Kia ora ra, e te karangarua e Tame, haere, haere, haere atu ki te ao pohatu me a ratou tikanga e koroingotia e koe, kia mau ia koe. Kua tae atu koe kia ratou, a ko tatou hei whakakiki i nga wharuarua o a ratou tikanga me a ratou korero, i hipa ia koe, i hipa i ahau i te wa ia koe e takatu ana i te ao turoa nei. Haere e te karangarua ki o tatou matua, ki o tatou tipuna e whakata mai na i nga ahikaroa i nga marae kainga kei te po, te wahi haeretia atu nei e koe. Whakareretia iho ki muri nei ko to hoa ko Kuini me a korua tamariki mokopuna, ki konei pehi kinotia ai e te mamae, e te pouri mohou kua whakarere nei ia ratou.

E te karangarua e Tame ka nui te aroha. I arohanui ai no te mea i ohorere to pakiatanga i tenei mate whakarihariha, a, te wawe hoki o to whakarere ia matou, te whakawhiti atu ki nga kainga maha o o tatau matua, o tatau tipuna.

Na reira ahakoa o matau korero, ahakoa o matou tangi kua maro ke to haere. Na reira haere atu. E ai ki to korero he ra ngai maomao ka taka ki tua o Nukutauroa, e kore a muri e hokia.

Kua eke tena korero ki runga ki a koe no te mea kua maro to haere, kaore he tiro whaka muritanga mai. Na reira haere atu, kei kona ratou e whakamai ana mou, a ka mau tony atu ia koe te tokomaha e haere atu ana ki nga rori ki Te Reinga. Na reira haere, haere, haere. Heoi ano Ngati Porou whanui tena tatou i o tatau aitua katoa, a tae mai hoki ki tenei o a tatau aitua e pa ana kia Tame.

Na reira me te mea nei kua ruarua haere nga kaihoe o te waka nei a Nukutaimemeha, o nga waka nei o Horouta, Nukutere, Tereanini me era atu o a tatau waka.

No te mea kaore he tirotiro a te ringa kaha o mate. Ka tae ki te wa o tena kua katohia, te wa o tena kua katohia. I tenei ra ko ta ratau i tango ai, na ko tenei o tatau, ko Tame Te Maro.

Tame Te Maro was a self-made man. Self-made in a sense that he had career choices and the last of which was working on the forestry alongside our young people. And, he assumed in that particular roll; a leadership roll, a Kaumatua roll and an advisory roll not only to our young people but those who were in the top echelon of the forestry.

He also had social and cultural choices. And, in this particular area his choices were very, very limited in the sense that he limited himself to the culture and to the tikanga of our people and the lifestyle which that tikanga and culture espoused. And, so in order to give meaning to that its life, he chose a leadership roll, which was focused on tikanga and the cultural choice he had made.

The key to the choices that he had made was driven by the passion that he had for the Treaty of Waitangi. To him the Treaty of Waitangi was in itself the gospel that preached for us good news if we pursued the Treaty and a good future, if the Treaty was realized. And, this was the driving mechanism behind his cultural and tikanga choices.

He was also driven by the whakatauaki, "he kanohi kitea" because at most tangi throughout the rohe of Ngati Porou he was indeed a "kanohi kitea" and a person who exercised this by the culture choice he had made as a person who was to marae.

In the National scene, Tom also sort to be involved positively and effectively in whatever scene Maori people chose to participate. Most recent of course was his active participation in the hikoi and the passion he had in the philosophy of the hikoi, which was a demonstration to the world indeed the politicians, about the significance of the foreshore and seabed to our people.

At Waitangi day he was always at Waitangi. Again, there to espouse and to illustrate his passion for the Treaty of Waitangi, his belief in the principles of Waitangi as the very mechanism that could bring about equality between ourselves and pakeha in one hand and the retention of our rights on the other. And, in a National movement that he was recentlyinvolved in prior to his death, was of course Maori politics. And, he was so disappointed with Government, in particular the manner in which he perceived the Foreshore and Seabed that he put his whole weight behind the Maori Party and giving great support to that.

Tom was also loyal. He was loyal to his choices, he was loyal in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi, and his belief in it, he was loyal to the Kingitanga movement and he was loyal to his own beliefs and with that belief in himself as a self-made person. And so, these are unique qualities that he possessed, not withstanding the fact that their differences between Toms view, view of others, myself included. But, we were able to rise above any sustained conflict sustained for each other because at the end of the day, each one had a principle or principles, became the guiding light of how one reacted to the issues of the World at large.

And so, we will miss Tom and his versatility, and the manner in which he tries to drive his point in the same way as we make a commitment to ours. And so, it is with regret and sadness that we are gathered today to bid farewell to one of our own who has demonstrated leadership qualities in the past and no doubt had much more to offer. But, destiny and the hand of destiny has written since our birth, the time and the place which our work and our space in this world will be vacated and filled by another.

Na reira, ko te korero, ma te atua tetekura haeremai he tetekura, engari kauae wareware na nga tetekura o nga ra kua taha ma ratou whakapakari te hunga kei te tipua.

Na reira, Ngati Porou whanui tena tatau e Tame haere, haere, haere.

Kia ora tatou.