A stitch that binds time

In all its holiness, Hotunui embodies all that has symbolic and practical meaning.   For Haare Williams the pulsating, vibrancy of Hotunui is held together and dominated by a singular word mounted on the face of the house; the name ‘Hotunui’

 “… haere mai koutou, piki mai, kake mai.  Kua tae mai ki te poho o Hotunui!”

Welcome to the pride of Marutuahu of Thames and Ngati Awa of Whakatane.  Hotunui   one of the jewels in the crown of The Auckland War Memorial Museum is a living taonga of all Marutuahu iwi; Ngati Maru, Ngati Whanaunga, Ngati Tamatera, and Ngati Paoa.  In here, in the body of this great house, we feel the warmth and presence of ancestors.  Feel too, the dynamics of a people who assembled an assortment of resources like food, flour, gold, £1000, with a labour intensive force consisting of men and women to build this whare, a wedding gift.  Men worked the wood, and groups of women gathered harakeke, kakaho, pingao and kiekie. 

Hotunui is the progeny of these tribes who came to dominate a strategic area of coastal New Zealand.  This house embodies changes that were actively shaping New Zealand society in the 1880s. 

Hauraki and Whakatane communities were already undergoing major changes from a rationally Maori economy based on kinship ties, reciprocity and payment in kind, plunged inextricably into a cash economy of gold mining, farming and horticulture, shipping and a variety of small business enterprises.  You could say, Maori kicked off the free market ideology.  True also in the religious circles of life. Maori values were irrevocably reshaped by Christian beliefs and practices.  Hotunui displays the use of steel tools and techniques which revolutionised the character and size of meeting houses that saw innovations in style, size, and decorations.  You’ll see bold new applications which took on a new turn in the 1880s.

Hotunui is the product too of the post Land War Years.  Houses in this era experienced a revolution in new materials, colour, European and religious symbols and tools which added to a new expressionism in meeting houses.  Hoterenui Taipari, chief of Marutuahu, made a speech in 1868, “I look forward to a time of peace in a united nation and you must all be steadfast in love forever.” 

He called in Ngati Awa to do the job.  His reason, to seal the relationship through marriage, but they were renowned carvers and house builders.  Hotunui is more than a wedding gift.

Look carefully to the walls and you’ll catch something unique in the poupou depicting the fish-like features of Ureia, a marakihau or taniwha carved in the traditions of Mataatua.  It is only one of the standout features in Hotunui.  Look again, the tukutuku panels and know that these are some of the oldest in existence, hence their fragility and wear.

In all its holiness, Hotunui embodies all that has symbolic and practical meaning.   For me the pulsating, vibrancy of Hotunui is held together and dominated by a singular word mounted on the face of the house; the name ‘Hotunui’.  This is the name that unifies the whole of Marutuahu and Ngati Awa. 

In Hotunui, the ancestors are celebrated through legendary depictions of heroic deeds thereby providing a visually rich narrative of tribal history.  This is the ultimate source of mana which looks to honour the past, preserve the present and protect the future. 

  “Maori cosmology locates past time to the front, while the future lies behind one.  Being unknown the future is behind the person where it cannot be seen.  Maori move into the future with their eyes on the past.”

Neich 1993:124

For Manuhiri walking in her, unfamiliar with the symbolic meaning that surrounds them, it can be overwhelming to the point you can observe everything but see little..  There’s more here than you see.  I am connected to Hotunui through Ngati Awa and so for me, Hotunui is my university, my library, my church, my courtroom, a place to celebrate whanau weddings and birthdays and a place where I can extend the sanctity of saying goodbye to our dead. It is a place where I belong, a seamless connection that which continues to provide the link with my past through the avante garde of modern Maori art, music, literature and to the cosmology that is me.

Elders Walter Taipari, Huhurere Tukukino, and Emily Paki once reminded me in an interview of the precious connection they held with Ngati Awa.. 

The principle of ‘Utu’ sustains that which is rich and enduring in Maori culture.  Many, Maori amongst them, confuse the meaning of ‘utu’ as revenge.  Hotunui isn’t just a simple wedding gift but one that reaches out across whanau, tribal and political boundaries. 

Utu is a ‘return’ for a favour or ‘debt ‘given.  The ‘return’ can occur immediately but in some instances it could take the richness of time to occur, a year, decades or a generation may pass, but the ‘debt’ was never closed.  Time distilled the mana of the gift.  The greater the expression of generosity, the greater is the mana of the return.  The principle of ‘utu’ is reciprocity embodied in three values: giving, receiving and returning. When a ‘gift’ is given the recipient is immediately ‘obligated,’ to return.  The giving or the return is done with a little bonus and keeps the recipient in continuous ‘debt’.  Utu is never closed.  Insults, theft, injury; these are bad gifts and can escalate into full-scale fighting, war and death.  But ‘utu’ is also the reciprocal exchange for good gifts like a house (Hotunui), a waka (Toki-a-Tapiiri), a white stallion, cloaks, a mere, and baskets of kumara or cash in an envelope.  In times past, the ultimate gift was that of land, then a gift of a bride or the gift of a child.  Polished greenstone was highly valued. 

When you walk in here, you feel the classicism, the elegance, beauty, and mana and know you’re amongst aristocratic rangatira.  Although built in the 1880s, it remains in 2014 a vital symbol of a rich past, and for a future based on the verity of tribal growth and economic independence.  I also see a precise reading of the barometer of a culture in change as it did in the 1880s.  Maori culture isn’t fading away into some homogenized heap at the bottom of the political and economic garden.

 “Hotunui pulls together the unbroken fibres that stitch our people together; past, present and future.” (David Taipari, Marutuahu leader 2013)

Hotunui the house will always add to the fund of knowledge that helps us dip a little deeper into the social and spiritual springs of our land and know what it means to be people of the land.  Ae!

Tangata whenua.

It’s here for you of the world to enjoy.

WAIORA

WAIORA-LIVING WATER

The Maori view is that wai (water) is the spiritual substance of Papatuanuku-Earth. Over generations, they have found that contaminated water, especially if t contains fecal coliforms cause disease and likely death.

Not knowing anything about microbiology the logical response or the well observed ressonse have always been to see things from a spiritual way, that from te taha wairua.  Uncontaminated water had the ability to allow life.  

I grew up with grans Wairemana  and Rimaha in a remote New Zealand harbour coast.  They saw water as waiora or 'life giving.' This was not a casual observation but one tested over generations of sanctions (tapu) and sanctified use (noa).

The first classification they made was that water possessed 'Wairua' or by another name, 'Waiora'.  This is the purest form imbued with the spirit to create and nurture life and to counteract evil and sustain well being and safety. 

Wai maori is ordinary water with no suspended solids, highly oxygenated  special properties excepted with no spiritual significance. 

The third classification is Wai unu or drinking water without special properties excepted additives, substance is suspended.  Wai kino (dangerous water) or water containing any level of pollution which debase the mauri of water which has been altered with the spiritual component changed and can be harmful; rapids, swirling springs come under this classification.

Waimate is water which has lost its mauri and is dead, damaged or polluted. Water in this category is highly dangerous to the wellbeing of persons.  This water has lost its ability to give life.  In Maori philosophy, it is almost impossible to restore the mauri ora' to water that has been so affected. Maori know that waiora and wai maori are fundamental to environmental systems and regard any form of water contamination as totally unacceptable. Maori say that waste water must be disposed on land and not in water.

Today as we face global warming, the Maori perspective to water is becoming increasingly relevant. Maori see environmental challenges to include a holistic view where everything is interconnected through whakapapa to Ranginui (Sky) and Papatuanuku (Earth).  The cultural landscape has a continuous and cultural extension with natural features such as water catchment, forests, bush, marshlands as well as physical formations such as valleys, estuaries and features that link with kainga, waahi mahinga kai, Parekura, ara, paparahi, waahi tapu not to mention people who live 'back home' on the land (ahi kaa).

Kaitiakitanga is the exercise for the spiritual protection of things precious like water with its potentiality to give life.      

Social Security Provide Hope and Opportunity

My grandmother, Wairemana knew very few words in English, three I recall were Michael Joseph Savavage.  Someone asked me recenty,Why?  I remember those thee words as well. Why?

For a start she and Rimaha received the new government's unversal old age pension.  There then,only Pakeha were the recipients of the benefits.  For me, Labour under Peter Fraser as Education Minister, universalised secondary schooling by putting buses on remote rural roads that took me, and thousands of others to high schools some thirty ot forty milrd away. 

In 1938 they were uplifted by a government that cared.  The passing of the Social Security Act on September 14, 1938, was a great moment in New Zealand's history. The Act made free healthcare and a decent standard of living for everyone the symbols of a civilised society, and rekindled New Zealand's reputation as a social laboratory. Labour gave rise to hope and opportunity to a people who had fallen on bad times.  The public welcomed the legislation with excitement.

The impetus for the Social Security Act 1938 derived from Labour Party principles and the public visibility of poverty in the wake of the harsh Depression years. The first Labour Government's slogan, "From each according to his means, for each according to his needs", made sense when the chanciness of life was clear, and the scale of the Depression took the personal blame away from poverty.

The large number of people who had to resort to charity proved that this recourse was insufficient and above all else demeaning. Only the state could provide a solution that was centralised, efficient and comprehensive. The Social Security Act guaranteed in law that certain needs would be matched by regular payments and provide dignity for recipients.

Michael Joseph Savage provided an open face for reform that involved a fairer redistribution of the nation's wealth. When he spoke of a better deal for "the Bottom Dog" or called social security "applied Christianity", people envisaged security rather than revolution, and lost their fears of what a Labour Government might do.

Social security extended the earlier pension system to embrace a wide range of financial hazards: sickness, invalids', deserted wives' benefits; it increased assistance for families, the aged and the unemployed. The new legislation provided equal benefits for Maori (although this took time to work out in practice), and included Lebanese, Chinese and Indian citizens who had been excluded before.

Labour's brilliant move was to include universal benefits along with means-tested benefits, thus gaining the approval of the whole community. It meant superannuation for all (though it was meagre at first) and a more generous universal family benefit from 1946. The Government could boast that social security was enjoyed in every household.

WHAT IS A MARAE

                                      HE KAINGA RUA WITH TWO HOMES YOU LIVE

"For me the pulsating, vibrant elements of marae is held together and dominated by the siting and naming of Whare Tipuna.  In all its wholeness, it embodies all that has symbolic and practical meaning to hapu and whanau."

Many tribes, my own in Te Karaka included and that of Whaiora  whanau of the Maori Catholic community aired their differences for naming long before the construction of the house.  As a place of learning it is also known as Whare Wananga.  Such places had one thing in common; Nga Kete o Te Wananga (the three baskets) found in every tribal tradition. Below Nga Kete were two stones representing dual forms in which wisdom is assimilated being knowledge and intuition.  The structure of Whare Kura could be of any kind from a cave to a house.

"Then there were two stones taken from the tuahu (shrine), the most tapu of all places. These stones are named Hukatai and Rehutai.  Hukatai is white while Rehutai is red.  Here the knowledge of the Whare Kura is learned by both intelligence and feeling." (Tuhoe elder 2002)

The sense of personification is strongest inside the meeting house the physical embodiment of the selected ancestor.  Naming can be very long, the discourse can become contentious for example when local people are constructing the house they want above all else to depict one of their ancestors with considerable mana.

The Whaiora Marae is a contemporary construction, which embodies all of the attributes of a traditional whare tipuna. The term 'marae' is drawn from 'marae-a-tea and specifically refers to the sacred area at the front of the principle house. The house expresses tribal mana.

The front exterior of the house is Te Ao Marama (world of light) and is generally associated with Tumatauenga (deity of war) or 'face a challenge.' The interior is 'Te Po'(world of darkness) and also the domain of Rongo and Tane with associations to Creation, hence Whakapiripiri which binds together the chips to form a house.  The front of the house (mua) and rear (muri) are terms which create a strong sense of duality.  'Mua' has associated meanings with past times or seniority of while the word 'muri' refers to future time and 'senior birth'.

"This is a direct reversal of European usage; the Maori cosmology locates past time to the front, while the future lies behind one.  Being unknown the future is behind the person where it cannot be seen.  Maori  move into the future with their eyes on the past, regulating their behaviour in accord with the models of the past." (Roger Neich 1993:124)

Mediation between the two was through whakapapa (genealogical bloodlines).  These unite the two opposing realms by establishing connections between those who are deceased (past) and those living (present).  One place where these are carried out is on marae-a-tea.

The head of the ancestor is represented by the  koruru or the carved face located at the top of the roof apex. Reaching down at an incline are two fascia boards, maihi which indicate the arms.  These terminate at the ends with the hands and fingers (raparapa).  Supporting the maihi are exterior amo (bargeboards) being the legs.

The hierarchy of structure is clearly visible.  Starting at the top is tahuhu (ridgepole or backbone) which spans the entire length of the house.  This is usually supported mid-span by the poutoko-manawa (heart) and two outer supporting posts called pou tuaranggo (rear wall), and pou tahu (front wall.  Spanning at an inclined from the poupou, which line the perimeter of the interior walls.

Ancestors are celebrated for their mana and physically hold the 'backbone' above.  Legendary depictions of past deeds or heroic events may be represented, thereby providing a visual narrative of tribal history. 

Tukutuku patterns are intricately woven into wall panels which represent the cosmology of tribal unity.  These patterns speak out about the movement of heavenly bodies, seasons and the abundance of food.  This is the source of pride and identity for whanau and hapu. 

"... traditionally paints were gathered from natural resources in the form of red ochre, termed 'karamea'.  After it was burned and powdered called 'kokowai' or 'horu'.  Black paint was provided by soot and oil in combination with the natural white of timber." (Peter Buck 1957)

Kowhaiwhai are the painted scroll ornamentation which is an inherent part of the decoration.  The location of kowhaiwhai varies from one house to another.  It is found mainly in the interior on various components such as heke, heketipi and kaho paetara and on other surfaces.

"Figurative ... based on using figures as metaphor not literal ... of an artist a style of painting ... creating forms which are recognisably derived sources without being necessarily or clearly representational ...". (New Shorter Oxford Dictionary)

And so the appropriate meaning of kowhaiwhai can be defined as the painted scroll ornamentation which symbolically portrays a person or thing without necessarily being a literal representation.

"For me, the marae and especially the whare tipuna is my university, my place of worship, my music and a celebration of birth, weddings, to honour and sanctify our dead, a haven where I can meet Pakeha as equals.  It is as well a place not unlike a courtroom.  It is my turangawaewae a place where I can stand and be me". (Haare Williams The Maori Experience of being Maori 1998).

"He kainga tahi ka mate

He kainga rua ka ora

With one home you exist

With two homes you live."

"... when you have two homes, you can never be alone, you have another home here in Whaiora Marae; you belong." (Malcolm Brown kaumatua Whaiora Marae 13 July 2013)