Ana Apatu: Waitangi journey stirs emotions

Ana Apatu.

Throughout the country many of us celebrate and recognise Waitangi Day.

Locally some of us choose to celebrate this day with our Treaty of Waitangi march from Waipatu Marae. We gather at the marae on Saturday at 7am.

This is the third year I have joined this march. In the past we have walked to join the celebrations at Farndon Park, Clive. The past three years the weather has been marginal. Last year was freezing, so some of us carry backpacks with water and a jacket. This year rain threatens, it is muggy and frankly rain would be a welcome relief.

Part of the enjoyment of the day is the conversation as we walk. Labour candidate Anna Lorck inquires about housing; Henare and Pam's daughter Rachel, her husband Paku with their five children talk about how much they love being home after living in Australia; Shelly Pritchard chats with me about some of the great outcomes the women are experiencing with their association with the Flaxmere Boxing Academy - significant weight loss and overall improvement in mental health and wellbeing. Shelly's mum Moewaka joins us at Mangateretere.

We arrive at Clive where Piripi (Phillip Smith) and his wife Michelle, both involved with the Te Matau a Maui Voyaging Trust, update me about the trust set up to support the double-hulled, Polynesian-designed sailing waka moored in Ahuriri harbour, Napier.

We cross the road to the recently renovated Clive Hotel for a much-needed coffee. We turn to walk along the riverbank and walk behind Hohepa to observe its healthy, happy-looking cows munching on grass/weeds. I must declare I have never walked this path before and a number of us agree we need to slow down and enjoy these simple pleasures.

The estuary has dinghies and paddlers; there are walkers and cyclists along the way, there are people on the shore fishing. The sun reflects on the water and it is really quite a remarkable area.

We walk along to cross the next bridge and I learn of the proposal to enhance the Waitangi estuary and to transform Waitangi Regional Park. I am able to imagine this development with concept drawings that include the construction of a celestial star compass. I love it.

I have a pang because my late husband Jono - artist, carver - would have loved to have been involved with creating something like this. I learn the celestial star compass is used to learn about the stars, sun and moon and is the main training tool for a traditional navigator, and how this tool is how our ancestors were able to navigate throughout the Pacific on sailing waka centuries ago. Apparently this location is perfect for this star compass in terms of the Eastern horizon and the area is steeped in both Maori and European history.

This innovative proposal includes educational resources so schools and the general public would be able to understand the basic concepts of traditional Polynesian navigation and astronomy.

Detailed concept plans for the transformation of Waitangi Regional Park include improved road access, a carpark, new wetland areas, public signs, pathways and coastal native plantings. How many times have I driven past the estuary at Waitangi not realising the history and cultural meaning of this site?

We finally reach our destination and are greeted by the HB branch of the NZ Genealogy society members. The opening address was by kaumatua Jerry Hapuku, great-great-grandson of Heretaunga chief Te Hapuku who, with other Ngati Kahungunu leaders, signed the Treaty of Waitangi.

Hawke's Bay regional councillor Rex Graham acknowledges how treaty settlements recompense a fraction of what was owed to Maori. "We signed the treaty and then we breached the treaty."

We are really only now addressing these historical grievances.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule believes we maybe cannot totally rectify past grievances with only physical and financial assets but how it is about honouring the spirit of the treaty; that Hawke's Bay has a way of sorting things out and that we do have good relationships with each other.

Perhaps it is simply about not just honouring the spirit of the treaty but honouring the spirit of each other.

So, in closing: "Have a big enough heart to love unconditionally, and a broad enough mind to embrace the differences that make each of us unique."

D B Harrop

- Ana Apatu is chief executive of the U-Turn Trust, based at Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere.