HE PIRIPONO O NGATI KAHU

Kia ora koutou ma – just a quick catchup on Ngati Kahu Fest 2008 planning.

Yep yep – it is happening over the Easter weekend next year under the theme “He Piripono O Ngati Kahu.” What does that mean? Many things, but the main concepts centre around people who are bosom friends, whose hearts are bound together in a tight weave of loving friendship. Neat eh? And we’re designing every event to reinforce that sentiment in Ngati Kahu.

A small but energetic team of reps from eight of Te Runanga A Iwi O Ngati Kahu’s fourteen marae members, plus Te Hauora O Te Hiku O Te Ika and Ngati Kahu Social and Health Services have been meeting fortnightly and so far we’ve divided the events between us based on age groups. The programme is still fluid, but some things have started to solidify under age group and day / night categories.

Te Runanga-a-Iwi-o Ngati Kahu are responsible for overall facilitation, funding, administration and communications, while Te Hauora O Te Hiku O Te Ika are organising the hui whakataetae of sporting and physical activities. Other daytime activities include Tupuna Tours running throughout the three days, as well as whakapapa, toi Maori, taa moko, waiata, hip-hop and kai tika workshops. We’ll also have a fishing competition and various stalls and displays running throughout. Then each night we’ll close with a signature celebration. Kenana Marae have put their hands up to run a Mokopuna Idol on the Good Friday. Ngati Kahu Social and Health Services is pulling together a Glamour Night / Fashion Parade to celebrate Ngati Kahu Styles on Easter Saturday, and Te Runanga-a-Iwi-o Ngati Kahu closes the Sunday night with He Piripono Ball to celebrate and honour those couples who have endured 35 years or more together.

There’s still plenty of workshops and events up for grabs by a lead organizer. So if your roopu or marae wants in, then come to the next planning hui on Monday 9th July at … well, if He Korowai Trust doesn’t accept our request to host us, then it’ll be back at Te Runanga-a-Iwi-o Ngati Kahu on Parkdale Crescent.

Riki me koutou ma – sorry for this if I haven’t gotten to you before you read this. I’ve just gotten in from Mangonui where we had a fantabulous planning session and the Social and Health Services up there on Karamea Rd, and I have to get this to the Age two minutes ago. Engari – Ngati Kahu e te tuatahi, e te tuarua me te matamuri. Haere mai nau mai piki mai ki te Piripono o Ngati Kahu.

Aroha mai.

A MAORI PARADIGM

A paradigm is a set of rules, and a paradigm shift is when you change from one set of rules to another. These shifts are always powerful and sometimes painful. If you don’t believe me, consider this slice of history in which you yourself may have taken part.

In 1969 watches “Made in Switzerland” meant top quality while “Made in Japan” was code for cheap and nasty. 10 years later the two nations’ manufacturing reputations had almost completely reversed. Why? The introduction of the quartz watch, invented by the Swiss themselves, had changed the watch paradigm. But Swiss watch manufacturers, stuck in their paradigm of watches with bearings, gears and a mainspring were blinded to the future of a totally electronic and versatile watch that could be a thousand times more accurate. In fact, they were so convinced the quartz watch wouldn’t succeed, that they didn’t even bother to patent it. When it was displayed at the annual watch conference in 1967, the Japanese firm Seiko saw its potential and the rest, as they say, is history.

Turning from the world stage to closer to home, we are experiencing strong and historical paradigm shifts right now. How many of us over twenty knew what Mataariki was when we were growing up? If, like me, you’ve moved in your lifetime from having no or little knowledge to knowing quite a lot about it, then you’ve experienced a paradigm shift. Happy New Year! Of course not everyone is happy with this or other similar shifts.

At this year’s ANZAC Day service in Kaitaia I sat behind an old lady who was all smiles until the head boy at Kaitaia College stood and opened with a tauparapara i te reo Maori, then moved into English for the bulk of his very moving korero. But not before the old lady fumed loudly, “Why can’t they speak English?” Now it was a given, proven by his eloquence within seconds of her complaint, that the Kaitaia College Head Boy could speak English. So who was this ‘they’ the old lady was mad at?

In one of those quantum leaps of empathy that happen between humans it came to me that she was actually mad at the paradigm shift that had happened somewhere between 1945 and 2007. I happen to believe that this particular paradigm will eventually shift to the point where almost everyone will be bilingual and the lingua franca will be Maori. I also suspect that at some future public event I might find myself moaning, “He aha ai kaore taea a ratou kia korero i te reo Maori?!” For that reason I reached toward the old lady and, even though I didn’t actually touch her, I like to think she felt my unspoken thoughts, “Kei te pai tena. I understand. Peace. Be still.”

It’s not easy to be at peace when paradigms are shifting all over the place. And inside an iwi we know that not every shift is as benign as multi-lingualism or Mataariki. Engari we also know they throw up some amazing opportunities. Back to the Swiss. Ask any trend-setting youngster to name the top ten watches today, and somewhere in there you’ll hear the name Swatch. That’s a Swiss watch made with a quartz crystal. Man – those Swiss ain’t dumb, and neither are we.

Engari kia mataara! Kei tënä whanau kei tënä whänau anö te pütake mai o te ora. Ko tätou katoa ngä poito, kia Mataariki te taa i te kupenga, kaua e matararahi! Hei konei. Hei kona.

CORONER HUI ON AGAIN

When the Coroner Hui was postponed last month I got lots of calls from disappointed people. The interest in Te Hiku is very strong and people specially wanted to have the hui before the July 1st roll-out of the new Coroners. Engari the Chief Coroner had a full month of work in June swearing in and orientating all the new Coroners. Since then we have seen the new Taitokerau Coroner announced and I admit to very mixed emotions. The new appointee, Brandt Shortland, comes with an impeccable pedigree. A descendant of Hineamaru, his whanau is well-known throughout Taitokerau, and his reputation as a lawyer is similarly illustrious. We look forward to meeting and working with him. Engari, we are sad to lose the services of Robin Fountain here in the Far North.

I cannot let the moment pass without publicly and personally thanking you Robin, and by extension your colleagues Max Atkins and Heather Ayrton, for being so consistently sensitive, accessible and available to the people of the Far North, not least ki nga Iwi Maori o Te Hiku O Te Ika. When I heard the news I was deeply disappointed that you were not to continue serving us, albeit on a broader front. Your successor has very large shoes to fill and we will do our best to ensure he does so.

Since the hui was postponed we have used the time to shape the programme so that it covers the coronial scene as broadly as possible. One of the things seriously lacking in Taitokerau is a wider approach to mortality review and what might have contributed to the cause of death. Currently the main reports taken into account at an inquest are those of the inquest officer and the pathologist. That means GPs, social workers, mental health workers, teachers, spiritual advisors and a plethora of professionals are rarely (if ever) approached to contribute to an inquest. The result is a heavily forensic view, while a goldmine of data, that could improve prevention and intervention strategies in general, is often left untapped. The Coroner’s office is ideally positioned to lead and deliver such review.

Koutou ma he panui tenei – the Coroner hui is on again. DATE: Friday 20th July. VENUE: Oturu Marae. TIME: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. PROGRAMME: As above. CONTACT: nkceo@xtra.co.nz or call 4083013. The hui programme now consists of brief (10 – 15 minutes) presentations from:
1. The Chief Coroner and / or the newly appointed Taitokerau Coroner on the Act – both letter and spirit.
2. The local inquest officer on how and why inquests are pulled together.
3. A local funeral director on the roles of police contracted FDs and private FDs.
4. A pathologist and / or mortician on autopsy.
5. A kaumatua on the interface between coronial process and tangihanga.
Each presentation will be followed by facilitated questions / discussion to the presenter.
No reira, whakawhetai hoki ki a koe Robin Fountain. Ma te atua e manaaki e tiaki ki a koe i nga wa katoa. Thank you and God bless.

Hei konei. Hei kona.

PARKDALE PROBLEM

In Kaitaia the name Parkdale has become code for Problem in some people’s books. I work on Parkdale Crescent and live on Matthews Ave. Mates and whanau have made their homes on Terry Crescent, Allen Bell Drive, Lake Road me nga tini rore o Brown Town. The half-dressed kids playing on these streets, and the diseased dogs – I know them. I also know that it's real easy to write them, their dogs and their whanau off as problems looking for a place to happen. Specially if your idea of a good whanau is one that has the kids appropriately dressed for the weather, the pets' paperwork all in order and the whole lot playing inside the fence. Of course that's a pretty picture on the surface. Who doesn't buy into it? Well, for starters – I don't.

I remember as a kid my mum being really wild when it got back to her that a cousin-in-law reckoned, "Gloria Herbert's children are little savages. They run around in the rain half-naked!" Hey – it was fun to strip off and stand under the spouting. Closest thing we had to a shower at the time. Given the chance, mum would probably have told us “No.” But we didn't think to go home and ask her first if it was OK. It was the same when we swam in floods, played in slips and roamed the roads of Pawarenga, going to war with each other or the neighbours' kids. And I mean real war with real rocks, punches and kicks, and real bruises and tears. Oh yeah - and there was always some mangy mutt hanging close by too.

Now you couldn’t get a better mum than ours. She wanted nothing but the best for us, hated seeing us with hupe noses, and worried when we came home the worse for wear. Engari, for all her loving care we still caught scabies, brought home cooties, developed tapa feet and suffered more than our fair share of broken bones.

There are people who genuinely don't give a toss about their kids’ wellbeing. But I don’t care to leave it up to CYFS and the Police to take our kids away based on judgments about their dress, location and non-criminal activity. Blinking heck! I cannot imagine what would have happened if anyone had decided to sweep me and my brothers and sisters off the road and into the tender care of Social Welfare because we didn't fit the good whanau template. Actually I'm wrong. I can imagine – and the thought makes me shudder. With one road in and the same road out, it would’ve taken an army.

Parkdale Crescent in 2007 is not much different to Pawarenga in 1957. Some people look at the state of its residents and make judgments. Well, let them. 28 years ago, August 3rd 1979 to be precise, when the Stormies and Police went to war on Moerewa's streets in one of the most violent clashes of this nation's history, who'd have believed that stinky old tuna town would one day be proudly known as Tuna Town? Moerewa and Pawarenga refound their true sources of unity, strength and pride. And so too will Parkdale and its sister streets.

It’s time for me to get back into waka ama and stage my own sweep of these streets. I’m thinking of setting up a club called Nga Tini Rore o Brown Town and making Parkdale Pride its motto. All ages, races, creeds, colours, occupations and genders will be welcome.

Hei konei. Hei kona.