THE KOKIRI UNIT

Tu Tangata, Issue 6, 1 June 1982, Page 6

THE KOKIRI UNIT

The kokiri experience to be implanted in Auckland is the result of a turnaround in government bureaucracy specifically in the Department of Maori Affairs, Here Rangi Walker outlines the background of the department, tracing the progression from a guardian of Maori rights to pre-sent-day innovators of social change.

There is a quiet revolution going on in the Department of Maori Affairs. A government bureaucracy is being transformed so that it serves the needs of the clientele in what they perceive to be in their best interests. This has not been the case in the past. In conflict The department had its origins in the Native Protectors, established in 1841 to ensure that Maori rights as embodied in the Treaty of Waitangi were safeguarded. The Chief Protector, George Clark, and his four assistants soon found their protective role in conflict with their de facto role as landpurchase agents. Their solution, based on Maori custom of negotiating landsales with the chief and the whole tribe, did not endear them to land speculators and would-be sellers. The process was slow and liable to be blocked by a chief opposed to land-selling. In 1846 Governor Grey established the Native Land purchase Department to give effect to the Crown’s right of pre-emption under the Treaty of Waitangi. Potential resistance from the Protectors was removed by the simple expedient of replacing them with a Native Secretary. Ten years later the office of Native Secretary and the functions of the Native Land Purchase Department were amalgamated. This conjunction of offices in the person of Donald McLean, indirectly precipitated the New Zealand Land Wars, for McLean ignored established land-pur-

chase procedures and brought the Waitara Block against the wishes of Wiremu Kingi.

Less costly After the Land Wars a less costly way of acquiring Maori land was devised in the Native Land Court established in 1867. The report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Maori Land Court ambiguously states that the purpose of the court was “to ensure ownership, use and disposal of Maori land”. The commission might just as well have tacked on the phrase “to Pakehas”. In a century of operation, the court facilitated the alienation of 95 per cent of Maori land as it systematically destroyed the principle of communal ownership. Even as late as 1934 the Native Department was comprised of basically the Native Land Court and the Maori Land Councils. By this time only marginal land remained in Maori hands as the department began a programme of

land development initiated by Ngata when he was the Minister.

Functions extended

It was not until World War II that the department extended its functions to welfare work. On the recommendation of the Maori War Effort Organisation, six women welfare officers were appointed to the major urban centres in 1943. The work of the MWEO with tribal executive committees culminated in the Maori Social Economic Advancement Act (1945).

The act effectively defined what should have been the functions of the department rather than a network of voluntary tribal executives without resources.

It is ironical that the 1953 Maori Affairs Act, which sets out the present aims and functions of the department, states that it must have regard as far as possible to “The retention of Maori land in the hands of its owners and its use or administration by them or for their benefit”. Almost too little too late, as Maori frustration and anger mounted in the 70’s and culminated in the Maori Land March of 1975.

New course

After a review of the department by the Assistant Commissioner of State Services, Kara Puketapu in 1977, community services and departmental activities were restructured. By 1979 Puketapu, as Secretary of Maori Affairs, had clearly set a new course for his department. The annual report stated that “the main objectives of the Department for Maori Affairs are not those of a social welfare agency giving handouts to people as is often alleged. Instead it is an agency investing the taxpayers money in land, buildings and people. The task is to fully develop this powerful and creative resource for the common good of all New Zealanders”.

Bring together

Puketapu’s philosophy of belief in people is summed up in his concept of Kokiri (community) administration. Essentially Kokiri is an overall administration group responsible for bringing Maori voluntary associations together to identify priorities in community development. When this has been done, resources the department has for community programmes are then allocated.

The theory behind Kokiri administration is that by marshalling community groups and backing their programmes with department resources, more of an impact will be made on many of the social issues that have been grappled with separately for so many years. As the country drifts about in a state of depressed uncertainty as to its future, this innovative response by the Department of Maori Affairs to what appear to be intractable social issues deserves to succeed.

Speak to Willie Kaa, one of the guiding lights behind the setting up of the Wellington kokiri units. He’ll tell you what’s what.

“Kokiri was born out of Maori people not coping with the system, the plight of children not achieving and adults not forthcoming in participation, especially in bureaucratic setups like PPTA’s, committees etc. And in the courts parents weren’t showing support for their children. Why? Because they didn’t understand the system.” So Willie got behind the Maori Affairs Department’s Kokiri concept which reversed bureaucracy and made the community responsible for deciding and fulfilling needs. “We recognised the self-help philosophy and the need to get rid of the reliance on welfare, to move from dependence to independence”. On March 26, last year the Harataunga Kokiri Group moved into action setting its own priorities, some such as assistance and support for Maori and Pacific school students; homework centres at marae and work skill programmes for unemployed.

For Willie it was an exciting time that was not without its opposition from people who saw their position threatened by an enlivened community. However when it was pointed out that ‘‘you are the kokiri unit”, barriers were lowered. “It’s taken a long time for people to get used to the idea that they have this tremendous energy and power to fix their own problems”.

In practical terms kokiri operates this way. A small team of Maori Affairs Department community workers base

themselves in the community and concentrate on whatever the community sees as its priority. ‘‘lt’s a learning programme that never ends. The Maori people at grassroots level know what’s needed in their community.” For Willie this learning meant the old social worker approach had to be abandoned in favour of the community diagnosing its own ills. He says the people met to sort out their needs and then with the financial and administrative backup of the Maori Affairs Department, allocated time and resources accordingly.

The kokiri management group in the Hutt Valley meets monthly with all those attending having equal say in what the priorities should be. Attendance varies with upwards of 80 people depending how the community sees the needs. Does this pose a problem for kokiri? Willie Kaa animal we’re handling, the logistics, the backup. A lot of people, me included, haven’t come to terms with the full extent of people power”. In nuts and bolts terms, the life of the Harataunga kokiri has been lived in such things as parent support groups set up to help shy parents talk to school principals and staff about their children’s progress.

These groups have been very successful judging by pupils attitudes to schooling and even, Willie points out, some parents offering themselves for PPTA’s. In one school pupils wanted to use the library for study after school but no school staff were available. The parents stepped in and now staff it during homework hours with their own parent roster. In the court, support groups have also succeeded in helping Maori and Pacific Island youth and their parents to handle the trauma of offending. But it’s on the home front that Willie Kaa believes the real success story of Kokiri is. People have laid aside petty rivalries in the interests of the whole community. Through this community decisiveness, Maori people are restoring their faith in themselves not only in the European world but also in such projects as Te Kohanga Reo, a pre-school centre using the Maori language as its sole communicator of social values.

Now Willie feels Kokiri needs to be shared with the rest of New Zealand and welcomes the establishment of kokiri units in Auckland.

He says the judicial system should be told about Kokiri, the Law Society, the PPTA’s and boards’ of governors, the schools, and the work force.

“Kokiri should go into the streets and move onto the gang pads. That’s the future of Kokiri to advance on all fronts.”

A Kokiri Wananga was held at Kokiri Marae, Seaview in March with people attending from the lower half of the North Island. It was a chance for Wellington’s three kokiri units to evaluate progress and also explain how kokiri works. Porirua Kokiri Unit in singing mood: (from left) loane Teao, Winnie Schmidt, Te Paeru Tereora, Hine Tatana.

Kokiri “at grassroots level people know what’s needed. They can sort out priorities without bureaucrats’’.