RANGATIRA INFLUENCES

I write this sitting in my mother’s home office, a place from which has flowed rangatira influences that have impacted generations of whanau hapu and iwi – none moreso than my own.    

The results of rangatira influences are matters for reflection at this time of year as we review the past and plan the future.  And, because God is the Big Influencer, ko te amorangi ki mua, ko te hapai o ki muri is how we begin and end both exercises.

There were wins and losses for te taha o te Rangatiratanga in 2014.  

We lost many rangatira, including Merimeri Penfold, Mark Pikaahu, Nin Tomas, Pereme Porter, Sol Whata, Wayne Evans, Mary Shan, Sally Pikaahu, Mason Williams, Ataarangi Matiu, Terry Tepania, Matekino Hack, Luke Tipene, Agnes Campbell and Jane Waipouri.  

Haere e nga mate.  Haere, takahia nga tapuwae o te tini o te mano, kua huri ki tua o te arai. Haere ki nga rangatiratanga, ki nga mana, nga pukorero o nga hau e wha kua mene ki te po. Toitu he kainga, whatu ngarongaro he tangata.  Ko koutou tenei kua haere; ka ngaro koutou, nga kaipupuri o te Maoritanga, nga kaihapai i nga mahi—e rau rangatira ma, haere, e moe i roto i te Ariki.  May we rejoice when once again we meet over the way.

At the other end of mortality, in 2014 we welcomed thousands of mokopuna i te ao marama; every one of them trailing clouds of glory.  Miharo!  May we ever remember who they truly are.

In 2014 we also lost te rangatira mangai i roto i te whare miere kei Te Whanganui a Tara.  At the same time we regained a passionate activist and leader back on the ground.  E Hone, ko koe he rangatira tonu i roto i tenei ao mo nga iwi rawakore.  May you be blessed with success in that role.

In 2014 we lost some ground to those elements i roto i Te Kawanatanga who think a good and balanced relationship with Te Rangatiratanga is one based on a history of ‘peaceful settlement’ before 1840 and their control since then.

But we also made more significant gains like the Waitangi Tribunal’s reaffirming report into Stage 1 of Te Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry, and the increasing self-awareness amongst whanau hapu and iwi of our God-given Rangatiratanga.  May we always exercise that in Godly fashion.-

Overall 2014 confirmed that, to varying degrees we are all descended from rangatira of influence and each of us are, in turn, influential.  As such, my mother’s home and office were a great place to pen my final Northland Age column for 2014.

This Christmas season, may we use our influence to promote sacredness and safety within our respective whanau hapu and iwi, and may we ensure those influences flow into 2015.  Nga manaaki o te Atua ki a tatou katoa.

SOVEREIGN PARTS

Moana Jackson returned to Taitokerau last week to report on the findings of Matike Mai o Aotearoa regards constitutional transformation for the nations in this country, based on He Hakaputanga o Nga Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, as well as Te Tiriti o Waitangi and tikanga.

Over the past four years more than 250 hui were held around the motu at which whanau, hapū and iwi Rangatira imagined what life will look like under such a constitution.  Those hui were the first phase of this current transformation. 

In the second phase, a further round of 20 hui-a-rohe are being held, and the first two of those hui were at Miria marae in Waiomio last Friday morning, followed by Kareponia marae that afternoon.

I couldn’t get to Miria, so I made sure to be at Kareponia, and I was not disappointed in either the calibre of Rangatira who came nor the quality of the whakawhitiwhitikorero, especially the tautohetohe.

Unsurprisingly, given that He Hakaputanga was debated and signed in 1835 by the Rangatira at a hui of Te Wakaminenga, many northern hapū have a strong connection to that document; for them it is THE Constitution.

So when a Wakaminenga member suggested to the Kareponia hui that Ngapuhi ought to take He Hakaputanga and visit every hapū in the motu with it, I thought, “Tika āna to korero.  Kua mahi kē a Matike Mai o Aotearoa.” 

Because, although under tikanga interaction between an iwi and unaffiliated hapū is rare and risky, it’s very common and completely lawful for hapū to interact directly with each other, regardless of their iwi affiliations.  Ka puea ake tōna Rangatiratanga i āna pāhekoheko me te whānau hapū. 

However, that same Rangatira prefaced his tohu with this patai: ‘Is it possible that Matike Mai o Aotearoa is doing more harm than good?’ 

Again, it’s about that strong connection to He Hakaputanga.  Not only is it the first document using the English alphabet to record the simple reality that we were sovereign, it’s the foundation upon which we remain sovereign to this day. 

So, given that knowledge, how to answer his question?  In the words of Moana himself, let me answer it in parts, beginning with answering the question of another Rangatira at the Kareponia hui who asked, “What is our purpose?”

Te Mana Motuhake o nga Rangatiratanga me te Hakapūmautanga o nga hapū is our purpose.  Therefore it follows that everything else must uphold, reaffirm and enhance that purpose in order to progress it. 

The mahi we do in our whānau and hapū is the principle part.  The work of Te Wakaminenga is an upholding part.  The Waitangi Tribunal’s Report on Stage 1 of Te Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry is a reaffirming part.  The work of Matike Mai o Aotearoa is an enhancing part.

It is not accidental that these many parts are coalescing and coming together at this time.  

Me rapu tonu, me wewete mārire i ngā kōpaki, kia kitea ai te kai o roto.