KAPAI: True leader needed to cross the tribal divide

When we were kids growing up in a family of 11, we had a sitting room to listen to the stereogram and a weekly treat was to go around the corner to Aunty Kate's whare and watch Dr Kildare, Bonanza and Stony Bourke on their flash television.
But Aunty Kate had a lounge room, not a sitting room like us, and it was only later in life I worked out that ours was called a sitting room because we only had room to sit in it and not lounge about as we did when we went to Aunty Kate's.
So small separate seats and large lounges has always been a question of balance for me and it is the same issue for a balanced separate seat for Maori proposed for the Tauranga District Council.
The challenge of creating a separate seat for Maori is complex because the interests of four iwi have to be shouldered by one individual. That is exactly the same issue our treaty settlements are facing today when it comes to mandating one iwi (tribe) voice to carry the concerns of all hapu (sub-tribes).
A number of countries and councils have a form of indigenous representation. In Norway, the Sami have their own assembly, and in the state of Maine in the United States, two Indian tribes have seats in the state legislature.
However, only New Zealand has a system which specifically includes the indigenous people in the general parliamentary process.
New Zealand has had dedicated seats for Maori for more than 100 years.
It is difficult to gauge the efficacy of separate representation during this period. But the small Maori representation relative to non-Maori seats, according to several observers, rarely gave full effect to Maori concerns which first and foremost is the preservation of their culture.
There is no question that giant steps have been taken in bridging the cultural divide inherited by past Tauranga district councils which had no idea of or interest in the historical marginalisation of Maori in the district, let alone having one of them on council.
In fact, having Maori sitting at the same table was seen as totally inappropriate, especially if they had any degree of intellect.
Not that it stopped any of them having a go; many Maori, myself included, did. But we were often perceived as a kupapa (traitor) by our own people, who never voted anyway.
Knowing my mother's generation had a separate toilet for Hori down on The Strand puts it all into perspective. You could say both cultures are familiar with the concept of separate seats and therefore need to get past the old prejudices.
Sure, separatism of any kind promotes marginalisation of those unwilling to grapple with the bigger picture of preserving our culture. But the cultural coin is turning. Unfortunately, on the other side of the cultural coin, there are some Maori of self-imposed importance who will look for stumbling blocks instead of stepping stones in local legislation, especially in the area of waste management where a consulting quid can be made. This when we are all party to what ends up in the harbour, courtesy of the embalming process at local funeral parlours?
And for my two bobs' worth there are others who I call born-again Maori, who believe being born Maori is a God-given green card to invoice today's tauiwi (Europeans) for the corrupt calls made by past generations. The danger is that Maori themselves could create a dynasty of super-tribes (Ngai Tahu, Tainui) to the detriment of those who really do need a hand up, not a hand-out.
If there is to be a separate Maori seat on council, it should be based purely on intellectual capacity not tribal allegiance, as we already have a great kaumatua collective forum which represents the voice of tangata whenua.
And there are many within council who make every effort to broker a marriage of cultural understanding here in Tauranga Moana.
There are already local Maori academics suited for the seat totally in tune with the Resource Management Act who can work pan-tribally across the palisades of past grievances.
But for them to be mandated it will need the mana-munchers to step aside and the mana of our real rangatira to step in.