Flavell: Whare Uku Curriculum Resource
te-pati-maori
Mon Jun 18 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Flavell: Whare Uku Curriculum Resource
Monday, 18 June 2007, 9:32 am
Speech: The Maori Party
Whare Uku Curriculum Resource: Website and DVD
Te Ururoa Flavell, Member for Waiariki
Thursday 14 June 2007
Thank you, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga and Rautaki Limited, in calling us together in the time of Matariki.
Matariki is our time of growth, a time of change. It is a time when we respect the strength of Papatuanuku, and think of those who have gone before us. Our stories, our whakapapa, our bones.
Matariki is also our time to plant, to nurture new ideas, to prepare for action.
We think of Matariki hunga nui; the people drawn together. Much as we are here today.
And it is time to think creatively about the world we want to shape around us.
It is a real honour to invited here for the launch of resources that tell us our stories just like those here in Tanenuiarangi on Waipapa marae. We think of the navigators, the explorers, the leadership of tangata whenua – and we think too of Tangi’ia – who connects us to our whanaunga of Te Moana nui a Kiwa.
Waipapa acknowledges Ngäti Whätua ki Oräkei as the tangata whenua of Waitemata.
And the whare here at Waipapa is also blessed with the imprint of Ngati Hine who gifted logs of totara and kauri for the carving of the house.
Its design and construction bears witness to the signature of tohunga whakairo Päkariki Harrison – and all those who brought the vision into reality.
But this Hui is also remarkable in the wealth of other worldviews.
I want to acknowledge the
* legacy of Nga Puhi, Ngati Wai and Ngati Hau inherent in Rau Hoskins;
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* the unmistakable influence of Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Kahungunu and Kai Tahu demonstrated through the talents of Te Kipa Kepa Morgan; and
I haven’t even begun to contemplate the tribal luxury represented in Rautaki Limited and Nga Pae o te Maramtanga.
Our people were survivors and entrepreneurs – and still are.
Our people were leaders and explorers – and still are.
The architects, the designers, the engineers, the scientists, the mathematicians, the artists, the geographers, the builders, the weavers, the planners that are treasured throughout our whakapapa come together today in one remarkable resource – the Whare Uku curriculum resource for website and DVD.
This resource, constructed by Kepa Morgan and Rau Hoskins, has emerged from their pioneering work in the design and construction of whare uku – the mud-flax fibre house.
The resource encourages students to investigate whare uku as a viable housing option for Maori whanau.
And in doing so, it opens up so many worlds for our tamariki in kura kaupapa Maori and kura Maori throughout the motu.
Our tribal histories tell us that harakeke has been used for clothing, sandals, mats, containers, sails, fishing lines, traps and cordage. The korari (the flower stalks) were lashed together for rafts. The flowers provided a sweet nectar to embellish many foods.
And of course the medicinal properties of harakeke are well known. The liquid was used as a laxative, the mashed butt could be used as a poultice for boils, for wounds, for abscesses. We know, too, of a process called whakatahe – the use of the flax as a cleansing process - the process and product of abortion.
The fibre could be used for bandages and dressings; and the anti-septic gum could be used for wounds, for burns and abrasions.
The spiritual, traditional and cultural values of harakeke provide a basis for more contemporary commercial values. Scion, the Crown Research institute, is investigating the value of harakeke as an alternative for natural fibre glass.
And today, Rau and Kepa’s work brings us into the realm of construction and from that there’s the excitement of website construction - internet, texting technologies – the wild world of the web.
But Whare Uku will also lift our sights to show how Kaupapa Maori research can benefit communities through a unique model of housing which both builds on and adapts the experience of past generations as well as showing us how we can maintain sustainable resources for future generations.
The research that led to Uku: Earth-Fibre Housing project, manages to integrate Maori pedagogy and tikanga in the creation of building material using earth reinforced with flax fibre or muka.
At the basic economic dimension, Uku illustrates the real potential of meeting housing needs with long design life at low cost.
In the renewed globalisation market, where people are encouraged to own more than they need, the promotion of flax-fibre reinforced earth-wall construction is an ecologically sound model of sustainability.
At an environmental level, it reinforces the obligations we have to care for the natural environment in ways which recognise our cultural frameworks, and reciprocal responsibilities.
Whare uku reminds us and empowers us to explore our tupuna given gifts of ingenuity and enterprise.
And in terms of both future employment and cultural advancement, it shows us the impact that Māori can have in quality urban design through the provision of high quality design that incorporates Māori cultural values.
I want to really acknowledge the talents that both Kepa and Rau bring to this field – their networks, their experience and their immense knowledge has led the way in creating opportunities for a greater living Maori presence in urban areas.
They have proven that our concepts of tapu, of noa, our tohu can be meaningful in housing design, in civil and environmental engineering.
The research has been designed in such a way as to captivate the minds and imaginations of our rangatahi through the electronic medium to encourage participation by more young Maori in the sciences and related careers.
So from a teaching point of view, it shows how information and communication technologies can be used in research and in the classroom. It crosses boundaries – bringing Hangarau, Tikanga a Iwi and Putaiao together in one project.
And of course the beauty and power of te reo rangatahi knows no bounds.
Having recently been to Taiwan and listened to the language of the indigenous peoples there, and the similarities of the language and both cultural expressions resonated in that both sounded so familiar.
And so we come so to the author of Jade Taniwha - Jenny Bol Jun Lee of Ngati Mahuta and Ngati Te Wehi; and her ancestors from the provinces of Taishan and Zhongshan.
We not only recognise her Maori indigeneity but also her Chinese roots.
The celebration we are part of today – with the launch of Whare Uku and the launch of Jade Taniwha – is part of that continuing journey of discovery and enterprise.
ENDS
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