This "tradition" started as a child when she attended hui with her father, Minister Cannon Wi Huata. She said she would often sit with her father, at the high table, who would encourage her to start with a dessert. "Girl there will be plenty of first course - go and get yourself a desert."
Jenny started the discussion and draws parallel with Te Aranga Marae and another marae in Central Hawke's Bay, the Waipukurau Community Marae, that is also known as Maata Waka (for all people). Ngatai and Jenny describe how important it is that marae are situated on reserve land and are able to claim mana whenua status - where people have mana of that land.
Patrick Le Geyt emailed me in response to the article.
Patrick, a trustee of Omahu Marae and someone with a keen interest in whakapapa and Treaty claims, quite rightly reminds me that the Treaty claims relate to historical grievances for nga hapu of Ngati Kahungunu ki Heretaunga and Tamatea, concerning inappropriate transactions with the sale of lands, lack of provision of reserves, land legislation designed to misappropriate land and the failure of the crown to provide proper custodianship and redress.
Patrick also reminded me Treaty claim settlements are not for marae but hapu. According to Patrick, we had more than 200 hapu in 1840 and now we have less than 50. Marae are the last bastions where our remaining hapu meet.
Marae are not going to receive $1 million each but hapu are. We need to ensure we have appropriate governance and accountable systems in place at a hapu level. As a result, each marae will receive $100,000 - to instil best practice systems and to provide essential and overdue maintenance etc.
A statistic Ngatai provides is the percentage of us that reside on our ancestral land. Less than 1 per cent - 0.6 per cent. I reflect how I am one of those fortunate enough to live on my ancestral land but less than 1 per cent? This certainly does not support those comments I read about how we (Maori) are on the gravy train. Where I am less fortunate is my lack of fluency in te reo. Where speaking Maori in many of my friends' homes when growing up was the first language spoken - unfortunately my grandfather Wirihana Apatu elected not to speak Maori in the home, so my generation is not fluent. What is apparent, listening to the stories, is I need to better understand my history and whakapapa. I also reflect that many of our elders will have been so involved with the settlement, the sadness of losing lands and not being here to witness the settlement.
As Ngatai points out - it's about looking forward to how we can invest wisely to ensure we improve our well-being. That it's not only all about money but those things that matter most to us - our health, housing, our language and culture.
-Ana Apatu is chief executive of the U-Turn Trust, based at Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere.
