‘Huge advocate for his people’: Tributes pour in for Sir Toby Curtis

Tributes are pouring in for Te Arawa leader and long-time Māori education advocate, Sir Toby Curtis, who died on Wednesday aged 83.

Sir Toby Curtis spent his life challenging the status quo.
Photo: Supplied / Te Arawa Lakes Trust

His whānau are remembering him as a towering intellectual, a gifted orator, and a tireless advocate for te reo Māori.

The Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Rongomai kaumātua died at his home at Lake Rotoiti early on Wednesday morning, surrounded by whānau.

Sir Toby was a teacher, a staunch te reo Māori advocate, the founder of many Māori broadcasting initiatives, and head of the Te Arawa Lakes Trust.

Whānau spokesperson Arapeta Tahana recalled a man with a staggering intellect, a sharp tongue, straight talk and quick wit, who wasn’t afraid to break convention.

“I think it was the Ardmore Teachers’ College where he had been advocating to establish a marae there to no avail,” Tahana recalled.

“However, one day as they were moving some buildings onto the property he was the person who had to go along and tell them where to put a building and he quite deliberately put it not where it was supposed to go, but where he wanted a wharenui to go.

“Lo and behold, within a few months that became a wharenui.”

Sir Toby spent his life challenging the status quo, driven by a belief that te reo was the key to getting tamariki to achieve.

He also spent 16 years as chair of Te Arawa Lakes Trust, retiring only in April.

Another educator, former Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell said Tā Toby was a man of immense mana.

“Anybody will tell you, as soon as Tā Toby walks into the room, you know Te Arawa’s in the house,” Flavell said.

“He served his people to the highest level and will rank as very much one of our most significant leaders from home.”

Tā Toby was unwavering in his drive for Māori to take charge of their own education, Flavell said.

“Gee almost to a point of anger at what the state was not doing to look after our tamariki in the education system, to a point actually just basically saying to the government, ‘look, let us look after our tamariki, we know how to look after them, we’ve got a vested interest in them, we want them to do well.

“And worse: you guys haven’t done it.”

Tā Toby is also remembered as a man who regularly challenged his own, owning failures, and driving Te Arawa to do more to help their own.

Today, tributes were being paid from right across the country, from the Kiingitanga to the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, who said she was saddened.

“He was a huge advocate for his people, and a huge believer in the power of the education system when we get it right,” Ardern said.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said he and many others in the force had benefited from Curtis’ wise counsel.

“He brought with him a wealth of experience, a deep understanding of both te ao Māori and te ao Pākēhā, and values we could all share,” he said.

“His vision of New Zealand as a diverse, compassionate and culturally aware nation was one that echoed much of what we’re striving for in Police. Our organisation has lost both a counsellor and a friend.”

Ngāti Whakaue leader Monty Morrison described Sir Toby’s death as a huge loss not only for Te Arawa, but for all Māoridom.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Morrison said. “He was certainly someone I listened to very carefully. He was one of Te Arawa’s finest orators in both Māori and English.”

“I went out to see him and he was lying there and resting, just the other day. And he was still talking about the challenges that lie ahead of us.”

Arapeta Tahana said Ngāti Pikiao’s great challenge was to continue the work of Tā Toby.

“In his lifetime, starting out in a time where his language and reo were supressed, his culture was supressed, to now where a lot of his nephews, nieces, grandchildren are able to celebrate and practice being Māori everyday.

“To a large extent, I think he’s achieved a lot more than perhaps he thought, I know he was still pushing hard.”

Sir Toby will be returned to his Rakeiao marae on Friday, with details of a nehu and burial yet to be announced.

Then, he will rest on the shores of moana Rotoiti, guarded by maunga Matawhaura.