Myths, Wars, Farms and Fiscal Flops...

The genealogy of the Pacific portrays a rich mythology and legend of epic sea voyaging and navigation, recorded and remembered in whaikorero, waiata and whakairo. Accordingly, the seas and waterways around the Chatham's always attracted those who made money from the fruits of the oceans and established the local economic pattern which remained until the cod industry of the 1900's. When the boats were in, fish provided the work and trade and when they went, the land, forests, birds, flora and fauna provided the means of work, food and social interaction.

The international trade routes made the islands an important port of call for vessels from United States, Britain, Portugal and France. The naval sea Captain Lieutenant William Broughton, arrived in 1791 and stopped long enough to do some trading, raise the British flag and to name the islands after his brig, H M S Chatham. This brought the islands under the watchful eye of the British until 1842, when under threat of sale to an astute German businessman, the British quickly iisued a Letters Patent modifying the Charter of the 1839 Colony of New Zealand to include the Chatham islands. The islands were brought into the NZ jurisdiction by an Order in Council.

By the time the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1842, seal colonies were largely depleted and trade had dropped off. The Islands abundant food resources however, continued to attract attention and this included the attention from the tribes of NZ who had heard tales of the bountiful supplies, from members who had worked the whaling and sealing boats.

As the new settlers arrived in droves from Britain seeking better life styles for their families, so too did the tribes of NZ, under threat of war and the wanton taking of their land for the new settlers, look for safer places for their people to live.
It is this same story of survival that drove Ngati Mutunga o Wharekauri as part of a confederation of tribes from Taranaki, to search for land to re-settle their whanau. The journey took them south to Whanganui-a-Tara and into the bowels of Te Wai Pounamu before eventually arriving at the Chathams in the 1830's.

Despite discussion and debate in many forums over the nature and outcome of the battles on the Chathams, a lot of issues remain unresolved. What I can say is that in listening to whanau talk, tribal historians and family histories about the settling of last century, that despite agreements on settling the Islands between those who left Port Nicholson /Whanganui a Tara (now called Wellington), the agreements were broken. Ngati Tama leveraged their advantage and took the islands before Ngati Mutunga arrived back from Wellington with the second contingent of tribe.

The much talked about war against Moriori, that has been so richly embellished with Mutunga cannibalism and acts of genocide, notwithstanding it was a war fought on the accepted codes of custom of that time, was in fact, the work of Ngati Tama. They bled on the land.

Yet who can forget the Television documentaries of the 'victims' of the victory feasts piled high in a synchronised monument ? The locals said nothing. My mother was shocked when she saw them on television. She then told of many things. Of course there are burial places and caves, but that knowlege stays with those who are the keepers of the knowledge. And they are certainly not piled high like balls in a bowling alley!

Understanding the dual interplay of the physical and spiritual world requires a deep silence and awareness of things past present and future, to maintain the balance needed for day to day life.
Ngati Mutunga o Wharekauri have continued to prepare their people for burial and departure from this physical world. While our current experts have learnt more modern processes since the 1990's, the skills and knowledge has been passed down within whanau responsible for that taonga, that skill , that knowledge.


As one born into such a whanau, I grew up thinking what I knew and saw was what everyone else knew and saw. My father was taught by my grandfather. My mother told of how much her father loved his job. He would talk and sing and crack jokes as he worked. His understanding , knowledge and knowing of the interconnection between physical and the spiritual was acute. It was as normal as day follows night in the scheme of things and it required skill to ensure the release was completed properly and balance was maintained for the security of those going and those staying.
Within our family, there was always a sense of something really big and important going on when the phone rang for Dad. All work stopped on the farm, Dad would issue instructions to my brother to ' let the sheep out ' or' shift the mob somewhere else' or 'kill a mutton' and Mum would fuss over his clothes and his food each day. And the stories I heard each time he came home were unique. I know that now- but back then, it was just normal.

So why am I telling this most intimate whanau story?

For those who know, the television documentaries showing skulls piled high somewhere, reveal as much about the ignorance of those telling the story as the political & commercial power of a story that touches a core human sense of moral indignation.

For us in one whanau who had responsibility for the completion journey of those who leave this physical life, it was a violation of the rights of those who had long gone into another world where they would continue their journey. It had its parallel in recent times when the burial of the koiwi taken as trophies of war.

Simply put, here's the thing to do - just return the disembodied parts to the land that holds the rest of the body so that they can go in peace and get on with their journey - at last!

I was once asked by a television reporter, " Are you sorry?" and my response was "For what?" I wondered what her tupuna were doing at that time of our history ?

The major war that followed was between Mutunga and Tama, not Moriori.

The story of the battle is our taonga - our whakapapa. It has not been told in Tribunals or High Courts. It is our history known only to us. The story of tribal warriors who fought back to back as a single unit; of the path of the battle around the island and the final defeat of Tama by Mutunga and the agreement to end the war, to gather up the dead and place in the lake which remains today.
Or will the story of the real impact of introduced diseases ever be told and evidenced by those places on farms that belong to our whanau ,who protect and honour those who were here before and are now gone or those who still wait for the return of their disembodied parts.

So, who will put right the books of the myths and legends told that continue to pit Mutunga against Moriori for political and commercial advantage?

My deepest concern is that the myths have become a moral code against which government policies and access to government funding, has been leveraged to a level bordering on a fiscal scandal.

Tribal rituals and processes are being replaced by local government agencies ,with approved consultants from NZ as excavations are done without respect for the histories known to the tribe.

Policies based upon historical accounts recorded in the Waitangi Tribunal , approved settler historians and current approved institutions for such issues, e.g. Te Papa have replaced the traditional processes where local Kaumatua were called to give advice and perform appropriate rituals. There are few public urupa on the islands, most are on private family land as was the custom and are still used generations later - we all want to be buried in the whenua on our papakainga. Changing government systems may well alter the way we have done things.

Is this part of the new 'hidden economies ' that we read about ? New ways of doing the same thing?

It is the reason I am telling the story.

One of the fastest growth industries in the world is the 'Who am I ' industry. A government grant of $6 million in an economic recession, for the purpose of reviving moriori culture, now embedded in the infamous Waitangi Tribunal Report 'Rekohu', was tantamount to a kick in the guts for the economic survival of Mutunga families and indeed, the survival of the Chathams.

That s $6million for how many people? How many on their register?

Ohhh '...I see...! That's why they need Ngahiwi Dix to be a moriori - they need her descendants for numbers on their register. Its a bit like the fish isn't it! You know- the 'quota 'whakapapa that some people have! I wonder where they got it from? Wikipedia?

Pae kare! Clever! Too clever for me!...

More critically, 3 years ago, Chatham Island Maori Farmers failed to get $100,000 from a government fund source, to complete a feasibility study to build an on Island meat processor for the benefit of all Chatham Islanders,. The project had targeted key areas for development including, alternative fuels, employment, local butchery, fertilisers and a host of subsidiary benefits.
As a consequence of the failure to activate the project, the young families are now moving off the islands to find work, farm labour is consequently scarce, only 1 school remains, there is no butcher on the islands and meat is imported from NZ for domestic use and dog food and the list goes on. These problems could have been reduced if the on Island processor project had been completed. The total estimate for the project was approximately $2.2 million.

So what do you think ?

What is the real priority of government to developing Chatham Island ? Of developing Chatham island Maori? And what benefit has the $6 million brought to the Islands?
Maybe it is to develop the Islands as a tourist place- you know.. like a World Park , or a Adventure Park destination - no people , no pests, just flora, fauna and DOC? Maybe? Probably cheaper too..eh! oh well!
Or was it to pay bills?

Who knows?

On Tuesday I received an email invitation to participate in the Maori Economic Summit convened by Hon Dr Pita Sharples, Minister of Maori Affairs, at 9.30 am the next morning. The summit was convened at short notice to address the extreme economic challenges facing the nation now,that will have a major effect upon our families. The Minister is looking for initiatives that utilises Maori resources to sustain Maori as they will be hardest hit. I was part of the Primary sector group and the information will be feed back to the Prime Minister next week.

What would you have done if you had received the invitation?

What primary sector imitative would you have suggested to the Minister as economically sound, sustainable, could start now and provide a win-win solution for the Islands?

The Summit was very successful and we have an opportunity to get our project up and running BUT my view is there has to be one Ngati Mutunga group..

What do you think?

My view is the Runanga and Ngati Mutunga Trust should agree by signing a Heads of Agreement, to form one Ngati Mutunga Wharekauri entity for the purpose of designing and developing durable solutions to survive the severe economic crisis.

But will the members of the Boards of the Runanga and Ngati Mutunga Iwi Trust, hear the message? They have a unique opportunity to turn things around for the Islands. but will they?
Against the backdrop of the incredible history of Mutunga , their lack of leadership, in these times is an anathema. They must lead.

What do you think?

Evelyn

PLease leave your comments below

I got up in the morning when the rooster crowed.....

Do you have something you really believe in ? Is there something you believe is the right way to do things and that you have absolute faith that it is?

Belief systems whether religious, political, social or cultural have the power to change the way people think. Our thinking sorts out things we like or dislike and those likes and dislikes, reflect how we live.

I thought I would tell you about my background as many will not know who I am and if I am going to be saying things about our tribe, I had better say .who I am. I am not a historian and the only history I know for certain, is mine. The rest I have learnt from grandparents ,my parents and the educational opportunities they gave me.

I was born into a family of ten and belong to the tribe Ngati Mutunga who reside on the isolated island of Wharekauri ( Chatham Islands) . It was here that the whaariki ( foundations) that nurtured my physical, spiritual and mental well-being, was laid.

My memories are of the connectedness of everything in my life.

I got up in the morning when the rooster crowed, to light the Orion wood stove with chips that we gathered after school the previous day, to cook the porridge and boil the kettle when the fire was alight, so that we could eat our breakfast before running half a mile to the road-gate to catch the bus to school.
We ate vegetables that we grew, we milked cows born on the farm and the milk, was used as food for our family as well as our domestic animals. We hunted for birds and fish as seasons and weather permitted and killed animals when food stocks were down. Doctors, dental nurses, teachers from New Zealand, and Sunday school with Mr Nichols once a month , provided the key social services, while Saturday night pictures at the Waitangi hall,, school fundraising events, football games, race days ,the annual Plum Tree Picnic and holidays camping down the lake provided, the main socialising events.

The arrival of fuel, foodstuffs and clothes on the coastal trader 'Port Waikato', every three to six months, provided critical supplies for families, farm and fishing needs. We had our own power generator , with candles and tilley lamps providing a backup, A wood stove provided the means for cooking, heating and drying clothes. Travel to New Zealand by coastal trader or flying boat was usually required for things that could not be dealt with on the Islands , including secondary and tertiary education, financial, legal as well as health services not available locally.
We grew up at twelve or thirteen years of age when we left home to attend secondary school in New Zealand, returning only for the Christmas holidays. Looking back now, it all seems too idyllic, almost a myth in my memory. It was a good childhood and the entire Island was our play and hunting ground.

Boarding school, teacher straining, management, marriage and children, managing business followed ,meant leading a life in a foreign land that had very little resemblance to my life at home.

So when in 1988, my 15 year old said to me" Mum, I want to know what makes you tick ' I bought my ticket and we journeyed home, 28 years after leaving for boarding school in Christchurch. It was a start of another time in my life. I will never forget the overwhelming sense of peace in the roar of silence and the familiar smell of lake weed as I stepped off the plane at Karewa. Everything fell into place. I was home.

Wharekauri, ,Chatham Islands, Rekohu, Rerekohua, Arekohu are names that have been given at previous times to this group of 7 islands lying 800 kms east of New Zealand. This piece of global dirt is well worn and has given much service to the global trade opportunists who took advantage of the economic resources around the Islands. I am not sure what they left in exchange except depleted stocks, and a tribal population with a global whakapapa . My whakapapa includes Portugese and genetic codes have played out their presence many times as unknown illnesses linked back to our Meditterranean ancestry, reminding us of our existence as global citizens. Despite its isolation, the trade routes brought influences and change and with it, a colourful people history which has provided many tales and myths to sustain a sense of the self, distilled through each generation to fit the decor of the times.
Some did this extremely well securing government support for their particular tale.

'Whats in a name ?' you might ask. The answer is Everything,! Naming is a system of identifying, managing , monitoring and controlling your territory. It tells a you a story of what and who you are so that others may know and recognise you and your boundaries or your personal space in time. Your name is your territory.

And so are your beliefs.

As I was to find out, the beliefs and stuff of my childhood were soon to be extracted from the recesses of my memories, in a extraordinary time of change. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the questions and visits as I packed to leave the islands after spending a week showing my daughter around. These questions told a story about what was happening to the local people of the islands, my relations, people I went to school with.
The brief session set of a chain of events that was to lead eventually to our lodging in the High Court in Welington, in the case called , The Sealords Deal.

Significantly, I opened my email on the weekend and read how the Minister of Maori Affairs , Dr Peter Sharples, is calling a Maori Economic Summit to address the current economic needs of Maori, on Wednesday. That is in 2 days time. With short notice, I wondered if there was anyone who could produce a paper to present to the Hui and to speak on the current crisis facing Maori on the islands. I then wondered whether Maori of the Chathams . would be invited and if they were, would they be heard ? Being 1% of the total Maori population is not good odds that people will listen - and we all know that. Democracy has its own demons to face and ways of maintaining itself.
However, we are Maori.
Our Island has major resources in and around its territory which contributes significantly to the economy of all Maori . We may be small in numbers but that is our Rohe, our home and we have given big time , of our taonga in the modern process of manaakitanga, to New Zealand Maori. Will it be reciprocated as was the custom ? Or will the bottom line of maximising profit dictate? Why not change to optimising profit ?

For, in an island society where everything is connected, the core Maori belief systems of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, rangatiratanga , are critical for survival. The fate of these dynamic customary systems and their ability to be used in innovative ways to build health and wealth and prosperity in a modern economy, lies in entirely in the hands of those who control, manage and empower the environment in which it exists.

Lets hope this time things will be different.

Finally, someone has commented that they thought the people of the Chatham Islands look as if they are depressed .

I wonder why?

Evelyn

Laying the Whaariki

'The dynamic nature of the origins of any civilization ensures that. the political and special environments are shaped by the myths, memories, symbols, and values that have been passed down to each generation... To this end, they are powerful determinants of human belief and behavior and cannot be ignored in any discourse on how the origins of any society live and work.

In considering resources of New Zealand, I have been uncertain about what the term ‘Maori resource’ management really meant. Was it about managing the resources that belonged to Maori? What was considered to be the ‘resources’? Who is or will be managing them? And what was the philosophy underpinning the way things were done?

These and other never ending questions have continually filtered through my mind over the past 2 decades as I took part in developing regulations and policies for the nation's fishing resources. As I reflect from a quieter repose and supposed learned heights, I am without doubt, that resource management is part of a continuing process that will never go away and that my mokopuna, Te Moananui a Kiwa, is a critical part of that process.'

Some of you maybe wondering who on earth is this ‘Evelyn’ and what is she doing all this for? What has she got to do with the Chatham Islands? Wharekauri? And anyway, what is a blog? Well, I am about to tell you.

On 1 April 2009, there will be a hearing in the High Court in Wellington to consider my concerns about how our resources i.e. yours and mine, have been managed, It has taken me almost 2 years to get it to this stage and at much cost, loss and distress.

There are some things in life that you cannot walk away from and this was one of those times. Accusations were of a magnitude that there was no alternative but to turn and face the fire, open up and tell the story. It did not have to happen, the loss of resources, irretrievable and this cannot continue.

It is not acceptable to fire all staff, close the organisation and the Chairman and his advisor run an Iwi organisation for almost 2 years, WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE i.e us, the members. If we are to develop and progress, our leaders have to be accountable.
Also, let’s not forget our responsibilities as members. I have taken this case as an individual & ordinary member of the Runanga. You maybe amazed at your rights under the constitution but you do have to read it!! If you have a question, just ask.

As background to the events, I will be posting a series of articles. These will be taken from a paper I wrote for a book about managing resources, ‘Whenua’ by Dr M Kawharu 2002.
It is important that you have access to information so that you can decide for yourself.
That is the reason I set up this blog as there is no information coming out to us as members and we have no means of talking to each other.
My hope is you will use it to talk about the issues, to ask questions, to respond to things. It’s free. Use it. Its open 24/7.
I am still learning how to make it go as I am tech unwise however, it goes, and I just have to keep putting more petrol in.

I will post the statement of claim for the case closer to the date, so that you can follow the events and comment if you want.

Korero mai !

Evelyn

Picking up the legacy of a torn feathered cloak...

Kia ora

Have you ever felt caught in something that had nothing to do with you? Or have you ever been drawn by something, some event, some incident that took you outside the normal things you did each day?

When questions like “How the heck …. ? ‘ or “ What on earth am I doing here?” buzzed your brain but you knew it was the right thing to do? When, despite the uncertainty or pain, every bone-cell in body, mind-cell in your mind, and spirit-cell of your spirit told you – its okay !

You knew you had to do it until you no longer felt that driving knowing force. Or until you told yourself “That's it! Had enough. I'm out of here!”

Fire of Wharekauri is a forum to tell the story of a journey that took me far from the freedom of dong ordinary things and dumped me seemingly, in the fires of hell. As the legacies of a treaty signed last century, draped its torn feathered cloak over my shoulders, my life changed beyond all understanding.
That sounds like I had no choice in the events when in fact, as I look back, there was always something that I was drawn to that kept me going on the most challenging, rewarding and humbling of journeys.

While those years also took me many places far beyond the shores of the big lake below the family farm at Te Marama where I grew up, the torn feathered cloak honed me for things that were to come.

The greatest task was taking on the government and the tribes of mainland NZ, in the internationally renowned case over indigenous fishing rights, now called the Sealord’s Deal. While I could not have done it without the knowledge and guidance of my mother, Minnie Heni Tuuta (nee Pomare), it is time to tell you why and how I did it.

Time and Life has moved on and it is time to reflect.

The Fire of Wharekauri

I recently read that chaos and orderliness exist together and that we cannot have one without the other. Deeprak Chopra reckons our lives are already organised from within ourselves and that as human beings, we are more comfortable with order. Disorder is uncomfortable and threatening. It is probably why we have so many laws regulations and rules !
The Fire of Wharekauri will simply tell the stories of what I did and how I survived the confusing chaotic and uncertain years of finding solutions for people’s pain and problems as they struggled to settle their grievances of the past.

I am telling my story for those who may want to know, for those who have asked questions and received no answers and for those who still want to know about things that happened. The work and the story continues and those affected by events, need to know what is going on now, and that probably includes you.

Communication and information from those who have the responsibility of taking care of our Islands and assets, has dropped to an all time low and that is unacceptable. How can we know what to do if we don't know what's going on?

This site is my contribution to breaking through the old ways of working so that we can korero. We have to find ways to talk to each other. You are free to comment on the site and to say what you want to say on things that matter to you about our Islands.

More importantly, this site is the continuation of my stories that I tell to my mokopuna, Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Sergio Ross Erueti-Newman, who has inherited stories in his name and who will one day, inherit the land of his tupuna. One day, he too will have to make decisions about the islands and he will want to know, like me ' what the heck ….?’. I don't want him to research remote archives and memories of others, to find out what and why I did what I did.

Facing the Fire

For those of us tied to the whakapapa of the land, the islands of Wharekauri are our home. Linked by the ancestral ties of our pito, the Island keeps its calming cloak around us, reminding us of ourselves as we were, as we are but more importantly, who we can be. We often know what to do but how many of us listen or actually do? Others simply don't know what to do or are stuck in an old rut and cannot or refuse to move.

The Islands of Wharekauri are archetypical, like ancient seers they have the capacity to calm the cauterised heart and the same time, to amplify the egoism of the human condition.

" Everything lands in a heap " reflected one of our wise old kaumatua.

Sitting 800 kms east of New Zealand, there has been an implosion of confusion and fear in recent times, and this has permeated the whole Island as old systems, resources and management and governance collapse.
The magnitude is silencing. the disconnect painful to be in and to watch happening. Worst of all, we don't talk or look after each other as we go through these tough times. My mother told many stories of how they use to do things but it seems to me that talking, caring and sharing was a big part of life then.

As tribal people descendant from ancient times, the tribal models of managing our whanau, farms , fish, trees, plants animals, birds, flora and fauna, have collapsed under the confusion of dynamic global change. We are all being forced to learn new ways as changing world economies and climates patterns transform our lives. So what's new? This is history repeating itself and we, of all the tribes of New Zealand, have born the brunt in modern times, of the myths that have evolved from this phenomena.

As for the fish...oohh well...we were warned by those of old!

But you know what ? .....Myths are just stories and memories of past times and they are a powerful tool to teach us lessons for our time. Life, however, will force us to take reality checks if we continue to live on and in our myths.
We are born to use the things of our time and world to do the best we can for ourselves, our whanau and the world in which we all live. We cannot live in or change the past, but we can certainly do something about the present and future.

Fortunately, this is a time when new ideas and things happen and that is most exciting. It is the hope and the wairua that drove the creation of this Wharenui. We have so much and as history repeats itself, let's take those lessons and go for it. DO SOMETHING !

It is almost as if we have gone full circle. In the 1800’s, we were very much part of the international trade routes of the world. Back then, our economic patterns were tied to the vessels that traversed the oceans of the world and called for supplies or fish. So what 's new? Whales, seals, paua and crayfish, the Boat ? We all have a boat story!

Today however, we are overwhelmed by our reducing ability to cope, as things no longer work the way they use to and in some instances, have gone all together. So too, are our people going.

Doesn't it make good sense to have a yarn about what we have left and to plan a different future then the one that is dragging us all along now ? There is no doubt that we have to change our thinking and ways if we are to build a better future for ourselves.

We have to do it not as individuals but as independant self- functioning human beings who care about what happens to whanau and for the Islands.

Whatever is, it will take commitment and hardwork by all. Fish won't do it...they just want to be fish!

As our new leaders decide upon new ways to look after our dwindling resources or what's left of them, what do we as a tribal people, want for ourselves? What do you want for yourself?

What do we want our tribe to do and be for us? How do you think we should achieve this?

Isn't time to set a vision for the future for ourselves, our whanau and our islands?

What do you want for the survival and sustainable development of your Island papakainga?

Isn't time to think about our mokopuna and the legacy we will leave them? What is your vision for them? What do you want them to inherit from you ?

It's time to Korero !

Evelyn