Te Heke Ngāhuru ki Te Awa Tupua
Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Atihaunui-A-Paparangi performing at the launch of the Whanganui River wellbeing strategy.ALECIA ROSSEAU/STUFF
Sarah Sparks is a communications consultant, and works with wāhine toa across Aotearoa.
OPINION: We are in a perfect storm right now, grappling with complex and costly environmental, social and economic issues.
Some were foretold. Some were completely unforeseen. All have foundational implications for our collective wealth, which is connected to our health, both tangibly and intangibly.
The health of our land and water is connected to the health of our people, and the health of our workforce is connected to the health of our economy – and so the cycle goes.
It can be one of deprivation for many. Persistent disadvantage is a systemic problem for hundreds of thousands in our country. That glaring gap felt by the old, sick and vulnerable is widening every day.
At the same time, the integrity of institutional and social structures is being stress-tested.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
Many siloed systems and prejudicial beliefs have been left wanting and exposed for the destructive harm inflicted or inequity that hasn’t been addressed for generations.
Covid-19, climatic events, a cost of living crisis, political polarisation, parliamentary protest and shaky social cohesion have accelerated destabilisation.
International human rights indicators based on five economic and social rights and eight civil and political rights show serious mahi must be done to achieve basic bread-and-butter targets.
Relative to the income of our nation, we’re not getting where we need to be when it comes to the right to work (bad), right to education (fair), right to food (fair), right to health (fair) and right to housing (incomplete data).
The case for including Māori voices at the top tables of governance to inform policy and investment decisions given this mountain of evidence is as much common-sense as it is a constitutional must.
If ever there was a need by society for governance and stewardship for the common good that is humanitarian, principled, and just - now is the time.
This is when a te ao Māori world view by tangata whenua needs to be trusted and valued for the intergenerational power and protection it offers.
This is personal for me because I have seen the frustration and emotional toll endured by our kaumātua and whānau of Ngāti Tama trying to safeguard our wāhi tapu, Te Waikoropupū Springs in Tākaka.
This week, 10 years later, a Water Conservation Order was finally gazetted to legally protect our taonga. Respecting Māori to have the autonomy to uphold tikanga Māori, spiritual, ecological and biodiversity values would’ve avoided the costly litigation trauma.
When there’s Māori representation that’s enabled legally and resourced equitably, it empowers locally-led whānau-centred solutions that benefit the whole community.
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Disagree? Look at the Productivity Commission’s recommendations and road map.
Western ways typically can be individualistic and more ‘me not we’. Whereas indigenous ways are collective and more ‘we not me’. The humility in the pecking order of a pepeha follows this kawa.
There’s a reason why you introduce yourself last after first naming your maunga, awa, waka, marae, iwi, hapū and whānau.
Māori kaitiakitanga is grounded in custodianship that safeguards and sets up prosperity for the next seven future generations unborn. This philosophy is tūturu.
An indigenous mindset is ancient and enduring, and prioritises the well-being of the people. It has a different view of time, space and, more importantly, the structures of power.
He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.
Indigenous governance is anchored in unshakeable uncompromising values – our human bottom line.
They’re motivators and drivers. They’re tiebreakers to resolve conflict. They’re the compass to navigate whatever life dishes up in a mana-enhancing way.
Many wise kuia that serve kaupapa Māori with me demonstrate this time and time again through their unselfish actions and courageous way of being.
Ina kite koe tētahi mea hē ki mua ia koe, whakatikāngia, ina kore ka rite koe ki taua hē. If you see something wrong in front of you, you are duty-bound to correct it. If you do not, you will become like it.
For the sake of all Kiwis, it’s time to embrace Māori voices around the table. They are the conscience of the past, the present and the future.