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)

 

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