‘It’s the missing piece’: Australian Maori woman finds her dead father’s whānau

An Australian-born Maori woman says reconnecting with her dead father’s whānau in New Zealand has been like finding the missing piece in her life.

But Tia Voysey’s journey to find her relatives has not been an easy one and included coming face to face with the woman who stabbed her father.

The 32-year-old Central Coast, whose maiden name is Johnston, was born in Australia to her Australian-raised mother and Kiwi father, Mack Tepeanapene Hati.

Her parents were teenagers when they met, and when Voysey was about three years old, her maternal grandparents decided to raise her.

READ MORE:
* ‘Great curries, great barbecues, lots of noise’ in mixed Maori and Pakistani family
* Coronavirus: Dad Will Meet 4-Year-Old Twins After Government Border Changes
* The truth about life in Australia v New Zealand

“My grandparents didn’t want my father to have anything to do with me, for whatever reason … they raised me and took my father out of my life.”

It wasn’t until Voysey was in her early 20s that she decided to search for Hati.

Unfortunately, an online search revealed that he was murdered in September 2003, in an altercation with his partner’s daughter, Lacy Lee Jukes.

Realizing that he would never be reunited with his father was a hard pill to swallow.

“It’s difficult, because I was so disconnected from him; but I still remember it, and it was amazing.

“I felt sadder for my dad because he didn’t want to disconnect from me.”

The articles said the incident took place in the small town of Woolomin in New South Wales, and Voysey went door-to-door unsuccessfully to see if anyone remembered Hati.

“Nobody knew anything”.

With only the name of the woman who killed his father, Voysey decided to search for Jukes, who was imprisoned for at least 12 months after pleading guilty to Hati’s murder.

He knew he was on the right track when one of Jukes’ social media posts mentioned Hati by name.

“She was saying how sorry she was, and that she was not in a good place at the time.”

Voysey decided to meet with Jukes to find out more about his father.

“She was really upset and was very apologetic. They were best friends, but obviously there were drugs involved, and she said she was drinking.

“I think he thought my dad would do something to his mom, so he stabbed him.”

Jukes gave Voysey a photo of his father and a small amount of information about his family: his body was recovered by an “Aunt Polly” from the small town of Kawakawa in Northland.

Voysey tried to contact New Zealanders in Kawakawa directly under the name of Hati via social media, but ran into a brick wall when no one responded.

But her search picked up momentum this year when she married an Australian, Ben Voysey, and became pregnant.

“Since we are now having a little one, she thought it was important for our baby to get to know our family.”

Ben Voysey decided to try posting on a Kawakawa social media page, with an old photo of Voysey and Hati together.

Voysey said she instantly began receiving personal messages from many people, and whānau shared photos of herself as a youngster that Hati had sent to them.

Just as she was losing connection with her family, they were eager to reunite with her and had recently attempted to complete a family tree but did not know her name.

“They said that that was the missing piece and that they can complete it now.”

Voysey plans to visit his whānau face-to-face once Covid-19 restrictions allow.

“I know they have a family reunion almost every year, so once the borders open they want me to go.”

She hopes it will be before her baby is born in March.

For now, she is happy to learn more about the Maori culture that has been missing from her life, and hopes that Aunt Polly can teach her some Maori tea.

“I think for a long time that has been the missing piece … I have not been able to understand any culture.

“Realizing that my father’s family is so culturally bound allows me to reconnect and understand the other half.”