Junior officials rush to judgment on custom

A lawyer for the Marutuahu confederation of tribes says decisions were made about who has rights to make claims in Auckland by officials with no experience or competence in Maori custom and law.

Paul Majurey says last week's Waitangi Tribunal hearing into the proposed settlement with Ngati Whatua o Orakei showed up the settlement process as embarrassingly deficient.

Mr Majurey says other iwi, whose traditional links to Tamaki Makaurau are widely known and understood in the Maori world, finally found out why they could get no satisfaction or explanation from the Office of Treaty Settlements.

“They had an individual who with one ro two years post-university experience was making calls on custom. He was saying ‘I think this tribe’s in and that tribe’s out.’ Well, that’s just pathetic and completely disregarding our interests and would never happen in a proper Waitangi Tribunal process,” Mr Majurey says,

Marutuahu and other tribes want Ngati Whatua's agreement in principal set aside so a comprehensive Auckland settlement can be developed.

DOLE QUEUES SHORTENING ON EAST COAST

The Ministry of Social Development's East Coast commissioner says the future is looking good for Maori employment.

Lindsay Scott says in a region with traditionally high rates of Maori joblessness, the number of people on the dole has dropped 57 percent in the past five years.

Mr Scott says while the region has a lot of seasonal employment, the changes are coming in permanent work.

“Looking out in the longer term there are some good indicators that more sustainable jobs are coming on stream for Maori people. For example in Gisborne we have got 230 people on modern apprenticeships and 55 of those are in building and construction, and a high proportion of the people on those apprenticeships are Maori people,” Mr Scott says.

STRENGTH OF WATER CASTING

Producers of a film about a young Maori boy and his twin sister living on a chicken farm in the north are scouring the country for new talent.

Shooting for The Strength of Water is due to start in August.

The script was written by Briar Grace-Smith from Ngapuhi and Ngati Wai, who is known for plays like Purapurawhetu, Nga Pou Wahine, and Haruru Mai.

It's been six year in development, including sessions at the Sundance screenwriters workshop in Utah last year.

Grace-Smith says the number of Maori writing, producing and starring in films has grown massively since Once Were Warriors made Tem Morrison and Rena Owen household names, and it's great to see the diversity on show.

“We've seen all kinds of different stories and different images of who we are as Maori on the screen, and we show ourselves in our many colours I guess, so all the old stereotypes we saw way back have all been broken,” Grace-Smith says.

WIND FARMS WEAKENING MAURI OF MAUNGA

A Massey University professor of Maori studies says building more wind turbines on the Tararua Ranges will weaken the mauri or life force of the hills.

Taiarahia Black is supporting an objection by He Kupenga Hao i te Reo Inc to the granting of a resource consent to the Motorimu Wind Farm for 127 turbines on the hills near Palmerston North.

Professor Black says the plan ignores the relationship Maori have with the land.

“It's tapu summit, stood apart, a source of expression of the people, and their point of contact with the sky, and words like mana, mauri, wairua tapu are repositories, a guardian spirit, and the mauri is kept safe and connected to the land, and people in this case today, the mountainous range, te pae maunga o Tararua,” Professor Black says,

The planned farm is close to land where He Kupenga Hao i te Reo plans to build a retreat for people who want to immerse themselves in te reo Maori.

SALVAGE EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY OUTLINED

One of Maoridom's most high-flying academics says drop-outs shouldn't be written off.

Linda Smith, a director of the centre for Maori research excellence Nga Pae O Te Maramatanga, was one of the speakers at a symposium on Maori education in Auckland yesterday.

She says the symposium, From Pupil to Professor, is part of an effort by the Maori academic community to identify ways more Maori can become academic leaders.

Professor Smith says university is different to school, but many Maori don't even get through school.

“Instead of dismissing them we have to think of them as an untapped potential we haven’t reached,. And the role of schooling is to try and reach not just those students who sit in the first two rows of a classroom. We’ve got to reach all out our students and tap their potential so they can go on and achieve, because we know our people can achieve,” Professor Smith says.

HULME DRAW CARD FOR WEAVING TALK

Ngai Tahu author and poet Keri Hulme will be weaving her life into the Eternal Thread exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu next week.

The Booker prizewinner read and talk about her life as a writer, as part of a series of presentations by Maori artists during the show of contemporary and traditional Maori weaving.

Toi Maori general manager Garry Nicholas says Hulme always gives a unique perspective on the arts.

“Been a whitebaiter down there living on the coast, but able to engage in an art form which is literature which takes her throughout the world, so for Maori we understand that, to stay at home, to be very close to your land and the things that are important, but to speak to the world is one of the things we all aspire to,” Mr Nicholas says.