Tommy Wilson: Where to from Waitangi with a kete full of hope?

OPINION

Waitangi gave us everything this last week, at a time when we as a country have been struggling to find our feet after getting knocked over by a perfect storm of pandemic-fuelled fear and more rain than Noah could have handled in a hundred arks.

Most of all, Waitangi gave me - and many more who did the hikoi north - hope.

I wasn’t expecting anything other than some great kai and even better korero but the big bonus was coming away from four days of feasting on kai and korero filled with hope.

I guess for me now is where to from Waitangi with a kete full of hope?

How do we harness hope and share it with those who need it most, none more so than Māori who have lost their land and their way and need to be near each other more than they are now.

Hope with a little bit of laughter goes a long way in these troubling times and both hope and humour are free when you know where to find them, and, again, those who were up in Waitangi will ripple a wave of hope across Aotearoa.

It doesn’t matter what political potae you may wear. Nor what God - if any - you may believe in. What matters most is the direction we are heading and, for me, it feels like the middle is the destination. The political pendulum has swung from left to right and left again and from what I have seen and heard in the last few weeks we are listening a lot more to each other, talking to and not at each other and finding a pathway forward that could show the world what can happen when a country allows the currency of kindness to be the hallmark of success.

No longer will we tolerate talk-back politics to polarise our people. It is, again in my opinion, the talk-back politicians have held the microphone for far too long and given the green light to the margins of the left and the right.

Finally, we have wised up to them.

Wisdom comes from listening to each other and, right now, we as a country are starting to listen to each other. Well, that was my take-away from Waitangi after camping up there for four days.

I had never attended Waitangi Day before and the kicker for me happened a few weeks prior when me and my “good listener” mate went across the Kaimai to Turangawaewae to listen and learn from the King and all his wise men and women.

The raruraru (bad vibes) wasn’t there. There was a cool calmness that made me feel more like being at a Sweetwaters festival than a sour grapes Ngati whinging blame game hui.

And the good vibes feeling was there again in Waitangi.

Waitangi may be translated to weeping waters, however the entire time I was there I only saw tears of joy amidst a hui of happiness where we all seemed to be on the same wavelength and it came about, in my opinion, by listening to each other.

What went right at Waitangi was pretty much everything.

Not once amongst the 40,000 did I see any signs of anger, aggressive behaviour or disrespect, other than catcalls to politicians.

There was no alcohol, drug-fuelled d*** heads or uma rapete - as in rabbit-hole conspiracists - peddling their misinformation to gain a foothold on to the paepae (speakers platform)

There was no rubbish anywhere such was the set-up of recycling stations manned by a literal army of volunteers who must have all studied at the university of manners given their level of manaakitanga to us all.

The boys in blue were the bros in blue. They lucked out big time getting the Waitangi gig and I am sure they will all be booking in early for 2025, as will every happy little camper looking for a whare for the four-day festival.

If there was an arrest it could have been from jaywalking as the road in to Waitangi was packed tighter than a tourist ship trying to all get ashore at the same time, and what a time it was for them to be part of one of the most historical days ever.

If you have never attended Waitangi Day in Waitangi, put it on your bucket list, it will blow you away. Maori ma, Pakeha ma, book a bach or take a tent, but book it now as it will only get bigger next year. Be part of the magic middle who want our country to be the land of the long left and right crowd.

The dawn ceremony at Waitangi. Photo / Michael Cunningham

You will get a live history lesson like no other if you go there to listen.

Tommy Wilson (Ngāti Ranginui/Ngāi te Rangi), Community Connector, Te Tuinga and best-selling author.