Te Ahi Kaa for 1 July 2012

It's fitting that in a fortnight that has seen the death of two 28th Maori Battalion Veterans, 91 year olds, William Bill Pitman (1921-2012) and the last remaining officer of the 28th Maori Battalion, Major Hone John Hikitia Te Rangi Waititi (1921- 2012), Te Ahi Kaa salutes the remaining 27 veterans of the 28th Maori Battalion with an encore recording of a 2010 korero with "the Major" - as he was affectionately known. Maraea Rakuraku travels deep into the Waipoua Forest with brothers Alex and Manos Nathan who describe the very personal connection the area holds for them, and the shifting of a Catholic church from Te Kopuru in 1980 to its current site where it has been re-purposed as the whare of their marae, Matatina.