Hundreds of people arrived at Matahiwi Marae in Hawke’s Bay yesterday as indigenous rights campaigner and scholar Moana Jackson (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou) was brought home through the mists of Waimana for his tangi.
Pōwhiri were held throughout the day as politicians, academics, lawyers as well as whānau and friends gathered.
But the softly spoken “quiet revolutionary” made a final telling point to his iwi and Māoridom when he requested in his final days that women be permitted to speak on the paepae at his tangi.
After a meeting to discuss the issue, the marae agreed that women would be allowed to whaikōrero. The opportunity was taken up yesterday by his former student, East Coast MP and cabinet minister Kiritapu Allen.