Iwi gather to celebrate Māori led-response to Covid-19

Tuesday, 23 March 2021

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait and Materoa Mar celebrate their te ao Mōari-led response to Covid-19 one year on.

Covid-19 has shown the nation tangata whenua will provide for and empower their people, a celebration has heard.

One year on from the nation's first lockdown, hundreds of iwi, Māori agencies and government-led organisations gathered to celebrate their efforts at a red carpet hui in Palmerston North’s Regent on Broadway on Friday.

The connectivity of Māori was showcased during the pandemic, in a coordinated effort unseen before. They pulled together supporting whānau and the wider community as many struggled for basic supplies under alert levels 3 and 4.

A documentary shown at the theatre, Ka Puta Ka Ora, told of how Māori and the government worked together to provide food packages, information and flu vaccinations.

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Hundreds who helped to deliver resources to whānau during alert level 4 watch Ka Puta Ka Ora, a documentary showcasing their efforts, at the Regent on Broadway.

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New Zealand Army trooper David Caulfield, 20, helps Te Tihi Whānau Ora Alliance pack and distribute whānau packs during alert level 4.

Oriana Paewai, chair of Te Tihi o Ruahine Whānau Ora Alliance, spoke on behalf of Danielle Harris. She told the audience the film was an ode to Māori ability to see a need and meet it by working together.

“Our message to the New Zealand government and its agencies is simple; give us back control over the resources we need to empower our people in our te ao Māori way.

“We no longer have to prove to the government and their agents [that] we are transparent and we can be trusted. We have a treaty so properly honour it.”

Materoa Mar, upoko whakarae (chief executive) of Te Tihi o Ruahine Whānau Ora Alliance, said their role was to be a centre, bringing together what it was their communities were looking for.

“No one was any greater than anyone else.

“That's the beauty of being connected. It was through the efforts of many that those communities were reached.”

With the success of the response, relationships have strengthened and Māori would not take a back seat in bringing necessities to their people, she said.

“We're not going to be passive recipients of what government agencies think we should do, but more active participants in designing what they should bring to iwi and Māori.

“We have to move more to our aspirational stage, placing iwi and Māori more in the centre of making decisions and driving more towards aspiration as opposed to dealing with crisis.

“We can stand up pretty quick and return some of our natural skills and attributes quite quickly, but I feel humbled and proud to have been a part of that.”