MANAGING THE MANA GERMS

A few years back when I first made it to management, a mate asked me if I knew what most Managers were. Like an idiot I said, "No - what are we?" "Most of you," he said, "are really 'Mana Germs' who work hard to take the credit and give away the blame."

What do you do with that kind of advice? Me – I just stared at him and wondered, "Is he right or is he wrong?" Since then I've figured he's both. As a group, Managers are no different from anybody else. When it comes to voluntary mahi most people find it easy to be humble. But as soon as we feel we've got something to lose – cash, reputation, power, status or whatever – very few of us are immune from the mana germ. In fact some of us never get over it.

So I take my hat off to Chris Hook for his back down over the Cable Bay bridge to mayhem. That whole scene was shaping up to be nothing but a breeding ground for the nasty little blighters, and it took guts to recognise that and change your direction, Chris. In medical circles it’s called recovery, but I know it as repentance. Either way, well done chum. You’ve survived and, hopefully, built up immunity to the germ.

Sadly I don’t see and can’t think of many similar recoveries in recent times. Instead, those who get the bug find ready comfort in numbers. Philip Taito Field is an example. He’s resisting taking his medicine on the grounds that he did nothing wrong. And the main thing shoring up that clearly loopy belief are those who have chosen to back him because he’s a person of standing amongst them. I reckon the higher you stand in a group the more accountable you should be held by that group for what you do and how you do it. Then there’s Rick Ellis of TVNZ who, last week, showed all the signs of a full-blown attack of the mana germs with his sorry excuses to the Maori Affairs Select Committee that his employer is meeting its charter obligations to Maori with a programme mix of Shortland Street, Police-Ten-Seven, Game of Two Halves me nga mea. The feedback to this tells me there’s a mana germ epidemic in this country, and, even if Rick Ellis tried to retract he’s likely get it in the neck from those who reckon Maori are not only well served by TVNZ, but have our own TV station. Well, how about this for an idea? Let's make sure only Maori are allowed to watch MTV and get TVNZ to fulfill its charter obligations to all the other races in this country with the same programme mix Mr Ellis listed. If that happened, do you reckon we’d see a rush of people canceling their SKY subs?

Koutou ma, I’ve made more mistakes in my life than you’ve eaten hot hangi. I know how easy it is to give in to the mana germ. Engari, like most of you, I’ve learned from my mistakes. But the really smart people learn from others’ mistakes. So may I suggest to whoever cut down those pohutukawa trees at Coopers Beach recently – don’t be a mana germ.

Hei konei. Hei kona.

FROM THE LATE MRS GRAVES

We’ve had to postpone the long-awaited Coroner Hui that was set to be held today in Oturu marae because of a death involving the main whanau of the host marae. Deaths and resultant hui postponements go hand in hand inside an iwi. So, instead of tearing my hair out, which was my first instinct when I heard yesterday morning, I’ll use the opportunity to share more information in prep for the hui, when it’s reconvened, by sharing with you an email exchange I had with someone who is interested but doesn’t know much about the issues.

Kia ora Anahera … what are the major concerns and difficulties iwi Mäori have experienced with the current system?

[The issues are], apart from general hostility to the concept of operating on our tupapaku, and the consequent disruption of their tangihanga:
1. Modesty: It doesn’t take much [for pathologists] to maintain body cover, particularly of the genitals, during post mortem.
2. Intrusiveness: Pathologists … don’t have to remove the whole top of the scalp to get at the brain unless it is absolutely necessary. ... Yet in Whangarei this is still standard practice.
3. Liaison with Whanau: Too often pathologists don’t seem comfortable with the living who want to connect with the person operating on their whanaunga.
Regarding the Act, some of the issues are:
1. On the surface it looks like progress that whanau can object to post mortem. But the inability, once an objection has been made, for whanau to rescind it or for the Coroner to over-rule it, until the full time allowed in the Act has lapsed, makes it likely .. [to] cause damaging delays.
2. The Act defines autopsy as “full internal and external examination of the body” … [What will that] mean in practice?
3. … in reducing the numbers of Coroners in the country from 52 down to 15, there will now be only one Coroner in the whole of Taitokerau, instead of the current three. … Will [that person] have a good grasp and experience of local / regional sensitivities and networks? … Because it’s a political appointment, we simply don’t know.

Thank you Anahera. That doesn’t sound good. I have heard ... that the chances of Mäori going to a coroner can be greatly reduced by … being seen by doctors/NGO’s more often … can I ask if you think that assertion is still valid?

The short reply is yes. The long answer is that autopsy is always mandatory when there is no medical doctor willing to sign off on cause of death. … But autopsy is also mandatory for any death which:
1. Is a matter requiring police investigation (accidents, murder, suicide, etc)
2. Takes place while a person is in custody or in care (prison, hospital, etc)
3. Takes place in suspicious circumstances (e.g. during commission of a crime)
I personally don’t believe investigation of cause of death (including autopsy) is inherently against Maori tikanga. Old whakatauki show we were constantly reviewing and learning from past experience. It’s the way in which it’s done and the attitudes of the people who have statutory roles in the process that needs review and change in some places. … Engari if we take better care of ourselves, … then we do reduce the likelihood of having an autopsy when our turn to shuffle off this mortal coil comes.

Koutou ma, the Coroner’s hui will be reconvened as soon as possible.

Hei konei. Hei kona.

EARTH TO IWI INSIDER

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?—

We who work for the iwi get passionate about things like human rights, biological diversity and economic sustainability. Important stuff, sure – but not always a priority in the everyday world of our whanau. To stay in touch with that world from which we came, we do things like mahi in the marae kitchen where we’re just another working stiff, and the VIP we rubbed shoulders with yesterday doesn’t give us any special privileges today. Or we’ll ring fence our whanau time and do the kohanga reo papa bit, the rippa rugby nanna gig, me nga mea. It’s sobering and refreshing to get that jolt back to earth that only whanau can give. Here are some examples.

A STORM IN A TEASPOON
I remember having my monthly report back from the Runanga to my marae disappear without a ripple as the aunties paused briefly to let its last echo fade before moving on to the real bizzo. “We had 100 teaspoons when this whare kai opened and now we’ve got none. Na wai he tangata tahae!?”

BUGS IN THE BELFRY
Our mokopuna love bugs. Shiny bugs, fat bugs, round bugs, buggy bugs – it doesn’t matter. They indiscriminately love the lot. In fact when our second oldest mokopuna got kutus he proudly and loudly told complete strangers in public places, “I’ve got bugs in my hair!” While I’d be saying with a sick smile and an inward cringe, “Well … you know they’re an occupational hazard in the north,” for him it was a source of wonderment that they had chosen to make his head their habitat. He didn’t care to worry about whether his biological diversity was being upset.

THE ARM OF THE ANGEL
On ANZAC morning, while our kids raced round and over the monument, three mothers sat under the angel in Kaitaia’s Memorial Park sadly looking at the names of those who left to fight in two World Wars and didn’t come home again. We felt sad. Then one of the kids asked, “Where’s the other arm of the angel?” And it’s true. I’ve sat under that angel since I was a kid and can’t remember – did it ever have two arms? Well, if it did, it doesn’t anymore. How could I not know?

TAKE TIME
A century ago W H Davies wrote the poem, “Leisure.” I can’t say it any better.

… A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

Hei konei. Hei kona.

SOMETHING REMARKABLE

When my grandpa Spike died in 1986 he and nanna Alma had happily bickered through fifty eight years of marriage, produced twenty one children, more than seventy grandchildren, close to a hundred great grandchildren and something like eight great-great grandchildren.

Gloria and Jim Herbert presenting the 'Ray and Alma Herbert Sports Memorial Trophy for Team of the Year"

By the time Alma died in 1998, I had personally given up counting. But I’ve never stopped feeling that such durability and fruitfulness is something special – even something remarkable – in these days of shrinking love and expanding self, as described in 2 Timothy 3:1 – 7.

The truth is that my grandparents’ whanau experience is not unique. That’s why, when we had our pilot planning hui for Ngati Kahu Fest 2008 last week, I found myself smiling fondly when the suggestion came up that we should make whanau our focal theme. In spite of the regular horror stories that hit the headlines, this week being no exception, most Maori whanau can only be labeled ‘good’. And even amongst those that wouldn’t win any “Family of the Year” competition, most are just trying to do what’s best, especially for their kids and kaumatua.

That’s what prompted the thinking behind our theme. Put the good up there where it belongs as something precious and delightful for all to see, and let it be a model for copying. As a point of celebration it works.

And, like any carrot, what we hope to see come out of it at an everyday level is consistent teaching and support of whanau so that there’s less and less need for the big stick of castigation.

And you know that there are many sticks with which to beat Maori backs. Our famed collective sense of guilt and shame is real for me. A murder, rape or other headlining crime is reported and I find myself thinking, “Oh please – don’t let it be a Maori.” So, no, we are not succumbing to a Pollyanna syndrome and, yes, we are still in touch with reality. But that reality abounds with more happiness than misery. So excuse us while we smile about that. In fact, come and join us if you’re interested in working hard to spread the reason for smiling around.

Ae ra – Ngati Kahu Fest 2008 is definitely on the front burner and, next Monday 14th, we’re going to officially launch its planning stage with a working hui here at Parkdale Crescent followed by lunch. We’ll meet fortnightly thereafter in a variety of locations around the rohe so that all our workers get a chance to host the planning mahi.

I remember my nanna telling me once that after the sixth child things got a lot easier as the older ones showed the littlies what to do. And that’s one of the main beauties of belonging to a large, prolific and rambunctious whanau. Everyone has something remarkable to contribute.

Hei konei. Hei kona.