"We knew mainstream education was failing our rangatahi."
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Click here for English translation Me he wā poto noa e noho nei me Billie Pomare ka mārama ai te tangata e noho nei ia me tētehi wahine ngākau whiwhita ki a kakea e ia ngā paritu māunga o te mātauranga mō tātou te Māori.
Ka rua ki a whai kaha hoki ai tātou ki te whakahuri ngā ture kia tika ai. I ngā tau e rua kua pahemo kua whakawhiti tana huarahi mahi mai i te kura mahita kura tuarua ki te kura mahita taumata wānanga."
He māngai-kauwhau ahau i te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. He kura mahita tohu paetahi whāinga aronui, he kaupapa rangatira rawa atu!
He kaupapa māori noa te wairua, ka piki, ka kake, ka pūāwai, ka māhuri te āhuatanga o te hinengaro me te tinana o te tangata i tēnei nohanga– ko te ngako o tēnei kaupapa he kawe tonu i te kauwhau o te noho ngatahitanga o te Karauna me te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te kaupapa e ai ki a tātou te Māori, ko te Tino Rangatiratanga.
E whakamomori tonu nei tātou i te hemonga o Moana Jackson e tika ana ki a kawea tonutia ēnei kaupapa āna e pā ana ki te whakaahua o te ture Kāwanatanga".
E wha tekau mā tahi ngā tau o Billie Jo Eunice Pomare. He NgaPuhi, he Te Arawa, he Ngai Tūhoe hoki. I whānau mai i Rotorua, engari i pakekengia i te nōta i Raro.
I mua i tana hokitanga mai ki Rotorua nōna e kotahi tekau mā whitu ōna tau, katahi nei ia ka hoki atu ki tōna ūkaipō nōna e noho nei i Rotorua mo ngā tau kotahi mā wha, ko te tikanga o tana hikitanga he whakahonohono ki tōna NgaPuhitanga.
Nō Ngapuhi hoki tana hoa rangatira, e whai pānga hoki ai ia ki a Ngai Tarara, whoi anō tokotoru a rāua tamariki. Ko te mātāmua he kotahi tekau mā waru ngā tau, ko te pāwaenga he kotahi tekau mā rima ko te whakapākanga e rua ōna tau.
"I mua i taku hokitanga atu ki Raro he poumahi ahau mā Te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue Iho Ake me ngā toki huhua o te ao mātauranga e whakahaerengia nā i tētehi wānanga mātauranga kē atu i te mātauranga kura, i tapangia ai ko Kōkiri i Rotorua".
Ko te kaupapa o tana tuhinga whakapae mō tana tohu paerua e aro atu nā ki tētehi puna mātauranga kē atu e mana ai tātou te Māori.
"He mōhio kē mātou kāore e take ana te mātauranga o Aotearoa ki ā mātou tamariki nā te mea i hangaia e te tauhou, ae e tika ana tēnei mātauranga ki a rātou engari anō te Māori.
E mahi tahi ana a Billie me ngā pūkenga tokorua nei a Roanna Bennett me Carol Haimona i Te Taumata, nā rāua a Billie i akiaki ki te whakarite i te kaupapa, Kōkiri.
Nā tēnā tuhinga whakapae i ara ake ai a Kōkiri e noho tahi nei me Te Taumata i ngā tari mahi i te tiriti o Ranolf i ēnei rangi.
Billie Jo Pomare.
He ara pāhekeheke, ā, ka nui hoki ngā raruraru mō te taha ki te pūtea tautoko me te tuku i te kaupapa. Me te nui hoki o te utu mō tana Tākutatanga engari i waimarie ia i ngā karahipi e rua.
"Nui te utu ! Whoi anō nā ēnā karahipi e rua i puta ai ahau i te korokoro o te Parata i whakaoti kaha ai ahau taku Tākutatanga whakawhanake iwi taketake me te kōkiri whakamua i Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Nā te karahipi tuatahi i rere atu ai ahau ki Kanata (British Colombia – Prince George) ki te whakaako mātauranga i te Whare Wānanga o Northern British Columbia.
"I whakawhiwhi ai ahau ki te karahipi Bev Anaru i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa ki te whakaoti i taku tohu kairangi. Kāore aku manawa kōrero ki ngā whare nānā ahau i tautoko nānā ahau i whakatangata i puta ai ahau ki te tāwhangawhanga nui o te ao tūroa. Nā tōna pouārahi nō Kanata ko Dr Tina Fraser he pūkenga kawe mātauranga nō Ngai Tuhoe, i awhina i a Billie ki te whakarite i tana huarahi mahi aianei.
E wha tekau o ngā tau te roa o tana noho rāua tahi ko tana hoa rangatira a Charles i Kanata nā rāua a Billie me tōna matua tāne i whakamanuwhiringia.
"Te makariri hoki o taua whenua e heke ana te hukapapa ka whākina mai e rātou ko te hekenga o te hukapapa e ai ki ngā iwi taketake ko te hokitanga tēnā o ō rātou tūpuna i ia tau ki te ao nei".
He toihuarewa a Tina Fraser i te Whare Wānanga o British Columbia he pou hoki ia nō Te Mata o Te Tau. ( He whare pūkenga rangahau nō Te Whare Wānanga o Te Papaioea i Aotearoa nei). Ko tētehi anō o ngā take i kakamā ai a Billie ki te haere ki Kanata ko te whakapapa.
Ko tētehi o ōna tūpuna he Inuit i tae ai ki Aotearoa mā runga kaipuka tohora. Ko ētehi o ngā tāhūhū mātauranga o te iwi taketake i ahu mai i te Kohanga Reo o tātou te Māori nā reira i whakahīhī iti ai te ngākau o Billie engari e kūare nui ana ia ki ngā taumahatanga e whakapēhi tonu ana i ngā iwi taketake, ka tangi te manawa ki ngā kura taiwhenua e noho taurekareka nā. He pēnei ki ngā iwi taketake o te ao whānui e noho māuiui ana i ngā whakawhiu a te tāmitanga.
Nō tana hokitanga mai ki Aotearoa ka whakamanuwhiringia e ia ētehi tauira nō te whenua o Kanata. Ka kai hangi rātou ka tae ki Te Whakarewarewa i whai wā hoki ai ki te whakawhitiwhiti pūrākau me ngā kura mahita o Kōkiri. Ka nui tana whakapono ki te pepeha e mea nā, mā te pā taunaha e pakari ai te tamaiti, ā, tēnā pea me takitini pea ngā pā i ētehi taima.
"Ki a mātau ko taku whānau ake, ko ōku kaumātua me tōku tuakana kua matemate noa atu hai oranga mōku. Ko taku tamāhine kotahi he tino hiahia nōku ki te manaaki i a ia, me te mea e tū tahanga nei ahau kare kau taku tāne i taua taima, he whakapono nui nōku ko te ara ki te ora tonutanga ko te huarahi a Tāne te pupuke – mai i te pōharatanga ki te huarahi o te muri aroha".
Me te hiahia nui o Billie ki te whakauru i te kaupapa whika ki ngā kura katoa. Mēnā he whārangi nui tō mātou o te nūpepa nei kua whai wā ki te kuhu mai i ngā pou nānā a Billie i atawhai i tana haerenga nei i te ara o te mātauranga i oti ai ia i āna mahi rangahau.
"Ko Uncle Brownie Pirika rātou ko Tame Iti ko Carol Haimona ētehi o ngā toki whakaniko i te kaha o taku wairua, ā, he kaha hoki nō rātou ki te koropanga i ōku taringa".
Ko te tihi o te māunga hai tāna, ko te pupuri i tō tātou rangatiratanga kia whai waha hoki ai tātou te Māori ki ngā tēpū whakahaere katoa.
Just a few minutes with Billie Pomare and you are in no doubt about her passion for Māori success in education and continuing the push for constitutional transformation. In the past two years the educator has changed pathways, moving from secondary to tertiary education.
"I am currently lecturing at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in the Bachelor of Humanities degree.
"This mahi is mean, as this degree is transformative. It is premised on Māori and Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
"This degree allows a space for us to continue those conversations to interrogate the constitutional relationship that exist between Māori and the Crown as it relates to the Treaty of Waitangi and Māori assertions of Tino Rangatiratanga.
"As we acknowledge the passing of Moana Jackson, those conversations about Constitutional Transformation are necessary."
Billie Jo Eunice Pomare, 41, affiliates to Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa and Ngai Tuhoe. She was born in Rotorua and raised with her father's whanau in the north before returning to Rotorua when she was seventeen.
She has recently moved back north after 14 years in Te Arawa and is reconnecting to her Ngapuhi whakapapa.
Billie Jo and her father in Canada - he is one of her biggest supporters. Photo / Supplied
Her partner is also from the North and has Ngāpuhi and Tarara connections. Between them they have three children aged 18, 15 and 2.
"Before returning north I worked for my Iwi Te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue Iho Ake Trust, working alonsgide many amazing people within Te Arawa to establish an alternative education programme and kura named Kōkiri in Rotorua."
Her master's thesis was about the need for alternative education so our rangatahi could succeed educationally.
"We knew mainstream education was failing our rangatahi and even when alternatives were produced, we knew they would not work because they were produced by mainstream. Billie was working with Roanna Bennett and Carol Haimona at Te Taumata, and they encouraged her to write the programme for Kōkiri.
That thesis provided the framework for Kokiri which now sits alongside the Te Taumata offices on Ranolf Street. It was not all plain sailing as there were challenges around funding and delivery.
Her Doctoral studies were expensive, but Billie says she was lucky in securing two scholarships.
"Nui te utu! However, I was fortunate to receive two scholarships to complete the Doctor of Indigenous development and advancement degree at Te Whare wananga o Awanuiārangi.
"This first scholarship allowed me to travel and complete research in Canada (British Columbia — Prince George) and enabled me to teach in tertiary education at the University of Northern British Columbia.
"I was also the recipent of a Bev Anaru scholarship in 2019 which provided financial support to complete this degree. I am grateful for both these scholarships as they allowed opportunities of a lifetime which led to my current career pathway."
Her current path was inspired by her mentor and host in Canada, Dr Tina Fraser, a Tuhoe educator who has lived in Canada for about 40 years. She and her husband Charles hosted Billie and her father.
"It was really cold when we got there, and snow was falling. They told us that the First Nation peoples regarded snowflakes as their ancestors who return to visit them every year."
Tina Fraser is a Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia and a Fellow of Te Mata O Te Tau (Academy of Research and Scholarship at Massey University in Aotearoa). Billie was keen to go to Canada because one of her tupuna, Piri Hoa, was said to be of Inuit descent and came to Aotearoa on a whaling ship.
Some First Nations early childhood education frameworks are based on our Kohanga Reo which made Billie proud, but she said she was naive about the mamae of residential schools where hundreds of Indigenous people were and are still negatively impacted.
Like many Indigenous peoples, the impacts of colonialism and colonisation are still being felt.
When she returned home, she brought a couple of students with her for a short visit and introduced them to hāngi cooked in steam at Whakarewarewa and they exchanged pūrākau with Kōkiri staff.
Billie acknowledges the saying it takes a village to raise a child, in her case several villages.
"My whānau, especially my grandparents and late brother. My girl, as I wanted to provide for her and as a single Māmā I believed education was our way out — out of poverty, an aspirational pathway."
One of the subjects Billie would like introduced to schools is financial literacy.
If we had unlimited space, we would mention just about all Billie's bones, and she does not believe she would have finished her rangahau without them.
"Uncle Brownie Pirika, Tame Iti and Carol Haimona have been instrumental in this journey (they also kept me in line!)."
Top of her bucket list for the future is Māori success on our terms and a seat at every decision-making table.
