Veteran Māori broadcaster Henare Kingi, a pioneer of iwi radio, has died aged 91.
A post on social media said he passed surrounded by his children and mokopuna in Lower Hutt, Wellington on Tuesday.
In the 1980s, Kingi was among the first employees of Te Upoko o Te Ika – New Zealand’s first iwi radio station.
He became a prominent voice in the Māori broadcasting movement during the era of language revitalisation and was a mentor to many upcoming Māori broadcasting talents.
Piripi Walker, former founding operations manager of Te Upoko o Te Ika, told Waatea Digital remembered how he visited Kingi at his factory job to offer him a role at the radio station.
Walker said Kingi became “the most marvellous elder” and “father-figure for the station”.
“He was there every day of the week, he even came on Sundays to do the morning service for years and years, and everyone in Poneke knows his contribution. It’s too much really to account, but the gratitude is enormous and the debt can never be repaid.”
Kingi retired in 2012 but continued to support the station in his capacity as kaumātua.
In 2016, he was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the New Year’s Honours for services to Māori and broadcasting.
At the time, Kingi acknowledged his former colleagues, including Walker for hiring him, and had two pieces of advice for Māori broadcasters in the industry: “Kia kaha. Haria tō tātou reo Māori ki te taumata i whakaarongia o mātou mātua tūpuna. Kia kaua rawa tātou e wareware i runga i tērā. Tuarua, ko te whakaiti. Ko te whakaiti o te wairua ahakoa pēhea te āhua o te rere, te karawhiu raini o ngā korero, ko te taonga nui tērā o ō tātou mātua tūpuna, ko te whakaiti.”
(“Be strong. Take our language to a level that our ancestors aspired to. Let’s not ever forget that. Secondly, be humble. Conduct yourself in the spirit of humility, no matter the direction of the conversation – that is the most important legacy from our ancestors. Humility.”)
In 2007, he was recognised at the Māori Media Awards, taking home the Takoha Nui o Te Tau Award for most significant contribution to the industry.
He held cultural advisory positions and kaumātua roles in the National Library of New Zealand, National Archives, the State Services Commission, and Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission).
Of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Ruanui, he spent over seven decades living in the Wellington region.
Kingi’s tūpāpaku (deceased body) has been taken to Koraunui Marae today where he will stay overnight before heading up north to Whitiora Marae in the Bay of Islands.
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