Maori - Corpus

Light in darkness: Matariki and a winter carnival

2 July 2018 4 Comments

Sue Wootton

Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades, or ‘seven sisters’, a group of stars which in June or July becomes visible just above the horizon at dawn. Matariki means ‘the eyes of god’ (mata ariki) or ‘little eyes’ (mata riki). In Māori mythology, Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother, were separated by their children, causing the god of the winds, Tāwhirimātea, to fly into a rage, pluck out his eyes and hurl them into the skies.

Traditionally, the first new moon after the the appearance of Matariki signals the start of a new year. It’s a time for acknowledging the cycle of life and seasons, remembering the dead and celebrating the turn toward lengthening days.

Each year the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin celebrates the winter solstice and Matariki with a midwinter carnival. Thousands of people, young and old, gather in the Octagon in the heart of the city to enjoy music, street food and fireworks – but the highlight for everyone is always the lantern parade, a procession of children and adults bearing (or wearing) a gorgeous array of luminous flora and magical beasts. Light glows and flows around the Octagon, and face after face bursts out smiling. Click on the images below to share the experience.

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A picture paints a thousand words

26 February 2018 5 Comments

Rachel Sayers

Whinia Cooper — On a dusty Far North road, Dame Whina Cooper and her granddaughter Irenee set off on their hikoi to Parliament. (Michael Tubberty, NZ Herald Archive)

On 14 September 1975, fifty marchers left Te Hāpua in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand for the 1000 km walk to Parliament Buildings in Wellington. The hīkoi (march) was organised to raise awareness about the catastrophic loss of Māori land rights since colonisation. Led by 79-year-old Dame Whina Cooper, the hīkoi grew in strength as local people joined in along the way. About 5000 marchers arrived at Parliament on 13 October, where they presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling.

I was nine years old when this photograph of Dame Whina Cooper and her granddaughter setting off on the hīkoi was taken. I don’t remember the event and yet the picture is meaningful to me. It hangs on my office wall, and often captures my attention as I glance up from the computer. I’ve always thought this is because it encapsulates what I feel is most important in life: children. The next generation. Our future. But why this picture and this particular quote? Why does it resonate with me so much? I decided to investigate further …

Discovering kawakawa

11 September 2017 Leave a Comment

Lorraine Ritchie

variations poem — Image by Janet de Wagt, from ‘Listening with my heart: poems by Aotearoa New Zealand nurses‘.

Sometimes when we are introduced for the first time to something we are not familiar with – an author, a singer, a type of food, a breed of dog – it suddenly starts appearing everywhere. The ubiquitous kawakawa plant was not so ubiquitous to me. I had not really noticed the lush green heart-shaped leaves nor recognised the plant by name until I received a pencil drawing of a kawakawa plant entwined with an intravenous fluid delivery system, drawn by artist Janet de Wagt to illustrate a poem in the book of poetry by New Zealand nurses that I was editing. This beautiful drawing, a delicate and powerful meeting of Western and Māori medicine, piqued my interest and I wanted to know more.

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Doctor on the ice: Louis Hauiti Potaka in the Antarctic

14 August 2017 2 Comments

Barbara Brookes

Accompanying Admiral William Byrd’s second expedition to the Antarctic in 1934, Dr Guy Shirey reached the Bay of Whales and decided that he could not go on. Faced with this news, Byrd immediately sent out a flurry of telegrams seeking a replacement. He contacted his agent in Wellington and was told that few doctors were willing to come forward. Those who had expressed interest wanted higher salaries. There was, however, one applicant from Nelson. The telegram continued:

THOROUGHLY CAPABLE MAN HIGHLY RECOMMENDED STOP BUT HE IS ONE THIRD MAORI IN BLOOD WOULD THIS DISQUALIFY HIS FEE ALSO 350 POUNDS.

Thinking outside the box

5 June 2017 17 Comments

Iona Winter

Tīmata

I think it’s fair to say that the majority of us who experience on-going pain will seek relief from medical practitioners. Four years of repeat presentations in excruciating pain, to GPs and emergency departments, and the medical profession were unable to diagnose my son. Being a skinny young Māori musician, they labelled him a ‘drug seeker’ instead.

When someone doesn’t fit into a prescribed box, shouldn’t you look further?