Monty Morrison

The Making of a Kaumatua

Words Jill Nicholas

Pictures/video Stephen Parker

As a kid playing in the lake with his Koutu mates, “commuting” over rough ground to Ohinemutu to see “the cuzzies”, or scrambling over Pukeroa Hill to school, Montgomery Morrison never dreamt he’d become the senior kaumatua of Ngati Whakaue- Te Arawa.

Seven decades on the man universally known as Monty Morrison is just that. 

It’s a position the son of a carpenter has come to via teaching, entertainment, cultural commitments and as the Rotorua council’s guardian of all things Māori.

Unlike kings and queens who are born into their roles by their bloodline, kaumatua are chosen by those who’ve gone before them.

In Monty’s case the Rev Hapi Winiata, Ben Morrison and Mitai Rolleston began the process. After their deaths the late Pihopa Kingi took over grooming him for the job ahead, without telling his protege outright that he was doing so. 

Reflecting on these kaumatua who have gone before Monty says each was a very special man.

“You don’t realise how special they are until they have gone. When Pihopa died that changed the landscape for me. 

“Taa (Sir) Toby Curtis was generous with his time  as well and invited me to assume some of his roles.” 

He emphasises he hasn’t taken over from where Taa Toby left off as Te Arawa’s acknowledged leader.  

 “In days gone by it was tradition for a new, senior kaumatua to be named by his predecessor on his death bed. That doesn’t happen anymore. Rather, there’s a process known as succession planning that’s followed to find their replacements. It begins with being invited to take courses to prepare to sit on the pae [orator’s bench]. 

 Monty’s invitation to join the handpicked few came after he returned home when his mother, Tanira Morrison, died in 1985. In the preceding years he’d been away at teachers’ college and university then teaching  at Hawke’s Bay schools. He went on to become principal of Hamilton’s St Peter Chanel Catholic School and an executive member of the New Zealand Primary Principals’ Federation.

Settling back onto his tangata whenua he relieved at Western Heights High, was appointed to head Māori Studies and launched the school’s bi-lingual department.

“It was a demanding job but hugely satisfying.” 

Ebony and Ivory partnership formed

Coincidentally, he was considering a career change at the same time Ian Edward had begun the spadework to launch the city’s first free Lakeside Concert. Ian needed a colleague of Monty’s calibre.

Monty’s organisational skills when the Māori Performing Arts national champs (now Matatini) were held here in 1996 caught his eye. 

The pair joined forces, becoming known throughout the performing arts world as Ebony and Ivory. The name’s stuck, despite Monty stepping away from Lakeside at the end of its 18th year.

Throughout much of his Lakeside tenure he operated the entertainment agency he named Creating Moments of Magic (CMM).

“I really got into events management by accident. It began when my relative, Trevor Maxwell, got me to help him put together a regional kapa haka event. It was in the Sportsdrome on a stage made out of beer crates. We learnt on our feet. That provided the model of how to run events catering for the needs of the audience, the needs of the performers. That model is still standing today.”

From kapa haka to Lakeside, CMM presented a number of spin-off community events including the highly successful biennial Te Ihi Te Wehi. Over the fortnight it ran it was jam packed with diverse acts and entertainment.

 Monty credits Grahame Hall, chairman of the then Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust (RECT), now the Rotorua Trust, for its inception.

“In 2001 Grahame approached me about putting together a community arts event. We envisioned it would have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years and it did.”

Growing similar events in Rotorua turned into a fulltime role.

“We became part of a major arts network and a member of the Performing Arts Association of New Zealand.”

By 2013 the “accidental impresario” was wondering what more he could bring to Lakeside.

“We have grown a team still on the ground today; technicians, support staff, all those who make an event a fantastic event.

“In 2010 Stan Walker [then Australia based] was the nearest we got to an overseas performer, apart from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in 2000. We stuck to the original core values of a free, outdoor concert that showcased the best in Māori, classical and contemporary music.”

Monty felt his work was done. He stepped aside to concentrate on his growing commitment to Ngati Whakaue.

Council appointment

All that changed two years on when Mauriora Kingi, the Rotorua Lakes Council’s cultural advisor died suddenly.

“I was hugely sad. We buried him on a Tuesday, on the Wednesday I was called to a meeting at the council, I had no idea why.  I saw Anaru Rangiheuea [Tuhourangi- Ngati Wahiao kaumatua] in the hallway. He said ‘We want you to take on Mauriora’s job’. I said ‘hang on.’  I went into an office and there was Taa Toby, Pihopa [Kingi],  mayor Steve [Chadwick] and others. They asked me if I was available. I said ‘Can I have a week to think about it?’  Mayor Steve went and announced my appointment the next day. I was gobsmacked and hugely honoured.”

He’s unable to put his finger on his exact title, suggesting kaitiaki (guardian) of Māori-related matters or Ahurea Kaitiaki (cultural caretaker).

Did joining the council make him a bureaucrat? 

“I most certainly hope not,” the normally mild-mannered Monty shoots back. “I was there as cultural advisor to the mayor of the day, welcoming our dignitaries. I had input into the senior management team. It was a chance to make the organisation more culturally aware and responsive. It was a privilege working there.” 

His entrepreneurial skills came in handy. He produced several New Year’s Eve lakefront Mardi Gras under the council’s banner.

He left the council in September 2019; his iwi wanted him back.  

Within days, he was off to the World Indigenous Business Forum in Santiago. 

“The next one was to be hosted in Rotorua, the one after that in Vancouver. I went to Santiago to accept it and Vancouver to hand it on.”

Before we further follow the pathway he’s taken to “higher things”, we backtrack him to his early years. 

 Early days

They began in Ohinemutu, moved to Koutu then switched to a Maketu dairy farm before his parents returned to the whanau lakefront whare at Koutu. Their younger son was 11.

He and brother Tupara were always going to be outnumbered in the gender stakes.

They shared seven sisters.

“It was fantastic having them. I was number seven in the whanau of nine. On the [Maketu] farm the middle girls looked after me. All my sisters have played pivotal roles in my later life.”

One sister is tennis icon Dame Ruia Morrison-Davy. She acquired early Kiwi sports star status when she reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon in 1957, the first Māori to play there and the first New Zealand woman.

Tennis was one of her brother Monty’s sports of choice.

“I played with her a few times when she was really past her prime but I still lost. She was fiercely competitive and more my teacher than opponent. She’d bring the game to a stop and tell me how to play this shot and that shot. I always strived to beat her but never did.”

Rugby was the other code he favoured.  “I had some games with Whaka and Waikite, went on a Whaka senior team tour to Fiji in 1967 and had a fantastic time.” He also played for the University of Waikato and locally while living in Havelock North.

When he returned to Rotorua he joined the multi award winning kapa haka group, Ngati Rangiwewehi.

Kaumatua status, Pandemic appointments 

Over the pandemic years kaumatua Morrison led from the front in a raft of response programmes.* 

These included the award-winning vaccination uptake by Te Arawa across the age groups and the Ngongotaha-based contact tracing trial using Bluetooth technology. 

“The government asked Rotorua to lead it. Although it didn’t go ahead for various technical reason it was hugely successful as far as community involvement was concerned and the government was grateful.”

“I do believe Te Arawa and Ngati Whakaue set the rest of the country an example in this respect.”

Te Arawa’s premier wharenui Tamatekapua at Ohinemutu is where a lot of his time is spent on official duties. It’s where he chose to chat to In Profile.

“Compared with 30 years ago the growth of biculturalism in Rotorua and across the country has been fantastic. It started with kapa haka events. Those, the rise in the level of the understanding of te reo, the Māori performing arts generally have developed and nurtured our community spirit.”

Emphasising that, Monty looks back with pride on the spontaneous gathering Te Arawa organised within a few hours in response to the grief sparked the 2019 mosques shootings in Christchurch.

“It was unique. There was no other place to have it but on the front steps of Tama [Tamatekapua]. It indicated how far we have come, not only as a bicultural community but as a multicultural community. It unfolded naturally.

“People who’d never been to Ohinemutu before were there. It was a huge honour to have it here.” 

We swing the conversation back to his senior kaumatua status, asking bluntly who will, on his inevitable demise, replace him?

“I asked Hapi Winiata a long time ago how I would know who my successor would be and he said: ‘They will make themselves known to you, not announce themselves to you.’ That was the most profound piece of advice. I’ve never forgotten it. I know it is my most important job yet to do. 

“It’s a privilege to be where I am. It is really humbling.”