Heni Materoa Sunderland tenei kuia rongonui o te ao Maori, Pakeha kaore e wareware e tatou mo nga mahi ataahua, awhina tohutohu i te katoa.
Heni Materoa Sunderland(Nanny Heni) was one of the leading Kaumatua in the Gisborne region. She is considered as one of the founding kaumatua of Te Runanga o Turanganui a Kiwa. She exemplified all of the strong, gracious qualities of the iwi and tipuna. She was a dignified woman who possessed a high level of knowledge about Te Ao Maori.
Nanny Heni grew up at Muriwai and Manutuke with her grandmother Motoi Tapunga and her grandfather Paku Brown. She was born October the 13th, 1916 at Manutuke, Gisborne. Her parents were Erena Te Ahuahu Maynard and Eruera Brown. She married James (Jim) Sunderland in 1955 at Toko Toru Tapu Church. They are survived by their son Michael. She was considered the parents of many her family and she was a cherished guiding Nanny to her mokopuna.
Her depth of knowledge features in the comprehensive account of the wharenui Te Mana o Turanga, Manutuke, Gisborne. This book fully describes the wharenui and was written by the New Zealand historian the late Leo Fowler. Nanny Heni was extensively interviewed about information surrounding the carvings, tukutuku and kowhaiwhai traditions of this wharenui.
The depth of Nanny Heni's knowledge can be seen by her understanding and recall of the traditions surrounding Te Kooti. Through her grandmother she descends from the senior whakapapa line of Ngati Maru, the hapu of Te Kooti. Her information and ability to recount the facts feature strongly in the academic writing of Judith Binney, an established biographer of Te Kooti.
These are a few examples of where she has been sought to provide information for extensive historical research and writings. She was the informant for many television and radio programmes, as well as her academic explanations have contributed to numerous Turanga university assignments, projects, research and theses.
She was chosen as a presenter of the mauri as part of the rituals for Treaty of Waitangi Claims Turanganui a Kiwa 2002, and the Maori Land Court rebuilding 2007 as a example of the esteem she was held in by her people.
in 1983 Nanny Heni established the first Te Kohanga Reo in Turanga at Whakato Marae, Manutuke. Her comment was "I support kohanga reo a hundred percent plus....we are of one mind in the kohanga reo, that is, it gives these little ones every opportunity to learn the language and to know themselves." Her level and depth of language was evident in her understanding of the power and emancipation language acquisition effect. She was highly respected for her knowledge of this and this was very evident at the Tairawhiti welcome of the newly appointed Natioanal Te Kohanga Reo Trust CEO in 2008. Here key visionaries of Te Kohanga Reo such as Timoti Karetu, Wharehuia Milroy and Iritana Tawhiwhirangi paid Nanny Heni great reverence for her work, passion and understanding of the movement from the beginning. There was such delight to see her and reflect on her work as a pillar of the Kohanga Reo movement.
She worked with Prison Aid and Rehabilitation. She also supported Youth Projects in the city such as Tautoko Work Trust.
Her funeral service was held on Thursday the 17th of July 2008. There were many mourners to pay respects to a wonderful loved kuia.
Na Temple Isaacs
Chairman
Kahui Kaumatua
July 2008
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