Piki Kereama

Ko Tainui te waka

Ko Ruahine te maunga

Ko Rangitikei te awa

Ko Ngāti Raukawa te iwi

Ko Ngāti Manomano te hāpū

Ko Taumata o te rā te marae

Te Pikikōtuku Kereama (1960 – 2002)

Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto.

He poto, engari he mīharo te ao o Te Pikikōtuku Kereama, i mōhiotia rā ko Piki. Hōrapa ana tōna rongo, ko ia tētahi o ngā tino kaitito waiata Māori i tōna wā. He ringa puoro, he kaiwaiata, he kaiwhakaari, he toki anō hoki ki ngā waiata tawhito.

I whānau mai i Marton ki a Tūkawekai Darcy Kereama rāua ko Moetu Kereama (i mua i te mārena ko Ropoama). I whakapakekehia a Piki Kereama i Bulls i te taha o ōna kōpūtahi: ko Miriama rātou ko Manaia, ko Tamawhero, ko Whatanui, ko Roimata. I kuraina ia ki Hato Paora College i Feilding, i reira whakaruruhautia ai ia e Morvin Simon o Kaiwhaiki, he tino tangata i tōna wā. Koinei te pupūtanga tuatahi ake o tōna kaingākau ki ngā waiata Māori. Heke iho ai a Piki i tētahi tātai kaitito waiata. Nā tōna tupuna kuia, nā Manomano, i tito tētahi pātere ko E noho ana i te whanga ki Waihora, ā, nā tōna tipuna koroua, nā Kereama Te Ngako rāua ko tōna pāpā, ko Tūkawekai te huhua mōteatea.

I 1984, ko Piki Kereama rāua ko Huia Winiata ngā ihuputa tuatahi o te Tohu Māori me Administration i te whare wānanga ā-iwi tuatahi o Aotearoa, arā, ko Te Wānanga o Raukawa, he tino tūāoma tēnā. Ka mutu, ahakoa kāore a Piki i whai ki te ārahi, nā tōna kaingākau ki te whakarauoratanga o te reo Māori i waenga i tōna rahi o Ngāti Raukawa, i whakaū ai ko tana kakenga ki tētahi tūranga ārahi i te iwi he wawe, ā, he tika. Mō te 20 tau, i kauanuanutia a Piki hei kaiārahi i tōna reanga. He tāne ātahu, he tāne māia anō hoki i ārahi i runga i te manaakitanga. I aroha nui atu a Piki ki tōna iwi, mātātahi mai, mātāpuputu mai.

Koinei hoki ngā tau o tōna tino auahatanga. I mōhiotia ia hei kaitito i tuitui i ngā kupu ki te tohe, ki te rahirahi, ki te whakatumatuma anō hoki i roto i ngā waiata Māori tawhito. He huhua ēnei waiata i titoa i roto i ngā wānanga reo i te taha o ngā tauira o taua wā.

Ko “Tauira” nā Piki Kereama rāua ko Sean Ogden tētahi o ngā waiata tuatahi i titoa ki te wānanga i Akuhata 1983. I titoa a “Nā wai te kī” me “Tūrongo” i Āperira 1984. I titoa a “Kōrero Māori,” he whakahau kia kōrerotia te reo i ngā wāhi katoa, i te Oketopa o taua tau rā, me “Tirohia ki runga” anō hoki. Kei roto i taua waiata ko ngā kupu a Sean Ogden rātou ko Nūki Takao, ko Huia Winiata.

I 1985, i tīmata a Piki i te rōpū puoro wāhanga 15, ko Tauira, e whakamihi ana i ngā tino rōpū pūoro Māori o ngā tau 1970 me te pūorotanga o ngā pēne Rātana. Katoa ngā whakaaturanga me ngā hopukanga kei te reo Māori. He tino tūāoma anō tēnei.

Kei te takiwā o te 200 waiata kua titoa e Piki, ā, kua tito mā ngā iwi, mā ngā hapū, mā ngā kura, mā ngā kōhanga reo me ngā kapa haka i Aotearoa, ā, i Ahitereiria anō hoki. I tito hoki ia mā ētahi atu kaiwaiata Māori pēnei i a Takitoru, e noho mema ana tōna tuahine, a Roimata.

I 1993, i tīmata ia i tētahi Manatōpū mō tōna marae, mō Taumata o te rā. I whai wāhi ko tētahi whare whakangungu tūmataiti, ko tētahi kura toi me te hoahoa e hua ake ai ngā mahi whakairo, kōwhaiwhai, tukutuku anō hoki mō tō rātou wharenui hou. Kātahi ka huri te kōhi ki Te Kura Mairaro, he kura rūmaki mō ngā pakeke o te hapū me te marae o te takiwā. Ko Piki te kaiwhakahaere.

Ka aroha rā, ka mate a Piki Kereama i te 42 tau te pakeke i te 26 o Nōema 2002. I ētahi rangi i mua i tōna matenga, i mārena a Piki i tōna hoa aroha, i a Hēni Wirihana Te Rei o Ngāti Huia i tō rāua kāinga i Ōtaki. I reira hoki ā rāua tamariki, ko Anihaera rātou ko Tūirirangi, ko Rongorito, ko Tāwhiri Tūkawekai. I takoto tōna tūpāpaku ki Taumata o te Rā Marae ki Halcombe.

Engari kāore anō kia mutu tana pūrākau. Mau tonu ana te ringatoitanga o Piki me tōna mōhio ki te hopu i ngā ngākau me ngā hinengaro o te reanga rangatahi Māori. Kua manomano nei te waiatahia o āna waiata i roto i te 20 tau kua taha nei nō tōna matenga rawa. Waihoki, i te whakataetae Kura Tuarua ā-Motu i tū i nā noa nei i Whakatū, i whakakapi te kapa toa, Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Puku, ki tētahi o āna titonga rongonui katoa, ko “He Māori Ahau!”

Ka puta tōna waiata a Kōrero Māori, hei waiata mō Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

Te Pikikōtuku Kereama, known to all as Piki, lived a short yet spectacular life. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Māori composers of his time. Musician, singer, performer, and revered exponent of traditional waiata.

Born in Marton to Tūkawekai Darcy Kereama and Moetu Kereama (nee Ropoama), Piki Kereama was raised in Bulls along with his siblings: Miriama, Manaia, Tamawhero, Whatanui, and Roimata. Educated at Hato Paora College in Feilding where notably, he was mentored by the late great Morvin Simon of Kaiwhaiki. It was here his love affair with waiata Māori first began. Piki comes from a line of composers, his Great-great grandmother, Manomano, composed a pātere, E noho ana i te whanga ki Waihora, his grandfather Kereama Te Ngako and his father Tūkawekai also wrote many Mōteatea.

In 1984, as the first graduates of the Bachelor of Māori and Administration, from the first tribal university in Aotearoa, Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Piki Kereama and Huia Winiata made history. And although Piki didn’t aspire to leadership, his passion for the revitalisation of the Māori language amongst his people of Ngāti Raukawa, ensured that his rise to a position of tribal leadership was both meteoric and inevitable. For 20 years, Piki was revered as the leader of his generation. A charismatic and courageous man who led with manaakitanga. Piki was beloved of his people, young and old alike.

These were also the years of his greatest creativity. He was known as a composer who blended lyricism with protest and sensitivity with provocation in the tradition of Māori waiata. Many of these waiata were composed during wānanga reo with fellow students of the time.

'Tauira' by Piki Kereama and Sean Ogden was one of the first tunes written at a wānanga in August 1983.

'Nā wai te kī' and 'Tūrongo' were written in April 1984.

'Kōrero Māori', an exhortation to speak the language at every opportunity, was written in October of that year, as was 'Tirohia ki runga'. The latter has words by Sean Ogden, Nūki Takao, and Huia Winiata.

In 1985, Piki started the 15-piece band, Tauira, paying homage to the great Māori showbands of the 1970’s and the musicianship of the Rātana bands. Tauira performed and recorded entirely in te reo Māori. History once more in the making.

A composer of nearly 200 songs, Piki has written for iwi, hapū, kura, kōhanga reo and kapa haka in both Aotearoa and Australia. He also wrote for other Māori artists like Takitoru, of which his youngest sister Roimata is a member. In 1993, he established an Incorporated Society for his marae, Taumata o te Rā, which included a private training establishment, art, and design school to produce carvings, kōwhaiwhai and tukutuku for their new meeting house. The course then became Te Kura Mairaro, a total immersion school for adults of the local hāpū and marae, with Piki as the kaiwhakahaere. 

Tragically, Piki Kereama died at only 42 years of age on 26th November 2002. Days before his passing, Piki married his great love, Hēni Wirihana Te Rei of Ngāti Huia at their home in Ōtaki. Their children Anihaera, Tūirirangi, Rongorito, and Tāwhiri Tūkawekai were all in attendance. His body was interred at Taumata o te rā Marae in Halcombe.

His song 'Kōrero Māori' will be released as the waiata for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori on September 2024 with credit to:

Lead vocal by Wailan Tuhakaraina with Aotearoa Allstars:

Backing vocals by Toni Huata, Roimata Kereama

Guitar & backing vocal – Ngahiwi Apanui

Drums & backing vocal - Jason McMahon

Bass guitar – Elliot Fuimaono

Keyboards - Jedidiah Lesa

Brass (sax and brass arrangement) – Elizabeth Hocking

Trumpet – Nick Murphy

Trombone – Kali Barton

Producers Ngahiwi Apanui and Roimata Kereama

Sound: Matrix Digital

Funding: Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori