Meredith Akuhata-Brown
by Meredith Akuhata-Brown, Green Party candidate for East Coast
One way of learning your whanau history is at the tangi of a parent. With the recent passing of my mother came an amazing opportunity to learn more about her and my extended whanau.
My mother was born in 1943 in a small place called Ohautira, where she was born in a small, humble shed. The most amazing detail of her birth was that her grandmother was a professional midwife and had delivered many babies in the Waikato region; she was one of the main physicians of the Kingitanga and well respected.
Listening to all the speakers at my mum’s funeral was very special as there was so much about her that I didn’t know, much of which centred on the decades which my mum grew up in. Life was very simple and New Zealand was more egalitarian then. My mum was told to embrace a Pakeha world and she did; she married my Pakeha father.
The importance of knowing our history was echoed at the recent First Meetings Korero our local Historical Places Tairawhiti organised.
The question asked of the quest speakers was “what is required of us as a community to make meaningful change out of the current ‘statue, memorial, naming’ debate?”
I appreciated the opportunity to hear four very different perspectives on this topic, and to share with others what we heard. Overarching was the need to understand the impact of our shared history and talk more honestly about this impact. Debunking myths and statements such as “Maori need to stop living in the past”, “colonisation wasn’t that bad” gave us food for thought. Connecting to the history of our region through whakapapa and ensuring our schools’ curriculum has the local narratives were also part of the conversation; this has always been interesting for me, as many people who have strong feelings about the history of this region often aren’t from here.
Of course, when considering the history of a place, it’s important to also consider who is telling the story and perhaps the context in which it is being told. This I believe is a vital discussion when considering adding New Zealand history into our schools curriculum.
One of the benefits of a local narrative is that we have local people who can teach and share the learnings personally. This is one way I believe we can answer the question around meaningful change, as this gives a context we can all connect to and also add to.
For those who attended this event, I sensed we all felt the emotions when one of the speakers shared her personal story and when she asked us to close our eyes and listen to a letter about historical events; it added another layer of emotion. Because much of our history isn’t pleasant, for many it is best left in the past. However, when I look at the impacts of this determination I believe now more than ever that we need to share the good, the bad and the ugly.
When I underwent the code of conduct process over the racism debate, it was because “I made council look bad, and people might wonder who the racist person was because I hadn’t named them”.
This is another opportunity we have to answer the question, because meaningful change means sitting in the uncomfortable and feeling awkward and uneasy. It’s unpleasant and causes discomfort. However, it can lead to some very courageous conversations and more empathy.
Our nation is still historically youthful compared to other nations but as my beautiful mum would say, “to know all is to forgive all”.