It’s been a challenging year with many of the things I hold dear under serious threat from the current government, and internationally. Not least among these is the status of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
A couple of years ago, Cushla and Finn began to explore their whakapapa – Ngāpuhi nui tonu – leaving me as the only white honkey in the whare. I’m so proud of both of them, so much so that I invoke the iconic ‘ritual abuse’.
So, what is this ‘ritual abuse’?
Back in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s I had the privilege of working with a wonderful group of theatre practitioners. We staged classical shows – outdoor Shakespeare’s (‘Hamlet’, ‘As You Like It’, ‘Macbeth’, indoors ‘The Seagull’, The Maids’, ‘The Country Wife’, ‘A Doll’s House’, ‘A Winter’s Tale’ and new, exciting, and innovative works ‘Secundus’, ‘We Cry’, ‘Zachustra’, and ‘The Pearl of York’. My perverse sense of humour meant that notes sessions saw performances ripped to pieces as wittily as I could. No-one who knew me took the brutalizing seriously because they knew I gave my serious notes privately or during actual rehearsals. Production week, technical, and dress rehearsals were sacrosanct. A new actor joined the team and copped an amusing savaging which the team really enjoyed. Afterwards one of her mates said, ‘well done’ and gave her a hug. The actor said, ‘how can you say that Lexie hates my work’ to which the old hand said, ‘not at all, what you’ve had is the “ritual abuse”. It’s what you get when she happy or impressed. It’s her bizarre way of welcoming you to the team. If she says nothing, that’s when you have to worry.’
My much-loved Ngāpuhi whanau simply get told that, while I’m happy for them, I’d have rather their whakapapa had been to Ngāi Tūhoe, or Ngāi Tahu but you can’t have everything, to which there is much quiet eyerolling, side-eye, and I am subsequently ignored for the duration.
They know me too well, and I love them to bits.
Cushla and I have undertaken study with Te Wananga o Aotearoa and we’re both pretty keen to up our game with regard to our knowledge of Te Ao Māori and the beautiful language. It’s home-based learning and there are a range of free courses that we can take as individuals and from the comfort of our own whare which suits me down to the ground. It was Cushla’s initiative, so I’ve always been a paper behind her, but I’ve caught up now as we’ve graduated with the ‘He Papa Tikanga’ certificate, our first.
We’ve both enrolled in the next module ‘He Tikanga Whakaaro’ and I can’t wait to get started.
To support me in my study, and for political and moral reasons, I watched all of the Hui a Mōtu at Turangawaewae called by the late Kiingi Tūheitia. This was followed by my watching everything from Waitangi on Waitangi Day, everything from Rātana, all the coverage from the Koroneihana, from the tangi of Kiingi Tūheitia, and the coronation of Kuini Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō.
That’s a lot of te reo and I cherished every moment.
We took part in the Tāmaki Makaurau section of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti which was immensely satisfying as we joined the rest of the country – alongside many treasured friends – in sending a wonderful ‘up yours’ to our racist coalition government.
We have all made submissions to the divisive Treaty Principles Bill and can’t wait for it to sink without trace, but there’s still a heap of work to do.
dykiegirl 