The story I heard was that my Ngati Rangiwewehi iwi uncles, namely Uncle Tauri Morgan and Uncle Mita Mohi, were introducing themselves to an audience at the start of their hui.
Uncle Mita had just been given an honorary degree from one ofour New Zealand universities and it turned out everyone else in their team had master's degrees. So when it was uncle Tauri's turn, he told everyone that he had an MBA.
One of them took the bait stating "I didn't know you had a master's degree".
Uncle Tauri quickly replied, "Yes I have an MBA. Mine stands for Māori Boy from Awahou."
Mita Mohi was an MBA - a Māori Boy from Awahou. Photo / File
Many of us have adopted Uncle Tauri's MBA. Just before he died he told me his Māori Boy from Awahou qualification was upgraded to Māori Boy from Arawa. We left that to him.
So how does one qualify in their Māori tribe and culture? What qualifications are needed to achieve the ever-demanding requirements of belonging to iwi?
Qualifications are an interesting part of our lives. In te ao Pākehā, educational institutes have been offering all kinds of qualifications to meet the needs of our Aotearoa society.
They are an attempt to ensure people are qualified and capable, at least intellectually, to fulfil the requirements of their chosen fields of expertise, occupations and careers.
My wife was the first in her whānau to gain a university degree.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University.
I was the first in my immediate whānau to get a degree.
I hold a business degree also from Massey and went on to complete a masters in education.
So, when our children were born we started paying into a scholarship scheme for them to eventually attend a tertiary institute. We realised the value of tertiary qualifications and decided that our children's education would finish with a degree.
Our daughter recently recounted the story of when a careers adviser visited their kura and said something like, "so if you choose to go on to university and do a degree ..." My daughter immediately stuck her hand up and said "Um, what do you mean if we choose to get a degree? Are you saying we have a choice?"
My son now holds a couple of degrees and in a couple of years, my daughter will hold three degrees. However, the best thing is they also hold honorary MBA degrees. He is a Māori Boy from Awahou and she is a Māori Babe from Awahou.
So how does one qualify for their honorary MBA qualification from Awahou or any other iwi for that matter?
Let's look at my wife's journey. My wife Carolyn is Pākehā.
The night before our marriage, my Nanny Riini told her that when she married me she would become Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
Her failures would be the failures of Ngāti Rangiwewehi and her successes would also be those of the iwi.
My Nanny was letting my wife know that even though she was Pākehā, the day she married me she would become an MBA. A Māori Babe from Awahou.
However, her qualifying as an MBA did not stop there. We have been married for 38 years now and that is a mission enough, but Carolyn has done many other things.
Before our children were born, Carolyn had a five-minute conversation with one of her lecturers, Taiarahia Black.
She then came home and made an interesting MBA qualification statement. "If we are blessed to have children, I would like us to only speak Māori to them."
So we all learnt te reo Māori together. They attended kohanga reo and so did we.
They attended kura kaupapa Māori and we got involved there too.
We are all fluent in te reo Māori - our kids more so.
My wife and I are still doing te reo classes. Some parts of an MBA are never completed.
We all know where the tea towels are stored at the Awahou marae and how to use them.
Every MBA candidate does the dishes at some stage.
My wife has been adopted by our Ngāti Rangiwewehi people.
Marae kuia have taught her how to dress our tupapaku (deceased) coffins with our treasured korowai and taonga.
She has also conducted karanga on our marae with the blessing of our kuia.
My father asked her and me to come out of the wharekai and sit in the whare tupuna a few years ago. She supports speakers with waiata alongside all our other manu tioreore.
Carolyn is on the Awahou marae Anzac committee and looks after the administration of our papakainga finances.
My wife Carolyn has an honorary MBA and walks in te ao Māori. She would say that if she can do it, so can you. Kia kaha.
Ngahihi o te ra Bidois is an international keynote speaker, businessman, author, husband, father and MBA - a Maori Boy from Awahou.
