haere ra e mokopuna

Tu Tangata, Issue 6, 1 June 1982, Page 27

haere ra e mokopuna

Everlyne Ngatai

‘People Like Us/Celebrating Cultural Diversity’, edited by Anthony Haas, Allison Webber, Pam Brown. Asia Pacific Books and New Zealand Government Printer. 119 pages.

People Like Us is the first collaboration between a private publisher and the Government Printer and is a companion to the television series screened during April and May. As such it breaks new ground in its attempt to articulate what the multiracial society in New Zealand is.

It makes no bones about the lack of understanding most Pakeha New Zealanders have about other cultures. It approaches the subject through the eyes of different races who have settled in New Zealand either many generations ago, or else fairly recently. They tell of their culture and the transplanting necessary to fit in with ‘the kiwi way of life’.

It becomes obvious that people like Harry Seresin and Herluf Andersen, a European born restaurateur and a Danish chef, have given much to this country especially in their zest for celebrating life and work. And the personal experience of Martin and Jayne Chait, Jewish delicatessan owners adds colour to the New Zealand landscape.

New Zealanders, that is those of British stock, don’t come out of this book with their culture intact. In fact they tend to come out in dribs and drabs with a wishy washy culture mainly consisting of cups of tea. Comments from Malaysian students about New Zealanders who are very ignorant of other cultures support this.

And then there’s the observations from a Vietnamese refugee who saw such positive things in this country. Lac Ly typifies the hard-working arrival on our shores who’s prepared to make a new life for his family.

When asked if he plans to join clubs to mix more with people, the answer comes back. ‘‘l can’t afford time at the moment. I work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week which includes my working time as well as my study, so on my day off I just like to sit on my lawn and have a couple of beers”.

Well at least kiwi culture is asserting itself in the form of a rest period.

But while ‘People Like Us’, shows great diversity of culture on the one hand, it also shows the similarities all people have regardless of racial background.

For many of the couples whose lifestory is told in the book, the step into an alien culture was a big one. As Robert, the Scottish partner married to Mere, a Tongan Maori says, “I’ve gained far more than I’ve lost by miles. I’ve given up things at times with the hope that the future might be richer as a result, and that’s exactly what has happened.”

With short, black, silky hair, she ran through the water. Always smiling or talking to the elders. This was Kerianna. Hardly anyone remembers how she came to the Marae; some say she was sent from the Gods to learn the mortal way. Yet others proclaim that her mother abandoned her with them. How she got there, it was of no real importance. Kerianna was seven years old when the elders realised something was wrong; for she easily tired, and, for no reason at all, her nose bled frequently. Koro Joe was the one that took her to the doctor in Hamilton. It was a bright, sunny April morning when the old Marae truck pulled up outside the doctors’ rooms. Kerianna, with a new dress on, proudly leapt from her seat to the pavement. Koro Joe took her hand and together they walked into the doctor’s. Some time had passed when Kerian-

na and Koro Joe returned to the marae The elders were worried that they might have had an accident. However, it turned out worse, for when Kerianna and Koro Joe returned, he had sad news. The doctor had told Koro Joe that Kerianna was indeed a sick child, and no doctor, yet, had worked out a cure for the sickness. However, he said that if the elders cared for her then, maybe, her remaining days will be valuable. This they did. Right up until the day Kerianna died. She knew she was going to die but no fear entered her heart; for she knew that when you died, your soul floated among the heavens with the Gods of the past. Three years have passed, since the sad parting of Kerianna. The elders sit outside in the sun, reminiscing of the days when a small tamaiti brought aroha and togetherness to their hearts. Haere ra e mokopuna!