Talking to Each Other

Contrary to the impression this column might give, my whanau definitely come before my hapu and iwi. Because, at the end of a hard day’s mahi, it’s they who put their arms around me and make it all worthwhile. So, regretfully, I had to decline going to a couple of hui this weekend – one out at Taipa resort, the other at Mangamuka marae.

Both were called by the Crown to give Iwi Maori in Te Hiku a chance to talk to each other about our shared land claim interests – you know, the land on the boundaries (like parts of Kaitaia) and the stuff that’s spread far and wide (like the forest, the mountain and the beach).

Now, you’d think that the last thing we need is for the Crown to hold hui so we can talk to each other. Isn’t that that what we do every chance we get? Think about it – kettle korero (over the teacups), church (behind the hymnal), sport (inside the ruck), school (on the blackboard jungle), Pak N’ Save (in the aisles), radio and TV (across the airwaves), print media (between the lines), hui (on the floor) – you name it and we’re talking. Hika! Even the basket cases amongst us get to be heard. Engari, it’s all good. We can use Crown hui as well. As long as we don’t think they’re the only game in town.

That’s why it puzzles me to hear someone turn up to a Crown hui and say, “Man, it took the Crown to get us together.” It did not! The main reason both Crown and Maori come to those hui is to keep an eye on each other and make sure the story doesn’t get changed in our absence. I think it’s called ‘healthy skepticism.’ For example, it sometimes seems the Crown would prefer that the different iwi only tell each other what it agrees we can tell. Well, well, well. If one iwi managed to get a better deal out of the Crown than anyone else, is it seriously expected to just sit on it? Kei hea te iti me te rahi?

Now, of course, the Crown want everyone to talk to each other – ka pai tena. But, instead of trying to script what we can and cannot say to each other, it’s going to have to trust us. Now, there’s a novel idea!

From my viewpoint as an iwi insider, we’re working things out. Not always nicely, no. But resolutely, yes. So I say to the mandated negotiators for each iwi – haere tonu atu. You’ve done the hard yards to get your people’s mandate to speak for them. Carry on getting their guidance. Carry on inviting them to the hui you have with the Crown and with each other. Carry on putting your cards on the table with each other. Send your ops people in to liberate some cash from the Crown to resource your talks, then let it know what you finally decide about our shared interests. But, above all else, carry on talking to each other.

That way I can stay home of a weekend and relax with my family each night knowing the story remains straight.