Posts Tagged ‘Mark Revington’

Kā Manukura O Te Reo
A Force of Nature

“The only way our language will survive is by normalising it in everyday life. If you won’t let me speak to you in Māori in the supermarket, you are never going to normalise it, and when your kids want to learn Māori, they are going to have to learn from me because you can’t and I don’t have time for that.”

Stories were waiting to be told

This is a big day for Bubba Thompson (Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa) from Te Rau Aroha Marae. Today he will present four story books to the school children. The books tell stories which are also told in the whakairo at the marae. Stories of Ngāi Tahu tūpuna unique to this area.

Reviews
Books

There’s a chapter for every object, written by historians, archivists, curators, and Māori scholars. They look into the “lives” of treasured family possessions such as family diaries, a cherished kahu kiwi, a music album, Katherine Mansfield’s hei tiki, a stamp collection, and of course, those fabulous tāniko slippers.

From the editor

Take a close look at the photo on the cover of this issue. The wahine toa challenging the Minister of the Crown as he bends down to pick up the taki. That scenario hasn’t been seen for hundreds of years, if ever.

Drip feed

Any starting point for a discussion on water has to be the health and well-being of waterways, says Kaiwhakahaere Tā Mark Solomon. And any discussion on water should also include people and their relationship with water.

His comments come after a series of hui held by the Iwi Leaders Group to advise iwi on discussions with the Crown to address iwi rights and interests in fresh water.

Wahine toa

As Te Amo Tamainu challenged the Crown at Arahura Marae, she felt her ancestors with her and her family, in the shape of her father Jerry, behind her.

The Ninth Tree

How important is mahinga kai to Ngāi Tahu? Consider this. When the Smith Nairn Commission sat in 1879-81 to hear evidence that the Crown had not kept its bargain with Ngāi Tahu, a total of 1712 mahinga kai sites in Canterbury and Otago were identified by H.K Taiarioa and Hoani Korehu Kahu for the commission.

Reviews
Books

The journey features 414 pages of photos and images interspersed with text from Muru, Robin, or Sam Walters – the three authors. Bishop Muru Walters is an Anglican Minister, master carver, and former Māori All Black. His son Robin and daughter-in-law Sam are both photographers. Each recites a story from a whānau view with thoughts, discoveries, musings, and impressions from their travels over three years.

Keeping the well filled

Louise Pōtiki Bryant (Kāi Tahu – Kāti Taoka) is invariably described as one of New Zealand’s most exciting Māori choreographers. Her biography describes her as a choreographer, dancer, and video artist. Since graduating from the Unitec Department of Performing and Screen Arts with a degree majoring in Contemporary Dance, she has amassed an astonishing body of work.

The art of weaving

The first arrivals in Aotearoa found a climate much cooler than the one they had left behind in Te Ao Tawhito, or the old world. The new arrivals needed to adapt and create clothes and tools from the new plants they found here.