The Ngarimu V.C. Essays

Kaea, Issue 2, 1 March 1980, Page 11

The Ngarimu V.C. Essays

Each year the Ngarimu V.C. and 28th (Maori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board holds an essay competition for Maori schoolchildren in forms 1 to 7. Last year 837 entries were received from 103 schools. Fourteen prizes were awarded one each for the best essays in English and in Maori from each form. We chose two of the prize-winning essays, one in Maori, one in English, to print here.

Meha Waitai Form Six

Mana College Porirua

Ko te timata me hoki ngaa whakaaro ki ngaa raa o mua, ki ngaa tiipuna. “Ko too whenua te mea nui, kia mau ki o whenua, ko teenaa too oranga. Ka ngaro teenei, ka ngaro too tuunga waewae. Ka ngaro teenei, ka noho pani koe, ki hea hoki? Ko too whenua too oranga. Kei runga ngaa mara kai, kei runga ngaa rakau moo o whare, kei runga ngaa manu, kei runga ngaa rau, ka ora koe, ka ora too whanau, ka ora too iwi. Me manaaki teenei tino taonga.”

Ki ngaa tiipuna, he mea orate whenua no reira kaore te pai kia hokoa engari ki etahi, na te hiahia moni ka hoki i o raatu whenua.

I eenei ra kua whakaaro te Maaori ki ngaa hee a te Pakeha e pa ana ki ngaa whenua Maaori.

Kei te whawhai ngaa uri i ngaa whenua i Raglan kite iwi Pakeha moo a raatu whenua. I te Pakanga tuarua i hoatu e te iwi o Raglan eenei whenua hei awhina te Kawana. I te mutunga o teenei Pakanga i tukua kee e te Kawana eenei whenua kite iwi Pakeha. No te pakeketanga o ngaa uri i eenei whenua ka kite raatau te hee o teenei tikanga. Kua roa kee eenei whenua i te iwi kee. Kua piki kee te waariu o eenei whenua. He pai noa teenei engari no te takiritanga o te iwi Pakeha i ngaa urupa Maaori katahi anoo ngaa uri o eenei whenua ka wera. He mea tapu te urupa naa wai i kii, me takahi e te Pakeha. Katahi anoo ka timata te whawhai a ngaa uri o eenei whenua kite iwi Pakeha, kite Kawana, kite ture hoki o Niu Tireeni. E whawhai tonu ana, tae mai ki teenei raa.

Ka huri ki ngaa whenua i Bastion Point. Ki ngaa uri o eenei whenua he mahi tahae naa te Kawana eenei whenua. I hokoa eenei whenua kite Kawana, naa te tono ate Kawana hei whenua mahi whare moo ngaa uri o taaua iwi.

I hangaia etahi whare moo ngaa Maaori engari he iti te whenua i mahia. A, ka takoto te whenua nei, katahi anoo te Kanawa ka kii kei hokoa ngaa tooenga whenua kite Pakeha hei hanga whare moo raatu. He ataahua eenei whenua, no reira ka nui te waariu. Ka raru ngaa'uri o eenei whenua. Kua nui rawa te utu moo ngaa whare hou kei te hangaia. Raru pai ana te iwi o Orakei.

Ko te tuarua teenei o ngaa raru a teenei iwi kite Kawana. I te tuatahi i murua o raatau whenua, a, i tahua to raatau

Marae. Katahi ka takiria o raatau urupa e te Pakeha. “Te Aroha hoki.”

I mua atu i murua ngaa whenua o W aikato. I panania etahi o ngaa iwi. Ko tetahi waiata aroha, waiata tangi i titoa me eenei whenua ko teeraa waiata ko “E Paa too Hau”. He waiata tangi teenei moo Te Wano, te Rangitira, me toonaa iwi i panaia ete Kawana, kite whenua kee. He waiata tangi teenei moo a raatau whenua i mahue atu ra ki muri. I hokoa eenei whenua kite iwi Pakeha. Naa te kaha tonu o ngaa uri o te iwi o Waikato; naa to raatau matauranga ki ngaa ture a te Pakeha; ka utua raatau e te Kawana. He tika kaore te rite ote utu kite waariu o ngaa whenua engari ko te timata teenei. He nui tonu ngaa raru a te Maaori a paa ana ki ngaa mahi a te Pakeha ki oonaa whenua engari jura marama haere to iwi Maaori o eenei raa ki eenei mahi. Naa reira, e te iwi Maaori, kia mau ki o whenua o eenei raa. Kia mau ki ngaa tohu a ngaa tiipuna kei kore ai taatau e kiia “Ko Te Iwi Kore Whenua, He Iwi Kore”. Teenaa Koutou Katoa.

Hemi Rau Form Seven

Long Bay College Auckland

The past decade has seen the Maori writer established upon the New Zealand literature scene, with growing emphasis on the Maori people in today’s world. This has already been seen with the successful publication of various literature, whether it be poetry, drama, novels or short stories. The Maori as a writer first gained recognition with Witi Ihimaera’s awardwinning novel Tangi.

The modern Maori today is living in two worlds: the conflicting worlds of both Pakeha and Maori. The past years have seen a growing trend of traditionally rural people move to the industrialised Pakeha world of the cities, in the hope of giving their children the best of the two worlds. This has seen the Maori writers write with aroha for their land, their people and the traditional Maori way of living, in the hope that the values of that life will never be lost.

In Mutuwhenua, by Patricia Grace, Ripeka illustrates the difficulties faced by a young Maori woman typical of many Maori women today, who try to adjust themselves to this new world and at the same time retain their Maoritanga. She becomes banded in two worlds - the world of the Pakeha, in which Graeme has been brought up, and her own. Unintentionally the different worlds start to affect each other. Nanny Ripeka becomes angered at Ripeka’s choice of marriage to a Pakeha: “. . . what’s wrong with a Pakeha girl ...” she says to him. At first she is reluctant to accept Ripeka for what she is doing. She feels that Ripeka, by marrying a

Pakeha man, is losing her Maori blood and that with their loss of Maori blood the values and culture of the Maori as a people may also be lost. But eventually the grandmother changes, and this is shown by her last minute decision to go to her grand-daughter’s wedding.

Maori writers are Veal people writing about real things. They feel a responsibility to their people, aiming to give the readers a better understanding of the culture and values taken by the Maori. If readers are Maori is what they have read correct and accurate, and if they are not Maori does it give them a better understanding of the culture and the Maori people as a whole?

In Tangi, Witi Ihimaera mentions Papatuanuku and Rangitane. Our mother the earth, our father the sky. Here we come to understand about the values of a Maori and the reasons for the aggressive “politicised” stance the Maori people take on land issues. The problem with the Pakeha society in New Zealand is the way they put a measure on everything, whether it be width, height, length or depth. This is where the measurement of money comes into it. In Patricia Grace’s novel, Mutuwhenua, she talks of the stone they as children had found in a nearby creek. Although of a young age, they felt the “feelings” the stone had given them, which had never been felt by their young Pakeha friend. When the young Pakeha boy gave it to his father, the father’s eyes gleamed of money. He would be rich. But Ripeka’s grandfather, Nanny Tiko, did not see the same thing. They returned it to the earth where it belonged, despite violent accusations by the Pakeha councillor on its mysterious disappearance from his back seat. Like the stone, maybe the Pakeha misunderstood the Maori too. Another example of money being the problem is a recent “Eye Witness” programme shown on Television Two where a Maori farmer’s ownership of land was not recognised by Maori Affairs although John Paki had been declared by the court to be an owner. The women interviewer showed typical misunderstanding: “But. .. Mr Paki, the issue you are talking about involves four million dollars.”

For years the Maori has tried to emphasise to his Pakeha

compatriots that there are things which you cannot put a monetary value upon. They give little importance to many things that the Maori considers to be very relevant and deep.

The Maori writing can be considered as a protest against the political stances the Maoris are expected to take. They feel that Maori oral literature will have no stronghold in the future, and the way to protect it is by pen. They are also emphasising the need for people to take Maori values into account, as it is important if we are to bridge the gap between the two races. Roderick Finlayson’s “Sweet Beulah Land” and “Tidal Wave” are such reasons the Maori writer is protesting. His usage of Maori language is not only debasing but totally ignorant of what the Maori writers are trying to say.

New Zealand is a multi-racial society which refuses to accept this, and is illustrated by Witi Ihimaera’s New Net Goes Fishing, where he writes a series of harsh but true short stories. His story of “The Kids Downstairs” tells of how the Pakeha judges the Maori on observations, and makes a typical Pakeha rule: “All you Maoris are the same ...” Patricia Grace explained in Tihe Mauri Ora how we are all different people. The Maoris are different amongst themselves just as there are different Pakehas. The gap between the two races is further than is realised, and Patricia Grace puts it beautifully in her novel.. . though our lives crossed in one place, our jumping off and land points stand well apart.

What the Maori writers are trying to say will become even more significant with the increasing involvement of the Maoris. On the media scene, whether it is John Rangihau and his television “Pacific Viewpoint” or Ranginui Walker’s regular feature “Korero”, in the Listener, they all are saying what they feel at a feelings level and not what some editor or publisher wants them to say.

May be the He Taua action group’s assault on the Auckland University engineering students just emphasises the need for society at least to understand the Maori rather than mock their culture. No matter how long it takes, the Maori will be recognised for what they are and feel and when that times comes I believe we will all be one people.