He Waka Tauihu e Parepareā Ana: Navigating Māori Land

JOEANN WALTERS

NgātiWai, NgāPuhi, Te Waiariki

He kaupapa Māori, he kaupapa-a-whānau tēnei ki te whakahonohono ai ngai tātou te iwi Māori ki tōna whenua.  Nō te whenua tō tātou oranga, arā, ko te Mātauranga Māori, Te Reo me Ōna Tikanga, Whakapapa, Taiao, ngā mea katoa.  Heoi, ko te whenua te wāhi oranga, arā ko Papatūānuku tērā!

Mea nei he Whakataukī:

“Te toto o te tangata he kai, te oranga o te tangata, he whenua, he oneone”

While food provides the blood in our veins, our health is drawn from the land and soil.

No reira, he kaupapa nei e hangaia kia herea ai te tangata ki tōna whenua, ki te oranga kei roto i a ia, me ōna whenua!  Ko te Whenua ki te Whakapapa, ko te Whakapapa ki te Whenua – he whakatauākī tēnei nō Aunty Grace Kereopa.  E tāna, “ka puta mai ai te whenua te tuatahi, a, ka timata ai te Whakapapa”.  E ora ai te Whenua, e tika ai te tāngata o taua whenua; e tika ai te tāngata o taua whenua, e ora ai te whenua; a ka ora ai tātou katoatia!  

Heoi – Toitū te whenua, Toitū te reo, Toitū te tangata!