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.