Tangata Rongonui

Meri Te Tai Mangakahia

E kore wareware te ingoa ki a ratou e ngkau ana

A name is never forgotten by those it matters to

KARAKIA

Kia horo te marino

Kia whakapapa pounamu te moana

Kia tere karohirohi i mua i tau huarahi

May calm be spread around you

May the sea glisten like greenstone

and the shimmer of summer dance across your path

PEPEHA

Ko Taupiri toku maunga

Ko Waikato toku awa

Ko Emepaea Whetu toku waka

Ko Jean Baptiste Hueck te rangatira tipuna

Ko Rohimere Balu ahau

No Whakamarama ahau

MIHIMIHI

Tena koutou e hoa ma kua hui mai nei i tenei ra

Tena korua nga kaiwhakaako ko Hatiwira Tutengaehe raua ko Michela Anderson Tena korua

Tena koutou te whanau te reo Maori

Tena koe te Wharekura o Whakamarama

Tena korua ko Natasha Greatorex raua ko Sharon Harty

Tena koutou ka mihi atu ki te hunga kua huri ki Tua o te Arai

No reira Tena koutou Tena koutou Tena koutou katoa

KORERO

Ko Te Hokianga tona rohe

Ko Te Rarawa tona iwi

Ko Ngati Te Reinga ratou ko Ngati Manawa ko Te Kaitutae ona hapu

Ko Nga-Kahu-Whero te wahine ariki. He wahine toa. He mana wahine.

Ko Re Te Tai raua ko Hana Tera ona matua.

Ko Meri Te Tai Mangakahia tona ingoa.

I whanau mai ia i te tau kotahi mano waru rau ono tekau ma waru ki te rohe o Te Tai Tokerau.

I haere ia ki te kura o St Mary’s Convent Ponsonby, Tamaki-makau-rau

He tangata ataahua.

He tangata mohio hoki ia.

He wahine kaiwhakahau ia.

He wahine toa ia.

He mana wahine ia.

I moe a Hamiora Mangakahia te rangatira o Ngati Whanaunga ki Coromandel. Toko wha ona tamariki.

Ko Hamiora te Pirimia tuatahi o Te Paremata Maori ki Te Kotahitanga

Ko ia te wahine tuatahi ki te tuku korero ki te Paremata Maori

I whawhai ia mo te tika tangata mo te wahine hoki.

Ko tetahi o ona whakaaro me whai wa nga wahine ki te korero ki te Kuni o Ingarangi

I tuku poti nga wahine maori mo te wa tuatahi i te rua tekau o Tihema te tau kotahi mano waru rau iwa tekau ma toru

I mate ia i te tau kotahi mano iwa rau rua tekau

Kua tanumi ia ki te taha o tona papa ara ki te urupa Pureirei ki Waihou.

Whakatauki

E kore e wareware te ingoa ki a ratou e ngakau nui ana.

A name is never forgotten by those it matters to.

Waiata

Toia mai te waka nei

Kumea mai te waka nei

Ki te takotaranga i takokato ai

Tiriti te mana motuhake

Te tangi a te manu e

Pipi-wha-rau-roa

Kui! Kui! Kui!

Whitiwhiti ora

Hui e taiki e

Haul this canoe

Drag the canoe up here

To its resting place

The Treaty gives us our autonomy

May the cry of the bird

The shining cuckoo

Quee quee quee

Signal a change for the better

Draw together become intertwined

Wiremu Te Ranga Poutapu

References

1.Wahine Maori: Meri Te Tai Mangakahia teara.govt.nz

2.Karakia unknown

3.Image contemporary artisan patu,1993 Suffrage Centennial ribbon and contemporary mass produced Manawa.

4.The coastline at Maketu the landfall of the Te Arawa canoe

5.Fern Whakamarama, Western Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa, NZ

6.Pouwhenua at Whakamarama acknowledging Te Waerenga – the burnings of the land wars.

7.Part of the Puketoki Reserve at Whakamarama, a remnant of the ancient forest of Whakamarama.

8. Image: Stories to Share R.J. McGuiness

9.Korero Image: Susanne Knouri Printmaker Auckland

10.Creative Bay of Plenty poster featuring the work of artist, arts educator and advocate, Linda Munn for the collaborative 2017 Tin-o- cocoa exhibition. On 22^nd December 2018 in the NZHerald (nzherald.co.nz) reporting on a series of suffrage commemoration events it says: “Artist Linda Munn believes the suffrage movement wouldn’t have happened without the support of Maori women”….” She said, “ Meri Te Tai Mangakahia and the first Maori woman MP, Iriaka Ratana – those names should be noted right next to Kate Shepphard…”

11. Morning in Whakamarama

12. 1993 Suffrage Centennial Ribbon, Auckland New Zealand.

13. and 14 Whakamarama

15. Te Wananga o Aotearoa main Tauranga Campus, the Avenues, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

16. Toia Mai is the second verse of an inspirational Waikato waiata by Master Carver Wiremu (Piri) Te Ranga Poutapu. The waiata was commissioned by Te Puea Herangi in 1936, at the same time she commissioned the construction of seven carved waka taua (representing the seven principal voyaging canoes) for the 1940 centennial of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The purpose of both was to lift the spirits of the impoverished and decimated, predominantly rural, Maori communities.

Toia Mai

Tenei ra a Waikato tahi tu tonu te haere i te mataara o nga marae i takahia nga wa o muri ahakoa tupuhi nga hau nga hau o tea o Kui! Kui! Kui! whitiwhiti ora Hui e taiki e.

On this day Waikato people started out on a mission to alert all marae struggling in the back country areas that even though the winds have been stormy the dawn winds Quee! Quee! Quee! are signaling a change for the better. Draw together, become intertwined

Toia mai te waka nei Kumea mai te waka nei Ki te takotoranga i takoto ai Tiriti te mana motuhake Te tangi a te manu e Pipi-wha-rau-roa Kui! Kui! Kui! whitiwhit ora! Hui e taiki e

Haul this canoe drag the canoe up here to its resting place the Treaty gives us our autonomy May the cry of the bird the shining cuckoo Quee! Quee! Quee! signal a change for the better draw together become entwined.

Words and text from folksong.org.nz

If you read the online information about Meri Te Tai Mangakahia, her contempories and others you find that the social issues she was raising have never gone away for Maori in New Zealand. In fact those issues affect the lives of an increasing number of New Zealanders. Despite my participation in Suffrage acknowledgement activities it is only from reading the comments by Tauranga artist Linda Munn that I became aware of how many Maori woman had for so long been trying to involve themselves in the post-colonial political system.

I am a migrant to Aotearoa New Zealand. I came here when I was a year old. We came to a large family whose home was on that strip of land between the Waikato River and the Great South Road. Huntly is a very special place for me and that is why my pepeha references that region even though I now live in one of the most beautiful places in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Rosemary Balu. Rosemary Balu is the founding and current Managing Editor of ARTbop. Rosemary has arts and law degrees from the University of Auckland. She has been a working lawyer and has participated in a wide variety of community activities where information gathering, submission writing, community advocacy and education have been involved. Interested in all forms of the arts since childhood Rosemary is focused on further developing and expanding multi-media ARTbop as the magazine for all the creative arts in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Thank you to all my tutors and members of local iwi who gave me such an enriching educational experience. A special thank you to Hatiwira and Michala who helped me prepare my korero and to Hatiwira for translating the whakatauki.

The arts provide a platform for many contemporary wahine toa. Kalou Koefoed is a creative using her deeply personal experience for the benefit of others.