Mita Hikairo Mohi (22 May 1939 – 20 November 2016) was a New Zealand exponent and teacher of the art of traditional

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

weaponry and a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at the 1972 World Cup.

Early life

Mohi was born in 1939 of

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east. Ngāi ...

Ngāti Ranginui Ngāti Ranginui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends from Waihi in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, to south of Te Puke in the south, and to Tauranga in the east. The rohe does not exten ...

Ngāti Rangiwewehi Ngāti Rangiwewehi is an iwi of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes. A Ngāti Rangiwewehi kapa haka group was founded in 1968 and has published their own songs and participated in various music festivals such as Te Matatini. The tribe is a two- ...

and

Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua (Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Isla ...

descent. As a child he learned the use of the

taiaha A taiaha () is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand; a close-quarters staff weapon made from either wood or whalebone, and used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with efficient footwork on the part of the wielder. Taiaha a ...

from his father. Mohi's early working life was spent as a train driver for New Zealand Railways.

Rugby league career

Mohi played for the Marist-Western club in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

competition. He represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, New Zealand Māori, the Southern Zone and the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. In 1962 Mohi was part of the Canterbury side that defeated

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

16–13 to win the

Northern Union Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

. Mohi was selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

squad in the 1972 World Cup. His first, and only, test match was against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Mohi injured his calf muscle while performing the

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

and had to be replaced. Mohi also played in two other games for New Zealand while in Britain. He moved to the Riccarton club in 1975 and spent three years at the club, the last as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Mau rākau

In the late 1970s, Mohi began teaching the art of traditional Māori weaponry,

mau rākau Mau rākau, meaning "to bear a weapon", is a martial art based on traditional Māori weapons. Weapons Mau rākau is a general term referring to the skilled use of weapons. It is said that the use of weapons was taught in the Whare-tū-taua (Ho ...

, and established the Mokoia taiaha wānanga to train boys and men in the art of using the taiaha. He has also run taiaha wānanga throughout New Zealand and developed a mau rakau programme that has run in New Zealand prisons since the early 1990s.

Other activities

Mohi was also a professional wrestler for a time and was prominent in national Māori tennis, including a second placing in the Aotearoa Māori tennis championships. He worked as a lecturer at Waiariki Polytechnic and served as a member of the New Zealand Parole Board and a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. In 1982, Mohi and his wife Hukarere opened the first kōhanga reo in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, following the birth of their first grandchild. Mohi died on 20 November 2016.

Honours and awards

In the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...

, Mohi was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for service to youth. With his wife, Mohi received a Rotorua District Council community award for voluntary services in 2007. He was recognised for his longstanding and ongoing contribution to mau rākau at the 2012 National Waiata Māori Music Awards, where he received the Keeper of Traditions Award, and the 2012 Te Waka Toi Awards, where he was awarded the Ngā Tohu o Tā Kīngi Īhaka (Sir Kīngi Īhaka award).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohi, Mita 1939 births 2016 deaths New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Canterbury rugby league team players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players Rugby league props Marist-Western Suburbs players South Island rugby league team players New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Papanui Tigers players Riccarton Knights players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand male professional wrestlers Ngāti Tūwharetoa people Ngāti Rangiwewehi people New Zealand justices of the peace 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people