Alec Wilson

Whakapapa equally divided

His whakapapa is equally divided between Maori and Pakeha. His father Jack Wilson’s heritage was a combination of Scottish and Irish. South Island born, he came to Rotorua and married Te Arawa woman Rangimutuhia Waireti Te Ao Hinga.  

Alec describes her as “a true Maori Princess, a born leader.” As her eldest son he inherited that leadership mantel.

“Through her I am a direct descendant of Ngati Whakaue and Tuwharetoa chiefs Taekata Tokoihi and Ihaka Kaharau. I was chosen by the elders to carry on my mother’s work and her tipuna before her.

“They called me Aki the shortened Maori name for Alexander and put me into jobs to get work for the tribe. I am still doing it today.”  

He scoffs at our musing that if his mother was a princess then surely that must make him a prince?

“I consider myself someone who has worked hard for my people.”  This can’t be disputed.

So too did his dad.

“In some ways he was more Maori than my mother.  He moved in the Maori world, he was invited by our kaumatua to sit on marae committees.

“He took us kids out of Rotorua Primary because we weren’t allowed to speak Maori there. We spoke Maori at home. As a young fella I talked broken English and got the cane for it.”

In protest Jack Wilson sent his Ohinemutu-raised kids across town to Whakarewarewa Native School. They ran there and back in bare feet to save the penny bus fare. 
Alec became a maths whiz kid at Whakarewarewa school. “I loved figures, I was able to work out things quicker than anyone else. I just took to maths, it set me up for the rest of my life,”

Conquering complex calculations proved to be his passport into surveying.

“When I left school I was able to pull a car to pieces, I could panel beat. I was heading to be a mechanic but my uncle Martin McRae asked me to help him on a Ministry of Works survey job. He said ‘how are you at maths?’ and chucked a calculation at me. “I did it easy. He said I was going into the wrong game.”

Pa kid kicking balls 

By the time Alec arrived at Whakarewarewa school aged six he was already a nifty rugby player. He estimates he was probably about three, maybe even younger, when he began to play the sport that’s been his life’s passion.

“Us pa kids kicked balls around the tennis courts right where this house is now [Ariariterangi Street] and played down at the lakefront. Our parents sent us there to get out of the way while the mothers cooked the big Sunday dinner.

“We used to play 10-50 a side. All the children in the papakainga played rugby. Like my sisters most of the girls did too. They were just as big bullies as us boys.”

Alec’s first “serious” clashes were in Whaka colours playing in the primary schools’ annual Tai Mitchell tournaments.

He was the school’s fullback, captaining the side in his second year.  “We won it [the shield] both years.”

At Rotorua High School (now Boys’ High) he was quickly elevated to the 1st XV, moving to the wing. His rugby prowess is honoured in the school’s Hall of Fame. 

Fighting to play senior rugby 

With school behind him he itched to play senior rugby. With Uncle Martin McRae the coach Alec thought he’d be a shoe-in. He wasn’t. 

“He told me to go away and play with the juniors. I hung around the Old Boys club. At first they said ‘no’ to me too.”

He got his break into senior rugby during a clash with Takapuna. 

“I waited and waited and waited [to be called onto the field] then ten minutes into the second half they said you can go in on the wing.”

Alec rewarded Old Boys with three tries and became a permanent senior player. 

“My mother wasn’t happy I was playing against older, bigger men. I was with Old Boys more than two years then Uncle Martin said it was time I came home to Waikite.” 

South Africa tour denied 

He played his way into the Bay of Plenty reps and was selected for the Maori All Blacks in 1954. He dipped out in 1955 because his leg was broken during a clash with his former Old Boys club, but he was back in black in 1956 and 57.

His Maori All Blacks career included an extended, unbeaten tour of Fiji.

“I marked Joe Lavu, he was 6 foot four (1.93 metres) and could run like the wind. It was my job to stop him. Luckily I did. 

He successfully trialled for the All Blacks and would have played in the 1950s squad that headed to South Africa were it not for one word  - “apartheid”. 

“There was another player who got in too. He was from Waikato then they found out we had Maori blood so we couldn’t go.”

Surely he must have been gutted?

“My old man was worse than me. I sort of accepted it then but it hit me later on in life.”

Coaching big men of Waikite

With his Waikite playing days behind him Alec coached the seniors. He showed no mercy. 

“We’d get them out to Tarawera in a truck and make them run back. They fought against it for a while. It was all about fitness. I had 18-20 stone men (114-127kgs). If they didn’t come up with the goods they knew they’d never play. That’s how I ended up with one of the fittest and biggest teams in New Zealand.”

It’s of note he always ran with his men. Alec Wilson’s not the type to expect others to do anything he won’t.

Club patron  

His whanau and trust work apart, the Waikite Rugby and Sports Club has been central to his life.  

He’s been its patron since 2005 and was instrumental in securing the land for two club houses, the first on Koutu hill followed by the much larger  present site off Bellvue Road.

“The club’s not looked back since. It’s the only club in the Bay of Plenty that owns its own grounds. It’s the only club I know of free of debt and it’s got a great young group that will take it through into the future.”

The future is a place this hard man has always looked to. It is, he says, a must if iwi are to progress. 

Anti racism

With a foot in both Maori and European worlds he can’t abide racism in any shape or form and is outspoken about it.

“A lot of people have come to realise we [Maori] have been pushed aside, that we are not as equal as we should be.

“When it comes to land who owned all the land in this country before Pakeha arrived?  You don’t have to be a mathematician to know how my people have been pushed out of their lands, lakes, rivers and foreshores.

“To rectify it is going to be hard. You can’t go back and kick people out of their houses but there’s a thing called compensation. That is the way I look at it.

“My advice to young Maori is learn who you are, where you have come from. By that you will know who you belong to. It will help them in the future.”

Reflecting on his own long life he says:

“I’m the oldest [Ngati Whakaue] kaumatua, I’ve outlasted everyone. I don’t know how it happened. I never expected to get to 90, I expected I’d be out of this world in my late 60s.

“Perhaps I was put here to remind young people, Maori and Pakeha, that there is 

 hope. You have to be unified.”