Waitangi weekend for me was all about working out where we are at as a nation and how we are only separated by two degrees of separation.
It started with a Friday full of flag-waving and colourful korero up in "Honeland", and was soon silenced by a Cake Tin full of colourful
costumes in Wellington.
When we woke up early the next morning to catch the light of Mauao on Waitangi Day, we went from waka to war birds as the skies filled with magnificent flying machines.
Thankfully, a sun-soaked Sunday celebrating 80 years of life with a friend seemed to put it all in perspective, and in a two degrees of separation kind of way - they were and still are all connected.
When I watched the outrageous Cake Tin costume carnival (scantily disguised as a sevens sporting contest), I asked myself why we humans crave to "come out" and dress up like Weta Workshop wannabes? And I guess it's all about being noticed. Just as it is for flag wavers like me, who carry their cause on Waitangi Day and want the world to know who Maori are.
But the challenge is how do we connect and notice each other as we profess to be doing during the annual Waitangi Sermon on the Mount. It won't happen with two-minute speeches and it won't happen with a Waka full of warriors carrying the dreams of their ancestors up to the top of their sacred mountain.
Somehow we need to engage in a more meaningful way. Perhaps we need to carry the momentum of Mauao on Waitangi morning back down to the beach, where questions and answers can be more meaningfully shared around a Pilot Bay barbecue?
- Read more in today's Bay of Plenty Times
