Concern from a health service I am involved with about flying the Tino Rangatiratanga flag that might put people off attending. Should we not embrace diversity?
Overhearing comments in a shop where two women discuss how they did not agree with how much money Maori were receiving through the local Treaty claim process. Do people understand the actual monies received are a fraction of what was owed to them? Do people understand the huge effort the Treaty claim process is for Maori.
That Maori have to self-fund their legal fees during this process? Do people also appreciate the anxiety and angst that the process during their Treaty claims can stir up when revisiting the issues of loss of land and assets for whanau.
I was unaware until I witnessed the process for Ngati Toa Rangatira during their treaty claim several years ago. At that time, I was manager for their primary care services and also co-managed their Primary Health Organisation. During one of the accounts from one of the claimant hapu, about how their land was taken, a gentleman listening developed chest pain. We cared for him until an ambulance took him to hospital. We later learned he had had a heart attack.
One of my Iona College mates, Gina Rudland, lawyer, represented one of the hapu claimants. She later died of breast cancer. I remember wondering how she was able to manage her stress when confronted with so much hurt.
I have been reassured with my hapu, Taiwhenua Heretaunga, and Taiwhenua Tamatea Treaty process. It has been well consulted, well attended and progressive. It is no mean feat to bring everyone along to gain consensus and be well informed. There will be some who challenge the process and what is being proposed but, personally, I congratulate He Toa Takatini for their work to date.
The challenge will now be how to ensure we as Maori benefit from this investment. Personally, I hope we deposit this money in the bank and take time to carefully consider how we invest it. I was nervous at the first hui I attended to see that $20 million had been tagged to the Tuki Tuki dam project. I queried why this was tagged when we had only just agreed on what amount we were to receive. Ngahiwi Tomoana gave a great analogy of "owing the shopkeeper money before we actually had the money". I note the dam is no longer mentioned in subsequent consultation hui.
The Waitangi tribunal is a mechanism to ensure the state bears the responsibility on behalf of us all for acknowledging and remedying the wrong done.
One book I suggest as a must read is Pat Sneddon's Pakeha and the Treaty - why it's our Treaty too. I refer to his words that a better understanding of the Treaty by all New Zealanders will lead to a better future for all of us. This book is described as hope-filled and encourages New Zealand's emerging cultural confidence and takes pride in what we have achieved as a nation.
Finally in the words of Keri Hulme: "I thoroughly recommend this book as Kai Tahu, as a Maori/Pakeha, to all who want to move beyond rhetoric or diatribes."
-Ana Apatu is chief executive of the U-Turn Trust, based at Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere
