RATIFICATION ROUNDUP

The Ngati Kahu constitution was ratified two weeks ago with a 97% approval vote. The results and supporting evidence have been sent to Te Ohu Kai Moana so it can release to us in the New Year our share of the fisheries settlement. The process was onerous, but the result is a great one by any standards.

MERRY MAITAI CHRISTMAS
This Christmas holiday period some of you might be thinking of heading out to Maitai Bay campgrounds for a day or two. Before you go here are some facts that will make your visit a lot more meaningful.

1. The Hetaraka Whanau and this land belong to each other. In the 1960s they were unjustly and forcibly removed from it and their ownership rights over it were usurped by the Crown. Two years ago they moved back onto the land and the Crown finally began addressing the serious wrong it had done them. Alan Hetaraka lives there and, along with Te Runanga A Iwi O Ngati Kahu and the Department of Conservation, is building a solid partnership towards its future management and development.


2. Respect goes a long way in Ngati Kahu. Within the Maitai Bay Reserve there are areas of high spiritual and cultural value to Te Whanau Moana, the local hapu, and the wider iwi of Ngati Kahu. Additionally the fore dunes are environmentally fragile and also need to be treated with respect. Ngati Kahu would prefer that they not be used at all due to the large number of past burials in close proximity to the beach, but we’ll be satisfied if you use existing tracks to the beaches and don’t take vehicles onto Merita Beach at all (except to launch boats at the left hand end of the beach). Foot traffic on that beach must be limited to below the high water line and boat trailers must be parked in the area provided within the bounds of the camp.

If you’re going to visit Maitai Bay this summer, then take the time to familiarise yourself with these facts. If you arrive with fireworks, firearms, speeding vehicles, an attitude, alcohol, drugs or dollar signs in your eyes – don’t expect the welcome mat to be rolled out. But if you come prepared to treat the area and its people with the utmost respect, you’ll be welcomed back anytime.

HEI KONEI HEI KONA
Here at the end of 2006 I thank God for many things. Another year of life in all its gory glory. Blessings and burdens of family and friends. Hard times and good times. The growth that can only come out of hard times and the laughter that lightens the load. In 2007 I hope for many things. But most of all I hope that, as you approach the manger this year and greet once more the Child who is born to save us, you find comfort in the company of shepherds, angels and a poor but joyous couple and their newborn Son. Then, after all the holiday hoop-la has dissolved. I pray you can look inside and outside yourself, then truly feel grateful for the mystery and the miracle of life before you, and confident that ‘for all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.’
See you in 2007.