Ngāti Awa legend has it when a soul departs from Whakatāne, first it goes onto the rock Turuturu Roimata, gazes upon its former home, and then runs along the water to rocks beside Whakaari, before diving in and entering the other side.
By Audrey Malone
Victims, families, and dignitaries piled onto Ngāti Awa's Te Manuka Tutahi Marae to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Whakaari/White Island erupting.
Forty-seven were on the island, 22 died, 22 were seriously injured, and three, who had dived into the water, escaped without serious injury on December 9, 2019.
Ngāti Awa owns White Island Tours, and has played host to the official commemorations of the tragic event.
Friends and whānau of those affected were taken onto the marae alongside iwi, politicians, the Governor General, the British High Commissioner, military and police personnel for a number of speeches and messages from those who couldn't make it.
For Hayden Marshall-Inman's mother, Avey Woods, for her connection to his soul, she goes down to the shore, not far from Turuturu Roimata, every single day.
"That's where I feel connected to him," Woods said, tears trickling down her face.
She started that tradition the day after he died, after a stranger came to comfort her.
"What do you say when you lose a son, break down at the beach calling out his name, a stranger comes up behind you, wraps their arms around you as you wail, sob and cry and call out his name again.
"He wanted his ashes to be scattered at Whakaari if he died," Woods said.
"Now he is the guardian there."
Hayden Marshall-Inman was one of 22 people who died after the volcanic eruption. (Source: Other)
For Australians, who were the majority of those killed and injured on the island, in February Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave pieces of Whakaari, so its citizens have a physical connection to the place where it lost souls.
Whakatāne as a community has been affected deeply by the tragic event, Ardern said.
She thanked those who risked their own lives and flew into danger, and then read out a message which was sent to her by a person who lost their entire family as a result of the eruption.
"If this was going to happen, I am glad it had to happen in New Zealand where their souls will rest in place for ever more," they wrote.
SHARE ME