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)

 

Nga whetu ki te rangi                                          (stars to the sky)

Te Ngahere e karanga atu nei                            (the bush beckons you)
Te whenua e takoto nei                                      (the land upon which you stand)
Ka rongo Te Po                                                     (heard in The Night)
Ka rongo Te Ao                                                     (heard in the light)
Haere mai, haere mai,                                         (Welcome, welcome, welcome)
haere mai!

Carin and Jenny Wilson’s beckoning karanga saying “Come closer.”  Our warmth mingled theirs.  Some of us wayward travelers veered away to another land but eventually found our bearings to Pukeruru and the awesomeness awaiting us.  We were richly blessed by a blessed land.

Someone said, “How close can we get to heaven.” And another, “Lost in a wilderness; wilderness was once our freedom space.”  Another, “Whenua, moana, Ngahere, wa … all-encompassing us in this space so pristine and free from the vagaries and vicissitudes of city.”

As we started to connect with Land, Sky, Sea and Air, we began to soak in the reality of ‘Kainga’ and what it means in this context as Carin and Jenny firmly plant their stake into this soil.  There is a timelessness as the Pukeruru Night Sky revealed its truth – magical, regal, pure and in the mythic language of Nature 

The Mataatua waka with Puhi in command made its voyage through here eight century ago. Imagine Puhi as the potiki of three brothers undaunted he too put his stake in the land and came up with Nga Puhi.  We were  connected to Wairaka the young daughter of Toroa the captain of Mataatua a tipuna of Carin, “It’s no coincidence I’m here,” he told us.  Mataatua now rests in its last landfall at Takao near Matauri Bay.

Everyone introduced themselves around the fire amidst songs and smoke but under the gaze of a starry sky – nga whetu ki te rangi.  Wow and Wow Ena!  Norman McLeod Lochinvar – ‘Kotimana’ The Scotts settlement who set out from Nova Scotia to Western Australia and then to Auckland, and given access to land at Waipu where he built a community in ‘peace’.  “My connection with settlement is with Ngati Awa that allowed them, and us to stay here. “

 KAREN
“I have been pondering on this experience so far just how enriching it is; like coming home away from the vagaries of city bound life; freedom by leaving the smug and smartness-fart far behind in the madding crowd; to just be with the purity of land, sea and sky.” 

JOHN
“The word unity comes to mind a common ground for us to come together and celebrate nature.  We’re experiencing something very strong here. And it’s quite overwhelmingly rich.  A feeling of “…Te kotahitanga (unity) and in harmony with self, with others and with place and time.”

JUDY - Te Rangihauka – 
“I was privileged to be asked to do a karanga with all Nature, to the sun at the rising and to witness again the miracle of a new day.  Karanga ki a Tamanui-te-Ra, and as I held the harakeke I felt its strength seeping into my body like the breathing we did just before.  I listened to feel its pulsating heart in the new dawn.  I felt supported and confident  …one word ‘awesome’.  I te whitinga mai o te ra, ka oho ake nga manu, nga kirehe o te moana, o te whenua, o te rangi me nga toka tu.”

CAROLINE
Te Ao: the light of hope penetrating the darkness like a tentacle breaching the darkness; giving life to a day and to us; morning, a fresh breath mingling with life, so silent yet so powerfully illuminating; grief for those who passed on last night and greet the new born; te pito o te whenua (the placenta of the land keeping us nourished and alive) wringing from us Manaia; the sounds waka in silence moving across ancient pathways in the wake of their guardians a whale and her baby; the passage line of kuaka (godwit) Tihei Mauri Ora! ... Ko au tihei ko au tenei ko au tenei Ko te awa ko te awa ko au – I live!

Ko te wairua o te whenua
Toku oranga toku rangimarie
Toku maungarongo

Te ngakau o te nahere                               The soul of the bush                                            
Homai te waiora ki au                               Give to me life-giving waters
E tutehua ana te moe a te kuia                  Tiresome is the sleep of this lady

I Te Po I raru ai a Wairaka                        Hence Wairaka’s fall in grace
Ka Ao, Ka Ao, ka awatea!                         Tis Light! Tis Light! Ahh! Tis Day!
Te Ihi                                                          Power in reserve                                                 
Te Wana                                                     Inner spark                                                                            
Te Wehi                                                      Fearful awe, reverence, careful
Te Tapu                                                      Empathy with all this                                                            
Wairua                                                        Spirit free to Create                                            

“No one owns water,” John Key, PM 2011.  Water is not a commodity to be owned, sold or plundered.  So, how do we grow to Learn Belong Receive Return and Give … this is the principle of Reciprocity –   it is not a nebulous something but a koha from the breasts of Papatuanuku that nurtures and strengthens, hence waiora,  wairua, wai mate ... wai harakeke.

Ko au te awa
Ko re awa ko au
Ka korero ahau
Ki nga kirehe
O te rangi, o te whenua,
o te moana, o nga toka
Mihi mai, mihi mai
Karanga mai
Kei te kanikani ahau ki nga kirehe katoa

 
Ko Yusnidar taku ingoa
Kei Mareia taku whenua
I whitia e te ra
Ko David taku hoa rangatira

“Do we try to read ancient, symbolic language, mythic language in the narratives of each region we settle.”
“Do we make mention of those before us when we resettle a new area as Jenny and I did here?”
"What do we do to return the balance of nature, what do we give back, is this what we mean by Reciprocity?"
"How have we changed the landscape for the better?"
“This landscape and seascape that we are privileged to come to is in danger of irreparable harm unless we stand up for it now”

“Surely all sides are winners if we care sufficiently to use resources with reverence.”

We are at home here in the presence of Patupaearehe - gatekeepers for the balance of Nature in the bush as extolled by the story of Rata, the adolescent who ventured into the sacred domain of Tane and without knowing the placating karakia he sets out to fell an unselected tree for his purpose.

When you are a user of a resource you are simultaneously a Kaitiaki (spiritual keeper).  Kaitiakitanga implies a very special relationship with taonga (heirlooms), a place, a natural resource, or for tribal and whanau treasures. Our job is to nurture not plunder Taonga like the sea, the land and the forests that sustain us.  Look to the creepy little creatures that abound – we cannot survive without nature.   Take this place, Pukeruru; a place to cherish and be nourish by it. Kaitiakitanga, a space within ourselves and around us in which to Learn and Grow.  And Return.

Language: listen to the symbolic, mythic language in a story or in the sounds of birds, insects, wind and water. Karakia also contain mythic language. My grandmother, Wairemana told stories of her early days living in Maungapohatu. In later life, her stories began to resonate with meaning.  Ancient stories are important in that they lead us to connect.  Ancient stories teach much more; reverence,  humanity, nature, ancestors and who we are, “Ko John taku ingoa,” says a lot. 

Schools in order to learn the secrets of Nature need to be introduced to its symbolic language, and therefore reap its benefits.  We say karakia is one way for communicating when we are faced with uncertainty. Giving food, singing a waiata are two other ways of saying thanks.  We can thank nature effectively in karakia.  We can offer food or its equivalent as a koha, a kind of investment for services rendered.  Offer karakia our commitment to Ranginui and Papatuanuku; reach through to the generous spirit of a giving Earth and Sky.  Others go directly to a particular landscape, and I have known people to find relief from a spring in Auckland, a rock on the side of a road, or the top of a high hill. 

I believe this works because it is an ancient system of communication that has always existed between humans and Nature; whether anyone believes it is not unimportant. This is why ancient stories are important; Rangi and Papa, Maui, Toroa and Wairaka.  Myths and Legends use symbolic language to present a certain truth, and so the ritual provides people with an opportunity to test experience against theory.   

The white heron, symbol for Light the first power of Creation, represents purity, the north wind, strength and wisdom and as well the passage way for the spirits returning to Hawaikinui. The colour red represents rebirth and life, enlightenment, knowledge, learning, illumination.  The third power of Creation is Earth (south) flowers and birds, rocks, and all small creatures.  These bring warmth, harmony, happiness, and security. Black; is the west, the last power of Creation; water, is also present in darkness or the unknown, the spirit world; which provides purification, protection, healing, and wealth.  Some of this esoteric knowledge is tribal or cultural specific, and some are common to different tribes. The four powers of Creation: Air, Fire, Earth, and Water ... Tawhirimatea, Ruaumoko, Papatuanuku, and Tangaroa.

All of the ancient stories we heard teach us about our interconnectedness to all in Nature.  Rimaha, my grandfather said prayers and prayers and more prayers but for him symbols served as connectors to certain powers or to activate them in prayer which might be verbal, through song or through the recitation of an ancient chant, and as well through silence.  I recall him ‘conversing’ with a tui. The circle is an ancient, primal symbol or what Carl Jung called ‘universal archetype’.  Native Americans know this as a symbol that represents something sacred and holy.  For them, this represents unity, strength, protection, infinity and spirituality.  Thus it is used in ritual, religion, art, architecture, ceremony and social interaction.We have used names from socially meaningful events such as Tukaokao, El Alamein, Te Wehinga, or personifications of Nature.  These names have power and meaning. Hemi O’Keefe told his son Phillip Rhodes, “… keep your name, son and make your dad burst with pride.” Many families keep old names or names that trace to an incident in history.  Special names are used in prayers or blessings.  In later years a child may learn to use their hidden (or ‘pet’) name to converse with Nature.  They might go out into an open space and mediate with creatures and in that space ask guidance, Try it!  Your name is your shield.
Othello: 

"Good name in man and women, dear Lord
Is the immediate jewel to their souls
He who steals my purse steals trash it is something nothing
But he who filches my good name
Robs me of that which makes him rich
And leaves me poor indeed." 
(William Shakespeare)

Names and symbols have power and meaning; power that comes from Tipuna; Papatuanuku Earth) as the matrix of all we do.  I believe more than ever we need a better understanding of what Nature it is telling us.  And need the ancient 

tools and knowledge in order to adapt to the constant change and challenges that both the natural world and the newly created artificial world presents to us.  

As we all slink back into our daily nod, we will know that the few hours we spent together at Pukeruru will remain forever reminders of our bond of Ranginui, Papatuanuku and their children.

“Some of us try to separate ourselves away from Nature or ‘transcend’ Nature mentally, but the mere fact that we are human beings and part of the great web of life, makes us all a part of Nature.” 

Bobby Lake-Thom (US American Sioux Indian Chief)

The need to know stories....

THEY NEED TO KNOW...

“Our kids (Maori, Pakeha and other) must be fed the stories of their heroes,” Haare Williams who believes in the power of storytelling, grew up on the remote Ohiwa Harbour surrounded by the spoken word and legendary heroes that shaped his early childhood. 

The spoken word represents a certain truth in my life.  I grew up with a love of language.  Grandmother, Wairemana told stories incessantly. I called them ‘Nanny Stories’, which left a big impact on my life and career(s).  So, why are they important for our kids? 

Rimaha and Wairemana lived with the natural laws of nature yet totally at home in Te Ao Maori – the Maori world view.  They lived it. 

Rimaha spent lifetime learning about this connectedness through observation, imitation, enrichment and perspective.  To say that they knew nothing of physics or metaphysics is to misjudge them. They lived by the principles of nature in tandem with a Maori world view.  

“A joyous movement,” Pukepoto school children listen to the story of their taonga Tangone (Kaitaia Lintel) back home from The Auckland Museum 2012



"A joyous movement" Pukepoto School children
listen to the story of their taona Tangone (Kaitaia Lintel)
back home from the Auckland Museum 2012

Rimaha learned and taught how to effectively deal with natural symbols as he sought certain powers to activate them in ancient karakia. I was brought up in a remote valley on large chunks of myths, legends and narratives of recent heroes (whakapapa).

In the language of myth, Maui appears as a trickster hero, the prototype who appears in myths around the world.  As the Greeks alluded to and quoted Homer in literature, art, philosophy and religion and thereby founded their education on him.  Maori would seem to have lived for perhaps longer with the stories of Maui always present. As a formative cultural icon. Maui is therefore our Hercules (heel), Heracles (stripped of immortality), or Prometheus (fire). Maui controls fire, is the founder of the useful arts, invented the useful barbed hooks, fished up the land, founded the strongest kinds of ropes and nets that slowed the sun and so we boast that Maori gave us day-light saving, 

Maui defied the conventions of social cohesion and stepped outside the prescribed boundaries of tikanga. He was potitki and was allowed to be haututu (wilfully naughty, inventive) or be on the wild side a bit. But once he heard of Hine-Nui-Te Po (death), he was avowed to challenge her.  By doing so, he challenges nature therefore dies as a consequence.

A myth or a legend as in the case of Maui is a sacred tale about the past in a non-rational way to justify actions of the present.  Creation stories are about the remote past; unfortunately the words 'myths' and 'legends', in English anyway, have accreted the meaning of mere ‘faerie tales’, or stories without substance.

Stories about ancient and recent heroes are held as Taonga (tribal heirlooms) that move seamlessly between the past and the present. They bring the living and the dead together in a holistic way.  Whakapapa is one way of validating ones access to the world of tribal heroes linking to the genesis of atua (gods), to Ranginui (Sky), Papatuanuku (Earth) and Hine-Nui-Te Po (death).  Our kids need to see these as tools to access and express reverence for nature, land, ancestors, other people and for themselves.

Heroes who dwell in the supernatural world were followed by legendary heroes in Maui, Tawhaki, Rata and Kupe down to heroes who navigated uncharted waters to arrive and settle in different parts of Aotearoa New Zealand as early as the 9C. There is no doubt that New Zealand has a literary heritage like no other on the planet.

And heroes don’t live forever.  But those who live in the pages of ancient and recent history do.  All peoples have gods and goddesses, heroes and cowards, aristocrats and psychopaths, and poets and fools. They appear in every cultural tradition. So where do we start?  Kids – start with your names.  Allow your name to be a part of your story, weave your story around it.  Knowing your story is a statement of rebirth of the ancestors in you.  When you hear these stories, you begin to accept “Hmmm - I’m better than I thought I was."

Our kids need to know that each lash of colonisation left grand-parents and great grand-parents more damaged, more derailed, and happiness more illusory. They lost heavily with the Crown’s expropriation policies; a fiat by successive governments which meant that Maori were left with broken dreams.  Our kids need to know, that is not what the treaty promised. Stories are testimonies, if needed to validate tino rangatiratanga (tribal identity, authority) and mana (chiefly charisma).  Stories can also build belief which builds a strong sense to belong, to learn, to succeed, to grow and to change.  Belief, “... there is nothing I cannot do, I can be a ninja- thoracic-cardio vascular surgeon-poet laureate ...or all of these.  I can change my hard-drive anytime. 

They need to know what happened to the causalities of war; that the first casualty of war is truth itself. They need to know that truth speaks loudly, as on Sunday 21 February 1864, while the people were in worship at the Rangiaowhia Catholic Church, in Waikato The Forest Rangers of the 65th Regiment led by Colonel George Nixon mounted a bloody attack where riffle fire pinned down the congregation inside the church and set alight. The military had delivered a crushing victory on women, children and elderly. 

There is evidence to show a growing interest amongst our rangatahi, Maori and Pakeha for spiritual awareness, one that isn't bound to any religious dogma nor from any sectarian perspective.  We owe it to all our kids in New Zealand Aotearoa.  To do less is to betray them. I want them to know that Kupe wasn’t put off by unknown waters, Edmund HIllary wasn't deterred by the mountains beyond Everest, nor did John Walker let go of his impossible dream.’

Was not The Word, the Story weapons in the pages of The Bible?  That is power in stories. 

Ihumatao Hikoi

I Te Timatanga                                      (in the beginning)

Ko Te Kore                                             (Only an emptiness)

Ko Te Ahunga                                        (A stirring, movement)

Ko Te Apunga                                        (a desire gathering)

Ko Te Kune Iti                                        (the smallest  filling out)

Ko te Kune rahi                                      (increasing, swelling, thoughts)

Ko Te Po Po Kumao                              (the Night  fading into light)

Ko Te Po Nui                                          (The Great Night)

Ko Te Atatu                                             (The Pre-dawn)

Ko Te Ao                                                 (Tis increasing light)

Ko Te Whitinga mai o Te Ra                   (The burst of day)

Hi aha ha!                                                (Ah tis the world in light)

OTUATAUA – ATUATAUA

“He taonga ngarongaro atu ka whawhai tonuti kia hoki tonu mai ano.”

 “I acknowledge you Te Kawera a Maki for your patience for the sustained work you have put into your claim of this whenua and area over many years.”                          (Chris Findlayson Minister Makaurau Marae 22/02/14)

Last Saturday iwi members of Tainui’s Kawerau-a-Maki heard the Minister, in the presence of King Tuheitia and about 200 tribal members make this declaration on the Ihumatao Marae in Mangere. Sustained work, yes going back into the 1860s and continued in recent decades.  Local tribes got their first chance to put their claims before the Waitangi Tribunal on Ihumatao Marae on 8 October 1986. 

Four years ago, I sat with Mavis Roberts, kuia of Te Ahiwaru, her son Saul and nephew Jim in her humble home under the lengthening shadow of the airport runway expansion.   She looked out her kitchen window across her tiny section, “One day, these fields will come back to us as kaitiaki.” That was in November 2010.  She remembers attending the first Waitangi Tribunal of thirty years ago when her people presented evidence on her marae across the road, Mavis gave her testimonies before The Waitangi Tribunal as did others who have now long gone. Sir Apirana Ngata in the Stout government in 1926 produced a Royal Commission Report.

“The Natives were treated as rebels and war declared against them before they had engaged in rebellion of any kind and in the circumstances they had no alternative but to fight in self defence.  In their eyes, the fight was not against the Queen’s sovereignty, but a struggle for house and home ...”.

                                                           (The Hon Sir William Sim, Royal Commission Report, 1926)

“The struggle for our kids continues”, Mavis Roberts whose home and marae slapped against the airport expansion. For her, and whanau, “This development on ‘our lands’ is not merely a commercial thing, but a monster without a heart; it is a cash till for multinationals to building boxes upon boxes”. For the land is, “He pūmanawa! A heartbeat! Heart of tupuna.” 

Saul tells me, “The old name for those stones is Atuataua – The warriors of the gods. They are kaitiaki since our landing here. Aucklanders turned their backs on this space in the 1960s when sewage ponds were sited next to us here, “Though in a funny sort of way that has protected the area from going the same way as other parts of Auckland.” 

The stone walls are evidence of a once thriving industry built around survival; every stone moved with bare hands. The warmth trapped in mounds provided the hothouses to propagate seeds and seedlings for the seasonal planting. This sublime rural landscape is as old as human habitation possibly as early as the ninth century. The Otuataua Stone Fields is testimony to the resourcefulness of the early inhabitant to use stone-walls to trap the heat in the walls of their houses and stone mounds. In their storage pits the stones provided a way to preserve food stocks such as kumara, taro and in later years, potatoes. Evidence of Pakeha settlement here in the 1800s also abound; reminders of the Ellett, Rennie, Wallace, Mendelssohn, Nixon and Montgomerie families.

The Ōtuataua Stone Fields were secured as a reserve in 1989 by The Manukau City Council, in Sir Barry Curtis’ words; “To honour the history of the land and the people who built their homes and raised the families here over the past 800 years.”

And as for her dream Mavis and whanau want to see lands come back, but the second runway for the airport put stop to that gobbling up remnants of whanau and tribal lands, “Going, going ...  “.  So, what happened, I asked?  What happened is well documented in the evidence put before The Waitangi Tribunal in 1986, “It’s all there.” Saul tells me.

“...there were several Maori villages near Auckland – Mangere, Pukaki, Ihumatao, and others – inhabited by relations of the Waikato tribes. A large proportion of these people were old and infirm. Yet our arrangements for governing native settlements, even close to our own doors were so defensive that instant war broke out (though we had ten thousand men in the field), to allow these people to remain in their homes.  Twenty Maori policemen could have quelled the whole of them even in actual revolt, but the government had not a single Maori policeman on whose obedience they could depend.  It was therefore resolved to drive these poor men and women and their children from their homes and confiscate their lands. There was no difficulty in finding a pretext.  They were Maoris and relatives of Potatau...”.

                                                             (The Hon Sir William Sim, Royal Commission Report, 1926)

In its closing report The Waitangi Tribunal summed up:

 “… its governors and officials acted with ruthless pragmatism that sidelined the treaty and deliberately advantaged settlers over Maori, and its purchases left Te Ahiwaru, Te Aki Tai and Ngati Te Ata in poverty.”  (13 October 1986, Ihumatao Marae)

 “Ka mamae tonu ....  each time I open my back door, I see the shadow of a monster getting bigger and bigger possession without end.”  And so despite a Royal Commission and a tribunal hearing, there is still a long list of lies and betrayals for Mavis and her people.  Will it ever end?  Mavis is optimistic.  “It’s never too late to start again; the heartbeat breathes on in us.”  Tukuroirangi Morgan in reply to minister Findlayson said, 

“...  Minister this is not an end only a start of an enduring relationship as we move forward to work in a unified and collaborative way.  A solemn time for us and a nation.” 
                                    (Tukuroirangi Morgan, Tainui treaty settlements negotiator, Makaurau Marae, Ihumatao, 22/02/14))

Comment:  This kind of state and media hegemony meant that the people of this area, a peaceful people who time and again expressed cooperation with the state, loyalty to Victoria yet in a very short time became wards of the state.  The people of Tainui were are an ingenuous people who gave up land to build schools, churches, offered trade in other words they were excited to build a new nation.  But, as we watch the power struggle between iwi and state, we are today seeing positive and creative leadership in the mould of Tukuroirangi Morgan, Grant Hawke, Sonny Tau, Mark Solomon, Annette Sykes, Iri Tawhiwhirangi, Hanah O’Reagan and others who are paving a way for equality and peace in our blessed nation.  The Maori struggle will always be a peaceful struggle.  It is, as Ranginui Walker writes, “A Struggle Without End”.  You know, when you’re dispossessed of your culture, you become possessed by it – fight for it; maybe die for it as Tainui did at Rangiriri.

As morehu (survivor) Mavis watches helpless and sees her rights trampled underground. Immutable.  Alienating.  If you don’ have it; it becomes a taonga – a treasure to be remembered. The stone walls of Ihumatao have a special cultural space in Auckland. Will they go?  Otuataua can only survive where it is.  

Ae!  AND THAT IS WHY OUR CHILDREN MUST HEAR OUR STORY

Why Celebrate Waitangi

“Waitangi is arguably the most powerful national symbol we have,” says Haare Williams who has seen changes occur during our collective and separate hikoi to and from that holy shrine.” 

“It’s business as usual. Welcome to Waitangi 2014”, a remark by Te Tii Marae elder, Kingi Taurua when, as the governor general walked past, a smart in the crowd yelled, “Cut his head off!” 

The usual suspects were there.  Titewhai Harawira arm linked with John Key and later with David Cunliffe.  No leader was safe without the tempest of Te Tii Marae especially on the 6 February.

Waitangi Day is a time once more to remind us as a nation of the hikoi we have shared on the road to and from Waitangi; a road sometimes pocked with muddied potholes.  We celebrate how far we have come. Our country has changed more than most realise.  It’s not just about recognition of Maori rights. Maori culture is today beginning to influence mainstream society.   Maori words and phrases are used meaningfully in common discourse. The powhiri to welcome a new start or new staff is now a part of corporate life in New Zealand. 

We have the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with our nation’s history.  Certainly a time to rejoice that we have endured one hundred and seventy-four years of trial, challenge, and change. 

At the core of our society are two fundamental cultures; Maori and Pakeha who between them are now forging a third culture, one which embraces the principle of two cultures; Maori as the first settlers (Tangata Whenua) and Pakeha as second (Tangata Tiriti), who between them are creating an emerging new ‘New Zealand culture’, in which both tikanga Maori and tikanga Pakeha are respected, accepted, and protected for their separate but complimentary values. This hybrid culture recognizes Maori values and British traditions as embodied in the promise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi-The Treaty of Waitangi but flexible enough to allow later cultures such as Pacifica and other strands as we develop the increasingly rich diversity of a multicultural New Zealand. Now that’s something we can all celebrate.

Today we see signs to celebrate indications for me anyway, that reconciliation and forgiveness can occur and that in the work of the Waitangi Tribunal we can reconcile differences and pave the way for healing wounds, and past recriminations.

A cloudless, blisteringly hot day, Waitangi 6 February 1840. Some five hundred people are gathered before the British resident’s House. Royal Navy ship The Herald riding a swell ….   waka taua too … Hobson is escorted ashore.

Another cloudless, blue, blisteringly hot day, Waitangi 6 1990. The RNZN Ship The Canterbury riding a swell … waka taua … HM Queen Elizabeth II is escorted ashore …

One of the most moving statements about what the Treaty of Waitangi mean for Maori and for New Zealand came out of Waitangi in 1990.  The Anglican Bishop of Aotearoa, Rt Rev Whakahuihui Vercoe made a short speech which was directed at the Queen who was present with government members.  He began with psalm 137, with ‘Waitangi’ replacing ‘Babylon’ of the original:

I te taha o nga wai o Waitangi, noho ana tatau i reira

A, e tangi ana tatau kia mahara ki a Hiro

When he stepped up, the level of protest went up too,“… and so I come to the waters of Waitangi to weep for what could have been a unique document in the history of indigenous people against Pakeha domination and I still have the hope that we can do it.  Let us sit and listen to one another.  Some of us come here to celebrate, some to commemorate, some come to commiserate, but some to remember what (pause) … our tipuna said on this ground: that the treaty was a compact between two people.  But since the signing, I want to remind our partners that you have marginalised us.  You have not honoured the treaty.  We have not honoured each other in the promises made.  Vercoe spoke with utter sincerity, conviction and humanity.  The content of the speech was unexpected.  At the end of the speech there was utter silence, the ultimate tribute by the protestors for Vercoe with varying emotions apparent on those present.  For some it was a reminder to understand the past and to meet the obligations set out in the treaty, while others were aghast that, yet again the ceremony at Waitangi had been politicised, at least as they saw it in the presence of the Queen. At the end of the speech, Te Aupouri kuia Sana Murray stood, clapped and sang everyone joined as one with, “By the waters of Babylon …”

How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem
   

We are today forging a richer nation as we continue the Hikoi to and from Waitangi.  Haere mai e hoa ma.

Rumus Thompson-Jackson

Haare Williams describes a chance meeting with a ‘street kaumatua’ as the illuminating shafts of light through the trees that shone across Grafton Gully on Waitangi Day 2014.   

Rumus at Grafton Gully Cemetery

It's Wednesday 13 February, seven days and 174 years on since Hobson witnessed the signing of the treaty at Waitangi.  It's a warm mid-summer, afternoon sun, a time to reflect our nation's history and future.  Yes, it’s that time again to celebrate our past as we place the foundations for a vibrant modern city and  future.

I came here to The Grafton Bridge Cemetery to honour probably the nation's most iconic figure in our short history; "Captain William Hobson, Lieutenant Governor, 1840-1842."  But I wasn't alone because as I turned, I was greeted by a calm and gravelly voice, "Ko Remus ahau - Remus Thompson-Jackson taku ingoa, no Tainui."  Surprised, but not unexpected.

We shared a short karakia with Hobson, then silence.  When he opened his eyes and mouth I was immediately drawn to the poet in him.  He told me of his whakapapa to Kukutai, a noble whanau of his Waiuku and Te Awhitu homelands, a descendant therefore of the thirty-two, the only signatories of the English version at Waiuku. A rare distinction.

In Auckland, the treaty was signed in five (or six) places, the first on 4 March 1840 at Karaka Bay along the shoreline between Tamaki River and Howick (Maraetai).  The last at Waiuku (near the Waikato Heads) on 11 April 1840 by thirty-two rangatira of Ngati Paoa, Ngati Maru, Ngati Tipa, Ngati Pou and Ngati Tamatera (possibly Ngai Tai and Ngati Te Ata) and countersigned by Captain Nia and missionaries Henry Williams and William Fairburn.

We were both meant to be here.  His face was engraved by layered narratives from the streets that he has walked and by his own admission, himself a street kid at seventy something.  His wiry beard framed a face that spoke with wit, a poetic vision and empathy.

He spoke on decorously, "Heke knew what these tauiwi (strangers) wanted; Land.  Heke and other rangatira wanted protection of their lands.  But they were spurred on by the spirit of building a new colony.  Te Apihai Te Kawau of Ngati Whatua wanted the same by giving a huge koha of land to build a city and the start of a new settlement."

"Don't forget." I said, "No I won't."

"Maori were sailors, whalers, boat builders, farmers, traders and business people.  You should know they beat them at their own game." He then took a long breath.

This is a waahi tapu, e hoa.  It needs tenderness and aroha.  It lacks that human touch."

"Pakeha people, they don't care for their mate (dead); nor about their tupuna (ancestors), and they talk without stop about love for te tai ao (the environment).  No!  We, Maori are the ones who suffered the cost of environmental damage; we're still paying the price.  Ae! Ko te tangata te utu mo te hara o te tangata."

"Ko to ratau atua ko te moni ke." Money.  That's the Pakeha god.  Just look at this place. It's nothing more than a toilet."

He spoke. I tried to edge a word.  He, as I was deeply shocked by the stressful look of Hobson's resting place in a forgotten nothingness.  A man revered then and now by Maori as a rangatira.

The site is littered with rubbish, some damaged headstones, a veritable rubbish dump, and unkempt trees hidden away so that the city without eyes, ears and or a heart cannot see.  His voice rises and falls, sometimes into a whisper.

"This 'Mighty-Big-Super-City Council', will it be the most liveable in the world.  What about the residents of this holy waahi tapu."

We were there for probably an hour, maybe more.  It seemed like an eternity.  Yet a crisp flash of wisdom from this luminary who has walked his city.  Before I left, he nudged me to recite a karakia and asked for “Whakaaria Mai” (Amazing Grace) for Hobson, this waahi tapu, for our youth and for the indifference of a city for those who rest here.

We embraced in a hongi, and as we parted I said, "Thank you your amazing grace." He nodded and smiled.

I looked back to wave and catch is eye, but he was sitting beside Hobson in an animated expressiveness and quite likely apologising for the sins and omissions of the great city he founded.  Again I saw a poet who did not lack nuance or faith in his words.  He struck me as angry, yes but rich, feisty and compassionate.  Hobson's remains lie here in a forgotten nothingness, where then is the noble patrimony of our church, state, local and communities leaders. 

I know I met a poet who sees a city desperate for happiness, a kind epiphany in his eyes and words denouncing an "... uncaring city."  Is this retribution for having the vision and courage to build Auckland?  No!  Remus Thompson-Jackson was a lonely voice for hope. We share William Hobson’s hope.

" He iwi kotahi tatau; we are one people."

  (Hobson Waitangi 6 February 1840)

Hei kona mai.  

OUR PLACE AND STORY

UNDER EVERY ROCK  A STORY

He aha te hau e wawara mai

He raki nana i a mai te pupu-tarakihi ki uta 

I tu ai te pou whakairo ki Waitemata

What is this wind that disturbs me tis The North Wind

That brings good and bad to Waitemata

Ah, my vision

(Titahi's prophesy)

  

Ngati Whatua kaumatua Te Puna Danny Tumahai once told us, "... protect the past by preserving the best of the present to guide the future."

Centuries old stories abound everywhere we look; on the summits of mountains, waterways and headlands, and under every rock along and in the habour, each weaving a tapestry that hold meaning.

My advice, unlock that wealth of information by working with place names across Tamaki Makaurau-Auckland.  It isn't surprising that Aucklanders know little or are indifferent to the richness that can be readily grasped around the isthmus.  For a start, names are like pneumonic reminders that recall precise details of family and tribal whakapapa (genealogical histories).  They are like road signs that show us where we have been and where we are going.  

There is so much value in the work of local iwi of Ngati Whatua, Tainui and Ngati Paoa to reclaim and preserve old names that  could easily have become obsolete through lack of usage or understanding.  Auckland possesses a rich heritage that can easily be untapped.  To do less is to betray generations to come.  Te Reo is slowly regaining a former life, so I therefore commend place names as a starting point for the learner.  These names are not vestiges of the past but each throbs with the vibrancy of a heart.

This knowledge would open up another world for Aucklanders if they could hear and know about Te Pane-o-Horowai (St Helliers), Mataaho (volcano deity), Te Hororoa (Pt Britomart), or Te Ara Whakatekateka a Ruarangi (Meola Reef), now how about the green-eyed fish of Poutini that came to Waitemata, names that echo of our origins.

Kupe was our earliest known ocean going navigator who left many names that defined our coast-line that became critical signs for the navigators who followed in his wake.  Kupe took back with him the prized greenstone.  This important find was quickly identified as Poutini the spiritual home of pounamu along the Arahura River.  Maps came later, much later with Abel Tasman, James Cook and Marion du Fresne.

Early waka sailors followed the stars, whales and birds yes, but they also followed 'sign posts' along the coastline, mountains and rivers adding their own narratives to an overlay of stories. Sailings to Aotearoa were no mere accident.  These were planned over generations of aggregated knowledge, skills, experience and sheer guts and intuition; prodigious journeys of the mind, spirit and body.

This week Aucklanders were welcomed aboard The Sarah Gifford, a restored flat-bottom scow for a trip around Waitemata to experience something of the richness of Maori place names and the Maori language.

A short welcome, a karakia, mihi and a waiata, then the two names our city: Tamaki Makaurau (place of many lovers) and Auckland (Lord Auckland).  Two stories that resonated with manuhiri (guests) were,  'Patupaearehe and The Harbour Bridge', and the other, 'Mataaho-the fiery keeper of volcanoes'.       

What our guests experienced during two sailings was the richness of both languages, English and Maori in stories so redolent with episodes of our city's ancient and recent past.  

Names therefore carry knowledge and power in the spoken word.  The speaker (male or female) used the mana of a living taonga (heirloom).  The spoken word is held sacred because through it the wisdom of the ancestors is presented and communicated and made objective in our world.  A single word or name is there for the transfer of knowledge. 

Tamaki Makaurau, Nga Tapuwae, Ihumatao, Te Pane-o-Horowai, Te Hororoa, Rangitoto, Toangaroa, Pukekawa, Motu Tapu and so on around a glistening harbour to Te Ara Whakatekateka-a-Ruarangi.   

Our guests had fun spotting and matching names to the landscape and by weaving these lyrical and poetic names around their tongues and having a laugh doing it together.

Maori Language Week when it closed on Sunday should not stop there.  I commend the taonga of language to you.  Haere mai ki Tamaki Makaurau.

A nation that understands and accepts its holiness, is a nation blessed.

Haare Williams 9 July 2013