Tuhia ki te rangi
Tuhia ki te whenua
Tuhia ki te ngakau o nga tangata
Ko te mea nui
Ko te aroha
Write it in the sky
Write it in the land
Write it in the heart of the people
The greatest thing
Is love.
Wow… I just had the most amazing weekend at the Te Ao Marama wananga. Met the most beautiful woman, Tiahuia Gray (photo poached from Hoturoa’s site). I’d heard so much about her, from so many friends who she’d inspired over the years, and I’d heard her karanga at the opening of Te Mana, and I’d written a poem about it that Tanemahuta passed on to her, but I’d never actually met her, or spoken to her. Then, at the powhiri, when Tia came to hongi with me, I felt as though she reached straight inside to the depths of me. And I expected her to recoil in horror at what she found there, but she didn’t say anything, she smiled, and she held onto my hands for ages and smiled at me, and I felt as though she’d looked inside me and found something beautiful, and I almost cried. I felt really humbled, and touched.
In the afternoon, while Tanemahuta was out doing Taiaha with the boys, Tiahuia came and taught the women karanga. It was such an intense – and beautiful – experience. She has so much wisdom and mana. And when we didn't have tears in our eyes we were clutching our stomachs, helpless with laughter! She taught us these really sexually explicit karanga, and she got right into them, jumped up and did actions to explain what they meant! Some of the karanga she taught us were really old, and the knowledge that accompanied them… it was such an honour and a privilege to be given those taonga. An experience I will treasure my whole life.
Another special part of the weekend was getting up in the morning and gathering in T āne Whai Ora, a beautiful whare built from logs and driftwood – although it is relatively new, it has such an old feel to it, and there are reproductions of ancient cave paintings on the walls. We sat in the darkness, absorbing the smell of wood and harakeke and the mauri of the whare, and we learned karakia by chanting over and over until the words were imprinted in our minds and bodies.
There were so many beautiful people at the wananga. On the Saturday night I read some of my poems and shared some of my experiences, and afterwards so many people came up to me and said “thank you so much for sharing your story… this is mine…” I felt so honoured that people were opening up to me like that.
Found out this weekend that I didn’t get into the MA in creative writing. Quite liberating really. I’m going to keep writing, painting, and finish studying for a tohu Maoritanga. Looks to be a great year!
Posted by Fionnaigh at December 8, 2003 10:15 AM