aritarita atu taku raukura ki ngā pāpāringa o Taupō moana e kōwhitiwhiti mai ana.

Ka tau taku raukura ki taku whenua irikura, ārohirohi taku titiro ki te awa o Hinemaiaia, te wai tuku kiri o aku mātua tūpuna.
Kia whakawhenua ki taku tūrangawaewae ki a Te Hātepe, e kurupākara ana te rākau kōwhai, i te pekī, i te tihou a te tūī.

Ko Tōngariro te Maunga

Ko Taupō te moana

Ko Ngāti te Rangiita te hapū

Ko te Ringatahi te marae

Ko Tūwharetoa te iwi

Ko Te Heuheu te tangata

Ko te pepeha nei te muka taura e tauhere nei i a ahau ki tōku tupuna koroua a Patehau Tamahau Iapeta Morehu. I whānau mai a Patehau Tamahou Iapeta Morehu i tau 1902, ahakoa whānau mai  ai i Te Hātepe, pakeke mai rā i roto o Ngāti Tūtemohuta i Waitahanui.

Ka tau mai te tau 1914, kua rū te whenua i te pakanga tuatahi o te ao. E 15 anake ngā tau o Koro Iapeta ka whakauru i tōna ingoa ki te rārangi hoea kia whakangungu mō te pakanga rā.

Ahakoa kāore i eke ki te pakeke e tika ana, nā runga i te wairua hīkaka, ka hē tana whakauru i tōna rā whānau ki te rehitanga, ko te 1897 kē te tau i whakauru ki te rehitangi, ka tuku.

I te marama Ākuhata 1917, ka tukuna i a Koro Iapeta ki te Māori reinforcement i Pōneke whakangungu ai.

I te 25 o Pēpuere 1918 ka wehe a Koro Iapeta i Aotearoa ka tau ki Glasgow i Kōtimana. Mai i a Kōtimana ka hūnuku atu ki Larkhill ki Salisbury Plains i Ingarangi.

I te 26, o te tuarima o ngā marama ka wehe atu i Ingarangi tau atu ai ki runga o Wīwī, i konei tūtaki atu ai ki te rahi o Ngāi Tāua te Māori, ka kuhu ki te New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion.

I roto i tana noho tahi ki ngā Māori o te Pioneer Battalion i tū ngātahi ai te Māori ki te tiaki ki te manaaki tētahi i tētahi. Ko te Reo Māori tonu te reo matua i waenga i ngā hōia, ko ngā tikanga Māori tonu i paihere i a rātau.

I a Koro Iapeta i reira e hanga ana ia i ngā huarahi me ngā maioro keri mō te rārangi tuatahi. Ka whara ia i ngā matā o Tiamana. I te 28 o Huitanguru 1919, ka whakatika atu kia wehe i Ūropi, ā, hoki rawa mai ki te wā kāinga.

Ko ngā whakakitenga a Koro Iapeta i te pakanga he mea tārei i te hinengaro me te whatumanawa, ā, pakeke noa ka kitea tonu te mamae e kawea ana.

I te tau 1924 ka whakawhiwhia ia ki te British War medal, me te Victory War medal, ā ka ūhia anō ki tētahi scroll. Ko ngā tāonga nei he mea whakahirahira tonu ki tōna whānau e kite ai i te manawa tītī o te kaumātua nei.

Te Huinga kahurangi o aku kurupounamu

Ko te ngare rā i a Hoeta i a Wāhati

Ko te waka huia, ko te tau o te tiki e takoto nei

Haere rā e taku piki Kōtuku,

Taku tau whakahirahira

Moumou te taonga o te whare

Mō te pō nui, Mō te pō roa,

Mō te pō whau ai te moe

E moe.

 

Like that of a feather that flies in the wind to the many reaches, I will take rest upon the summit of Tongariro.
Let the southern wind carry me to the sparkling waters of Lake Taupō.

I settle on the land, my haven and I am giddy at the sight of my river, the Hinemaiaia, the healing waters of my ancestors. Holding fast to my genealogical lands, where the resounding chirp and trill of the tūī is heard in the kōwhai trees.

Tongariro is the mountain

Taupō the lake

Ngāti Te Rangiita the subtribe

Ringatahi the marae

Tūwharetoa the tribe

Te Heu Heu the chief

This pepeha are the flax fibres that connect myself to my ancestor Patehau Tamahau Iapeta Morehu. Patehau Tamahou Iapeta Morehu was born in 1902, and although born in Te Hātepe, he grew up amongst Ngāti Tūtemohuta in Waitahanui.

In 1914, the ground rumbled as a result of the First World War. Koro Iapeta at the age of 15 enrolled himself as a soldier to train to fight in the World War.

Although he was not of age, his excitement to join saw him register with an incorrect birth date of 1897, and his registration was sent.

In August 1917, Koro Iapeta was sent to the Māori Re-inforcement Contingent to train.

On the 25th of February 1918 he left New Zealand, arriving in Glasgow, Scotland. From Scotland he shifted to Larkhill in the Salisbury Plains in England.

On the 26th of the fifth month he left England and arrived in France where he met and joined the many Māori who had enrolled in the New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion.

During his time in Pioneer Battalion, he joined ranks with the many Māori standing steadfast to care for each other. The Māori language was the predominant language spoken between the soldiers and Māori customs and practices were what kept them close and united.

While Koro Iapeta was there he built roads, embankments, and trenches for the front line. He was injured from ammunition fired by the Germans. On the 28th of February he returned home.

What Koro Iapeta saw and experienced during the war was carved into his memory, and his emotional being, and as he got older it was very clear to see the hurt that he was carrying.

In 1924, he received the British War medal and the Victory War medal, covered with a scroll. These are very esteemed taonga within his family as they encapsulate his strength and stamina.

 

Our beloved ancestor

Son of Hoeta and Wāhati

You the carved vessel which holds the most treasured possessions

Farewell my precious majestic heron

My beloved ancestor

Your whare knows that you have not departed in vain

To the many nights of eternal rest

Rest

 

Visual: Title page

Ngaawaimarino Simpkins - Iti rearea, teitei Kahikatea ka taea (Even the small bell bird is able to ascend to the heights of the Kahikatea.) - Rangitoto College - Auckland - Running Time 4:52Min]

Audio: Intro music narration

Ngaawaimarino Simpkins: Iti rearea, teitei Kahikatea ka taea

Visual: Subtitle English translation (Even the small bell bird is able to ascend to the heights of the Kahikatea.) 

Ngaawaimarino Simpkins: E rere ana ngā mihi aroha ki a koutou.

Visual: Subtitle English translation (Greetings of love to everybody)

Ngaawaimarino Simpkins: He uri whakaheke no Te Arawa, me Ngāpuhi.

Visual: Subtitle English translation (I am a descendant of Te Arawa and Ngapuhi)

Ngaawaimarino Simpkins: Ko Ngaawaimarino o te Awahou Ripeka Simpkins tōku ingoa.

Visual: Subtitle English translation (My name is Ngaawaimarino o te Awahou Ripeka Simpkins)

Ngaawaimarino Simpkins: My great uncle, Hui Te Amo O Te Rangi Simpkins of Te Arawa was a part of the Māori Battalion B company in World War 2.

His father was George Wahiao Simpkins and his mother was Matehuihui.

Papa Hui Simpkins was born on the 9th of September 1924 these were hard times for Māori as we had lost a lot of our productive land through raupatu and in government policies and in the thirties the world was going through the great depression.

Papa Hui was a young boy at this stage and he would look carefully in and around small portions of bread and pluck out the rat droppings before consuming. 

When Papa Hui joined the army he enlisted as a 20-year-old born in 1919 but in fact he was only 16 years old and actually born in 1924.

When he enlisted he was 5ft 4 and weighed 63kgs.

I am the same height and age as Papa Hui was, when he enlisted and I can’t imagine going to war and being in situations where bullets and bombs were being fired at him. 

Alan Simpkins: I am Alan Simpkins, a nephew to Uncle Hui. He loved his fishing, hunting was a good rugby player, so I heard. Ahh Played for Ngongotaha. 

Narrator: Papa Hui showed aroha by volunteering himself to go to war as a 16-year-old instead of his tuakana, my great-grandfather Ngarimu Tata Simpkins who would have had to leave his young family behind. 

Papa Hui was one of the very few to have served in the war from start to finish. He spent 4 years and 242 days in the army, of that time he was overseas at war, for 4 years and 42 days. 

His father George Wahiao Simpkins sent two letters to the army, requesting for his son to return to New Zealand. He had requested that his son return after he had been wounded and released from the hospital, but the decision of Papa Hui returning could not be made by the people who received the letter.

The next letter Papa Wahiao sent he wanted his son to return because he had been overseas for many years and felt his son had served his time. The army replied that they had made arrangements for men to return who had served for more than three years, which Papa Hui had done but the army did not know when Papa Hui would return from the middle east.

Papa Hui returned over a year later at the conclusion of the war. 

Papa Hui left as a 16 year old boy and returned as a 21 year old man. His 21st birthday was celebrated with his whanau at the Horohoro community hall on his return.

Uncle Patrick, Papa Hui’s son describes his dad’s time in the war saying.

“The Kiwi’s walked into the fray at Monte Cassino… They made their way into one of the buildings where a room was found where they could gather themselves. When Hui Simpkins walked into the room and looked around, all the spaces along the walls were taken, except behind the door so he moved there sat down and closed it. A little while later the door suddenly pushed open and a hand grenade was thrown into the room. His bed being behind the opened door, sheltered him from the full force of the blast. Unfortunately, not the case for some of his friends.” 

Alan Simpkins: He was a carpenter contractor. Employed men, I even worked for him as a apprentice. 

Narrator: Papa Hui went to fight for equal citizenship along with many other Māori, but upon his return, he and his friends were not a part of the farm settlements for the returned soldiers program. 

Papa Hui made a carpentry business with some of his friends from war. They worked their way around the Bay of Plenty building houses like my papakāinga in Awahou.

Papa Hui was the first military person in the whanau, generations of the whanau followed in his footsteps. He created a legacy of military service for the Simpkins whanau.

Visual: Credits scrolling 

‘Iti rearea, teitei Kahikatea ka taea.’ Even the small bell bird is able to ascend to the heights of the Kahikatea. Even though you were younger and smaller you still fought, survived the war, and returned home.

E kore e mimiti tō mātou aroha mōu e Papa Hui. Subtitle: Translation (Our love for you will never wane)

Audio: Outro music

Visual: Title page

In loving memory of Hui Simpkins, Patrick Simpkins, & Ratema Simpkins

Visual: Credits 

Alan Simpkins

Interviewee 

Tammy Simpkins

Source 

Maori Battalion, B Company Photo

[Maori Battalion, B Company] Te Papa Collections Online. Richard Thomson;photographer 1945. Accessed 3 February 2023. 

Monte Cassino Photo

Ross, L H, active 1939. Ross, L H, fl 1939 (Photographer) : Looking towards the ruins of the monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy. New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency. Ref: DA-03751-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22891718 

Egypt: Training under service conditions Photo

Egypt: Training under service conditions. New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs. War History Branch :Photographs relating to World War 1914-1918, World War 1939-1945, occupation of Japan, Korean War, and Malayan Emergency. Ref: DA-01937-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22710287(external link)

Hui Simpkins File Photos

Reference Service personnel file of 65201 Hui Simpkins, NZDF Personnel Archives, Maori Battalion

Soldier's Hymn Music

Ake, ake, kia kaha e! Songs of the New Zealand Māori Battalion. Au E Ihu (The Soldier’s Hymn). ACD206 Atoll Records.

Pūkaki Music

Trevor Maxwell & Uenuku Fairhall. Ngāti Rangiwewehi Kapa Haka. Pūkaki.