Contributions From Our People

Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Sacramento.
30 March to 03 April, 2011

Last year I was invited to the SAA in St Louis for the 75^th Annual Meeting Anniversary to participate on an Indigenous panel. I went again this year and presented one paper in a session titled "On the Edge of (a) Reason: Archaeology, Activism, and the Pursuit of Relevance" and I sat on a discussion panel. "When the Tangible and Intangible are One: Exploring the Implications of Indivisible Cultural Heritage for Archaeology". The title of my paper was ''The Margin of Archaeology" and was about my use of archaeological training, knowledge and professionalism for Maori community advocacy roles and how this got me off-side with Pakeha archaeologists who promote archaeology is for science not culture. The panel explored the relationship between the "tangible” (material culture) and the "intangible” (culture) at the intersection of traditional worldviews and archaeological practice.

When I arrived I stayed in a budget hotel in downtown San Francisco for 3 days to recover from jet lag which gave me time to have a look around the downtown area. I had to catch an Amtrak train from Emeryville (next to Oakland) to Sacramento which was a two hour ride. Sacramento is the State capital of California. I arrived at 2 pm and at 6 pm was the opening session for SAA which was a panel of Native Americans discussing the repatriation of tupapaku held in museums and other institutions. I have built up a profile and network with Indigenous archaeologist from the US, Canada, Australia and Africa since 2003 at conferences in Australia, the US and the UK and this was my fourth visit to the US since 2003 for a conference. I attend these conferences because they have sessions surrounding indigenous issues.

After the meeting I came back to Berkeley and stayed in a room share house for 5 days close to Berkley University. I spent 4 days at Berkeley University using their anthropology library and met with the GIS/GPS technical experts to discuss the merits of equipment and software for heritage projects. On April 6 I went to Stanford University by train from Berkley and gave a lunch time seminar in the Heritage section of the Archaeology Department. I gave a talk about recent work I did at Motiti for the appeals against the Proposed Motiti Island District Plan. Native American students were interested in my methodology or how did I go about getting information. Before the seminar and after, I had individual sessions with Native American students PhD students who were keen to access my perspective on indigenous heritage. I stayed the night with Michael Wilcox a Native American archaeologist who teaches at Stanford. We spent a morning looking at a forest or ngahere close to Stanford and it is something I enjoy looking at local plants, trees and birds. This is where the redwoods, macracarpa, pines and all the trees we are familiar with come from and it was interesting to see these trees in their original and natural environment.

It was a bit of an adventure to work out what train to catch and how to make connections but the internet and Google maps makes travelling much easier. All hotels and boarding places have wifi. I found this trip very rewarding where my presence at SAA and the seminar at Stanford reinforced that my specific Maori approach to archaeology and heritage is spot on and gave me greater understanding of how the field here is dogmatic and refuses to acknowledge Maori perspectives. I now have a wider profile overseas then I do here in Aotearoa.

I liked San Francisco and found the Americans there to be a lot more relaxed and I enjoyed hanging out at Berkley University. I stayed 2 days in Mill Valley before I flew back and stayed with a Pakeha mate originally from Whakatane and the last time we saw each other was back in 1973. In Mill Valley which was surrounded by Redwood trees I saw a school with harakeke as the main plant on the school grounds. Also at Stanford I saw ti kouka (cabbage trees) as feature trees in a square.

Dr Des Kahotea

 

 

"My First Day"

Bethlehem Native School

Through the eyes of Rahiri Bennett (alias Dadum, Anthony)

 

The year is 1951 and I am now 5 years old and in Primer 1. Huge events in relation to the world have and will happen this year but as a 5 year old I did not see it as an adult but as a child in awe. However like most children of that time I had no idea what these events meant and as you will note my recollection of these events would have been simply as I saw them then.

As you read through this story "My First Day” I invite you to become as we once were - a child and re-live the magic, pretence, excitement, thrill, animation, imagination and the anticipation of being a child who had the privilege to be a primary school student of Bethlehem Native School, Tauranga.

"Dadum”, I hear Mum call, "Kia tere, ka haere koe ki te kura mo te ra nei”. (Quickly you're off to school today) Mum stands in front of me with her hands on her hip and says, "Now don't forget your lunch and make sure you stay close to Hody on your way to school”. "Hody”, she yells, "You make sure you look after Dadum at school”.

I'm all excited about this new adventure - up until now, playing cowboys and Indians with my younger brothers was getting boring as my strategic enterprises were not being tested; hence as the Indian, I was cleaning up. Mind you, I had made myself a bow and I had collected a few raupo to use as arrows and had no hesitation in shooting my brothers, they in turn would use sticks to use as rifles and their fingers as six guns. My word, they were fast at the draw but they always managed to miss me as I usually saw the bullet and ducked just in time which allowed me to load my bow and shoot them.

As I think about it now, it seems as though I was way ahead of my time as with all these martial art movies the hero always avoids the bullet but, to their credit I never thought about catching the bullet with my teeth.

After being shot with my bow and arrows, my brothers would run to Mum crying and telling tales of this horrendous act that I had perpetrated upon them. Of course this meant that toward the latter years of that particular milestone their participation in this hugely successful game of Cowboys and Indians had waned. So really what the Indians couldn't do I did it all in the matter of five years, yep I had cleaned up the cowboys.

As we walked to school Hody made sure that he held my hand and he sang some songs that were totally unfamiliar to me, even the tune was different and rather hard to listen too. (It took me a couple of years to realize that he was tune deaf, yeah that's right - flat)

On the way to school we would walk past Uncle Peter Buffs and Auntie Katie's home, Nana Riripeti would always be outside by the fire, (Aunty Katie baked the most delicious rewena bread that she used to cook in an omu on an open fire which was outside the house) then past Bill and Sally Timoni's home and just before rounding the corner into Carmichaels Road, Eriwini Ormsby's home. (The Ormsby name is synonymous with Tauranga and the name comes from Ireland. They are related to British Royalty and come from one of three Ormsby brothers that visited our shores in the 1800's. Two of the brothers continued onto Australia and designed the city of Melbourne whilst the third brother who was gravely ill was nursed back to health by a Maori woman whom he later married and had a family. Eriwini spoke very little English but was well known for the word "paka” which was his transliteration of the word "bugger” - he used this word a lot especially with us)

We continued past Uncle Pat Jack and Auntie Millie Te Wheoro's home. (Uncle Pat was one of our 28 Battalion veterans to the Second World war, his stories were eagerly listened to. One of the stories he told as I remember, was when whilst they were in Italy they had a little bit of a lull and apparently some of the members of the battalion went onto the farm next door and killed a pig. The farmer seeing the commotion went to enquire as to what they were doing and when the guys saw the farmer approaching in the distance they put the pig on a stretcher and covered it with a blanket and put one of their helmets over the head. The farmer approached and asked if all was okay and Uncle Pat told him that one of their mates had copped it and that they were taking him back to the battalion lines for burial. He then went onto say that they had an awesome hangi and had invited the farmer to the hakari which he loved.) On the opposite side was the Dreaver's farm.

The home of Dick Marsh and Rachael's were next on the way to school with Auntie Mereana's next, (Aunty was Mum's sister and I called in often to see her and get some of the most beautiful apples from her tree) and then Uncle Tureiti Rahiri (Uncle was Mum's brother and he loved her so dearly). Sometimes Auntie Molly would come into our home crying and would run behind Mum and soon after Uncle Tureiti would arrive breathing hard and using a few expletives but after seeing Mum he would become as meek as a mouse and they would all soon be laughing. Yep he really loved Mum. Auntie Molly and Uncle Tureiti were next to Uncle Pihaka Whaiapu and Auntie Annie.

We were getting close to the school by now and on the other side of the road was the food basket, (Orchards of oranges, chinese gooseberries and marmalades) which was owned by the Prebbles, Gordon Bukallele (sic) and further down the road and next door to the school was Norm Skipper. (Norm Skipper was our local butcher)

We then walked past Uncle Albert Brown and Auntie Rangi's home, (Auntie Rangi- now she was very special, she taught me how to open kuku and tuangi properly. Even today I see people struggle with the simplicities of opening mataitai. Her sister-in-law Aunty Edith, who was married to Uncle Morris was terrific when I began nursing; she was very much like a mother to me. There was one occasion when as a training nurse in Ward 3 she brought me a plate of kai as she was a chef in the hospital kitchen. As staff we were not allowed to eat in the Wards so with my prior expertise in deduction due to my academic training whilst my bro's had to do the weeding, I had deduced that I could take my plate to a patient's side that could not eat because he was in a coma, place a feed bib over his chest as he lay in bed, place a few crumbs on the bib along with dabs of gravy down his chin and then eat the meal. Well and behold in walks the Matron, Lois Jones she sees me, I see her and I have a mouth full of food, she sees the patient and asks if he is enjoying the meal. I then became one of the most talented ventriloquists known to man - I was able to answer for him despite having a mouthful of food, "very good nurse” she said. My Lord, I hated that handle and I think she knew it as she had wry smile on her dial whenever she said it to me. Did the Matron know what I was doing? You can bet your bottom dollar she did).

Then past Uncle Sub Gates and Aunty Mari's home, (Uncle and Aunty were Mum's cousins and were privileged to have just as big a whanau as we did. Uncle was normally pretty serious with us kids but there was this time when he asked me in what I can describe now as teasing, "are you going to school boy?” "yes Uncle”, I said, "did you go yesterday too”, he asked, "yes”, I replied, "wi a re, you must be dumb going to school every day, didn't you learn it all yesterday?”, he said with a smile. I thought to myself shucks, if I am dumb then what about all his kids - my cousins, they must be dumber than dumb; they had been at school longer than me. At last we had arrived at school and I didn't need to listen to Hody sing for the rest of the day.

The bell rang and it was time for school to start. "Anthony, Anthony”' Miss Farmer was calling; everyone including me was looking around to see who she was calling out too. She caught my eye and said "I'm talking to you”, rather sternly. Up until then I was called Dadum by everyone so it was strange to hear the name Anthony. She took my arm and ushered me to the front of the assembly where we all stood and sang the national anthem. (I had no idea of the tune or words to God Save the King so like a great mime artist I moved my lips but as a lip reader would tell you, I had no idea of the words.) As the words died out to the anthem we were all standing at attention when a marching tune sounded out. Heck, I got a fright, but good ole Miss Farmer said in a calm voice " start marching into class Anthony”.

That first day I saw in my class many strange faces and among them were Francis Ormsby, Barbara Dawson, Tommy Brown, Barry Whaiapu, Gail Matthews, Henry and Horace Te Wheoro, Tutu Pearson, Moses Tukaukau, Keith Gillon, Peri Kohu, Honey Tarawa and others who would for the next 7 years make an unforgettable impact on my life.

My first day!!! Shucks the blackboard is full of stuff and even though I was an amazing Indian I just cannot decipher what the stuff is. Miss Farmer, (This amazing teacher apparently taught my mother and was still there after I had left to go to College) is talking to me and asking me questions about what has been written on the board and before I could tell her that I didn't know, Francis Ormsby whispered in my ear the letter A. I looked at her enquiringly as the only A I knew was the question, aye? Wow, she was right and from that moment forward I was able to do almost anything in the class especially with Miss Farmer. That Francis, she was pretty special. I later found out that Francis was one whole year older than me and that we shared the 17 September as our birthday. Hmmm one year older – one year wiser.

Ahh!!! Its lunch time, I follow the others outside to sit in the sun on the seats that were directly outside the class rooms. I sit beside Keith Gillon and proudly open my lunch; the sandwiches that Mum had made were made from rohi (Pakeha Bread) full of the home grown tomatoes that Dad had grown in the garden. (Shucks he grew a lot of stuff my Dad).

We had around 9 acres of land in garden and if you knew my Dad he was so meticulous in what he did you could almost feel sorry for the weeds. My Dad he was so ruthless with those weeds and it wasn't until I began growing my own vegetables that I realized those poor green weeds were privileged to have my Dad ruthlessly deal to them. However having huge gardens did not add to our social life, well not my bro's any way, they had to pull weeds every weekend whilst I spent time on my academics, you know reading and all that stuff. Yeah right!

Not having had sandwiches before I thought then that it was normal to have soggy bread but upon looking at Keith's sandwiches I noted rather strangely that his bread was dry and did not have writing on it. I later found out that if your sandwiches were to become soggy and they were wrapped in good ole newspaper that the ink of the newsprint would become wet and transfer some of its print onto the bread. I thought ‘dang', my Mum is brilliant not only are the teachers teaching me words with the alphabet and all that stuff but my Mum is making sure that I am learning over and beyond the call of the school curriculum as the words were kinda code, like you know, inside out. Is it any wonder that I was good at breaking codes in the Army.

Sandwiches eaten and now its time to play!!! Great there is a whole new team to play with and some girls also. There is room for cowboys, cowgirls, Indians and maybe the odd squaw, shucks that's more than I had ever imagined. Guess what, I am confronted by protocols perpetrated by others who are older than me and their idea of playing does not resonate with me, I mean get a load of this; tiggy, hide n seek, eye spy, Simon says, and Cowboys without the Indians. (maybe they had found out that I had dealt to the cowboys at the marae, that's the trouble with being successful everybody gets to hear about it and all the obstacles are put in place to kerb the success.)

I wasn't going to let a little bit of an obstacle interfere with my playing games. So the first game that I participated in at school was Cowboys. Now to make it interesting I asked if I could be the outlaw and when they said yep I undertook to recruit me a gang just like Billy the Kids gang. The idea was so popular that there were only two cowboys with the rest of us being outlaws. After robbing the bank we easily dispensed with the posse and rode back into town to claim the booty, well, you know what I mean. Guess what… yep you're right me being an outlaw was banned, only the older guys could be outlaws, so now I had to be the cowboy. Man I wasn't going to fall into their trap so I then recruited Marshalls with a little twist to it. I asked Hoki Kohu if she could help me to make some Marshall badges which she agreed to, the bribe was that she could be Tommy Brown's wife. We couldn't spell Marshall so we put a big M in the middle of our impressive Marshall stars. Even Keith Gillon wanted a piece of the action especially when I told everyone that I had recruited and that we were Wyatt Earp and the Earp brothers. Didn't really know how many brothers there were but we ended up having about 15 and 3 sisters.

They proudly wore their badges for the whole day as once again we cleaned up those outlaws who dared to perpetrate a crime against our community. Wyatt would have been so proud of us. A funny thing happened that day there were only two outlaws and they were the same kids that were the goody good cowboys in the earlier game. My, how things become obvious however, the wonderful thing about being a child is that you do not hold any resentment whatsoever and after a few more games we were all reading from the same page. Whose page is not the issue, it is about a dream, imagination, skill, commitment and the ability to encourage others that the dream is achievable no matter the odds.

Just as recently as 22 August 2008 I coached two teams in the North Harbour Basketball Association Finals in the Under 19 Boys and Under 19 Girls. The road to the finals was difficult, the girls were all netball players wanting out of the sport of netball but within these girls were two New Zealand High Schools Beach Volley Ball Representatives and one New Zealand Under 15 Soccer Representative. They were called "your netball girls” by other Basketball coaches and officials.

The boys were a combination of tall, uncoordinated players and the others were street ballers who just wanted to do the flashy stuff. They were all individual in their determination to play the game.

We ran the trials in October 2007 and selected our training squads and each player was given a summer programme concentrating on skill and fitness. Each player based on their skill and fitness levels at the time of selection was given a measurable programme which was assessed monthly over the summer.

In Feb 2008 the cutting of the squad to the final selection was made. I then asked those players that made the cut, "what is your dream”, they all echoed, "to win the North Harbour U19 grade”. So together we set about acquiring the necessary skill, fitness, commitment and attitude that would see the dream become their reality.

Were there any obstacles to achieving this dream? Of course there were, and for the girls it was transferring and combining their given individual skills in other sports, and the boys in the finals were up against a team who were all North Harbour Basketball representatives with one player who had higher honours that as a New Zealand Under 17&19 player and also a development player for the New Zealand Breakers.

So how did we deal to it? Our training which was four times a week at 2 hours a time for 8 months, was all about fundamentals, no flash stuff as a lot of the players could already do the flash stuff but, just plain ole fundamentals and combining to work as a team.

Both teams at the finals were really apprehensive so I asked them if they thought the occasion and the teams were giants in their eyes. They all agreed that it was, so I told them the story of David and Goliath and that David through his fitness, skill, commitment and attitude had learned the fundamentals of his slingshot whilst Goliath had skill, fitness, commitment but an attitude that turned into an arrogance that comes with the pride of continued and at times, false accolades. We ended up winning both games despite the games being played at the same time but luckily on adjacent courts. Yep, once again, David had defeated the giant Goliath.

The bell rings to start the afternoon off and I follow the others into the class. We are all seated and Miss Farmer asks that we stand and move our desks back to make room for some action song and haka practice. The others know what they are doing but Barbara Dawson and I don't know what's happening so we stand to the side. (Barbara and I share the same birthday). Quite intriguing really, they form lines like they do up at the Marae when they are about to do some action songs to welcome Manuhiri into the Wharekai for the Hakari. I am ushered into the back row of the boys and the command of Kia Mau is sounded out. Everyone puts their hands on their hips; some are slightly slower than the others, so I thought that they must be as new as I am at this.

The dulcet tones of Mehe Manu Rere rings out from our girl Kaea and the rest chime in with the words and actions, that is, the rest except me and some others. Now being in the back row was really quite difficult as you saw all the things you shouldn't see. There were boys directly in front of me who when the others were stamping their feet had there feet raised and were stamping to a beat that I was becoming awfully confused with. If you have seen Dads Army and the infamous Lcpl Jones you can understand when I say that those boys were like him, always behind the action. In fact, whatever action was being executed they had managed to find the opposite action.

There were two boys on either side of me who shall remain nameless who were singing a totally different tune. Shucks it was hard to know what to sing, but I did find out that I couldn't sing the tune they were singing as I was unable to reach the tones. Tommy Brown was also in the back row and he began laughing at the performance of the others and that got everyone else giggling. The unfortunate thing about giggling is that when the teacher is trying to make it serious the laughter bursts out uncontrollably. I and others were crying and rolling on the floor with laughter.

The experience of my first day was to be a great motivator for the years of schooling at Bethlehem Native Primary School.

 

Kamokamo Vine Profiles

Ko wai ahau?  Ko au te mokopuna o Hinemoa (nee Bennett) me Hereaka Reweti

Tamaahine a Ngaronoa me Hone Ngata

Ko Tony Campbell toku hoa rangatira, no Ratana Paa ia.

Role: I have been a part-time kaimahi (Administrator) here in the office since late 2011.

Some of the things I do:  Everything and anything lol....from trying to unblock wharepaku, to checking the Marae after bookings, to answering the phone, to Marae enquiries, to financial and minute-taking for our Runanga and Marae, maintaining Corporation books and the list goes on....and on...

What do I like the best about my mahi?  No two days are the same, helping our whanau, having a korero with our Kaumatua that call in from time to time, and working for our own people.  Being here on our Marae!

 What do I like to do in my spare time? I enjoy travelling, having date nights with my husband Tony (especially when kai is involved), also passionate about hapu initiatives for our whanau and our kapa haka group 'Te Awaroa o Kahu'-Tumeke Taniwha!!

 

NAME: Mita Duncan Rahiri

 

Ko wai au: Ko au te tama o Tureiti raua ko Matekino Rahiri

Ko Iwi Pani nee Murray toku hoa rangatira, no te moutere o Matakana ia.

Role: I suppose I'm the local dial a Kaumatua and part time fixer upper at the Marae.

Some of the things I do: Sitting on the pae tapu, making sure cups of tea and kai is ready and just being there to support the whanau.

Member and Ngati Kahu rep on various committees on our Marae and throughout the Moana

 

What do you like the best about my mahi? Sitting on the pae tapu and hearing all the goss. Working together, meeting new people, and learning new things.

 

What I like to do in my spare time: When I can I like to go fishing and being a keen sportsman enjoy watching rugby, cricket and just about any sport. My hobbies are vege gardening and just recently have become a keen hobbyist bee keeper.

Name: Charlie Rahiri

 

Ko wai au? E te Au Kume

E te Au Rama

E te Au Hirere

Te ripo o te Moana

Haere ra e hika ma, aku nui, aku rahi

Aku whakatamarahi ki te rangi

Waiho mai te Iwi te Hapu nei

Mana e moe noa

Tena tatou nga hapu o te Wairoa, i roto i te kapua pouri mate.

Ki o tatou whanau pani nga maimai aroha nui me nga manaaki whanui hoki a te Atua kia koutou, a , ka tau iho kia tatou katoa.

Ka huri aku mihi ki to tatou tari me ona kaimahi katoa, ko ratou e hapai nei i to tatou mana i roto i nga ahuatanga katoa o to tatou Marae, hapu ranei.

Ki nga whanau whanui o te hapu, nga mihi nui kia koutou.

He mokopuna tenei o nga whanau e ki a nei Whanau Rahiri, Te Whanau Paraone, Te Whanau Apaapa me te Whanau Tokona. He uri au o nga hapu katoa o to tatou awatipuna Te Wairoa. I tipu ake au I runga I te marae kiei waenga i te hapori o te Wairoa.

I kuraina au i te kura o Peterehema. Kei Huria taku kainga noho i te taha o toku tau a Kirsty me oku Tamariki e toru.

Anei oku whakaaro i waihotia e toku kuia ki ahau me aku karangatahi.

I'm Charlie Rahiri and I have a couple of roles within the hapu. I am a Trustee on the Wairoa Settlement Trust, Chair of Te Kohanga reo o Te Wairoa an Apotoro of the Ratana Church and most importantly a child of the Awa!

 

I enjoy working in the kitchen at the Marae and this is a role that I guess I inherited at avery young age. My Nan, Edith Brown worked tirelessly to maintain the mana of the Marae through having ensuring that our manaakitanga was second to none. Something she learnt from Nanny Puti Hikairo and others. I remember Nan teaching a lot of the people around the marae her craft and Nanny June certainly exemplifies these teachings..I just want to take a moment to reflect on the some of things I learnt from my Nan.

 

Tangata ako ana i Ta whare, Te turanga ki Te marae, tau ana

A person who is taught at home, will stand collected on the Marae

A child who is given proper values at home and cherished within the family, will

not only behave well amongst the family but also within society throughout their life.

A quote my Nan who along with many others strived to build this marae as a

place for our people, to stand. In sharing korero with her over the years she had a

vision much like that of princess Te Puea from who she was taught whilst growing up in the Waikato, a vision that the marae should be a sanctuary MO TE PANI, TE

POUWARU ME TE RAWAKORE. The Marae is our place to stand, it is where we

afford the upmost respect to our elders and where we bestow upon Manuhiri a welcome befitting of royalty. This was her legacy and it is one that continues to be practiced, that is what a marae is all about.

 

He kai kei aku ringa, There is food at the end of my hands this is said by a person who can use their limited resources and their basic and more often than not hereditary learnt abilities and resources to create success through feeding the multitudes.

I distinctly remember one time we were expecting a tangi from afar and no one from the whanau had come to bring kai to prepare for the arrival of the tangi. Nan was able to feed them all with 6 cans of corned beef and some riwai, and it was delicious.

He kai kei aku ringa.

Te anga karaka, Te anga korua, kei kitea Te Marae

The shells of the karaka berry, and the shells of the crayfish, should not be seen from the Marae.

 Whilst this whakatauki has a hygienic undertone and represents the need to be clean on our Marae, it also refers to discipline. A tribe or war party who disregards organization and has no concern for where they leave their rubbish and gear reflects poor leadership and discipline, thus becoming easy prey for a more regimented force.

Translated on a Marae you always need that one person in charge. Whether it is Aunty June, Aunty Millie or Me we can only lead if we have people beside us. Yes we take all the compliments and complaints, but we never forget the work of our tireless work horses that are at the Marae day in day out, I te ata, I te po..

No reira, nga mihi ki a koutou.

He tangata takahi manuhiri, he marae puehu.

A person who mistreats his guest has a dusty Marae.

Someone who disregards their visitors will soon find he has no visitors

at all. This accentuates the importance of Manaakitanga, or hospitality, Manaakitanga is what the Marae is all about and Nan taught me this.

Wairoa is a progressive and forward thinking Marae, one where customs are handed

down and tikanga is taught and upheld. Our Marae is our place of learning, it is our

Kohanga Reo, it is our Kura, it is our University, and we are on a life long journey

towards gaining the highest accolade of Maori knowledge. We cherish the fact that we manaaki our manuhiri, and we do it well, some say it's whakahihi, we say 

Tangata ako ana i te whare, te turanga ki te marae, tau ana, A person who is taught at home,will stand collected on the Marae, that is what we were taught. 

 

Chur my name is Tamati and I'm from Tauranga Moana. I've become a leading voice of many, along with others in a Rangatahi group. Our roles are placed for us (tuakana) to enlighten our Rangatahi with a positive attitude to life.

 

I enjoy chilling with the cuzzy's and also getting involved to encourage our younger Whanau, at the end of the day we are all Whanau, kotahi aroha.

I've been fortunate enough to have Whanau willing to give me a chance. Josh a tuakana gifted me a job which not only gives me the chance to mahi but also a plan for our rangatahi activities...wicked as.