Speaking rights row goes to elders' hui

By RICHARD KNIGHT

The success of this year's Waitangi Day commemorations at Waitangi could rest with a hui of Ngapuhi elders today.

Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels will meet the elders to resolve the issue of speaking rights for women at the Te Tii Marae, Waitangi.

Two years ago, Prime Minister Helen Clark was reduced to tears at Waitangi when Maori rights campaigner Titewhai Harawira challenged her right to speak in a formal ceremony on the marae.

Mrs Harawira said she had no objection to Helen Clark speaking at Waitangi, as long as it was done after the tapu was lifted.

This week, Helen Clark warned that if Ngapuhi could not treat her with dignity, she would go elsewhere on Waitangi Day.

For most tribes, there is no negotiation - women don't have speaking rights. That is the way things are done.

Women were originally barred from speaking on marae to protect them from the effects of ill thoughts.

Maori women were regarded as the "whare tangata," or bearers of children, and were highly regarded and protected, as shown by the old saying "For land and women, men will die."

Maori believe ill thoughts or spoken words can affect the wellbeing of a person. So to prevent harm coming to women, only men are allowed to speak.

When Mrs Harawira challenged Helen Clark, she objected to a Pakeha woman being given speaking rights when Maori women did not have the same privilege.

But some tribes do let women speak on the marae.

The late Whaea McClutchie was a noted female speaker from the East Coast tribe of Ngati Porou, famous for upsetting men from tribes which didn't let women speak.

If they entered her domain or marae, she would stand up and speak, as her female ancestors had.

She said no one had the right to dispute her mana as a speaker, because she had been given that right by her people and no other authority counted.

This week, the South Island tribe Ngai Tahu invited Helen Clark to Waitangi Day celebrations at Onuku Marae on Banks Peninsula, where she is guaranteed speaking rights.