Te Arawa Lakes Trust is pleased to announce the  MATARIKI CELEBRATION DINNER - hei whakanui i nga koeke o Te Arawa. An invitation to all Te Arawa koeke aged 70+ has been extended, click here to view it along with the necessary registration.  The 3 course dinner is at no cost to koeke (a cash bar will be available). 

The dinner will be held at the Distinction Hotel (Grand Tiara) on Sunday 1 June 2008 from 4.00pm - 9.30pm.  Entertainment will also be provided. If you would like the information flyer and registration form please email us and we'll send it through.

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We were pleased to hear that the head of Waitakere City's Indian Association wants all new migrants to get a dose of Maori culture.

Manoj Tahal says the Immigration Service should make a marae visit a prerequisite for people wanting to settle in this country.

“Every migrant coming into the country should experience the Maori culture first hand by visiting a marae. It's such a sacred place for reflection. In my experience I would actually recommend everyone to actually go and visit a marae and learn about the Maori culture,” Mr Tahal says.

He was surprised to learn of a linguistic connection between India's ancient language, Sanskrit, and te reo Maori, with words like mana having a similar meaning.

TangataWhenua.com strongly supports this suggestion as Maori are in a unique position to welcome new migrants and help them develop their own understandings of Maori culture instead of being swayed by mainstream (and often stereotypical views) of Maori. A case in point happened several years ago when Nikolasa and I were enjoying a meal with some Korean friends who were studying in Rotorua and living in a homestay. The homestay Mum of one of our friends called to check in and reminded him to watch out for "those Maoris", which at the time confused and embarrassed our friend because his experiences with Maori were very different (i.e. very positive) from those he was being warned about, had he not had those positive personal experiences he may have allowed those negative stereotypes to sway and alter his views of Maori...

By welcoming new migrants Maori have the power to create and develop relationships with our manuhiri on our own terms and more importantly build solid and long lasting friendships... If you would like to work with Mr Manoj Tahal in developing this suggestion further please feel free to contact him at m.tahal@xtra.co.nz or call 021 564 757.

Kia ora to Waatea News for this panui.

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The Rotorua coroner this week heard four cases of sudden infant death from bed sharing including one where a mother of four, who had bed shared all her children accidently smothered her 1-month old... Pauline Hopa, the national operations manager of Maori SIDs (which has a great website), says it highlighted the dangers of bed sharing, so it is timely that these beautiful wahakura are being promoted.

Last year in January (issue 1) we featured a piece on Dr Tipene-Leach who was integral to the reintroduction of the Wahakura Project in Gisborne, a project which promoted "the use of woven flax bassinets for newborns to reduce the high SIDS risk associated with bed sharing with the mother".

The project is getting a boost later this month when master weavers at a raranga noho (weaving hui) at Tapu-i-Hikitia Marae in Gisborne will learn of the benefits of these harakeke (flax) bassinettes.

“We're bringing together master weavers and health promotion people to learn how they can make these waha kura and then take that matauranga back to their rohe and share it as a way of spreading the news about safe sleeping with babies and using this traditional method,” Ms Hopa says.

A majority of the 60 or so cot deaths in New Zealand each year are Maori babies. Download this PDF for more information about the wahakura and the wananga.

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It was thirty years ago when protesters faced off with 700 police, army, navy and the government over plans to develop Ngati Whatua ancestral land at Bastion Point. This month on May 25, 2008 the protagonists will again meet to mark the 30th anniversary of that day in 1978 when 222 people were arrested in a massive show of force that has been called a defining moment in New Zealand history.

Leader of the 1977 protest, Joe Hawke, has never regretted the decision to occupy the land to stop the government from building high-rise housing at Bastion Point.

"I went onto the Point, not to invite an arrest, but to arrest a wrong, and 30 years on, all of Ngati Whatua are benefiting from that stand", he said.

He will be part of the events being planned for May 25 to commemorate that struggle, foster reconciliation and re-affirm Ngati Whatua's footprint on the land in Auckland, including a Remembrance and Reconciliation Ceremony being hosted at Orakei Marae, led by former Governor-General Sir Paul Reeves.

Bastion Point events organizer Alec Hawke says the ceremony at the Marae will be open to all interested parties and especially those that played a part in the Bastion Point story.

"We hope to bring together those that were arrested, representatives of the Police, the Army and Government members of all parties, as well as many prominent Maori, Pakeha, and Pacific Islanders who played a role in supporting the Bastion Point occupation. For Ngati Whatua o Orakei it will be a re-dedication of our ties to the land in Tamaki-Makarau, a positive message of our successes and our place in Auckland today", he said.

Leading up to that day there will be series of events around the city to mark the anniversary. The Auckland City Library is hosting a two week display of archive materials such as posters, photographs and other material related to the Bastion Point occupation. Several prominent photographers who documented the occupation and eviction from Bastion Point are contributing their works from their private collections.

There will also be a series of podcast lectures through MANU AO network of Maori academics, hosted by the University of Auckland, beginning with a panel discussion on Thursday, May 22. On May 23, there will be an Indigenous roundtable discussion at the Marae to discuss and compare experiences on Indigenous participation in protected land management in Australia and New Zealand. Maori Television is playing a 2-hour tribute on May 25th from 9pm -11pm.

For more information contact, Alec Hawke, 09 528 6747, bastionpoint@gmail.com.

Bastion Point Events: 

May 19 to May 30: Bastion Point: The Exhibition - 30 Years On
Heritage Floor - Level 2 , Auckland Central Library
A tribute to those that demonstrated their concerns with passion for the acknowledgement of rights and entitlements to Takaparawhau (Bastion Point).  

The theme of the exhibition will be highlighted with ephemera, documents, photographs, literature and newspaper publications. Many display pieces will be from private collections kindly provided by individuals present at the eviction and re-occupation.

Remembrance and Reconciliation Ceremony 10am Sunday 25th May
Orakei Marae
A ceremony at Orakei Marae to bring together those that were arrested, representatives of the Police, the Army and Government members of all parties, as well as many prominent Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Islanders who played a role in the Bastion Point. Public is also welcome.

• 10am - Powhiri
• 11am - Remembrance & Reconciliation Ceremony
• 12am – Whenua walk to Memorial
• 1-30pm – Hakari

University Lecture Series
University of Auckland
A public forum at Waipapa Marae, University of Auckland, on Wednesday, May 22st followed by a podcast lecture through MANU AO network of Maori academics on June 18th featuring Professor David Williams, university lecturer and former Bastion Point protester.

Indigenous Round Table Discussion Friday, May 23rd
Orakei Marae
Hosted by Ngarimu Blair, Heritage Environment Manager, Ngati Whatua o Orakei, bringing together indigenous people from other countries, this event will focus on parks and land management, and will include a presentation on the Bastion Point land occupation.

Maori Television
Maori Television is playing a 2-hour tribute on May 25 th from 9pm -11pm.

Click here for original TV footage.

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Our dedicated whanau at Taki Rua Productions performed the play Strange Resting Places at Hamilton's Clarence St Theatre this week. The play is a funny, yet moving, portrayal of the experiences of the Maori Battalion in Italy in World War II and explores some of the similarities in Maori and Italian culture. Waikato Times photographer, Iain McGregor caught some of the play's highights. Click on the link below for his audio slideshow.

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Last issue, we mentioned that TangataWhenua.com and Rangikainga were an international phenomenon. Just to prove that, we received an email that was sent via London from some of the whanau in Guernsey, the Channel Islands!! We had to reach for the Atlas on that one and yes whanau, we are now being read in the warm waters of north France. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa!!

Now, they have asked that we highlight these YouTube vids of Te Rerenga o Nga Wairua aka Cape Reinga, as the Government develops the Cape with a $14.5M Tourist centre, to encourage more tourists to the north of NZ. We had a chance to go up there for the first time and it was amazing, will definitely go up again once the development is complete.

• Video 1
• Video 2

And you can view a homepage for Ngati Kuri here. Many thanks to Rozita dei Leoni and whanau for the panui and for highlighting these vids.

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You might be forgiven for thinking Aotearoa has followed you, even though you're thousands of Ks away in London.

Artist Shona Moller (who affiliates to Ngai Tahu on her father's side) has renamed locations on the famous London Tube map to Maori place names, as "... a social commentary on the Anglicisation of New Zealand and the imposition of one culture upon another".

She has turned Canary Wharf into Paeroa, Leicester Square is now Taupo, Waterloo has become Tirau and Bond St is renamed Taihape.

If you have the good fortune to see this three week solo exhibition, could you please take a few photos and send them through. Awesome effort Shona.

Geothermal, long considered the "Sleeping Beauty" of sustainable energy, is now showing clear signs of waking up. Might River Power plans to spend US$353 million on the geothermal development proposed at Rotokawa, north of Taupo. The development would be the second power station at Rotokawa and, with 132 MW of generating capacity, would be the second largest geothermal station in the country.

Mighty River Power and Tauhara North No. 2 Trust, through the Nga Awa Purua Joint Venture, in March signed an engineering procurement contract with Japan's Sumitomo Corp. for construction of the power station. Work is scheduled to begin around May 1 and take approximately two years to complete construction is expected to commence on 1 May 2008 and take approximately 2 years to complete and commission. A workforce of up to 450 will be on site during its construction. Mighty River Power hold 75 percent in the Nga Awa Purua Joint Venture; Tauhara North No. 2 Trust holds the remaining 25 percent.

The proposed development is part of a significant geothermal expansion program being undertaken by Mighty River Power in conjunction with its Maori partners and includes three other geothermal sites at Mokai, Kawerau and Nga Tamariki.

Click here for a background on Geothermal Resources among Waikato Maori. Click here for a presentation by Tania Simpson on Opportunities for Maori in the Business of Sustainable Energy.

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The future of cultural tourism looks bright with the recent launch of a Maori Regional Tourism Organisation (MRTO), Tai Rawhiti Ventures. Tai Rawhiti Ventures will help provide an active opportunities and engagement within the tourism sector and across the community.

Maori operators are in a unique position to take advantadge of the Maori edge which TPK recently reported on in their discussion paper, Te Wa O Te Ao Hurihuri Ki Te Ohanga Whanaketanga Maori - A Time For Change in Maori Economic Development.

"There are increasing opportunities for Maori tourism, especially with the focus on a ‘home grown' brand, where visitors get a genuine experience providing a unique point of difference, not on offer anywhere else." Ms Mahuta went on to say.

A recent 'sector profile' on Maori Tourism released by the Ministry of Tourism, estimates that almost 600,000 tourists visited a Maori cultural tourism experience in 2006. That same profile tells us that visitors tend to go to Rotorua, Northland, Auckland and Wellington for that experience.

"Businesses like Tai Rawhiti Ventures can add to Maori Cultural tourism and encourage visitors to go "off the beaten track" to experience something a little different. "It's really important for Maori tourism operators in Te Tairawhiti to package their products in a way that really highlights the region, its culture and rich diverse experiences," said Nanaia Mahuta.

	E hoa ma, please let your friends and whanau know that there is an election coming up this year! The enrolment drive has now begun and figures released by the electoral Enrolment Centre suggest that more than half of people aged between 18-24 along with Pacific Islanders were unaware that an election was coming up. Click here to download the research paper which outlines these statistics. Fifty-five percent of Pacific people, 53 percent of young people, 45 percent of Asian people and 41 percent of Maori don't know it's an election year. Electoral Enrolment Centre national manager Murray Wicks said there were a number of reasons why awareness of the election was low among some groups. New immigrants may lack understanding of the system, and other groups may be too busy, uninterested or disillusioned about the political process, he said. One suggestion put forward by Auckland electoral registar and outreach coordinator Sharon Reece was that many communities felt no connection with government on a personal level and didn't realise how important their opinion was. Currently an estimated 237,000 people are not enrolled. A total of 2.862 million people, or 92.35 percent of the estimated eligible population, are enrolled. Sadly, Maori represent a disproportionate number of those not enrolled so please whanau, get the word out to everyone, enrol now! The drive to get everyone enrolled begins this week. If you are eligible to vote an enrolment update pack will be sent to you, if this pack does not arrive by the end of this week you will need to enrol. To enrol, visit a PostShop and fill out a form, free-text your name and address to 3637 or free-call 0800 ENROLNOW (0800-367-656). You can also enrol online by clicking here. The Act Party has stated its intent to stand candidates in the seven Maori seats in the election, despite its policy to abolish the seats. It has not contested the Maori electorates since the 1999 general election, but party leader Rodney Hide says it wants to reach out to as many voters as possible. He says Act has always been upfront about its policies, including the abolition of the Maori seats and opposition to Treaty of Waitangi settlements. Mr Hide says it has made the decision to stand in the seats, in principle, and now has to find suitable candidates. Cabinet minister Shane Jones is accusing the Act and Maori parties of conspiring to secure more votes. He says Act will try to harvest the party vote, while promoting the Maori Party candidates in the seats. The Maori and Act parties have rejected these claims as ridiculous. Kia ora to Radio NZ for this panui. Yvonne Tahana of the Waikato Times recently reported that constitutional reform is now on the agenda of the Kingitanga which is now seeking to lead discussions among iwi on challenges and opportunities which a constitution will bring. It has been suggested that if these issues are raised we will get a glimpse of what the 150-year-old movement stands for under its new leader King Tuheitia. Tainui executive chairman Tuku Morgan said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's support of moving towards a republic had prompted the Kingitanga to consider what a change, if it happened in this country, would mean for Maori. If New Zealand decided to explore that option, Maori shouldn't be caught flat-footed, he said. "For that reason we need to begin now to build a constitution that better reflects what we want and not be an afterthought if the country goes down that track." We at TangataWhenua.com agree wholeheartedly and discussed this topic in Issue 2, 2007. Mr Morgan went on to state that constitutional discussion was one way to ensure that the Kingitanga movement remained relevant. Ms Tahana suggested that "so far, aside from outlining education as a platform, the movement's spokespeople for King Tuheitia have not articulated what the future direction is now." Mr Morgan responded suggesting that this was a fair criticism and stating that "Maori have to unite on key issues. Clearly what we don't want to get to, is a movement that can't move. The Kingitanga has to be adept and skilful at moving with the times. We were pleased to see an article in the Calgary Herald which asked, "can Maori provide lessons for Canadian aboriginals"? In it Barry Cooper, professor of political science at the University of Calgary suggests that in terms of public policy there are some key lessons that can be transferred. A United Nations "human development index" was modified to compare the well-being of Canadian aboriginals with those in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. The study showed that in terms of life expectancy, health and educational achievement Canadian natives, despite contrary claims of aboriginal leaders, are much better off than they were in 1990. The interesting comparison, however, was with the much greater improvement, especially in terms of income, experienced by the Maori population here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Cooper argued that are several key contrasts, in particular, Maori constitute a more homogeneous population than Canadian aboriginals, with the most important difference being Maori are not recipients of dependency-inducing annual handouts. In terms of settlements, iwi get a one-time lump-sum payment that is typically used as a revenue producing investment. Because the Maori do not live on reserves they are integrated into the New Zealand economy. Indeed, Maori tax contributions exceed fiscal transfers to them and the Maori economy is more productive than the national economy. Economic self-sufficiency has increased cultural pride and enables Maori to assert their own culture rather than have government bureaucrats and the chiefly hired help do it for them. Close to 20% of MPs in Parliament are Maori. The chief conclusion which was drawn from this comparison was that reserves were the major source of the problem of impoverished Canadian aboriginals. Although the were undoubtedly problems for Indians who lived off-reserve, for most it is the only way they can become part of the Canadian economy and escape the "well attested problems of corruption, nepotism and factionalism of reserve life as well as the individual problems of alcoholism, domestic abuse, and suicide". If the best way of escaping the limitations of reserve life is to leave, no wonder more than half of Canadian natives now live off-reserve. Copper concludes that there is no reason why aboriginal people living in Canada should not follow the lead of Maori. So what are your thoughts e hoa ma, what are your experiences in Canada and among that country's First Nations People? Do reservations prevent and stall development, do annual payments create dependency and what is the link between economic prosperity and cultural pride? Email us your thoughts and we'll publish them in next issue's panui.

Taiwan is a top mandarin language training destination and we have a large international student community. Although applications for the Taiwan scholarships have already closed for this year (31 March each year) but it is not too early for students to start planning their studies for next year. The organisation would be very happy to answer any questions. Please contact Iris Lai at 04 473 6474 or email Iris.

Maori students are also encouraged to apply for the Huayu Scholarship for Mandarin language training. The Huayu Scholarship could be utilised in a number of ways. For example, as a stepping stone to the full Taiwan Scholarship or as an opportunity for the student to add a valuable language skill to their portfolio. Graduate students and lecturers who would like to take some time off to pursue a short training programme in Mandarin are also very welcome to apply. It might also be possible, depending on academic interests, to place postgraduate students/lecturers on sabbatical with or near an institution which might facilitate their research interests.

The Huayu scholarship (NT$25,000 a month) should be able to cover the course fees, insurance and basic living costs in Taiwan. The length of the scholarship is for up to 12 months. 6 month Mandarin language training courses are also available which means that the scholarship can be split between two students. For this year only, the deadline for applications for the Huyuan Scholarship has been extended to the end of May. At the same time students should make direct application to the preferred Mandarin language training school for entry so that permission can be secured by the end of June. Travel and other expenses will need to be met by the student.

All enquiries or applications should be sent to the following address: Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, P O Box 10-250, The Terrace, Wellington, with attention to Ms Iris Lai.

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The overall theme of the conference is Building Critical Mass. The double play on 'critical' and 'mass' signals that the network is about interrogating structured and institutionalised injustice and moving to the point where there is sufficient Maori social science capability to serve the needs of positive Maori development.

If are a current Maori student, you are welcome to attend the Conference. It is free for all students, but you must register online www.mass.org.nz. You are also entitled to access funds to help with travel costs if you're enrolled at an institution outside of Wellington. Please email Acushla O'Carroll for more information. Whanau, please forward this email to your network of Maori students.