Dear Friend
I am writing to you to share with you a story about a garden, a guitar, an old-skool movie and a ghost-town. Well really, I could share with you four separate stories, but I know that you don’t have a lot of time these days. Our world has got so busy that reading stories and making links is so much harder than it used to be. Instead, we have become reactive as a people, we hear a story and we see it in isolation, we do not see the connections. And as such we are blind between the links between our own story and the stories of others.
So, in order to bring these stories together for you, I need to give you a beginning. And that beginning is – of course, you know me – on the West Coast. The West Coast of the South Island is one of the most isolated regions in New Zealand. It is also one of the most resource-rich areas and it is one region that is stigmatized with the dirty word ‘mining’. I ask you to put that issue slightly aside; it is for another letter. However, I will share with you a deeply known fact on the Coast, the money that is dug from the ground is not profit for the Coast, it is profit for the rest of New Zealand. The profit from the mines goes into Wellington, West Coasters see little of it. Added to this, the working-class nature of my brothers and sisters on the West Coast is both admired and see as ‘backward’. Helen Clark once called us ‘feral’ and some bloggers continue to. So, we know and feel what it is like to be seen as different to mainstream Pākeha New Zealand and we feel ripped off. It is a real feeling and it has real meaning.
But this is just my beginning, like you might as well, I know what it is like to be raised on the feeling that New Zealand is not just. But, my friend, recently I felt alarmed, and ashamed, at the response of Pākeha New Zealand to the injustice of our tangata whēnua (people of the land; it is important to know that whēnua also means placenta). This happened where our story of the garden starts. On the West Coast, we honour our history and many old-skoolers can whakapapa (directly connect) back to original settlers, spaces, places, communities and water ways (rivers and seas). As such we keep areas preserved and protected. Because many of us are still directly connected and even hold positions of authority (mayor, business owners, etc) we can assert our privilege and claim these spaces - just look at the protectors around Buller Hospital and, in the 1980s, Reefton Hospital. We know that our historical areas like Denniston, Reefton Powerhouse, Waiuta, Millerton (and many others) are important to keep for future generations. I know friend, that you have your areas as well.
But earlier this year, the main-stream news talked about a group of people wanting to protect their historical gardens (Ihumātao). These gardens are hundreds of years old. They are one of the oldest historical sites in New Zealand. They sit on land that was stolen, no one argues this. The land was stolen from Māori and given (yes, given) to a settler family who owned it for over 100 years. Recently the family decided to sell it. The original owners jumped up and argued this is a chance for this historical site to be returned. The City Council advised to Government that the land should be returned due both to its historical nature and to the recognised fact that it was stolen. Central Government jumped up and down and said to the Council, due to the housing crisis, it must be sold and developed. A small group of people did negotiate with the new owners some recognition. But it wasn’t a table discussion and people were excluded. You have to believe me I have been to this site. The land cries out to me just as the Denniston Incline does on the Coast. If you take five minutes to pop by as you go out to Auckland airport, you will find the same feeling hit you – especially when you see the extent of the size of the gardens, you see the rich soil and you remember the head-lines hitting us now in the news that a concern is now arising of the fertile soils of Auckland being developed at the cost of our food source – Auckland has volcanic soils that enable our tables to be adorned with the most amazing veges.
You must know that I am not going to go into the history here. I will give you some links below if you are interested. I want to share with you my concern though – it is a real cry of injustice coming from this site and all I heard back from many Pākeha was – get over the past, what do you want – haven’t we said sorry enough?, all these Māori …
This concerned me as I saw a lack of the most important need in this space. If we want to resolve our past we need to reconcile (come to terms and heal) our past and our relationship with each other. This involves a conversation and the conversation involves listening with your heart. It involves parking the ‘get over it’ at the door and realising that Māori have had to be PC for over a century. It is time that those of us who are Pākeha realise that the rising generation of Māori have a right for a voice. Most of all they have a right to be authentically heard.
But some of you, some of my real close friends, didn’t feel this way – get over it, bloody Māoris (sic), when is this going to stop? So, I tried something else, I pulled from the pages of the Bible where King David had done wrong but didn’t see it and Nathan the prophet came to him and told a story. Nowhere through the story did he say – this is an allegory. So, David took it hook, line and sinker and his heart (not his head) reacted – in an injustice like this, something must be done. You can read about this story in the Bible, 2 Samuel, Chapter 12. It is powerful. So, I decided, how to I get to the hearts of my friends. I will tell them an allegory but won’t spring this fact on them until the end. I told a story about a guitar I inherited from Uncle Harry (one of my dads). I talked about how it was stolen and was now on sale, but because I did not have Uncle Harry’s will proving I owned it, I would not be able to claim it from the shop selling it. Just as the rightful inheritors of the ancient garden have been doing (but were being condemned for), I was encouraged to follow suite – go to the media, go to the government, claim it back. It is your’s Fiona. I even had a local MP offer to support me and another Black Power friend offer to steal it back. My friends responded with their hearts, no one told me to get over it. And in fact, I had these words in my post, so many people were angered by the words themselves (how dare you be told this Fiona, it is not okay). You see the garden and my guitar had a link.
And friend, you know how we love to watch movies that speak to our hearts. Over the week that followed I watched movies on the very aspect of having land taken unfairly – Braveheart and the story of Scotland (and yes the Scots and the Irish are still fighting for independence ('You can take my land but you can't take my FREEDOM'); many have not got over it), Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (a tear jerker about Native Americans) and our favourite, the Castle “The number 1. Australian comedy that sticks it up the big guys” (tag line). The last being an all-time favourite of many West Coasters – after all just like the protectors of our falling-down hospitals and historic gardens – we don’t like having our rights taken away and we sure as hell don’t like our land seized.
Sorry, I realised that I have missed out on telling you about the final story that links these together my friend. This story takes us back to my mining history; but the Fountaine family have no claim here only a story. There is a famous historic ghost-town on the Coast. It is called Charleston. It was one of New Zealand’s largest gold rush towns. It was so big that the Wellington post-master received a promotion to work there and Hannah’s Shoes started there. It had over 30 pubs and this is not counting the tent pubs on the shore line. But today it is a tiny haven with an adventure tour company and a couple of houses. It is also a space where sections once bought have been abandoned as the seekers moved North for more gold or to Quartzopolies (Reefton) for the richest gold around. The irony of this letter is, my friend, is that as protectors stand on the land their ancestors now; back in my home region, the Council is searching for the descendants of the original owners so that they can take what is rightfully theirs. If they can’t find the ‘original’ owners, the Council will have the right to sell the land (which it desires to do). This land was not stolen in the same way as the garden in the North Island but it was purchased back in the mining days. However, if it is sold, it will be seen as injustly acquired land as the Council did not attempt to reconcile first with the original owners. It seems ironic that all these stories are connected through a concept of justice. Three deeply speak of injustice where as one speaks of justice. Inviting people to the table so that they can share their claim and reconciliation can take place.
You see I don’t want to persuade you to take one side of the fence my friend. I want to encourage you to come to the table and be prepared to listen with your heart. Your heart knows injustice deeply. We will never be able to resolve our broken history, but we can reconcile it. This begins with a conversation around a table, some food and some open ears. It also begins with learning your own history and if you are a recent arrival learning the history of this nation. Knowing our history means we come to the table wiser and ready to engage. Do you know the history of Ihumãtao?
So, my friend, please, are you ready to listen with your heart – the story of our nation is not okay, it is broken, it is very broken. Are you prepared to come to the table? If you are broken are you prepared not to wound the people you feel wounded by so that you can heal? If you are part of the brokenness of your 'brother or sister' are you prepared to listen instead of laying down an excuse without hearing the pain?
This is the lesson of Ihumātao. The land is truly a garden to start the healing the process. The protectors here are open to speaking their story with love - not condemnation. The spirit of Tohu and Te Whiti is strong. Ihumātao has been made a land of peace by the protectors through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a table that works as a bridge - cross the bridge, come to the table and into the conversation; after all healing might hurt but it leads to better outcomes for all of us.
This is the lesson of Ihumātao. The land is truly a garden to start the healing the process. The protectors here are open to speaking their story with love - not condemnation. The spirit of Tohu and Te Whiti is strong. Ihumātao has been made a land of peace by the protectors through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a table that works as a bridge - cross the bridge, come to the table and into the conversation; after all healing might hurt but it leads to better outcomes for all of us.
Peace be upon you
Dr Phi
Resources
I haven’t put these in APA as I want you to be able to access them easily and not have to worrying about how us academics do a reference list.
Article on the protest of fertile land occurring at the same time as Ihumātao
Article on Ihumātao written by a descendent of the Howick Fencibles (I have a connection here as well)
NZ Geographic Article on Ihumātao
Abandoned Land Titles in Charleston where Buller District Council is looking for descendents to take claim
Key books
Healing our History
Huia Comes Home
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