Tu Tangata

I rere te putanga tuatahi o Tū Tangata ki te ao i te marama o Ākuhata/Hepetema 1981. He maha ōna kaiwhakaputa kōtui, arā, nā te Tari Māori, te Kaunihera Māori, me te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i Te Ora i kawe, ā, i puta mai i te haumitanga o ētahi taitara e rua o mua atu, Te Kaea me te moheni a Kaunihera, arā, Te Māori.

I puta ai tēnei moheni, he whakaaro kia noho hei wāhanga o te kaupapa a Te Tari i mōhiotia rā ko Tū Tangata (standing tall), nā reira mai hoki te ingoa. Ko te tirohanga a Tū Tangata, he kaupapa kawe kē i te Tari i te arotahinga ki te horomi i te iwi iti, kia huri kē ki te whakamana i ngā hapori ā-takiwā, te whakapiki i te mana motuhake o ngāi Māori, ā, i kōkiritia e te hēkeretari o te tari e Kara Puketapu (Te Āti Awa).

Te take i noho ai te moheni hei nūpepa e toru ōna kaikawe kōtui, arā, tētahi tari kāwanatanga me ētahi rōpū hapori e rua, he hiahia nō ngā kaihautū o Tū Tangata kia whāia ēnei momo huringa whakaaro. Ahakoa tērā, nā ngā āwangawanga mō ngā hiahia o te Kāwanatanga ka ātete ētahi atu komiti o Māori ā-takiwā o te Kaunihera Māori, kāore i uru mai ki te tautoko.

Ko te ētita tuatahi o Tū Tangata ko Merania White, i tukua mai i tana tūranga o te Tari Tourism and Publicity. I muri, ka uru mai te kaikawe kōrero a Piripi (Philip) Whaanga (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Aitanga a Māhaki) hei ētita mō te putanga tuatoru, ā noho tonu iho ia hei ētita taea noatia te katinga o te moheni i te tau 1987.

Ko ngā whāinga o Tū Tangata, e ai ki ngā whakamārama i te putanga tuatahi, he whakakotahi i te iwi Māori kia pipiri kē atu ōna wehenga, me te hora i ētahi tirohanga ki te noho o te Māori i ngā rā o mua, ināianei hoki. Rite tonu ki ōna mātua, ko te whāinga o te moheni kia puta te tōnuitanga o ngā pūrongo pēnei i te hākinakina, i ngā kōrero tōrangapū, ngā take hauora, ngā rā nunui ā-motu, ā-takiwā hoki, me ngā ekenga taumata o te tangata takitahi. Te tūmanako ia kia uru mai he tuhinga auaha, he mahi toi hoki nā ngā ringa toi Māori. Ko tōna reo matua ko te reo Pākehā, engari tērā anō ōna tuhinga, reta ki te ētita, poroporoaki rānei i tāia ki te reo Māori.

Mārama tonu ngā kōrero mai i te tīmatanga ko te mahere nui kia noho a Tū Tangata hei moheni mā te katoa, kāpātau te noho hei māngai Kāwanatanga. I te tīmatanga o Whaanga ki te tūranga i te mutunga o te tau 1981, ka tuhia e ia tana hiahia kia tae mai ngā tuhinga a te hunga takitini, hei whakakorikori i te kōrero mō ngā take o te wā, tae atu ki ngā mea i tautohetia e te marea.

I puta Tū Tangata i ia rua marama, taea noatia tōna putanga whakamutunga i te marama o Hune/Hūrae 1987. E ai ki te tuhinga ētita whakamutunga, i katia i runga i te whakaaro, he pai ake kia tukua atu he nūpepa ā-marama mō ngā mahi o te Tari, me waiho ki tahaki te hora atamira mō te tōnuitanga o ngā whakaaro Māori mō ngā take huhua. E rua tau i muri mai, i kati anō te Tari, ko tōna whakakapi ko Te Tari Māori (Manatū Māori) me Te Tira Ahu Iwi. I te tau 1992 i whakakapia ngā whakahaere e rua e Te Puni Kōkiri, tōna ingoa Pākehā ko te Ministry of Māori Development.

The first issue of Tū Tangata was published in August/September 1981. It was a joint publication by the Department of Māori Affairs, the New Zealand Māori Council and the Māori Women’s Welfare League and was formed from the merging of two earlier titles, the Department’s Te Kaea and the Council’s Te Māori.

The magazine came into being as part of the Department’s Tū Tangata (standing tall) policy, hence the name. Tū Tangata (the policy) aimed to shift the Department from a paternalistic approach focused on assimilation, to one of empowering local communities and increasing Māori self-reliance, and was championed by the departmental secretary Kara Puketapu (Te Āti Awa).

The fact that the magazine was a joint publication between a government department and two community based organisations reflected the changes the Tū Tangata policy was encouraging. However, suspicion about the government’s intentions meant that some of the regional Māori Council committees initially refused to be associated with it.

The first editor of Tū Tangata was Merania White, who had been seconded from the Tourism and Publicity Department. Journalist Piripi (Philip) Whaanga (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Aitanga a Māhaki) was appointed as editor by the third issue and he remained the editor until the magazine closed in 1987.

The aims for Tū Tangata, as described in the first editorial, were to bring Māori closer together, and to provide an insight into both historic and contemporary Māori life. Like its predecessors, the magazine aimed to cover a wide range of topics including sports, political news, health, national and local events, as well as individuals’ achievements. The hope was that each issue would also include creative writing and artwork by Māori artists. Primarily written in English, there is the occasional article, letter to the editor or poroporoakī (eulogy) in te reo Māori.

It was clear from the start that the plan was for Tū Tangata to become a magazine for all, rather than a government publication. When Whaanga took over at the end of 1981, he wrote that he wished to encourage contributions from everyone, and to promote discussion on issues, even contentious ones.

Tū Tangata was put out bi-monthly until its final issue in June/July 1987. According to the last editorial, it was closed because the Department decided it would be preferable to send out a monthly newsletter focused on the Department’s work, rather than providing a platform for Māori perspectives on a range of take (issues). Two years later the Department itself closed, to be replaced by the Ministry of Māori Affairs (Manatū Māori) and then by the Iwi Transition Agency (Te Tira Ahu Iwi). In 1992 both new organisations were replaced by Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development.