Nā Lucy Schrader Manuera | Te Aupōuri
Tēnā koutou e te hunga kaipānui,
Tau atu taku manu ki runga i te pinakinakitanga o maunga Tawhitirahi
Tau ana te titiro ki ngā au moana, ki ngā mau o te whenua, ki ngā ara tawhito i ahu mai ai ngā tūpuna
U ana ai te waka o Kurahaupo
Tere whakarunga i nga wai rere o Te Awapoka
Whatiwhati o parirau ki Pukemarama
Tauhokai iho ki Te Kao
Tatu atu ra ki Potahi e āhuru ai te iwi o Te Aupōuri I ōna pārae, ōna māniania, ōna awaawa, ōna maunga
Tāhorahora ana te huanui hei hīkoi mā tātou
Kei runga ko te whetū hei arataki
Kei raro ko te tapuwae hei whai
Pātōtō ana te manawa kia whiwhi
Ka puta ka ora, ki te whaiao ki Te Ao-Mārama!
‘Poipoia te kākano, kia puāwai,’ he whakataukī e whakapūmau ana te motuhaketanga o te taute, o te tiaki i te kākano, kia puāwai, kia hua. He tikanga tēnei kua toitū pūmau i roto i te ao Māori mā te kaitiakitanga me te whānaungatanga.
I te tau 2020, i whakaputa te Manatū Whakahiato Ora i tētahi ripoata, “Poipoia te kākano kia puawai: Family structure, family change and the wellbeing of tamariki Māori.” I tūhono tā rātou whakamahi i te whakataukī ki te taurikuratanga o ā tātou tamariki.
Hei tā te ripoata, he hononga tā te rerekētanga o ngā ara whānau ki te hauwarea o ngā hua ā-hinengaro, ngā hua o te whakawhānaungatanga nōki. Hoino, ehara tēnei mea te take matua mō ēnei hua hauwarea. Ko te mea nui, he hononga tā te taha ahurea o te tamaiti ki te whakatairanga i whanaketanga o te whakawhānaungatanga o te tamaiti.
I marohitia e ngā kaituhi o te ripoata te uara, te hiranga o te “rangahau me te āta wehewehe i ngā hononga o te whānau me te oranga o te tamaiti Māori, i te mea tērā pea he nui ngā momo āhuatanga rerekē mo te oranga o te tamaiti e hira ana mā te Māori, he mea kua warea pea i ngā wā kāore mātou e hangāia kaupapa here e arahi ana e te Māori, e aro ana ki te Māori.”
Kua kūare ake nei te hangāia kaupapa here kua arahi, kua aro ki te Māori, anō, e te Kāwanatanga nā ngā panonitanga ki te wāhanga 7aa o te Ture Oranga Tamariki 1989. E mataku ana au mo ngā kawenga o tēnei ture ki ā tātou tamariki e kore ā muri e hokia. E mōhio ana au, kua rite te nuinga o koutou ngā kaipānui ki ēnei whakaaro, ki ēnei āwangawanga mō te takahi o ēnei panonitanga i te Tiriti o Waitangi me ōna uaratanga. Nā ngā whakaputanga o te Census, e mōhio ana tātou, tōna 904,100 te taupori o te iwi Māori. Nā te taiohi, nā te tere o te tupu o te iwi Māori, ko nāianei te wā tika kia tiekina ō tātou tamariki.
E ai ki ngā kupu a te māreikura a Whina Cooper, “Tiekina o tātou tamariki. Tiekina ngā mea e rangona, e kitea ai e rātou. Ko te tupuranga o te tamaiti, tērā te tupu o Aotearoa.” Koinei te wā kia tū tātou hei kotahi.
Nā tōku whakatupuranga whāmaomao i ōku whenua, kua ngaro te reo i tētahi reanga ō tōku whānau, kua ngaro te nui o ngā momo hononga ki te Ao Māori, me te kore āheinga mo tō rātou Māoritanga te puāwai. Ehara tēnei i te āpōpō e hia ana au mā āku tamariki, mā āku mokopuna, nō reira, me tūhono anō au ki tō mātou Te Aupōuritanga. Mō tātou, ā, mō ngā uri a muri ake nei.