Sunday, 3 May 2009
3 Haratua (May) 2009
Ko te Ohōnga ake o aku moemoea, ko te puāwaitanga o nga whakaaro.
The awakening of dreams and aspirations comes for the blossoming of ideas and thoughts.
Explanation by Raniera Bassett (Muriwhenua, Ngāti Kahu)
Many Māori have had a rich history in shearing gangs within Aotearoa. George Potae comes from a line of shearers - his uncles, father and grandfather were shearers and earned reputations as some of the best from Ngāti Porou.
After leaving Tipene boarding school, George Potae headed straight into the shearing gangs and eventually set up his own contracting business run in Milton the South Island. In 1969 Potae won the New Zealand Golden Shears, an award established to acknowledge shearers and wool handlers. Composer Tuini Ngawai penned a few songs about the era of the shearing gangs, to which she was heavily involved with in the early sixties.
In this week's archival recording from the early seventies, Sydney Murupaenga, host of the show Te Puna Wai Kōrero at Auckland-based radio station Te Reo o Aotearoa, talks to George Potae.
A move towards technology could be the difference between preserving or loosing tāonga (treasured possessions) such as korowai or photos.
At Oruāwharo marae in Wellsford, a workshop in digital photography and paper conservation was held to encourage participants how to care for and store photos.
The workshop was in response to the loss of original photos after wharenui were damaged or lost by fire incidents.
Rhonda Paku (No Ngāi Tuhoe , Ngāti Kahungunu) is the manger of Iwi Devlopment of Te Paerangi (National Services at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum). It was the Te Māori exhibition in the eighties that sparked Rhonda's interest in preserving tāonga for future generations, and in her line of work she stumbles across the odd 'gem' including a 150-year-old kahukiwi (kiwi feather cloak). Justine Murray talks to Rhonda at Te Papa.
As one of the biggest meeting houses in New Zealand, Tūrangawaewae marae in Ngauruawāhia was the ideal venue to launch a new guide that outlines food safety on the marae.
The guide, Te Kai Manawa Ora, was produced by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority. Justine Murray talks to project manager Raniera Bassett, who says that attitudes in the wharekai are changing, but Māori also need to be aware of such as pestcides near puha patches, or algae bacteria in riverbeds or seabeds, both common places where Māori source kai for the marae.
Delegates and iwi representatives gather for the pōwhiri at Tūrangawaewae marae for the launch of Te Kai Manawa Ora
A review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 is taking place at various hui around the motu. Government appointed panelists include chair Hon. Justice Taikahurei Durie, associate professor at Victoria University, Richard Boast, and Hana o Regan (Kai Tahu) at these hui. Public submissions can be put to the review panel, who will later make their recommendations to the government.
The closing date for written submissions is Tuesday 19 May.
Waiata featured include:
Shearing songsfrom Nga Tāonga Kōrero (Sound Archives), performed by Tuini Ngawai