Nice ‘n’ Native Gathering 2009 Report

By Kiritapu Allan, Co-Founder of Conscious Collaboration, YES! Alumni, and Co-Organizer of N’n’N

Ka rere taku manu ki tai ki uta kei raro te maru o
nga tihi hukapapa o Tararua

My bird flies seaward then inland under the snow peaks of Tararua 

Our wananga (gathering) was held on the traditional grounds of the Ngati Hinemata, Ngati Ngarongo and Ngati Takihiku peoples in early July 2009. After the powhiri (welcome), the Kereru wananga began with the placing of a Rahui* on the English language so that the wananga itself would be conducted only in the indigenous Maori language.

The wananga had a number of aims:
♦    whanaungatanga (in Maori this means to 'make people like family')
♦    te reo Maori me ona tikanga ki roto i nga ahua o te taiao (deepening Maori language and customs in the context of the environment)
♦    preparing for Indigenous Climate Connections an indigenous gathering we are hosting with the Asian Pacific Indigenous Youth Network in November.
The wananga was a good opportunity for Manawatu indigenous parents, artists and activists to come together to take time out to sit and eat together, to laugh, to reflect on the environment, to compose traditional songs to encourage each other in a way the connects with the global indigenous community.

We were fortunate to have Horomona Horo and Regan Balzer to help us compose a traditional waiata for our group. Horomona is a practitioner of taonga puoro, a teacher in a Immersion Maori School/Kura Kaupapa Maori and a youth co-ordinator. The name Taonga Puoro means 'singing treasures' and denotes how highly the instruments are valued, both for the beauty of the sound, the instrument itself and the story of the Taonga. There are many different types of Taonga Puoro, from shell trumpets, to unique types of flutes, spun instruments and bird callers. Regan led us in building our own traditional koauau (flutes) made from uku or clay this helped us to ground our thinking in the ways of our ancestors.

For those our roopu who were begining the journey of reclaiming our language and customs we had Karangawai Marsh a Maori language teacher. Karangawai is also an artist at Te Putahi o Toi a reknowned Maori arts school. Karangawai uses the Atarangi method in teaching.

We were also able to meet with permaculture experts to talk about kaitiakitanga (environmental guardianship) and looking at ways that different people with the region are living in synch with papatuanuku (earth mother). 

*In Maori culture, a rahui is a form of tapu restricting access to, or use of, an area or resource by unauthorised persons.