OWN WILKES

He tangata whakahē, mātau hoki ki te rangahau a Owen Wilkes, ā, nāna a CAFCA me te Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC) i whakatū.
I kuraina ia ki te Whare Wānanga o Waitahā (BSc). Ko tana kaupapa matua ko te Geology. He maha ngāna mahi kēri whenua mā te Whare Taonga o Waitahā, ā, i mahi tahi hoki ia ki te kaitoi a Tony Fomison ki te tuhi i ngā kōrero mō te ‘Māori Rock Art’. I te tau 1962 he kaimahi ia i te Antarctica mā te Whare Taonga Bishop o Hawaii. I mōhio haere ia ki ngā mahi whakangungu hoia a Deep Freeze ki te Antartica, ā, i a ia e mahi ana mā Bishop i te raumati o ngā tau 1956 – 66, i āta rapu haere ia i ngētehi tohu hei whakamana i ngōna whakaaro.
I te tau 1968 i whakaputa rāua ko Phil Howell, nō te Tari Physics i te Whare Wānanga o Waitahā, he pepa e pā ana ki te whakatū i te US Navy Omega Installation ki Lake Pearson, ki Arthur’s Pass. He mea ohorere te whakaputa e te etita, e Bill Gruar, ā, 72000 ngā kape i tāngia ki te Canta. Ko te Omega he pūnaha kei te ao whānui e ārahi ana i ngā submarines ki te nuku ki raro i te wai. Ki te tū tēnā ka whakararungia a Aotearoa e ngā mahi karihi.
I ngā tau 70 nā rāua ko Tim Shadbolt i etita i te pepa New Zealand Whole Earth Catalogue.
E ono ngā tau i noho ia ki Sweden hei kaimahi mā te Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). I mauheretia ia mō te ono marama e ngā pirihimana i tana hokinga mai i tētehi haerenga mā runga paihikara i waenga i a Sweden me Finland. I kaha hoki ia ki te whakaputa kōrero e pā ana ki ngā mahi whakararu i te kāwanatanga Reipa 1984 – 90 a ngā US Central Intelligence Agencies pērā i te Māori Loans Scheme me te kite atu i ngā submarine nō Ruhia i ngā moutere Cook.
I ngā tau 80 he maha ngāna mahi mā te ABC. I tapaina tā rātou komiti ko ngā Bearded Patriarchs. I a ia e mahi ana mā DOC, i ngā tau 90, i tuhi rārangi kōrero mō ngā wāhi 1000 o ngā whenua kēri e tiakina ana e Te Papa Atawhai kei ngā takiwā o Kāwhia me Awakino. I tuho kōrero hītori ia mō te motu o Cuvier me te ngahere o Pureora, mai i te wā i whakanohoia te whenua e ngā Māori tae noa ki nāianei. I te tau 2005 i whakamomori ia i a ia anō nā tana pōuri, kei tēnei takiwā. He maha ngāna kōrero me ngāna mahi kia tau mai te rangimārie ki Aotearoa. E mihi ana ki a ia.


Simon Cuming, July 2007
Tamaki Makau Rau/Auckland
Aotearoa/New Zealand