Te Rere o te Kererū

'These past years have brought deep learning and healing to me. My teina and I are mokopuna of lost whakapapa. My koro’s name was never on my mum’s birth certificate, and Nan took the identity of my koro and our whakapapa with her in passing. Over time, the call of my tūpuna has become stronger and stronger. A yearning to know who we are, where we come from, and to be immersed i te ao Māori.

The search for whakapapa is deeply personal, filled with joy and heartache.  

We may never find the identity of our koro. Perhaps we are not meant to hold this information.

But, we can stand in our mana as wāhine Māori, and we can still hear our tūpuna, hear their guidance and kōrero, and do the mahi we were meant to do.

I have stepped into my Māoritanga wherever possible deepening my knowledge and connection to myself and my tūpuna. This journey has included attending wānanga, and noho marae, spending time on our whenua in Taranaki and researching my master’s in education through Kaupapa Māori methodology. Through mirimiri, pūrākau, waiata, karakia, and writing.

This karakia came to me as I sat at my desk to work on my thesis.

The kupu flew out in moments, both i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā.

This karakia depicts a moment of mōhiotanga on my journey. A moment of acceptance, healing, of peace. Of noticing the spaces in the in-between and the deep knowledge there for us, if we know how to listen.

Te rere o te kererū 

mai i te ngahere ki te moana

ko te mana o Tāne, me te mana o Tangaroa 

i te huarahi o tana rerenga 

ka tau ki waenganui i a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku. 

anei te rongomau 

anei te āta noho marino

anei te rongoā

tihei mauri ora

Through the flight of the kererū  

as he passes from forest to sea  

from the realm of Tāne, to the realm of Tangaroa 

in the path of his flight  

held between Ranginui and Papatūānuku  

here we find peace  

here we find stillness  

here we find healing