WE ARE MORE

Ka marama i roto, 

Ka tiaho ki waho, 

He kaitiaki Mauri Ora e.

Last year Ngā Tauira Māori o Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau filmed and broadcast Maori in the 21^st Century – An Open Letter. 

The presenters in the video are all from the Kohanga Generation who know with utter clarity that, regardless of the many labels stuck on us, as Mana Whenua we are so much more.

Schooled and skilled in the seven imperatives of Mauri Ora, the Kohanga Generation are immunised against the dis-eases of interpersonal, institutional and / or internalised racism.

Mauri, Mana, 

Tapu, Tikanga, 

Wairua, Whakapapa, 

Me te reo Maori.

These imperatives enable Mana Whenua to extend our greatness to all our Manuhiri.  They also lay the foundations for the innate greatness of our Manuhiri to be expressed. In the past, those imperatives were rejected and resisted by our Manuhiri on purely racist grounds, and the ability of Mana Whenua and Manuhiri alike to show our greatness was limited and slowed.

Pana Kareao in his tuku whenua transactions experienced that when he underestimated the greatness of the Mana Whenua and overestimated that of the Manuhiri.  As a result, for one who dreamed of greatness, Pana died a sad man.

He moemoea, 

He kaupapa, 

Mauri ora ki te Whanau, Hapu, Iwi.

Since the time of Pana Kareao, local Mana Whenua have done more than dream of our greatness; we’ve worked long and hard to uphold it, and the Kohanga Generation are amongst the sweetest fruits of our work. 

The foundation members of that generation are now in their early 30s and are amongst the world’s most confident innovators and achievers.  This fact coincides with the arrival of other new and confident Manuhiri with no inbred racist prejudices towards us as Mana Whenua.

For Ngati Kahu it’s a happy co-incidence on which we have built a relationship with the new owners of the Peppers Resort and Estate Winery on Karikari Peninsula. 

Heke iho i nga Atua, 

Enei kupu ki te Tangata, 

He kaitiaki mo Te Ao Hurihuri e.

Unlike their predecessors, our Chinese Manuhiri have accepted and embraced the Mauri Ora imperatives with ease.  In fact, the only resistance continues to come from a few New Zealanders who supported the former owner against us, or are still dis-eased by racism of one form or other.

That can be seen in how a few of them are showing their dis-ease regards the Chinese development plans at Karikari.  Where were they and their dis-ease when the American was planning an even bigger development that included 12 houses on top of our burial cave?  No thanks to them or the former owner, Te Ana o Taite is now protected forever.

He moemoea, 

He kaupapa, 

Mauri ora ki te Whanau, Hapu, Iwi.

The truth is the dis-eased racists amongst us no longer have any power to limit or slow our greatness as Mana Whenua, only that of their own.  Because, as the Kohanga Generation know, we are so much more. 

 Ka marama i roto, 

Ka tiaho ki waho, 

He kaitiaki Mauri Ora e.

MORE THAN MERE SURVIVORS

My father is a fan of Winston Peters.  In fact instead of giving the stray cat that turned up a couple of years ago the usual lead between the eyes treatment, he kept and named it Winitana because he reckons that, like its namesake, “it’s a survivor with style.” 

However, being on the Maori Roll, my father has never cast a personal vote for the New Zealand First leader.  But I think, given the chance, he would have in the recent by-election. 

Clearly a number of Northlanders did, either before or on Saturday 28^th March.  That was also the hui-a-marama of Te Runanga-a-Iwi o Ngati Kahu where, if anyone was on the General Roll, no-one was owning up to it.  But even amongst Ngati Kahu, there was a degree of interest in the outcome of the by-election, with the closing comment in the poroporoaki being along the lines of, “Ka wini Winitana!”

The by-election result is now history, and National didn’t lose Northland so much as Winston went out and took it off them.  But now, what next?

For the red blooded leftist parties the reality is largely unchanged.  Although Winston won Northland with their support, and may even win it again in 2017 with their support, the majority of active voters in the electorate remain blue blooded to the core.  Winitana will have to do more than merely survive to change that reality.

Similarly, the reality for Mana Whenua is unchanged, albeit for different reasons.  Regardless of who holds the general seats, the majority of people in them are pro-Crown, and will never allow Mana Whenua to sit within their political system as anything other than servants to their Crown. 

Why then would Maori want to share power with such people and within such systems?  It seems contrary and unnatural.  But is it?  I can think of at least two reasons why, in spite of the huge amount of evidence that it’s a waste of time, many of us participate in the Crown’s electoral systems. 

The first is to do with colonisation, which can be likened to what happens to the cage-bred offspring of wild animals.  They may retain many of the characteristics of their wild relations, including language and hierarchical behaviours.  But if they are returned or introduced into the wild, cage-bred animals invariably have difficulty adjusting to "fending for themselves” and often don’t make it, either dying in the wilderness or returning to their cage. 

And even if they are accepted by their wild kin, while the gene pool is expanded, so too is the risk of introducing new and devastating diseases into the wild population.

This is a very close analogy to Maori who claim the title of Mana Whenua, but have been cut off from its systems for so long they cannot adjust to “fending for themselves” under it, but prefer to remain within, or return to, the familiar framework of the Crown systems.

These Maori are easy to spot, because wherever they go amongst Mana Whenua tuturu, they introduce their own internalised dis-ease, dissent and doubt about Mana Whenua systems.

The second reason some of us take part in the Crown’s electoral systems is to do with hope.  In spite of its past and present criminality against us, some of us continue to hope that the Crown’s recidivism can be curbed if we have a few of us inside its systems. 

These ones can be identified in at least three different ways:  Their exhaustion from trying to reconcile Crown and Mana Whenua systems; their frustration that it ain’t happening; and their halos as they forgive everyone, including themselves, for that fact. 

Kei a ratou.  Kahuri.

Whether its colonisation or hope that motivates any of us to take part, for me the Crown’s electoral processes have now become matters for passive observation, and my active participation is reserved for mahi Mana Whenua because that’s what brings me and my whanau wellbeing and happiness. 

And, as even our newest MP for Northland will know, being well and happy is much better than just being a mere “survivor with style.”