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Greetings to everyone watching.
Today I will tell of my time with the Anglican faith
in contrast with the ancient teachings of my ancestors.
Thank you all.
I acknowledge all of you my ancestors,
Rongomaiwahine, Tama-takutai and Kahungunu.
Tama Te Ariki Nui, Rongokako, Tamatea-Pokai-Whenua and Kahungunu,
I acknowledge you all my ancestors that guard this house, Omio.
I greet you and mourn for you all.
My mother was born in the Te Whanau Apanui region.
She asked my dad,
"Where are you from?" - "Te Mahia."
"I have links there,
"is it a nice area?"
- "Oh yes, it's a beautiful place," my dad told her.
They courted for a bit,
and it wasn't long before they became an item.
They moved back to Te Mahia and had 12 of us.
There were a lot of tohunga (spiritual expert),
but this man was higher in stature.
His name was Te Hongi Mita.
He was a blind man.
There were others as well,
and they would foresee their students beforehand.
Us kids would be sitting in the meeting house.
He came with his stick
and would go like this...
That meant you had to go outside.
The tohunga then pointed and said these were the ones.
There were seven of us who got picked to go outside.
We went behind the meeting house,
and we were taught the incantations.
He would try and find the students that could comprehend.
He would say the words, then one by one
he made each of us repeat what he said.
There wasn't just the one tohunga;
there were many.
Some were masters of medicine, some knew about reading the future,
and some knew how to heal the mind.
Some were elderly ladies.
The skills weren't for everyone, because they were sacred,
which made everything associated with having those skills sacred.
You weren't allowed to eat or wash.
There was a time and place to eat and wash.
You had so many responsibilities once you entered that realm.
The incantations were only for gods to hear.
It's not like that now.
Nowadays they make sure everyone hears.
Those students that didn't listen did not fare well.
I started learning the faith when I was about 10.
By that time the elders had all passed away,
and the world had changed.
By this time, the Mormon
and Anglican Churches were introduced.
The elders were not here to pass on the ancient teachings.
There was a time when my mother
noticed how engrossed I was in my ancient Maori teachings.
She said to me,
"Son, don't forget your father's beliefs."
I asked, "What do you mean?"
"His Anglican faith."
"Really?"
Since then I've gone to and fro between both beliefs.
Now the Anglican Faith is my pathway.
When I was ordained,
I still went to conduct Maori blessings.
I was told never to forget that side was there.
I was also able to conduct Anglican prayers.
The old teachings
have been left behind
when everything was sacred.
Now we are in the new world.
It's very hard these days,
but I miss the old teachings,
because in that realm,
I felt the warmth of my ancestors in the incantations.
Now the world has been Westernised,
you no longer feel the warmth of the old language.
It is so different; very different.
There was a lot of sacredness involved.
I have only just recently understood the meaning of 'tapu'.
Just like the English laws,
this is Maori law as according to our ancestors.
You wouldn't go somewhere dangerous.
If it was unsafe to climb a tree,
they would say it was 'tapu', and you wouldn't climb it.
If they said not to go in the river because it had a monster in it,
you wouldn't go!
This is one of my neighbours.
They are all great.
It reminds me of home where everyone is one family,
no matter what race.
This kind of work gives a sense of well-being.
When your own hands grow it, you can taste its sweetness.
The supermarket food is dull in comparison.
But when you grow it, it tastes all that much better
because your own hands did the work.
My mind is still young,
but the body is rusty!
My elders would often say
there would come a time when you would be reminded
of the body you once had as a youth.
There weren't any raised gardens like this.
you'd be on the ground working a massive field.
We worked hard because we got paid a penny to go and buy lollies.
That was our payment.
You could get so many lollies with one penny.
The females?
The females would wear pants made out of 'Champion' flour sacks!
We would laugh behind their backs and say to each other,
"Look at her pants!
"It's a flour sack, a Champion!"
Then we would pick up a vege,
a potato or such,
take aim and throw it at their backside!
They'd shout and run to tell on us!
The elders would tell us to stop and get back to work
or there would be no food
and no movies afterwards!
We played rugby, hockey, tennis.
When playing rugby, we didn't worry about the ball, just the enemy!
They would run and pass the ball,
then we would smash them, our relations!
The referee would get annoyed and blow his whistle,
"Stop doing that!"
Then the spectators would run on to help.
All the women and the elderly would whack us!
Sometimes the game was called off.
The ref would blow his whistle,
"That's it! I'm sick of you lot fighting!"
We would forget about the ball!
Even while playing hockey against our relations.
When they got closer,
we'd forget about the ball and would just whack their head!
We'd start swinging our sticks like a taiaha!
Forget about playing!
War started!
The spectators would say,
"Oh, here we go again,
"relations against relations!"
At one rugby game,
one of our bigger cousins was playing.
He was about 7ft tall.
It was half time, and we were trying
to come up with a way to take him down
because people were just clearing the way for him to score.
Our captain said to me,
"Bro, you do it."
I said, "Do what?"
He said to me,
"When you see him running towards you,
hit the deck."
"I'll come from here and jump off your back from behind
while you topple him over."
I said, "Really? Are you sure...?"
So we started, and I got ready.
There I was...
I saw that someone had given him the ball...
...and then he came at me!
I hit the ground like this,
then my cousin came around and jumped off my back,
and, head high, took his head off!
After that he was scared!
We won!
After that, whenever he saw us coming,
he'd pass the ball!
The garden is where we would tell funny yarns.
Telling yarns allowed us to have a break.
So we'd kneel and rest for a bit
whilst telling our stories,
and we would see who had the best story.
We would also hear the old women gossiping.
They'd be preparing the kumara for planting,
and our ears would catch what they were saying.
- "My dear?" - "Yes?"
- "Is your man satisfying you?"
- "Oh my goodness, how rude!"
I asked my mother where I was I born.
She told me in the corn field.
- "Really!"
- "Yes. We were weeding the corn fields, and then you came."
So I was named after the movie 'Mad Friday',
and the actor Randolph Scott.
I grew up in Te Mahia around my elders.
When I was almost five years old,
I was given to my nana, Pahemata.
I was adopted out,
and so were all of my siblings.
The elders would come and choose.
There was no problem.
My mum didn't say a thing.
No one opposed it. We were just given.
When I was about eight,
my dad died.
My nana told me he had died
and that we had to go to the funeral.
I saw then I had a whole family!
Brothers, sisters, aunties, cousins -
there were heaps of them.
That's when I wanted to go back.
My nana said it was my decision,
and so I returned.
Now I have raised 22 adopted nieces and nephews.
Welcome, everybody, to my house.
These are my ancestors,
Ihaka Taatu Whaanga.
He was the prominent chief in Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine.
There's Rongomaiwahine.
There is my elder and my tohunga Hongi Mita,
a blind man, but if he heard you,
he would know who you were.
He was also a Ringatu priest.
This lady is Te Haungere,
and these are all my ancestors.
These are some of the elders that raised me.
Come to the other side.
Come in here.
There are some photos of my nana's and my family.
This is my nana, Pahemata.
She raised me as a child.
I was about 5 when she adopted me
and taught me prayers.
She was a 'makutu' lady,
and her guardian was said to be a shark.
She told me its name was Moremore.
That was the name of her Taniwha.
And these are our cloaks and mats.
There are seven cloaks that belong to our family,
and they all represent Rongomaiwahine.
If you go around, you will see all my nieces and nephews.
They are all awesome.
My mother told me to come home and look after our family.
There were 22 that I brought up.
Not all at once, but as the years passed,
I sent them to primary and high school.
This is my best knife,
it's sharp, and you can use it for anything.
It doesn't cut me,
but it's sharp enough to do everything.
I have one knife and one fork!
My elders say there is a spirit in everything,
no matter what.
Inside this potato is a spirit.
This kumara has spiritual essence inside also.
It is the spiritual side!
The main problem is that most people do not feed the soul.
It's like this -
if you had a garden and you didn't water it,
it would waste away, eh!
You are the same.
Anyway, we must strive forward.
We are in the new world, not the Stone Age.
My elders would say that in the beginning
we had the Stone Age, and then the world of light,
then the turning world,
and to me, this is now the striving world.
The old teachings have been and gone,
and now we strive forward.
I've seen that this pathway is the correct path at present.
The difference between the old and new world
is what's in your heart.
The old practices are not present in your heart.
But inside me the two worlds clash.
The old ones tell me to come back to their beliefs,
but I disagree with them,
and they know full well that my grandchildren could suffer.
They know this!
They know this!
What about the children?
And in the end, it's up to me.
It is better that I guide my grandchildren
in the right direction.
So it's hard,
but strengthening yourself with prayer
is one of the main remedies.
Pray all of the time.
We must be strong.
I really hope that
this generation holds fast to their Maori knowledge
as a guide in this world.
It's a principle that's fading away.
That is perhaps the biggest thing for those of us still alive.
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