I'm reading Redemption Songs

As I've mentioned i am a voracious reader but I've had a bit of an issue with the library and haven't been getting books out. It has meant that I've been able to re-read some books – which has been great. But i was ready for a new really good read. First i had to sort the library issue out. And the issue was that I usually take out 9 or so books at a time. I had forgotton to return them on time and had accumulated overdue fines of $120 – and I didn't want to pay it. Eventually I went and and had a lovely chat with a librarian – we sorted it out (halved the fine) and I was able to get some books out.

The book I am reading is, “Redemption Songs – A life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki”. I chose this book because of the internet. A blog called Reading the Maps had a list of great NZ books and this was number one. I hadn't read it before – I know it seems remarkable – it does to me too, but I hadn't even know the book existed – let alone the contents. I tend to believe in fate and that I have come across this book at exactly the right time for me. I'm 50 pages in and then I remember something interesting.

I once attended a Ngai Tahu meeting and during the discussions a lament was made that it was difficult to tell our stories. A Wahine toa spoke and said that she used whatever was at hand, be it a superman doll or whatever and used them to tell the stories for her tamariki. The point was that we just have to use what we have got in front of us. Yes we always try for more but what we have is enough to do something, to keep moving forward.

So I'm going to start the book again and read out loud all of the interwoven maori. This is my way of trying to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. I'm using what is at hand. It is also my way of marking respect, to the subject and to apoligise for my lack of knowledge. It's a personal thing. But the real advantage is the change in my consciousness as I read the book. I believe that intent creates mauri. How do we learn? Maori traditionally have learned orally. The spoken word has power. Speaking out loud is powerful. How are our stories and legends passed down now? We don't really have the opportunities to get together to korero; the western based society that has been created here dissuades it. But stories are so enriching. My brother is a great storyteller, he is funny and you become immersed in the story, reacting as each event occurs. It times gone past he would have told our Ngai Tahu whanui stories. Our history, our heroes, our journeys, our legends. In future times he might very well do that. I don't know if we give enough respect and kudos to our storytellers within our Ngai Tahu whanui.

I'm not going to write a review of the book – I think that would be a bit persumpuous for the book of the year 1996, but i will write about the insights I get from the book.

I feel like Witi Ihimaera who wrote in a review in the Listener, 1995 that, “I had Redemption Songs in the house for seven days before I had the courage to read it. I circled it warily, watching the way the sunlight glowed on the cover and the moonlight surrounded it with a halo. It was only when i saw the rainbow on the eighth morning that I decided the time was propitious.”

Book Review - Ranginui Walker - Mata Toa

This is an interesting subject matter and “The life and times” is also an accurate title. The book describes many of the events, from the 1970's to now, that have created and developed the debates, and shaped the relationship, between maori and pakeha and thus our country. This foundation has facilitated deeper discussions and strengthened tino rangatiratanga for maori. As stated within the text:

“'Walker has been participant, commentator and observer in the renegotiation of Maori-Pakeha/state relations.”and “Walker represents a particular generation that sought to re-establish the mana of Maori in New Zealand.”

I found the history contained within the pages to be very interesting and a timely reminder of how much has been achieved for maori emancipation, over such a short period of time. The events are covered relatively sparingly but few are missed. It feels a bit like a skipping stone, hitting the water and skimming off onto the next important event. Never delving too deep into the event itself, but rather recording it, and moving on. This may be too harsh because there are a lot of events to cover. It has reinvigorated my interest in these events, I want to, and will, read and learn more.

“Publicly Walker was on a mission to confront the racism – minor and major, historical and contemporary – that he saw as limiting the equal participation of Maori.”

This is an important point for me. I also believe that we must confront all racism publicly, and I also agree that such racism limits the equal participation of maori. Much of this racism is covert and insidious; disguised in cloaks of respectability. Sometimes the cloak slips and it becomes a lot more obvious. Examples are all around us, whether it be the Foreshore and Seabed Act, or the digging up of tupuna to extend Auckland Runway. It is happening and it needs to be exposed for what it is. Ranginui Walker confronted most of the examples of racism that occurred since the 1970’s. He was not afraid of telling the truth, from a maori/indigenous perspective. He confronted head-on, as a warrior, the overt and covert aspects of racism and colonization.

If we do nothing, this racism works its way into cultural memes until they become the truth for some people. And examples of that abound, from, “maori weren't the first people here”, to the Moriori mythology. Recently there has been an upsurge in the proposition that the celts were here first and taught the maori everything before the maori turned on the celts and killed them all. Under this train of thought, all of the maori language and culture is actually celtic in origin. People actually believe this! And they tell others and before you know it, it becomes accepted.

"His legacy is most obvious in contributing to a more enlightened approach to colonial history and the position of tangata whenua. From that, he has seen and been part of – changes to resource ownership, political and constitutional rights, the delivery of government services and the mana of maori. Our national self-consciousness has been challenged and has changed as a result.”

To be part of the debate is one thing; to commentate and offer insights that effect actual change, is a whole higher level of contribution. Ranginui Walker is an intellectual, an academic. He comes from an authoritarian, conservative background. He was raised for his first few years as an only child, in a maori environment. Whilst he subsequently forgot much of that learning when he began interacting with general society, he in later years, re-learnt and reconnected with all aspects of his maoritanga.

Part of the gift of humanity is our diversity. We can appreciate and respect unique aspects of others, and value the contribution each individual voice makes. I value Ranginui Walker’s unique voice, it is a different voice to mine, and to everyone else's, but his is a voice of mana.

There is no doubt that this man has contributed much to Maori and this country in general. He has had his critics over the years, some of them have felt that he was too strong in his words, and others have found him too accommodating. His voice resonates with me. I agree with nearly everything he says.

In terms of his legacy, nothing more need be said. The eyes of the warrior!

One of the aspects of the book I found frustrating was that I got a lot of information about what happened but not so much about why. What was going through Ranginui's mind during these events, what was his motivation, why did things happen the way they did. Perhaps I've been spoiled by recently reading Enstein’s biography which was just so good.

I felt I didn't really learn much about the man himself. Perhaps that's not too surprising considering how reserved and private he is. He is not a person who seeks the limelight, he prefers to work studiously in the background. But as is often the case, he was thrust into a public role and has fulfilled that function admirably for many years.

The book is well written and a credit to the author and subject but, for me, it is dry. I prefer more juice of personality.

I recommend the book and I will be looking through it often, not just to remind me of what a contribution one man can make to the betterment of his people and his country, but also to check on the order and events of our recent history.

“…the story of Ranginui Walker is as much a story of a country as it struggled, and partially succeeded, in more adequately recognising the rights of Maori as the indigenous people of Aotearoa”

Good writing here

Sometimes good writing just has to be commended.

This first piece by Chris Trotter is awesome. I won't give it away but it is well crafted and delivers a real kick. Which I happen to disagree with.

The second is from Jeremy Clarkson the outspoken host of that car show. He is very witty, and amazingly I agree with him. We must get serious about alternative energy cars and we must really consider the true cost of producing a car rather than just look at fuel economy.

Enjoy

Sorry Mohammed, you're too brown!

"Award-winning author Mohammed Hanif has accused New Zealand immigration officials of racism after he was detained for three hours on the way to receive his Commonwealth Writers first book prize."

Many may look at this story and say that this is rubbish it is not racism because the hunt is still on for terrorists and they just happen to be swarthy brown types, so it makes sense to check those people out even more than others.

The sad fact is that it is racism. All brown people are not terrorists. Differenciating people based upon the colour of their skin is racist and also dumb. Just think, if you were a terrorist and you knew the profile of terrorists that the governments were looking for, it would make sense to look the oppostite of the profile, wouldn't it? So, by having a set profile you actually increase the likelihood of an attack not lessen it. That is all based upon the supposition that someone is trying to commit a terrorist attack, which i don't believe.

"He believed he was singled out by authorities because he was "brown" and when asked if he considered the delay was due to racism, said "yes".
Searching his luggage was pointless, he said. "They're not going to find terrorists by going through their underwear."

Officials did not seem to listen when he told them he was in New Zealand for Auckland's Readers and Writers Festival, he said."

Sorry Mohammed they don't care about your achievements or what a good father you might be - they just care that you are brown... and therefore a threat.

The irony is that this country is BROWN not WHITE. And the sooner we get back to that reality the better we will be, as a country, as people and as a nation.

enstein and maori

I'm reading a great book at the moment: Einstein – His life and universe by Walter Isaacson.

I am filled with awe when I think about Einstein. He created a paradigm shift in the way we think about the universe, and he did it through 'thought experiments'. Thought experiments allow the experimenter to create realms that are impossible, so that they can consider the companents of that realm, to learn fundamental truths which help them understand the world. In Enstein's case his first thought experiment was to imagine an observer moving beside a beam of light, at the same speed as the light. What would they observe?

We conduct mini thought experiements every day as we daydream, and contemplate, and imagine the future. They are a worthwhile activity and they help us create the world we want to live in.

For maori it is even more worthwhile – it brings hope. Many of my day dreams are around imagining this country with maori receiving their rightful mana and status and governing for the benefit of all. Working with the greens to create a land where kaitiakitanga is foremost.

In the book about Enstein, Banesh Hoffman says about Enstein that, “His early suspicion of authority, which never left him, was to prove of decisive importance. Without it he would not have been able to develop the powerful independence of mind that gave him the courage to challenge established scientific beliefs and thereby revolutionize physics.”

We also need a powerful independence of mind and courage to challenge the established disrespect given to role of maori and thereby revolutionize this country. Some people are frightened by this but it is inclusive not exclusive. By righting the wrong of colonisation and giving maori their country back will create an actual country that we can be proud of. Filled with all peoples. Build on the right principles with a foundation that goes back forever.

And I too, have a suspicion of authority. I don't like to be told what to do or think. I resist that. When people try to get me to think a certain way, I always wonder why they are trying to get me to think that way. This attribute is especially active while reading the newspaper and surfing the net.

I'm only about 100 pages in to the Enstein book but I am really enjoying it. My final thought is another quote from Enstein, “It is a glorious feeling to discover the unity of a set of phenomena that seem at first to be completely separate.”

A lot of our minds work like that. For me this blog is an expression of that concept. All of the posts are interconnected, as are we all, but we are also, all seperate. I try to find connection between apparent seperate phenomena and unify them.

Underneath it all, that connection is there.

Hidden gems in Te Karaka

An area of Te Karaka magazine that I really enjoy is the book reviews. It's great to read the views of the reviewers and awesome to see the range of books that they cover.

This month the following titles were reviewed:

Ratana The Prophet and Ratana Revisited

An Unfinished Legacy, 100 Years Of Maori Rugby League 1908 - 2008

The Matriarch

The Beating Heart: A Political And Socio-Economic History of Te Arawa

He Pataka Kupu.

That is an impressive selection! I read widely and alot and I like hearing other viewpoints.

So well done to the Te Karaka team and all of the reviewers: Donald Couch, Arapata Reuben, Karen Meihana, Dave Brennan, Eruera Tarena and Lisa Reedy-Jennings for the CD review of Nesian Mystik.