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
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