Pokere Paewai

In April 1982 the first kohanga reo was opened at Pukeatua, Wainuiomata, which helped to revitalize Te Reo Maori at a time when it was considered to be endangered. It was one of five kohanga opened that year which would later blossom into hundreds, and one of the movement's founders, Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tawhiwhirangi, died this week aged 95. Some of the dignitaries and iwi leaders left Waitangi to go straight down to pay their respects this week and her name rang out on the paepae here many, many times. She's been lying at Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae in Gisborne where Pokere Paewai reports.