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.