Words by Jane Riddiford and photos thanks to Jenny Keate
When my sisters, Liz and Lucy and my husband Rod and I first envisaged restoring the wetland that runs through Ruamāhanga Farm it was the three remaining kahikatea that caught our attention. They were barely recognisable, weather beaten and etiolated with few branches, having been on drained ground and surrounded by crack willow for the last 50 years or more. The back breaking work of clearing the crack willow had been done and now the kahikatea stood on their own, rising out of the pasture grass on their big buttressed roots. They looked sad and yet somehow hopeful. They appeared to us as sentinels for what the land once was and what it might again be. We named them The Three Sisters. Back in 2021 Rawiri Smith generously gave his time to come, see, discuss and help us dream our way into what might be possible. A year later Ra planted a kahikatea to mark the beginning of the restoration journey we were embarking on. I am glad to report what Ra planted is thriving. His encouragement was vital in helping us believe our ideas could become a reality and we knew that if we were to restore the wetland, we needed to join hands with others in our local community, including tangata and mana whenua. At the time Rod and I were still living in London and I wondered how this might happen.
Fast forward to 2023 and we were now living on the farm and had the opportunity to volunteer in a nearby QE11 podocarp forest full of huge mātai and kahikatea on the Smith’s property, Waihinga Farm. There we met Gina Smith, principal of Te Kura o te Paetūmokai (Featherston School) and the seeds were sown for what has evolved into Te Reo o te Wai, Ruamāhanga Farm Foundation’s education programme. Through Gina we were introduced to Hau Ariki, the four winds Marae in Martinborough. Like the four winds of the compass, a four winds Marae is a place of gathering for people from all directions. From the moment I stepped in the door of the wharekai to watch a kapa haka performance of tamariki from local primary schools, I felt welcome. Soon after Rod and I joined the Waiata Group in the wharenui led by one of the kaumatua Wiremu Dawson, who with his wife Teresa takes care of the Marae. A waiata we regularly practice is Ko Wairarapa, which is a kind of prayer honouring the important maunga, awa and marae in our valley. Sometimes when we chanted the name Ruamāhanga, I imagined hosting the waiata group amongst the native plantings in one of the riparian places on Ruamāhanga Farm. Again I wondered how this might happen?
Matua Wiremu Dawson and his mokopuna
Two years later, just a few weeks ago, at the end of waiata practice, I was asked if I might be able to organise a planting gathering. The marae had been gifted a number of trees including kahikatea by Martinborough School and others. In turn it was decided to gift the trees to the wetland that thanks to many hands we are now well on the way to restoring. Coincidently around the same time we were also given a handsome kahikatea by members of my Mum Yvonne’s local Catholic Church community.
On a misty grey morning about 30 people representing different parts of the local community gathered at the end of our drive for an opening karakia and waiata led by Matua Wiremu. We then proceeded along the laneway and down into the wetland where in the boggy ground we had prepared planting holes. With some assistance and thanks to her little blue car Yvonne was able to lead the way wearing a pair of gumboots which hadn’t been on her feet in ten years.
Tumanako Waata-Dawson and Rod Sugden, Waipunarangi Waata-Dawson and Yvonne Riddiford
Several members of the waiata group are regular wetland volunteers and with Wiremu’s encouragement, as each tree was planted we sang related waiata arcapello; one for Hau Ariki, one for Martinborough School and the catholic one, Ko Waiata Kia Maria, for Yvonne’s 100 years. At the last minute Wiremu added Kua Tipu Ra, the waiata from the Kohanga Reo movement. As he described later, “in that spot, surrounded by all the trees, (many of them planted recently by tamariki from Martinborough and Kahutara primary schools), it felt like we were in a nursery”. Not for the first time, I felt the wetland is a nest for growing not only trees, but also community..
Amanda Pickering, who is a year 1 and 2 teacher, spoke on behalf of Martinborough School. She described how in the forest kahikatea do not grow alone. They support one another, intertwining their roots to withstand storms and stand for generations. Amanda expressed our shared hope that the kahikatea will grow tall as a symbol of local unity and a legacy for generations to come. She concluded by reciting a verse of the waiata written by Hirene Melbourne that summed up the spirit of the morning:
E tū kahikatea
Hei whakapae ururoa
awhi mai awhi atu
tātou tātou e
Stand like the kahikatea, to brave the storms, supporting one another together as one.
