Four Nelson honours in list

MARION VAN DIJK/ The Nelson Mail

HONOURED: Richard Nunns, left, and Brian Flintoff have received Queen's Service Medals.

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Two men who helped revive traditional Maori music are among four Nelson people to be honoured in the Queen's Birthday honours list.

Musician Richard Nunns and carver Brian Flintoff have received Queen's Service Medals, along with Victory community and housing advocate Kindra Douglas and renowned boatbuilder Jack Guard.

Mr Nunns and Mr Flintoff have brought Maori music and instruments back to life for more than 30 years where they were previously thought to have been extinct and almost forgotten.

Together they established Haumanu, a group dedicated to spreading knowledge about taonga puoro, recreating traditional instruments and music.

"It started off as an individual journey," Mr Nunns said. "But we were people who had a real passion for the work we were doing."

The work has seen them travel the country visiting marae and helping Maori rediscover some of the music and sounds that were lost.

Mr Nunns said it had been a fascinating challenge to discover music and instruments which only existed in distant memory. "In a sense our work was constantly audited by the people who it belonged to, the Maori community."

Mr Flintoff said the real impact had been on people. "You can see the recognition of these instruments in the laughter and tears of the elders who hear this music and remember their sound."

The pair have held workshops and performances nationally and internationally and helped to develop the Maori musical instruments display at Te Papa.

"We are just part of the team which made a difference," Mr Flintoff said. "And I think that is going to last in the culture."

When the two began their work they say they were a curiosity, two Pakeha males reviving parts of Maori culture.

"But the acceptance we have got within the Maori world is wonderful," said Mr Nunns. "We have tried to make ourselves part of that community by serving it and not trying to push anything."

Mr Nunns said whether New Zealanders knew it or not, the music the pair had helped revive has become part of a New Zealand approach to music in all its forms.

Being awarded the QSM is further inspiration for Kindra Douglas to keep doing what she does best looking after the community. The influential Nelson woman says receiving the medal was a privilege.

"It's one thing to be Nelsonian of the Year (in 2007), but another to be recognised nationally.

"To be singled out feels very humbling because there's so many people who stand with me. I can only really receive this on behalf of the community."

Ms Douglas' role focuses strongly on working for the lower socio-economic sector of the community. She is the founding chair of the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust. She stepped down last year but remains a trustee. She is also a member of the Womens' Support governance collective through which she leads a course called Pathways to Power, a personal development course for women.

As manager of the Victory Community Centre, Ms Douglas has helped to provide health services, regular recreational activities, social programmes and community services.

Ms Douglas said much of her work centred around securing funding and bringing resources into the community. She had provided leadership, but she needed people to work with otherwise it would not happen.

Ms Douglas is not only community minded, but has a creative streak, holding a bachelor in fine arts, with a major in ceramics.

The fruits of Jack Guard's labour can be found in almost every port in New Zealand.

With nearly 100 fishing and pleasure boats under his belt, his reputation as a boatbuilder is without parallel.

At the age of 96 he can be forgiven if he is a bit slower, but with his wife, Vi, by his side, he looks back on a lifetime of hard work.

He fondly remembers learning how to build boats from his father and brother at French Pass, and turning down the opportunity for two years free education at Nelson College.

"(His parents) didn't want me to go and I didn't want to go I wanted to build boats," he said.

So build boats he did, establishing Guard's Sea Services in Haven Rd in the late 1950s, and later Guard Fisheries which at one stage had his three sons, Chris, John and Phillip, skippering three of its vessels.

Most of his boats were made of kauri planks and have stood the test of time. "Some of the boats I made back in the 1950s are still fishing, some of them still operating out of Nelson."

His boats can be found all over New Zealand.

He has little time for aluminium boats, "they capsize very easily" and is scathing of the red tape that can hold up projects.

Mr Guard is quietly chuffed with his QSM, which recognises not only his contribution to boat building, but his dedication to the Nelson community and the active role he took in projects in both Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds.