We are all in this together
For me, Matariki 2024 is about living by the words that Kīng Pōtatau Te Wherowhero Tūheitia Paki spoke at a national hui, held at Tūrangawaewae Marae on January 20th this year.
“Just be Māori … build kotahitanga (unity with others) … build our future … We are all in this together … the way forward needs to bring peace and unity for everybody. These issues (around the strategic erosion of Mana Tiriti by elements of our present government) are bigger than politics … it won’t be easy … there’s more mahi (work) to do.”
My contribution in this Matariki issue of Coromind is a karakia and an interpretation of its meaning in English.
HE WHAKAMĀRAMA / AN EXPLANATION
The following is a ‘tweaked’ karakia based on an original composed by Taranaki elder and tohunga, Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru. Huirangi was a staunch advocate for the recognition of, education about, and full validation of, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. He was instrumental in gaining official recognition for te reo Māori with the passing of the 1987 Māori Language Act. The advent of Kōhanga Reo (Māori Immersion Pre-Schools), Kura Aho Matua (Kura Kaupapa Māori), Kura ā Iwi (Special Character Māori Schools), Te Reo Irirangi Māori (The Iwi Radio Network) and Whakaata Māori (Māori TV) were all outcomes of a prolonged campaign Huirangi and other activists undertook from the 1970s till his death in 2020. The ‘Toitū Te Tiriti’ movement, instigated in December 2023 as a response to anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori elements in our present government, is a continuation of Waikerepuru and his peers’ efforts through the decades. Their work, in kind, was a protraction of Māori cultural, political and social aspirations dating back to the 1835 signing of ‘He Whakaputanga’ / Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi which followed in 1840.
HE KARAKIA MŌ TE KAUPEKA O MATARIKI
Tērā a Matariki ka rewa i te pae, nau mai, hara mai ngā hua o te tau hōu.
Tākiri ko te ata, ka pua te ata, kōrihi te manu tino awatea.
Ko te tangi mai o te kō, ko korimako i te atatū.
Tū ka takatū ki te ao mārama, tēnei te raukura, tēnei te rauhuia,
tēnei te rau makau e tohua e koutou.
Taku tī, taku tā, taku here ki te ao nei,
Tūturu, whakamaua kia tina (TINA)! … Haumi ē, hui ē, tāiki ē!
Tihei mauri ora!
A VERBAL OFFERING FOR THE SEASON OF MATARIKI
Matariki ‘pon horizon’s heights, heralds new year’s fortunes.
Dawn breaks, morning unfolds, birdsong invokes full bloom of day.
Thus, did bellbird choruses summon morn’s first light.
Provisioning our emergence to luminescence, day’s plumed light presaged,
By night stars’ glimmer.
Lacework creation, braids anchors,
To one and all, our essence to nature’s own.
So, we vow, our intent enjoined, that one is all, and all is one!
That life is sacred, and good!
MĀNAWATIA A MATARIKI HERI KAI – WELCOME IN MATARIKI, BRINGER OF NOURISHMENT
Season’s Greetings!
Words by Brandon Amoamo
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