Te reo Māori advocate and broadcaster Cyril Tainui Chapman (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Te Rangi) has died this morning at the age of 70 after succumbing to his battle with cancer.
He’s been remembered as a humble whānau man and community leader who was a staunch advocate of environmental, human and Māori rights.
Chapman – one of 22 children born to Dooley and Raumati Chapman – was raised in Hokianga and lived nearly all of his life in the Mangamuka, Mangataipa and Tutekehua area.
He was only 19 when he carried the flag in the Māori land march alongside Dame Whina Cooper in 1975. Not long after, he was part of theatre group Maranga Mai, which tackled Māori land rights and dramatised the protests of the time when it toured New Zealand in 1979-1980.
Chapman was also part of activist groups Waitangi Action Committee and Te Kawariki, which led annual pilgrimages from Te Reinga to the Waitangi commemorations between the late ’80s and the 2000s.
He helped create Radio Tautoko in the late ’80s and led the Mangamuka-based station until his death.
Radio Tautoko is one of the oldest Māori radio stations in the country and was the first to broadcast on the FM frequency.
When the station was burnt down in 2014, Chapman led negotiations to purchase the former Mangamuka Pub and rededicate the site as the Mangamuka Hub, where Radio Tautoko and other social and hapū facilities now stand.
As a descendant of Te Kohatutaka, Te Ihutai and Ngāti Tama hapū, Chapman was part of many local protests, including those against the desecration of wāhi tapu, and banning the use of 1080. He, along with many others in North Hokianga, also opposed the Te Rarawa Treaty settlement, which saw the return of some properties to Te Ihutai.
One of the last protests he led was at a site called Omakura, near his Tutekehua homestead, where they erected a pou whenua and continue to have a community garden.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been released. However, he’ll first return to his homestead in Tutekehua before going to his two primary marae, Te Arohanui in Mangataipa and Mangamuka Marae in Mangamuka.