Ngāi Tahu ki Waikato
Ngā mate
Nicholas Taiaroa Macpherson Stevens
26 April 1993–9 March 2015
Last month we farewelled Nicky, the youngest son of Jane Stevens, her partner Dave Macpherson and moko of Phyllis and Ron Stevens (Ōtākou).
Nicky had been an inpatient under the care of the Waikato DHB when he drowned in the Waikato River.
Nicky’s whānau want to thank all the Ngāi Tahu whānau who supported them during Nicky’s tangi and to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu for their support. Nicky’s mum, Jane said it made so much difference to their ability to cope knowing that they had support from whānau, hapū and iwi.
Nicky’s death is a tragedy that the whānau feel shouldn’t have happened and while he is now at peace the search for answers is just beginning. Many others who have been affected by lack of appropriate support have made contact with the whānau since Nicky’s death. The whānau have been overwhelmed by the number of stories people have shared and the number who have thanked them for telling their story.
They have decided to be public about the issues of mental health, suicide and the quality of mental health services as a tribute to Nicky and other rakatahi who could see no way forward other than suicide. To this end they have set up a Facebook page, Nicky “Autumn” Stevens, where whānau can find out more about the search for answers.
From left, Nicky’s brother, Tony Rawiri Macpherson Stevens, Nicholas Taiaroa Macpherson Stevens, Nicky’s niece, Fallon Wharerauaruhe Dansey Stevens and Nicky’s grandfather, Peter Macpherson.
Ngāi Tahu ki Tauranga Moana
Last year during the Ngāi Tahu Roadshow they highlighted their vision for the future for the iwi of Ngāi Tahu. Our committee has taken their vision on board and for our meetings this year we have taken the theme, environment.
This has inspired us to obtain some very exciting speakers and topics for the year. As outlined in our March pānui whānau member, John Heaphy who is employed by the Department of Conservation (DoC) gave a captivating talk.
Later this year, Gus Knoopers will speak on how he trains dogs for boarder protection, for DoC and his work with the Port of Tauranga authorities.
We also have lined up Robert McGowan who is an expert on rongoa (medicine). He has a wealth of knowledge on native plants that heal, and he is an acclaimed speaker and has presented at many seminars on herbs for medicinal purposes; both nationally and internationally.
We also have in the pipeline a speaker who we hope will discuss cooking traditional Māori foods. Take one cup of inspiration mixed with one cup cooking with indigenous herbs, spices and flavours. It is cooking from the land with natural ingredients, many unprocessed and ready to eat.
By the time the pānui arrives at your place we will have held our annual general meeting (19 April) for the year and the committee will all be on board.