Iwi gaining back authority across the country, one disaster at a time

Wednesday, 18 December 2019

The rahui on Whakaari/White Island offers respect to those who lost their lives and to their families.

OPINION: Remember when, not very long ago, we could easily ignore Māori perspectives and practices? We can't any more.

It's becoming very difficult to exclude the use of tikanga Māori and te reo Māori at any event or in everyday life in Aotearoa. It's being used more every day, everywhere, by everyone, incrementally changing our Kiwi way of life.

It's becoming our new normal whether we like it or not.

A former colleague once said my use of tikanga in the workplace was 'PC bull….'. I think he reacted angrily because I challenged his worldview by insisting he consider my cultural beliefs.

That was 15 years ago. I'm sure he's changed his thinking now, as many of us have.

* Using the tikanga of Ngāti Awa during the disaster

* The cost of responsibility for an iwi authority

* The role of Police cultural connections after mosque shootings

Families return from White Island and make their way to Mataatua marae.

* New Civil Defence model with iwi**

Tikanga is being used inside Parliament, the entire public service, educational institutions, media organisations, private companies, and even gangs use it.

Our highest court is considering its use. In November, Supreme Court Justice Joe Williams and Susan Glazebrook suggested Aotearoa didn't need to follow decisions set by other countries; new laws based on tikanga Māori could be established.

Western scientists have been telling the world we need to use indigenous knowledge to help resolve the man-made ecological and climate crisis threatening our planet. It's a neon sign of change because mātauranga Māori is being recognised as having equal status to science.

The increasing use of Māori cultural practices and perspectives is an indicator of a subtle power shift. Māori are slowly gaining back authority lost through colonisation.

Where the authority of Māori has been the most noticeable is in the major traumatic events of this decade.

During the Whakaari/White Island disaster, the tikanga of Ngāti Awa, one of three predominant tribes in the area, became part of the response. The iwi stood next to the council and first responders, sharing its perspective and providing leadership.

Locals help out at the Takahanga Marae in Kaikōura cooking for and feeding locals and tourists after a major earthquake.

Ngāti Awa put into action cultural practices important to uphold the mana of a host: āwhinatia (help), manaakitia (protection) and wairuatanga (spirituality).

This wouldn't have happened 20 years ago. Ngāti Awa and many other tribes have settled their Treaty of Waitangi claims. It's enabled them to build their commercial and cultural capabilities within their areas so they can respond.

The Māori, Pacific & Ethnic Services police unit has also given more authority to Māori by including iwi in significant events within their areas.

After the Christchurch mosque shootings in March, local iwi Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Ngāi Tahu played a major role in the response with police and the Muslim community.

The phrase new normal became popular after the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, when everything considered normal in Canterbury was broken and remade.

Ngāi Tahu, on the outer before the earthquakes, became part of the new normal. It was given unprecedented statutory authority to partner with local councils and stamped its cultural mark on the rebuild.

This experience enabled Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Kurī to mobilise quickly when Kaikōura was struck by an earthquake in 2016.

When Edgecumbe and surrounding areas were flooded in 2017, marae opened their doors to provide food and support to communities cut off by landslides, damaged bridges and flooding in the Rangitaiki River catchment.

During the Nelson fires in February, liaison officers worked between the emergency services and local tribes, Te Tau Ihu, to determine what practical help they could provide. The eight iwi were an integral part of the response.

It resulted in a new civil defence model including iwi that may roll out elsewhere.

As we deal with the impacts of climate change in the future we will need to include Māori perspectives and practices. They've already proven to be resilient and resourceful.

There is a note of caution. With increased authority comes added responsibility. Just as Ngāti Awa helped in the Whakaari/White Island response, its commercial arm, as the owners of White Island Tours, will have to answer for it.

It's hard to deny the subtle power shift and influence of Māori. Of course, not everyone is supportive of giving Māori too much authority. It's why the change is happening moment by moment, in a place here and there.

When translated, tikanga can mean the correct procedure. It's correcting how we do things in Aotearoa.

It's browning us all up in a sense, so we're no longer pale reflections of our British colonial past. I'm not saying everyone needs to be Māori but why can't we use the best of both worlds?