A GOOD THING

One of the most destructive trends of the last fifty years on whānau has been the increasing dependence on outside institutions to take care of what is rightly whānau business.

About the same time as this trend got its start, my grandparents and their adult children started a kaupapa. They set up a kōmiti whānau to pool their skills, experiences, ideas, money, time and other resources, so they could take care of their own business.

Time went by and the adult grandchildren joined the mix, then the great-grands and great-great-grands as well. In fact, everyone born, married or adopted into the whānau was included in the kōmiti; as long as they contributed something.

They have never gone to outside funders and have never legalised themselves. But they do get their accounts audited annually and independently, and they do hold annual meetings where they review the past, plan for the future, and pick their chair, secretary and treasurer.

There’s been many chairs, secretaries and treasurers over the years. All have had two things in common; they are known to be kind of tight with their own resources, and they can be relied upon to be even tighter with those of the kōmiti whānau.

Initially the whānau, specially the bulk who were living in Auckland, ran housies, raffles and batons-up to raise funds. These were as much about getting together for fun and good times, as to make money. Eventually they set an annual subscription that was affordable even on the lowest incomes.

To date the money has been used to support all sorts of whānau events or causes. There’s only one condition; before anyone can take out, they first have to have put in.

That initial kōmiti has now multiplied by division, because there are hundreds of living descendants, and many of the adults have started their own kōmiti whānau. These are run along the same lines as the original one, but each have their own focus on how and why they use their resources. That may change over the years, depending on circumstances. At one time it may be education (textbooks, fees, uniforms, etc). At another time it may be recreation (travel, equipment, accommodation, etc). Later it may be health (eyes, teeth, hips, etc).

The concept of kōmiti whānau is universally applicable, and its value is far wider than just the money raised and used under it. In fact its true value is that it reduces dependence on outside institutions, like the state or iwi corporates, and increases love and trust in whānau.

In my view, anything that does that is a good thing.

NOT FOR SALE

I don’t know who it was who first said, “Everyone has their price,” but I don’t believe it, at least not in terms of money.

Neither do the kāhui kaumātua o Ngāti Kuri who have agreed to the launch of a national hikoi from Te Rerenga Wairua on the 24th of April against privatisation and for everyone who is concerned about the government’s blitzkrieg on the sovereignty and human rights of the citizens of this country; specifically, the watering down of section 9 of the State-owned Enterprises Act, the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) legislation currently before parliament, the proposed sale of further state assets, and the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

This is in addition to concern over the government’s drive to axe funding in the public sector, while at the same time ramping up a widespread and aggressive natural resource privatization programme that allows fracking, prospecting, drilling, mining, and extraction over huge tracts of our seas and lands (much of those private).

Over the last 20 years there have been many calls by Māori leaders for the constitutional entrenchment of human rights to prevent their erosion by government, most notably from the Hirangi series of national leadership hui hosted by the late Sir Hepi Te Heuheu in the 1990’s.

As part of the confidence and supply agreement between the Māori Party and the present government it was agreed that a constitutional review group would be established to consider, amongst others things, the place of the Treaty of Waitangi in any new constitution. Belatedly this group was set up just before the last election. Before then an independent constitutional working group had already been established by the National Iwi Chairs Group to collate and report on how to entrench and protect mana mauri motuhake and Māori as tangata whenua.

But while both these groups are still designing the mechanisms to protect all our rights, those rights, along with the economic sovereignty of our nation, are being eroded by the government.

“Aotearoa Is Not For Sale” is the leading statement of the hikoi that will kick off in six weeks time. Is that right? Well, we shall see. Either concerned citizens of all races and political affiliations will unite and mobilise against the erosion of their rights, the sale of their assets and the cession of their sovereignty; or they won’t.

At the moment, other than the commitment of a few activists, the main protection we all have for our rights, sovereignty and assets is Te Tiriti o Waitangi; which is why the government has also sped up its long-term strategy to extinguish Te Tiriti with the help of iwi corporate leaders eager to settle and then be “first cab off the rank” to buy our assets.

These are testing times for those who believe that not everyone has a price and that Aotearoa is not for sale.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

All my life I have heard two very strong and clear messages from the kuia kaumātua of my whānau and hapū.

First, love one another even, or especially, when we are at odds with each other. As one of our kuia said at a recent hui, “The good thing about us is, even if we have a big whawhai yesterday, we’re all here today to awhi.”

Second, stand up and fight for what we know to be right. The same kuia asked at the recent hui, “Are we koretake? No. We must fight. I ki ai te korero e kore kitea te aroha te ngakau, engari kei kona tetahi te aroha. Ki te konei tātou te aroha.”

In the midst of the call to arms and battle, is the call to love one another? How is that possible? Aren’t those mixed messages?

No. Because the key to doing both is to always remember that our hoariri are also our whānau and that, while we may sometimes hate the things some of our whānau do, we never stop loving them. As the saying goes, hate the sin but love the sinner.

We know this is true because if one of those we are fighting with dies or has something bad happen in their whānau, we are there working the hui, paying respects, helping in the clean up, giving our koha of mahi, manaaki or money.

Whether by blood, marriage or adoption, we are all related to each other in this world. Whether we believe in God the Father or some other higher power, or in no God at all, we all have a sense of love and kinship, especially with the very young and the very old. With these two extremes of human life we seem to be able to put aside all other considerations and just enjoy their company, regardless of their or our politics, beliefs or histories. There’s no agenda with babies and kaumātua kuia. Or at least there shouldn’t be. Just love.

As I move into the kaumātua kuia dimension myself, I see more clearly the wisdom of the call to fight for what is right and to love one another. These two practices are self-supporting and, when we do them over and over together, they become a self-renewing drive in us and lead to a state of peace regardless of what hell may be breaking loose around you. That is a priceless gift in a world of turmoil.

As our kuia said, “Mahia ngā mahi ki runga i te tika, me te pono, me te aroha.” Neat.