Sunday, 12 August 2012

Ko Tongariro te Maunga, Ko Taupo te Moana, Ko Tuwharetoa te iwi, Ko Te Heuheu te tangata

Tongariro is the Mountain, Taupo is the Lake, Tuwharetoa is the tribe, Te Heuheu is the man

This week’s whakatāuki is explained by Bubs Smith nō Ngati Hikairo, Tuwharetoa

While it may have been panic stations around the country when Tongariro erupted on August 06, 2012, for Tūwharetoa hapu, Ngāti Hikairo it set in motion their well-established evacuation plans.  Justine Murray talks with Bubs Smith about the reality of living within the vicinity of active volcanoes and the metaphor the eruption holds for his people.     

The layers of powerlessness experienced by Māori within lower socio economic classes, horrifies Celia Lashlie so much it’s resulted in advocacy work with wahine and whānau Māori.  This is all the while, challenging those who inhabit her own Pākehā middle and upper middle class privilege.   Lashlie talks through that and more with Maraea Rakuraku including; the role media plays in the blame culture entrenched within New Zealand Society.

As a nod to her work over the years at the forefront of the revitalisation of the Māori Language, Te Ahi Kaa features an interview with Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi at the Nga Tāonga Toi a Te Waka Toi awards 2008 and more recently, from her poroporoaki as a  Māori Language Commissioner.

Waiata featured:  I am a child performed by Ria Hall from her EP Ria Hall (2011); Matahiapo performed by Awanui Reeder, and If things were different performed by Awanui Reeder and Maisey Rika, from the EP Native Intel (2011)