TE RAKAUNUI... (OCT-2013)

Today is Te Rakaunui (the full moon)... and this month the moon is controlled by the star Atutahi - the herald of new life. Atutahi is the planting star... and when the moon begins to wane... (usually 3 days from now) our tupuna would plant their seeds. From this full moon to the harvest moon of Whanui... is about 130 days... that's also the approx maturity time of kumara. Many vegetables have a similar maturity time... Onion (100-120) Potato (90-120) Pumpkin (85-120) Sweet Corn (70-105) and Kumara (100-125). Our parents and grandparents knew this stuff... they used the moon as a cosmic time peace... it's not exactly rocket science... it's observation... the world is governed by repeating cycles... MAURIORA...

Before They Pass Away

Ka mau te wehi cuzzin... from Tamaki to the globe at large... Stunning images by photographer Jimmy Nelson... A few years back he started accumulating images of remote and unique cultures photographed with a traditional 50-year-old plate camera. Many awards followed. When he started to successfully and internationally exhibit and sell these images, this created the subsequent momentum and enthusiasm for the initiation of Before they Pass Away.

http://beforethey.com/tribe/maori

'POSSESSION'

On Thursday I will be at an Artist Event in Hamilton... to talk a little about Ngai Tamanuhiri, Te Kuri and our sacred patuwatawata RANGIHOUA... and basically to support Jean E Loomis and her show called...

'POSSESSION'
An exhibition of 12 screenprints at ArtsPost 27th September to 28th October... Artist’s Event Thursday 3rd October at 5.30pm

1769 October Sunday 8th: 'About four o'clock in the afternoon, we anchored on the north west side of the bay.'
(Extract from Cooks Diary.)
These prints are based on Te Kuri o Paoa*, known to New Zealanders as Young Nicks Head an iconic headland important to Maori and Pakeha.

Many countries have iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty. In Aotearoa this headland is significant to Maori and Pakeha as the important point of first encounter between two cultures. It was here as well that two models of land 'possession' clashed. The existing model of occupation/guardianship was based on care of the living land and its resources to be passed on to future generations. Colonisation introduced the individual/corporate model where resources were exploited, trees cut and minerals mined for profit.

In the 1860’s 1.25 million acres of Ngai Tamanuhiri land was confiscated by the crown and sold to settlers. In 2002 Te Kuri came up for sale and Ngai Tamanuhiri made a bid for their land but an absentee United States citizen also negotiated to buy the headland. Members of Ngai Tamanuhiri occupied the Pa site in protest and marched on Parliament but the sale to the American went ahead with New Zealand Government approval.

Today these two models of possession have a wider constituency, but the clash continues over the sale of state assets, oil and gas exploitation on the East Coast, deep sea oil drilling in Cook Strait, gold mining on Coromandel and the far north, and open-cast coal mining on the Denniston plateau. The struggle is still between kaitiakitanga /guardianship and exploitation.

In preparation for this work I first approached the headland from the sea, a route familiar to Maori and Cook. I spent some time drawing and living at Muriwai Beach at the base of the headland. My research involved reading and listening to locals tell stories how for generations they had camped each Christmas at Murphy’s Beach an activity that is no longer permitted under present ownership. I climbed the headland before dawn to the old Pa site Te Rangihoua the view was awe inspiring but I also felt a great sense of loss - this place no longer belongs to New Zealanders.

Recently the Waitangi Tribunal Treaty Settlement returned 200 acres of land to Ngai Tamanuhiri plus the cliff face of Te Kuri as a National Reserve. On the back of a Gisborne bus is a large bill board showing a view of Young Nicks Head with the motto 'Our Place' - but it's no longer our place - just the cliffs.

An Artist’s event is planned for Thursday 3rd October at 5.30 pm. I am very pleased to announce that Warren Pohatu an illustrator and designer originally from Muriwai in Gisborne will open the exhibition.

Jean E Loomis

KNOWLEDGE IS A LIVING THING

We are all vessels of knowledge to one degree or another and we all play a part in maintaining or developing that pool of knowledge for our future generations. Obviously as technology advances our knowledge base is expanded and by the sametoken as we get further from our past some knowledge becomes obsolete and is often consigned to the record of our history. Knowledge is a living breathing entity and as the generations come and go... the knowledge accumulated is passed on and the next generation becomes custodians of that collection... thus the knowledge lives.

Today we are the conscious portion of that knowledge base and it is our duty to share what we know and forward it to our children, grandchildren and beyond. Thus our genealogical record... our whakapapa... transcends many generations to tell us who we are... and where we came from. It measures our mana... it gathers our wairua... and it enhances our aroha. We are who we are because of our whakapapa... and I am very proud to be me... to be MAORI... MAURIORA

(the artwork is called TIWHANARAU... and represents the many tiwhana - or forehead design patterns- that go into making me who I am)

ARTIST PROFILE WARREN NR POHATU

TOI TAMANUHIRI

Graphic Designer, Artist, Illustrator, Author, Blogger, Social Networker, Opinionist, Researcher, Story Teller and Philosopher. I was born and bred in the heart of Ngai Tamanuhiri (Muriwai) and have always considered myself to be Tamanuhiri tuturu. All four of my grandparents were born and bred Tamanuhiri and thus I have whakapapa connections to all core hapu. For the past 30 years I have worked in the visual communications arena and have many years experience in the Auckland Design industry. I have published 4 children's books and 7 calendars thus far and I'm currently working on an illustrated record of my whakapapa by way of an e-book that is due for release in late 2014. All my publications are based on my genealogy as I have spent 30 years researching our tribal histories. I am absolutely passionate about my family story and my whakapapa and this is reflected in my work. I am also fully committed to the original art form... which is korero. Our oral traditions are the basis of all other art forms and without the words and stories of our ancestors nothing else exists. Our art is basically the hard copy of many, many generations of our oral record. In 2002 I spoke before the Waitangi Tribunal at the hearing in Muriwai and as lead speaker it was my honour and privilege to explain our story. The many generation since Tane separated his parents... the 50 or so generations since Maui fished up our land... the 28 generations since Paoa landed at Papatewhai... and the 9 generations since the Endeavour achored off Turanga. My passion is our story. MAURIORA...

https://www.facebook.com/warren.pohatu
https://www.facebook.com/Tamanuhiri
https://www.facebook.com/MAORIBOYZ
https://twitter.com/MaoriBoyOne
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=119723579&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
https://plus.google.com/u/0/116079530399017315622/about
http://warrenpohatucreative.blogspot.co.nz/
http://warrenpohatu.blogspot.co.nz/