Te reo advocate Hana Te Hemara celebrated in mural

A five-storey mural of te reo advocate Hana Te Hemara will be unveiled in Ngāmotu / New Plymouth this week as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Māori language petition to parliament in 1972.

Te Hemara (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu) was a founding member of the Māori rights group Ngā Tamatoa which helped collect 30,000 signatures calling for te reo Māori to be taught in schools.

Ngā Tamatoa chose Ngāmotu as the location for the I Am Hana Project which honours Hana Te Hemara who was born at Kaipakopako in nearby Bell Block.

Ramari Jackson-Paniora - Hana's daughter - said as well as commemorating the petition, the towering image on the Puke Ariki building was about telling her mother's story.

"She was very vibrant, she was absolutely fearless, she was a change-maker, a real visionary. She was at the front end of innovation, she wasn't really interested in what was happening in the now, she was always working quite far out into the future."

Ramari Jackson-Paniora said her mother - who had limited te reo herself - would be amazed at the language's revitalisation, but would still insist there was more to do.

She said despite her courage, Hana was a humble woman who would find the idea of a five-storey mural in her honour a little unsettling.

"I think she would be like 'oh, my goodness' you know 'I'm a bit shy about this' but she deserves it.

"She was an incredible woman who's story is not an easy road and hopefully that can inspire people also experiencing troubling times through their own journey."

Te Hemara died aged 59 after battling cervical cancer and was also a tireless advocate for women's health.

Māori health providor Tui Ora is visiting the mural site today to talk to people interested about Smear Your Mea - a kaupapa Māori-led cervical screening campaign.

Graham Hoete, aka the artist Mr G, has created the mural which aims to capture the essence of Hana Te Hemara.

"She was very loud, vibrant, unapologetic, bold and so I felt I needed to portray her that way and if you haven't seen the mural down here I'm pretty sure you could say that it is definitely bold."

Mr G said the fluorescent pink and yellow colours and the kōwhaiwhai patterns he has used all align with who Hana was.

Reflected in her eyes was another significant detail - Mounga Taranaki.

The artist said the inspiration for this came from a discussion with Ramari Jackson-Paniora about her mother.

"She mentioned that whenever Hana would fly into New Plymouth and she'd look over and obviously see the mounga and she'd cry.

"And for me I totally understand it's that whole connection with home and that's what it represents, what the mounga in her eyes represents. It's all about home."

Graham Hoete said the work also honoured all the mana wahine of Ngāmotu and Taranaki.

The I Am Hana Project includes 16 different works ranging from the mural to digital-only platforms.

Included among these is the photography of John Miller who documented Ngā Tamatoa's activism in the 1970s.

Curator Amokura Panoho said his exhibition told the group's story and provided context for the mural.

"The were very much 50 years ago denigrated by mainstream New Zealand as well as the Māori community.

"They were seen as troublemakers and of course now a lot of people are paying tribute to them because their activism created that sort of social change."

Amokura Panoho said the anniversary had provided a chance to recognised people like Hana Te Hemara.

"We recognised with the 50th anniversary that if we didn't acknowledge that an opportunity would be lost and her memory and what she achieved and what she did for us as a national icon and the fact that she is a daughter of Taranaki and is buried here would be lost to the dusty shelves of history."

The I am Hana mural will be officially unveiled during a special street festival on Thursday afternoon.

The John Miller exhibition concludes in New Plymouth tomorrow.