COROMIND ISSUE 18 JUN24 ONLINEVERSION - Flipbook - Page 19
Mānawatia a Matariki
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 o昀케cial 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’ e昀昀orts 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 昀椀rst 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
Coromind | 18