HEMI / JAMES KEIR BAXTER

He kaitito whiti rongonui a Hemi / James Keir Baxter nō Aotearoa. I tapaina ia ko Hemi, te kupu Māori mō James, i te tau 1969. I te Mahuru o taua tau i whakatūria e ia te mea tuatahi o ngā ohu e rua ki Hiruharama i ngā tahatika o te awa o Whanganui. He whakaaronui i te puta mai i te ao whānui i taua wā kia kaua e whai rawa, ā, i whāia tērā kaupapa e ia. Anō nei kia rerekē ai tā rātou noho i whāia e ia ngā tikanga Māori mō te noho a tōna iwi kia whakahokia mai ngērā tū āhua whakaaro mō te tangata ki te hāpori whānui o Aotearoa. I mahi tahi ia ki ngā mōkai, ngā tāngata kore matua, arā, ngā rangatahi kāore i te tiakina e te hāpori, rātou i tae atu ki Hiruharama me ngō rātou mate inu waipiro.
He Hōtaka Kore Whati mō Te Noho Tahi a te Iwi ki Hiruharama, ki ngā ‘Crash Pads’, ki ngā kāinga rānei.

Whāngaia te hiakai;
Hoatu he wai ki te hiainu;
Hoatu he kākahu ki ngā tāngata kore kākahu;
Tiakina ngā tūroro;
Whakawāteangia ki te pūtea ngā mauhere;
Toroa ngā mauhere;
Tiakina ngā mauhere ina puta i te whareherehere;
Haere ki ngā tangihanga;
Whāngaia ki te kuare tēnā ka mōhiotia e koe i tō kuaretanga;
Awhinatia ngā mea kāore i te whakapono, ki te whakatau take;
Awhingia te pōuri;
Tiakina ngā tāngata ka taka ki te hē, āta tiakina;
Ki te whakararungia koe, arohaina;
Tautokona ngā tāngata hōhā;
Me tuku karakia mō ngā mea katoa e ora ana me ngā wairua mate.

Oti rawa atu ngēnei mea, ka tau mai te Wairua Tapu ki ngō tātou ngākau, ā, ka ngaro haere ngā whakapono rerekē me ngā raru pērā i te huka rewa i te raumati.

Nā James K. Baxter
Pukapuka Rā (1971)