Ward Kamo Archives - Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

He Whakaaro
Media Revolution

The rumblings of a potential revolution in our media landscape have occurred with Stuff – the publisher of The Dominion Post, Taranaki Daily News, The Press, and a number of other regional newspapers – opening its online news coverage today (November 30 2020) with the headline: “Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono: Over three centuries we’ve failed to represent Māori fairly.” Stuff then issued a formal apology to Māori titled: “Nō mātou te hē: We are sorry.” And promised to rebuild trust by saying it was adopting: “… a multicultural lens to better represent Māori and all people of Aotearoa, supported by Treaty of Waitangi principles.”

He Whakaaro
When a Fortnite feels like six weeks

I’ve just found out we are going into full-on lockdown. I managed to get back from the Chatham Islands in time and I’m pumped. I have a lockdown plan that will be the envy of all parents. My kids will be better taught, better trained, just all-round better people under my home learning regime. Four weeks they say. It’ll be a breeze – or so I thought.

He Whakaaro
Material hardship – whose responsibility is it?

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch”, they say. And yet, with the stroke of a pen, “free” lunches are being offered to over 7000 students in 31 schools nationwide. By 2021 the number of schools will rise to 120, with more than 21,000 students serviced.
Well the saying isn’t wrong – there are no free lunches – someone always pays. But more on that later.

He Whakaaro
Tragedy strikes Samoa

A sombre centenary is being marked in Samoa presently as the small Pacific country grapples with the enormity of the measles epidemic sweeping its shores. It’s just over 100 years since the island trader steamship Talune docked in Apia, with six seriously ill passengers who came ashore, bringing with them influenza. Within a week the flu had spread through Upolu and over to Savai’i, and consequently 8,500 Samoan people died – around one-fifth of the population.

He Whakaaro
Oranga Tamariki – Not one more baby?

Not a week after Māoridom erupted over the harrowing images of a baby being uplifted from its mother in Napier earlier this year, another baby was killed in his home. This murdered baby was one of six children – the other five had previously been uplifted by Oranga Tamariki. Some rangatira have been quick to criticise the Oranga Tamariki uplifts with cries of “Not one more baby”.

He Whakaaro
“Hello, brother”

On Friday 15 March 2019 Haji-Daoud Nabi stood at the door of the Al Noor mosque and welcomed his killer with the words, “Hello, brother.” These two words of faith, of welcome, and of fellowship are the light of hope that shone brightly that dark day. There was no anger in the voice of Haji-Daoud Nabi, who would be killed for his faith. There was no aggression. There were just two gentle words of welcome that will reverberate throughout our history.

Māori parliamentary seats – is their time up?

So – are we approaching time up on the Māori seats? I ask this question in light of the efforts of our whanaunga Rino Tirikatene to enshrine in law something precious to us for over 150 years – the Māori seats.

Breaking free from victimhood

Could it be that we have become so defined by our past that the more things improve, the harder we cling to an abstract sense of oppression? Any statistic, even an improving one, that has Māori behind Pākehā is immediately cited as evidence of the inherent and unashamed racism of
New Zealanders

Māori Victims of Crime – an alternative viewpoint

Sometimes it’s hard to even think about crime. Especially when a violent crime is committed by Māori. It can unleash feelings of anger and sadness because it evokes realities that can be shocking in their brutality. And it’s always hard because most of the victims of offending by Māori are other Māori; often women or children hurt by a violent partner or family member.

Māori victims of crime

A lack of education, poor life, financial and social skills, hand-in-hand with poor parenting, are at the root of crime. The solutions involve support to the parents of at-risk kids. We must ruthlessly address these issues early, and, as whānau, demand the resources to keep these kids at school, and even, if necessary, to keep their parents away from them.

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