He mihi poroporaki ki a te Moana Nui a Kiwa Jackson

Tiwha tiwha te pō, kakarauri ana te pō i o Aotearoa, i roto hoki i te poho o te iwi o Ngāti Kahungunu.  I au ai te pō uriuri, te pō tangotango, tū ana te pō, tū ana te ao! 

Ngāruerue ana te whenua!  Ngāteriteri ana te ao Māori i tō rironga atu, e te rangatira, e te hoa pūmau o te ao mātauranga, e Te Moana nui a Kiwa Jackson e! 

Turuturu ā uta, turuturu ā tai!  Puahirihiri katoa te moana e Moana e!  Takahurihuri āmiomio nei te āwhā i roto, ā ngākau, ā tangata. 

E tika ana kia mihi motuhake a Te Huarahi Māori Motuhake, ara ā Te Wehengarua PPTA, ki te rangatira nei ki a Te Moana nui a Kiwa Jackson nō ēnei wiki tata ake nei ka riro atu ki te pō. He nui, nui rawa āna mahi me mātou ngā kaiako ō ngā kura tuarua ō Aotearoa, e hia kē nei ngā tau, me tō mātou Āpiha Māori ā Te Mākao Bowkett.

Nā āna mahi rangahau, āna mahi tīkarokaro i ngā āhuatanga i roto i a Te Wehengarua, ka huri kōaroaro katoa ngā hangatanga me ngā kaupapa here i roto i a ia. Ana, ko Te Tiriti ō Waitangi tēnā me ana whakamahingā i roto i a Te Wehengarua me te mea anō hoki ka ohorere katoa ngā kaiwhakahaere o Te Wehengarua i ana tūtohinga e pā ana ki aua mahi hurahura, ana, ko te nuingā o te rangapū whakahaere kāhore i whakaae.

Heoi anō, nānā, me ēra ō ana tīkarokarotanga ka timata a Te Wehengarua whānui ki te whakaaro nui mō te Tiriti o Waitangi me āna nekeneke i roto i a Te Wehengarua. 

Nā reira, e te rangatira, e te hoa e Moana e, e kore rawa e mutu te mihi nui atu me te whakawhētai ki a koe. Noho mai rā e te hoa i te taha o ngā tūpuna ka roa e tatari atu ana ki a koe.  Me pēhea rā te iwi Māori ināianei e hoa e? 

Haere rā e te hoa, e te rangatira! 

Mauri tū! Mauri ora! 

Nā ō hoa mai i ngā kura tuarua o Aotearoa

Kaituhi,

Tihi Puanaki

Whaea Kaitautoko, PPTA Te Wehengarua

Kia ora my friend

I recently read the letter you wrote to me after Jim’s passing in 2007, tōku hoa Rangatira, you had been away on some “terrorism” mahi and you regretted that you could not be with me and my whānau at such a pouri time. You said it would be a difficult period and that you could only imagine my heartache. You hoped that your genuine expression of aroha would be of some solace to me. And it was.

E hika! Kua ngaro koe ki te pō. How are we to get through this, if ever? You, and your whānau have been woven into the intricacies of our Te Huarahi whakapapa. I remember back in time seeing you at the urupā standing over Syd’s grave after the crowds had left and ka tangi hotuhotu ana. Whaea Gazala Maihi said quietly, let him farewell his brother. Memories. Overwhelming. Too powerful now. But despite the pain of memories, it’s those memories that keep our loved ones alive in our hearts and minds, nē rā. E tangi, tukua o tātou roimata.

I have since realised that when you came to Te Arawa for the Māori Teachers’ Conference in 2019, you were preparing us for a time in our Treaty journey when we would take the next steps. With your gentle persuasion and humour, we laughed and cherished your every word and never doubted our destiny with you always alongside. You reminded us that the formation of Te Huarahi Māori Motuhake had its roots in the vision, sacrifice and stance of the heroic warrior men and women of the time.

Aroha nui rā e Moana e! Thank you for your inspiration, for your encouragement, for your belief in us, for your help and understanding, for being a role model for us! You can never be replaced. You “done well!!” e te hoa xx, nā Whaea Tihi mā.

We understood that you had a way of letting us know it was okay to have a holiday but not for too long. Over the decades, we had our private joke about getting together for our annual Christmas lunch. We always knew that mahi and kaupapa would inevitably take priority. So, we filled our kete to the brim every time we gathered just in case the next time was a long time coming. 

Thank you for giving us time to be with you, Moana. You cared so much for our people, our union members, every one of them and you so loved our Māori secondary teachers, the whakatipuranga of our young students who needed to be nurtured and our gift of te reo Rangatira.

You supported the action to establish a caucus, a place where Māori teachers came together, could feel safe with each other, share common concerns, celebrate shared victories and just be us!

You called out the PPTA for failing to understand the sacrifices and vision and stance of Māori and for not recognising Te Huarahi as tangata whenua and for not recognising a Treaty relationship. You mourned PPTA’s lack of imagination and courage. Yet your generosity of spirit and kindness recognised PPTA’s first brave steps and how these have inspired other organisations.

You faithfully conscientised a movement of Māori secondary teachers and much more. This is what we are entitled to, and this is our tūrangawaewae and this is where we will stand.

Through your diligence we were constantly informed of the trends in international Treaty law, Treaty settlements and the trauma that Māori endured and the changing nature of Treaty language.

Te Huarahi Maōri Motuhake are compelled to continue the Treaty journey in PPTA, that not only recognises “Māori rights to managing something but in governing that something. Motuhake is a governing matter. Mana Motuhake is a constitutional statement of where our people belong.” 

Nō reira e te Pāpā, moe mai. Takoto mai, takoto e haere i runga i te waka pouri o ngā tīpuna. \Haere, haere, haere atu rā. Kāti ake.

Dr Te Mākao Bowkett, Āpiha Māori

Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Te Arawa, Ngāti Parewhero, Te Rarawa