Revived iwi links inspire city sisters

Nari Faiers (left) at her Master of Arts graduation with her sister Keri Wikitera, who will completer her Phd this year. PHOTO/FILE

Two sisters' connection with their iwi is helping them succeed academically.

Nari Faiers graduated with a Master of Arts last week from Auckland University of Technology having completed her thesis on Tuhourangi and Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake).

Her older sister, Keri Wikitera, will complete her Phd this year from the same university having written her thesis, Maori spaces in foreign places: The case of Hinemihi o te ao tawhito, which also researched the wharenui that was at Tarawera before the eruption but is now based in England.

The wharenui Hinemihi at Clandon Park in Surrey, England. PHOTO/FILE

The women (Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao) grew up and live in Auckland but regularly travel back to Rotorua, which they consider home.

Mrs Faiers said it was at the tangi of her mother, Piatarihi Makiha, more than a decade ago that the idea for her latest work sprouted. Her thesis explores cultural concepts applied to Lake Rotokakahi and the authority of Tuhourangi and Ngati Tumatawera over that area. "My mother is buried on the island and I was having a conversation with my Uncle Frank Maika outside the marae and he was talking to me about how we were related to each other and the tapu (sacredness) of the lake and our connection to it," Mrs Faiers said.

"I didn't know much about the lake beforehand, the tikanga and protocols around it. I was very much a city girl, St Heliers born and bred. I never thought I would delve into moteatea (traditional Maori songs) and explore locations all over Rotorua. We were heavily involved in wananga and gained a real insight from them.

"It's helped me learn to be more Tuhourangi and more part of the hapu. I feel very, very close to it. It does very much feel like my identity is woven into that landscape. I tell my children that one day I'm going to be buried on the lake too," she said.

Mrs Faiers said there were challenges along the way.

"Trying to get access to the information, who the right people was to speak to and how I was going to get people to speak to me ... There were also financial challenges, working fulltime during the day and studying part time. I have my children and am a wife and grandmother.

"I think probably the most challenging part was the travel because through my research we became really active in tribal hui and it prioritised us to go back to Rotorua."

She has dedicated her thesis to her sister, who came back to Rotorua with her for her studies surrounding Hinemihi. "It's because of the support she gives. When Mum died I was very young, about 23. She was only 28 and she started studying. I still had a young child then and she bought into the university and she just guided me through the whole way.

Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake) forms part of the identity for Nari Faiers and Keri Wikitera. PHOTO/FILE

"We've been doing this journey together for quite a while, learning how to be Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao. We're very close. Our maiden name is Williams and even our husbands call us the Williams sisters. She's done a lot for me, helped me with my writing, we've debated and learnt together. I think she's touched every page of my thesis and helped critiqued everything."

Mrs Wikitera, who is a lecturer at Auckland University of Technology, said her Phd was inspired by a trip to England after their Welsh father passed away in 2006.

"My two sisters and I decided to retrace his heritage and had a holiday over there. We thought we would connect to his homeland like we do with Rotorua but it wasn't until the last day we were there when we went to Hinemihi that we really felt that connection," she said.

"It struck us how our Maori background connected us to our father's side and no matter where we are in the world, we're still Maori."

Her thesis explores how Maori identity is fostered in locations outside New Zealand and involved working closely with Ngati Ranana, the London-based Maori club. She also focused on Hinemihi and its role for Maori in England.

"It looks at cultural identity and how we sustain that identity when we're not located near our tribal marae, how that manifests in the way we behave and how come Hinemihi is still considered a Te Arawa meeting house, even though she's been in England for 120 years and why that is important," Mrs Wikitera said. "There are children at kohanga in London who considered Hinemihi their meeting house even though having no tribal connections.

"A lot of the concepts found through Hinemihi relate to how people live outside of their tribal boundaries. It's about making sure that our descendants know who they are and continue the legacy of their ancestors.

"I started the first chapter with the Ngati Whakaue whakatauki (proverb) Hei aha au te mate noa ake ai, Ko taku pa karito ka tupu - It doesn't matter if I die, I am passed on by my descendants." It has taken six years for Mrs Wikitera to complete her Phd, juggling family and work around studies. "We're older than conventional student so we have a mortgage and those responsibilities. Because my Phd was looking at our history from a Maori perspective we were involved in wananga and while it's not a chore and we love going to them it was a lot of travel."

Both sisters said their mother was an inspiration for them studying. "She was an academic and showed us the joy of research and study. I was a teenage mum and [was told], 'You just ruined your life, you're never going to travel', and my pig headedness kicked in and I did a diploma of business which I quite enjoyed. I then studied tourism because I like to travel and we come from Whakarewarewa, tourism is all around.

"I often talk to Maori and Pacific students sharing with them my story. Through my studies, AUT has sent me to conferences all over the world and New Zealand. I have been to Fiji, San Francisco to Berkley University, Paris and England," she said.

Mrs Wikitera is a proud big sister and said she was "rapt" about her sibling's latest academic achievement.

"I went to a wananga a couple of weeks ago and Nari asked a kaumatua if he would bless the completed thesis. He told us he would do it at the end when he lifted the tapu off the wananga and we thought it would be a karakia. But he made an introduction and Nari stood up and shared with the wananga how she was speaking with Uncle Franky outside the marae and he talked to her about the lake which was kind of the start of her thesis.

"She shared how the topic was formed and what it was about and the feeling in the room was one of love and encouragement. It was really beautiful.

"She spoke about relationships and a few of the people had passed away. Afterwards we had people saying they wanted to come to her graduation and that she was an inspiration. So the wananga kind of morphed into Nari and her journey she's made," Mrs Wikitera said.

Both sisters said they would like to use their knowledge to be able to work for their iwi in their chosen fields of study.