IWI PANDEMIC RESPONSE

We’ve kept a close eye on the COVID19 pandemic and believe that, while there is no reason to panic, there is every reason to plan a response to it. 

In formulating our response, we took into account researched advice on the timeline of the virus, its contagiousness and severity, its mortality rate and risk factors, its likely effects on our iwi specifically and society in general, the vectors of community transmission, how long it can survive on surfaces, false comparisons with the flu, the importance of ‘flattening the curve’ of its growth, the importance of social distancing, the possible failure of our healthcare system and possible anti-viral treatments, the timeline for a vaccine, the importance of pandemic preparedness and the gradations of personal responsibility.

If you have not already done so, Te Runanga-a-Iwi o Ngati Kahu urge our whānau, hapū and marae to plan and put in place tikanga to cover the following matters:

1.       RISK IDENTIFICATION: eg. hui and hosting manuhiri, hongi and handshaking, kai prep and serving, etc.

2.       RISK REDUCTION: eg. holding online hui where possible and postponing or cancelling all but the most essential gatherings, being extra vigilant around hygiene, etc.

3.       SICK WHANAU: eg. getting them tested and treated while limiting their contact with others, etc.

4.       SELF-ISOLATION: eg. doing online shopping (or organising proxy shoppers), setting delivery/pickup protocols, contacting schools and employers, etc.

5.       KAITIAKITANGA: eg. checking on and where needed providing for our most vulnerable - the chronically ill, kaumatua and kuia, etc.

6.       STORES AND SUPPLIES: eg. storing water, stocking up on food and medicines (enough for 14 days), stocking up on hygiene and cleaning supplies, etc.

This week, we urge you to sit with your whanau or roopu and make a plan because, while we must always hope for the best, we must also plan for the worst.

Our own whanau plan has two stages.  We are currently in stage one which involves:

1.       No longer hugging, giving hongi or shaking hands with anyone outside of our home

2.       No longer attending non-essential hui or public gatherings of any kind

3.       Only making essential trips to work, shop or attend a critical service

4.       Carrying and using soap or hand sanitiser after any contact with outside people / things

Stage 2 will kick in when the first case of COVID north of Mangamuka is diagnosed and will include:

1.       Ordering our groceries online and only one of us going to pick them up

2.       Wearing surgical masks and gloves if we must go out in public

3.       Thoroughly washing all purchased vegetables and fruit and wiping all packaged/canned goods with a bleach solution

4.       Closing our workplace and working from home

5.       Discouraging visitors or at least limiting visits to those who are taking similar precautions to ourselves

6.       Completely isolating if it gets really bad – our diet may be a bit boring but it will be adequate.

HOPING FOR THE BEST - PLANNING FOR THE WORST

SHOULD MAORI WOMEN SPEAK AT WAITANGI?

Last month, Mere Mangu, the Chair of Te Rūnanga-a-Iwi o Ngāpuhi, spoke at Waitangi during the pōhiri for various parliamentary political leaders and traumatised several traditionalists on the taumata, as well some who weren’t even present. 

A week later, the question was posed by Dr Rawiri Taonui, “Should Māori women speak at Waitangi?” 

As a descendant of wahine me tane toa (strong women and men) who spoke beautifully in two or more languages (both on and off the marae), it is sad that this question still has to be asked.  But I am grateful to Rawiri for asking it.  It provokes thought and progress on the issue and enlarges the space in which to define, unpack and understand when, why and how this so-called ‘tradition’ of a male only taumata came to be.

In the 1980’s my generation of Muriwhenua wahine toa  were privileged to be taught and mentored by kuia who had experienced and analysed many things, including that ‘tradition’.

One of the most influential of those kuia was Kahurangi Mira Szaszy.  Wise in both western ways and tikanga Māori, we loved being in her reserved presence and being able to ask her stuff without fear of rebuff.

One day, one of my mates asked her, “Why can’t wahine Māori speak on the taumata?”

The ensuing group kōrero was lengthy and considered and I can’t reproduce it verbatim here, but one part I recall exactly.  Mira said, “It was a Victorian assumption that Māori women could not speak because Pākehā women were not allowed to by their men.”

She was then asked who made and gave power to that ‘Victorian assumption’ over us?  Her reply, “Initially, Pākehā men, and then, as their status in their own land diminished, so too did Māori men.”

Wow!  I remember light spreading over the hearts and minds of the wahine there.  And with it came remembrances of wahine in our own whānau, hapū and iwi who had always spoken without fear or favour on the taumata and elsewhere.  Also, memories of the taumata being wherever the speaker was, not located in a specific place or bench.  That ‘tradition’ came only in my lifetime and, in many places, is being reversed.  But most importantly, realisation came that the ‘tradition’ of a men only taumata was not ours, had no basis in logic or tikanga and did not bind us.

However, there was empathy for those of our men who still held to that ‘tradition’ at that time.  Because we understood that they too were victims of this ‘Victorian assumption.”  For myself, I was willing to wait and let it die with them.  But it hasn’t.  And that is why the question is still being asked.

This is my reply. 

It is clear that being on the taumata requires certain qualities, none of which are gender specific.  E.g. It does not require male gonads to welcome, farewell, stitch, mend, inform, guide and protect the people while they are on the Marae, and to do it all i te reo Maori (in the Māori language). 

While I am not personally matatau i te reo, all of my uri are, including a number of brilliant kohine (girls) and wahine.  In my opinion, if we haven’t already done so, it’s way past time for my whānau, hapū and iwi to knock the male only taumata ‘tradition’ on the head once and for all and bury it without a marker.

Should Māori women speak at Waitangi?  Of course!  And not only at Waitangi, but also on the marae, the taumata, anywhere and everywhere they are qualified to speak.