Matapōuri ana a Aotearoa whānui i te parekura nui i tau ki Ōtautahi, i te 15 o Māehe, me te aha, i ākina te tangata ki te titiro whakaroto, ki te titiro ki ngā tūāhuatanga e tūhono nei i a tātou katoa, ki ngā kōrero pono, ngā kōrero whakawehewehe hoki, kāore pea e paingia ana. Nā te Pirīmia, nā Jacinda Ardern te kōrero, “We are all New Zealanders”. He kōrero nui, he kōrero whakamorimori hoki, engari, he aha rā ia te tino tikanga?

Ka haere tonu ana kōrero, “Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values, refuge for those who need it… we will not and cannot be shaken by this attack”.

He kuaha tēnei kohikohinga tuhinga ki tētahi wānanga e tika ana kia wānangatia e tātou. Ka arotakengia ngā whakaaro rerekē o te motu ki tētahi kaupapa tūhonohono i a tātou, i tua noa o tā tātou e kite nei. Inā kē te whānui o tēnei kohikohinga o ētahi kōrero paki, ētahi kōrero pono, ētahi ruri, ētahi whakaaturanga o ētahi mahinga toi hoki, e whakakotahi nei i ngā momo taera, ngā take maha, ngā reo rerekē hoki, tētahi i tētahi. Ko te taukaea e paihere nei i a rātou ko tā rātou urupare i te pātai, "He aha a Aotearoa ināianei, ko wai mā hoki ngā tāngata o Aotearoa?".

Tōna 100 nei te tokomaha o ngā kaiwhāngai kōrero, me uaua rā ka whakarārangi i te katoa ki konei, engari e tika ana kia noho mai ngā kōrero a tēnā me tēnā ki tēnei kohikohinga, engari he mea āta whakaaro kē, he mea kohikohi hoki e te ringa atawhai, e te ringa rehe. Ka haere tahi ngā kōrero a ngā tautōhito ki te tuhi kōrero o Aotearoa nei (arā, a David Eggleton rātou ko Apirana Taylor, ko Tusiata Avia, ko Selina Tusitala Marsh) me ngā reo pūhou o ngā ākonga kura tuarua - nā rātou nei ētahi o ngā tino tuhinga i tēnei kohikohinga.

Ka rūrū atu te mahunga, i runga anō i te whakaae atu, te hāngai mai rānei o ngā kōrero, nōku ka pānui i tā Mohamed Hassan ruri 'When they ask you where you are really from', i te kōrero pono rānei nā Nataliya Oryshchuk, e kīia nei, ko 'I, the Ghost'. "Tell them you are an unrequited pilgrim. Two parallel lives that never touch", te whakahau a Hassan.

Hei tā Oryshchuk, "immigration is trauma", ka mutu, ko rāua ko Hassan tērā e hōhā ana, e takeo ana hoki i te pātai a te tangata, "No, I mean - where are you really from?", ka pērāhia hoki ahau. Ka pērāhia e ngā kaihautū waka tono, he kaihautū āhua hautete, ngākau māhaki nei, engari, kaua e ngā kaihautū Pākehā. Ka rere te pātai "Where are you from?". I taku whākītanga atu, nō Ngaruawahia ahau, ahakoa taku mōhio ki te ito o tā rātou e pātai mai nei, ka pātai mai anō, "No, where are you really from?". Hei tāku, "he hapori iti i Waikato" me kore rātou e kite i tētahi paku māramatanga.

Nā te toki whao tuhinga o Aotearoa, nā Selina Tusitala Marsh tētahi ruri whakatōhenehene, hātekēhi anō hoki mō te motunga o ngā here, arā, ko Breaking up with Captain Cook on our 250th anniversary te ingoa:

Dear Jimmy,

It’s not you, it’s me.

Well,

maybe it is you.

We’ve both changed.

When I first met you

you were my change.

Well, your ride

the Endeavour

was anyway

On my 50-cent coin

Ka werohia anō te hinengaro i te tuhinga a Faisal Halabi, ko Just Another New Zealand Bloke te ingoa, e aro atu ana ki tētahi kōrero mō te tangata kotahi e noho ana i tēnei whenua, kāore anō kia mātaki i tētahi kēmu whutupōro. Ka whakatakotoria e ia ōna whakaaro mō te horapatanga o te kaikiritanga ki Aotearoa i taua parekura nui i Ōtautahi, ā, ka toro atu hoki ki ngā pāohotanga i puta i te ao, he kore nō rātou i whakapono ka pā mai tētahi aituā pēnei ki tētahi whenua pēnei rawa te rongomau, te matara hoki i ētahi atu whenua. Engari, kūua roa te tokomaha tāngata e mōhio ana ki te kūare o tērā momo whakaaro. Ko tā Halabi he whakatakoto i ētahi whakaaro hei manatu mā tātou, "there is more to New Zealand than mere stereotypes around rugby and the beauty of our landscape".

Kāore i kō atu i te tuhinga, The Packers, nā Catarina De Peters Leitāo mō te iwi o te pūtea ka riro i ngā kaimahi ka haere mai i tāwāhi ki ngā mahinga huakiwi i Ōpōtiki, i Te Moana-a-Toi:

The Tongan packers come with minders, too, employed by the Tongan government to watch them. The Tongans are not allowed to form new relationships or have sex with anyone: the minders will know or be informed by others. The minders are part of the workforce that travels from Tonga for the kiwifruit season. Mum tells me there are workers among them who are snitches, hired by the employer. The pack-house employers also keep the Tongan workers under the thumb with draconian contract clauses. Mum says the other workers sometimes gossip about the conditions under which the Tongan packers come here. They know the packing house flies them over to New Zealand and makes them pay back the fare, but no one is allowed to talk about how much it costs. Mum thinks it’s likely that the packing house is screwing them with the airfare. None of the workers will ever know because the Tongan packers, even if they are Mum’s friends, are not allowed to discuss it.

Inā rā te pai, te hōhonu hoki o ngā whakaaro i tēnei tuhinga tūmataiti, tōrangapū hoki, e whai take ana ki tēnei wā, ā, ko te manako ia, ka kaha ake te pānuitia o ētahi tūmomo tuhinga pēnei, e wero ana i ngā mana tōrangapū.

Ka whai wā te kaipānui ki te whai hā, ki te paku whakatā hoki i te iringa o ngā mahi toi kua wāwāhia ki te pukapuka. Mai i ngā kano rerehua i te mahinga toirau o the light that rains down on them, nā Kim Pieters, ki tā Claire Beynon Fifty-one/A tribute. E 51 ngā rīhi wiki konganuku, nō ngā kānara whakamaumahara, kua whakakotahitia mai hei whakamaharatanga ki te hunga i riro i te pakūtanga o te pū i aua whare karakia rā. Ki ōku whakaaro, kāore i te tika tēnei whakaahua mō te uhi o te pukapuka, ahakoa e tika ana kia ngāwari, kia kaua e pokea rawa, he āhua maroke nō te āhua, he āhua horotea hoki. Heoi, ki te tirohia ngā kai o roto, tahi me te horopaki, ka kitea tōna whakahirahira, tōna mana nui hoki.

E taea ana e au ētahi kōrero anō. Kua ora mai ngā whārangi katoa, e kī nei i te kupu taikaha, te whakatumatuma, te mamae, te pono me te aroha. Kātahi te kohikohinga whakahirahira, whakaaweawe hoki ko tēnei. Katoa ngā wāhanga he rite ki te matapihi, te whatitoka rānei e whai wāhi atu ai tātou ki ō ētahi atu whakaaro, tirohanga, wheako, mōhiotanga rānei. I tua atu i tēnā, he oranga ngākau, he māramatanga hoki kei roto i ēnei kōrero, hei whakamaharatanga ki ngā tāngata 51 i patua i Ōtautahi, i te 15 o Māehe, 2019, ki ēra atu pārurenga, ki ō rātou whānau, ki a Aotearoa whānui. Ka nui taku mihi ki ngā kaitātari, ngā kaituhi me ngā ringa toi. He waka eke noa.

Nā Kiran Dass tēnei arotakenga