Hapu claim struggling for hearing

The chair of Nelson's Te Kahui Ngahuru Trust, James Wheeler, hopes tough talking by the United Nations will help towards direct negotiation of its claims.

As part of its four-yearly review of New Zealand’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee urged the government to talk to the trust, rather than wrap it in with a comprehensive top of the South Island settlement.

Mr Wheeler says while the trust is part of the Tainui Taranaki ki te Tonga group, its WAI 56 claims belong to specific families within the hapu.

“We know where every piece of land is. We know what was taken. We know what the mismanagement that happened with the Public Trustee over the decades. We know where the Public Trust took loads of our land and we’re sick of it. We’ve had enough. We should be able to sit down with the government and negotiate our claims, our distinct hapu claims,” Mr Wheeler says.

There are many precedents for the government negotiating direct with hapu, outside the current policy of dealing with what it calls large natural groupings.

CANTERBURY SUBSTANCE ABUSE ADMISSIONS ABOVE NATIONAL

Canterbury District Health Board wants to know why Maori are being admitted its hospitals for drug and alcohol related problems at twice the national average.

The board's first overview of Maori health found there were 108 Maori admissions per 100 thousand for substance problems compared with 45 per 100 thousand nationally.

Hector Matthews, the board's executive director of Maori and Pacific health, says while the total number of people presenting is relatively low, it can affect future provision of services.

“What we will need to do is monitor our admissions and presentations around these instances and if the rate continues to climb we will notice the pressure on our mental health services and particularly on our kaupapa Maori providers out in the community,” Mr Matthews says.

The rate of admission for problems related to opiates such as heroin and morphine was particularly high with a regional rate of 31 Maori per 100,000 being more than ten times the national rate.

SCHOOL OF GOLDIE COMMANDS AUCTION DOLLARS

The auctioneer who sold a painting by a pupil of Charles Goldie for a record $12,000 says the politically incorrect subject matter of a Maori woman smoking a pipe may have added to its sales appeal.

Kapai Te Toriri - Tobacco is Good by Vera Cummings fetched five times its expected price.

Richard Thomson, the director of the International Art Centre, says with original Goldie's doubling in the past five years, collectors are jumping on what they see as the next best thing.

“We sold a Goldie in March 2008 for $454,000 and it had a valuation of $200,000. The prices of Goldies have really shot up so it would be a natural progression for an artist like Vera Cummings to also go up in value,” Mr Thomson says.

RUGBY APOLOGY NEEDED FOR APARTHEID YEARS

Rugby legend Jim Maniapoto is joining the call for the Rugby Union to apologise for the way it kow-towed to South African calls to exclude Maori players from tours to the republic during the apartheid era.

The Ngati Tuwharetoa player was a schoolboy star for St Stephen's in the 1960s and part of a Ranfurly Shield dominating Auckland team.

The mobile lock, along with his brother Manu, was selected for the Maori team, but never made the All Blacks.

Mr Maniapoto says the fact an apology is still needed is a sign Maori rugby might be better off moving out from under the NZRFU umbrella.

“Since Super 12 and a few other things have happened, Maori rugby has been shoved in the background. I’ve always thought we need to go out and do our own thing,” Mr Maniapoto says.

He says there's merit in Bill Bush's idea of taking a Maori team on a South American tour.

MORE MAORI CREMATED AS TRADITIONS SLIP AWAY

Rotorua district councillor Maureen Waaka is lamenting the increasing number of Maori who choose to be cremated.

The trend was noted by Rotorua's reserves manager, who attributed it to the increasing number of Maori not identifying with their culture.

Mrs Waaka says cremation is not the Maori way, but it is becoming popular among younger people because of its perceived convenince.

“It’s a breakaway from how we think traditionally as Maori. It’s returning to the land and burial and urupa and the old way of putting them in the caves was all part of that. There is no treatment of the body to the extent they were burnt or anything like that,” she says.

Mrs Waaka says traditionalists are staying loyal to burial in family urupa.

DARGAVILLE IN THE BAG FOR FIRST SHOOTING

Dargaville is gearing up for excitement with the crew of "It's in the Bag" hitting the Northern Wairoa War Memorial Town Hall tonight.

Co host Stacey Morrison expects the audience to get into the mood ... shouting out encouragement and advice on whether to take the money or the bag.

She says Maori Television's bilingual twist on the Kiwi classic doesn't phase the contestants, and many people are able to say more in te reo than presenters expected.

It's in the Bag will also visit Kawakawa, Whangaroa, Kaikohe, Opotiki, Kawerau, Murupara, Rotorua, Otorohanga, Te Awamutu, Raglan and Huntly before filming the final live at Maori Television's Newmarket studio later in the year.

Language agency streamlining on agenda

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples is sympathetic to calls to streamline efforts to strengthen te reo Maori.

Maori language commissioner Erima Henare has recommended merging Te Taura Whiri with the Maori broadcast funding agency. Te Mangai Paho, with any savings used for community-level projects.

Dr Sharples says resources were being wasted through duplication of language promotion.

“So we need to co-ordinate the effort whether it’s Taura Whiri, whether it’s kura kaupapa, whether it’s mainstream, we need to coordinate that so we get a good effort, because we’re not out of the woods yet in saving Maori language,” Dr Sharples says.

Improvements could come from organisations working together rather than by full mergers.

PEER BEHAVIOUR MAKES QUITTING TOUGH

The head of anti-smoking group QUIT says Maori face particular difficulties in over-coming the addiction.

Paula Snowdon from Te Rarawa says the first step is getting nicotine out of the system, with people who use nicotine patches twice as successful at giving up.
They then need to develop new strategies to deal with smoking behaviour.

“The thing with smoking is the challenge to quit. The only difference between Maori and non-Maori is more Maori smoke so when you try to quit you are in an environment when re more of your family and friends and work colleagues are smoking around you, it makes it so much harder to stay quit,” Ms Snowden says.

Smokers have to want to quit before cessation efforts will be successful.

MAORI COSMOLOGY INCLUDED IN OBSERVATORY REFIT

Wellington's Carter Observatory plans to use state of the art digital technology to tell the Maori creation story alongside the Big Bang theory.

The observatory in Kelburn re-opening at the end of the month after a two year, $2 million refit.

Spokesperson Dawn Muir says the Wellington 10ths Trust was involved throughout the project.

“We are looking at Maori navigation and cosmology as it relates to our southern skies so it’s a very important story and we are encouraging the use of Carter Observatory for Maori in our community for things like navigation training,” Ms Muir says

Visitors will able to use the observatory to track the stars in the way Maori did when they came to Aotearoa.

MINISTER WANTS MAORI TEAM IN RUGBY WORLD CUP

Maori affairs minister Pita Sharples is standing by his view a Maori team should take part in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Rugby Union officials were upset when Dr Sharples made the suggestion yesterday while hosting a lunch at parliament to celebrate 100 years of Maori rugby.

He says Maori are a nation within the New Zealand nation, in the same way Scotland, Wales and England all come within the nation of Great Britain, which tours as the Lions.

“Most of the Maori in that room definitely agreed that it’s time that we did lash out a bit and have more games and possibly in the World Cup as well,” Dr Sharples says.

He says the NZRFU is treating the Maori team as second rate citizens who are less important than Super 14, NPC or even under 19 teams.

TE ATIAWA WANTS WAIWHETU STREAM CLEANED UP

Hutt Valley Maori are incensed the Greater Wellington Regional Council won't stop overflows of untreated sewage into the Waiwhetu Stream.

Te Rira Puketapu from Te Atiawa says decades of factory waste have already made Waiwhetu one of the most polluted waterways in the country.

He says the new 15 year consent granted to Lower Hutt City Council will mean on average six overflows a year in heavy rain.

He says the alternative requires the council to replace decaying clay pipes put in when the goverment built about 8000 State houses in the valley during the 1930's and 40's.

“As kaitiaki we have a heavy responsibility and if nobody else is going to worry about it, someone has to speak it, not just for Maori but for everyone. This is the 21st century and we’ve got to catch up,” Mr Puketapu says.

As an alternative the overflows could be discharged into the Hutt River during storms where they would be absorbed by the greater river flow.

MARAE REMEMBERS HARBOUR HEROISM

A feat of bravery 66 years ago will be aknowledged tomorrow at a marae on the shores of the Kaipara harbour.

In 1944, Wana Ruarangi Paikea rescued eight children when a punt capsized off Otamatea marae.

His 7 year old sister drowned in the accident, and her body was never found.

Broadcaster Jim Perry says survivors of the punt are now dead, but Mr Paikea is still alive at 84, and the marae believes it's time his feat is more widely recognised.

A kohatu , or memorial stone will be unveiled at the marae tomorrow aknowledging the lives saved and lost in 1944.

Finalists found for Ahuwhenua trophy

Three dairy farms have been named as finalists for this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori Excellence in Farming.

They are Hanerau Farms Trust near Dargaville, which is owned by Te Uri o Hau and run by 2009 Northland Sharemilkers of the Year Dean and Tania Mischeski ... Waipapa 9 Trust, west of Taupo ... and Rangatira 8A 17 Trust near Reporoa.

Organising committee chair Kingi Smiler says a new set of judges will go in to review the farms.

“So there'll be a whole set of questions and analysis of their business and the next day they operate a field day where it’s open to the public and again that’s part of the judging round and they demonstrate the strengths of their business and how hey operate and give other dairy farmers and particularly Maori dairy farmers the opportunity to ask questions and see what systems they have,” Mr Smiler says.

The supreme Ahuwhenua Trophy winner will be announced on May 28.

CANTERBURY HEALTH REPORT SHOWS UNMET NEED

A snapshot of health in Canterbury shows Maori enjoy better health than other Maori around the country, but still lag non-Maori.

The Hauora Waitaha report identified unmet need in areas like heart disease and cancer, where diagnosis rates are lower but death rates are higher than for non-Maori.

Compiler Matthew Reid says the report will give the District Health Board a better idea of how to plan for the needs of the 7.2 percent of Cantabrians who identify as Maori.

Dr Reid says the report doesn't try to delve into the specific reasons for health differences.

IMPEDIMENTS VISIBLE IN DEVOLUTION PLAN

Former Maori affairs minister Parekura Horomia says devolving resources for Maori language promotion to community and iwi groups is a good idea, but some capacity building could be required.

The Maori language comissioner, Erima Henare, has recommended Te Taura Whiti be merged with broadcast funding agency Te Mangai Paho to save administration costs, and spending on te reo by other government agencies also be scrutinised to avoid duplication and waste.

Mr Horomia says there are risks in devolution.

“How you go to the iwi, how you make sure there is a fair whack at it and they run it and I’m sure some are more capable than others. Some are so strong and forward they could do it tomorrow, but a whole lot aren't,” Mr Horomia says.

He says a devolution strategy needs to acknowledge that some agencies of departments have unique roles in preservation and promotion of the Maori language.

PARIHAKA PART OF TARANAKI SETTLEMENT TALKS

A Taranaki claim negotiator says the iwi won't be constrained by earlier settlements within Taranaki Whanui.

Taranaki, whose territory covers most of the coast from Opunake to New Plymouth, and its northern neighbour Te Atiawa this week signed agreements to negotiate settlements, making them the last two iwi in the region to enter the process.

Mahara Okeroa says while many of its issues relate to the land confiscations that affected the whole region after the wars of the 1860s, it has a specific duty to win redress for the sacking of Parihaka in 1881.

“The impact has been right through Taranaki, mai runga, mai raro. The distinction in this case if Parihaka sits squarely in the middle of the rohe, so that adds another dimension. We are going to pursue this as a specific iwi clai, not necessarily related to what has happened in Taranaki prior to this claim, we’re looking at it as a clean table so to speak,” Mr Okeroa says.

Taranaki also intends to contest the Crown's ownership of oil and gas, despite the Prime minister's contention the issue off the table.

PAST PLAYERS SOUGHT FOR MAORI RUGBY CELEBRATION

Anyone who has pulled on boots for the Maori All Blacks is being sought by the NZRU.

The union has just announced a three match centenary series in June... with games against England and Ireland and an as yet unnamed team.

Wayne Peters, the chair of the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board, says as well as the games there will be special functions to commemorate one hundred years of Maori rugby.... and the union is keen to hear from as many former players as possible.

“The invitations are not only to players who are present but families of players who have passed on so we will endeavor to make this as inclusive as possible, recognizing the contributions that a lot of people have made to Maori rugby over a long period of time,” Mr Peters says.

Kaitakaro o mua or their whanau can email maoricentenary@nzrugby.co.nz or contact NZRU offices on 04 499 4995.

WHALE OF A BOOK TO BE WRITTEN

Writer Brad Haami plans to use the first ever Maori residency at the Michael King writer's centre in Devonport to explore the special place whales have in Maori culture.

Mr Haami is working on the book with his aunt Ramari Stewart.

He says his interest in the giant mammals was sparked growing up in Whakatane.

“Since then I have been interested in trying to find out how did Maori people classify whales, how did they understand them, how did they portray them in narrative. I’ve always been interested in that so I’ve been collecting stuff for a number of years and decided to put it together in a manuscript,” Mr Haami says.

He never met Michael King, but is honoured to to work at the centre set up in memory of the late writer and historian.

Oil and gas on Taranaki agenda

One of the leaders of the Taranaki iwi claim negotiating team says the province's oil and gas resources are definitely on the table, despite Prime Minister John Key ruling out such discussions.

Taranaki iwi signed terms of negotiation with the Crown at Puniho Marae southwest of New Plymouth yesterday.

Mahara Okeroa, a former Labour MP, says starting talks well after most other iwi in the rohe have settled gives Taranaki a chance to pick up outstanding issues, like Crown ownership of minerals.

“It's on the table. Issues around the natural resource and mineral wealth, Ngai Tahu set the precedent in terms of mineral wealth with respect to their greenstone. Greenstone is a mineral. So the parameters of the claim for Taranaki are not set in concrete yet. Let’s not constrain opurselves to utternces made politically or otherwise,” Mr Okeroa says.

He says the specific issues around the 1881 invasion of Parihaka also come under the Taranaki iwi settlement.

LANGUAGE AGENCY CONSOLIDATION AND DEVOLUTION IN ZEITGEIST

The Maori Language Commissioner says a recommendation that funding be shifted from state agencies into the local community is in line with government thinking.

Erima Henare yesterday told the Maori affairs select committee that administration costs could be saved by merging Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Maori with Maori broadcast funding agency Te Mangai Paho.

He says there could also be rationalisation of what is spent on the language by other government agencies like the Tertiary Education Commission, the ministries of Education and Culture, and New Zealand on Air.

“If you are looking at economies of scale and value for money, you are probably running lots of administration and boards and things like that when perhaps the savings generated perhaps be put out among broadcasting or put out among Maori language groups,” Mr Henare says.

Language groups such as Te Atarangi, Kohanga Reo, kura, wananga and iwi need to jointly work out how to manage the money at community level.

COACHING TEAM RIGHT FOR CRITICAL YEAR

One of the toughest men to have ever pulled on a rugby jersey believes the new coaching staff for the Maori All Blacks is the right combination for a critical year.

Head coach Jamie Joseph and assistant Daryl Gibson will prepare the team for a three match series to mark the centenary of Maori rugby.

Games have been confirmed against Ireland in Rotorua on June 18 and England in Napier the following week, with the opponent for an initial game at Whangarei still to be confirmed.

Former Canterbury and All Black prop Bill Bush says the schedule is a worthy challenge for coaches and players.

Although the New Zealand Natives toured in 1888 the first offical New Zealand Maori team took the field in Rotorua in 1910.

HARAWIRA ABSENCE FROM SELECT COMMITTEE NOTED

The Labour Party is questioning how the Maori Party can advocate for Maori representation on the Auckland super city if its MPs don't turn up to the select committee.

Party co-leader Pita Sharples has told Maori that Taitokerau MP Hone Harawira is leading the charge to get Maori seats added to the super city council.

But Manurewa MP George Hawkins says Mr Harawira skipped the public hearings held by the select committee into the third Super City Bill, which spelled out how the council's committees, community boards and council controlled organisations would be structured.

“We had people who came to talk about Maori representation. It didn’t get picked up by him. Other members of the select committee would have but his absence of more than two weeks of hearings showed the amount of interest. While there was the odd joke he was probably visiting Paris or somewhere else, the fact is he wasn't there,” he says.

Mr Hawkins says if Mr Harawira's absence was known to party leaders, any of the party's other MPs could have filled in.

FORMER CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAINST TAURA WHIRI MERGER

Former Maori language commission chief executive Haami Piripi says merging Te Taura Whiri with Maori broadcast funding agency Te Mangai Paho would betray the intent of the Maori Language Act making te reo an official language.

Language commissioner Erima Henare is proposing the merger as a way to shift funding from administration to promotion of the language at community level.
Mr Piripi says a merger would weaken the commission's wider advocacy role.

“There is definitely a role for Te Taura Whiri in the public sector in central Wellington to make sure ministries and departments continue to utilise the language as an effective planning and operational tool within their business,” Mr Piripi says.

TOP LEVEL TESTS FOR MAORI CENTENARY TOUR

A century of Maori rugby will be recognised with top level tests against England and Ireland this winter.

Wayne Peters, the chair of the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board, says games are scheduled for Whangarei, Rotorua and Napier in June.

Although a New Zealand Natives team toured the United Kingdom in 1888, the first official New Zealand Maori team took the field in Rotorua in 1910.

Mr Peters says England is making a special side trip on its way home from a series against Australia.

“They are only playing one game in New Zealand. That signified the importance the English Union places on this game. Ireland has never played New Zealand Maori before. Both unions recognize the importance of the programme not only to New Zealand and the NZFRU bit the contribution of Maori to world rugby,” Mr Peters says.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union is trying to track down former Maori players to take part in the festivities.

Dial a powhiri off the hook

Civic powhiri could be off the agenda for the Auckland super city.

Ngati Whatua o Orakei trust board member Ngarimu Blair says if mana whenua can't take part in making decisions about the future of where they live, they have no stake in welcoming people to the city.

He says the hapu has been patient with city leaders over the past couple of decades, but it's not prepared to have a merely ceremonial role.

“We've done hundreds if not thousands of powhiri and karakia and welcoming dignitaries and so on in this city and I think that’s something else we are going to have to question, whether we are going to continue to do that, continue to be at their beck and call,” Mr Blair says.

TREATY COMMITMENT POINT OF PRIDE FOR GREENS

The Green Party is citing its commitment of the Treaty of Waitangi as one of the highlights of its first decade in parliament.

Co-leader Russell Norman says it's 10 years today since Jeanette Fitzsimons won the Coromandel seat on special votes and brought the party into parliament in its own right.

He says whole it shares principles of sustainability, democracy, peace and fairness with other parties in the international Green movement, the principle of respect for the Treaty makes it unique.

“We're a Green party which has to come to terms with the fact there was a colonizing experience here, it had a dramatic impact on the first peoples and we need to make sure that any policies, whether they’re to do with social policies or environmental policies, actually accommodate that and respect the treaty,” Dr Norman says.

He says in the past decade the Greens have won ground on issues like climate change and sustainable development.

MAORI ALL BLACKS LOOKNG FOR TOP EUROPEAN OPPONENTS

The New Zealand Maori rugby team could get a crack at both England and Wales next year.

Commentator Ken Laban says that's the itinerary emerging to mark 100 years of Maori rugby.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has been under fire for its lack of support for Maori rugby, but Mr Laban says he's heard from the top that progress is being made on lining up European opponents.

Ken Laban says with the All Blacks already having a packed international agenda, there's plenty of scope for the Maori team to increase its playing commitments.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT FIGHT GOES BACK TO TREATY SIGNATORIES

Auckland mana whenua groups say they don't want to settle for anything less than they're getting already from local government.

The groups are fighting back against plans to corral them into a Maori statutory advisory body, rather than allow Maori seats on the Auckland super city council.

Tracy Davis from the South Kaipara takiwa of Ngati Whatua says his group has developed a constructive relationship with Rodney District Council which includes monthly meetings with the mayor and councilors where governance level decisions are made.

He says it's taken years to reach that point, and the iwi doesn't want to go back to a mere advisory role or worse.

“Every generation we get more and more. That’s what the fight’s about. From the days my tupuna Te Reweti and Apihai Te Kawau signed the treaty, they’ve been arguing for these rights since then, 1840, and it continues and I don’t think it will stop today. It will continue until it happens,” Mr Davis says.

He says Local Government Minister Rodney Hide is only in the job for three years, while the iwi will be there forever.

RESO STRUGGLE FOR SUSTENANCE OVER DITCH

A researcher into Maori migration says Maori moving to Australia will struggle to sustain their reo.

Paul Hamer from Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies says at the 1986 census about 15 percent of the 26 thousand Maori in Australia spoke the language in their homes.

While the number of Maori across the ditch has tripled since then, the percentage of speakers has halved.

“Now we've got 6500 Maori speakers in the home and 93,000 Maori officially so that’s more like 7 percent so while the numbers are going up there there’s also a shift away from Maori language use in Australia which is what you‘d expect. It would be a surprise for Maori language use to be growing in Australia given the separation from New Zealand,” Mr Hamer says.

It's not possible to tell from the Australian census questions how often or how well te reo is used by Maori in Australia.

AUCTION BUY MAJOR COUP FOR NORTHERN MAORI COLLECTION

Whangarei Art Museum's plan for a survey show of early Maori contemporary artists has been boosted by the discovery of an important work by the late Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury.

Museum director Scott Pothan says the painting, Hatupu and the Bird Woman, was featured in a ground-breaking exhibition of Maori art at Canterbury Museum in 1966.

It turned up at auction last month.

Mr Pothan says Yearbury, who died in 1977, and Katerina Mataira were the first Maori women to study modern art at Auckland's Elam School of Art.

They both became art tutors in Northland in the experimental Northern Maori Project developed by educationalist Gordon Tovey, alongside artists like Ralph Hotere, Arnold Wilson, Selwyn Wilson and Selwyn Muru.

“You could argue that the whole of contemporary Maori art really devolved from that period in the 1950s with a quite small group of artists who were really the first to step into the Pakeha realm and study modernist art and then develop their own voice from that,” Mr Pothan says.

The Whangarei Museum hopes to show its collection of northern Maori artists towards the end of 2010.