New book "Intergenerational Echoes: COVID-19..."

Finally, we are back on track with the launching, last weekend, of our latest offering from the Mana Māngere writers' collective and guests with a collection called "Intergenerational Echoes: COVID-19 Experiences in Māngere and Otāhuhu".

This is the fourth book in our collection with the beautiful cover by my sister and artist Anna-Maria Tauau (we just call her Maria) and she just graduated with her Master of Applied Indigenous Knowledge degree this year and was one of the writers as well.

The collection is similar to the others of having writers write on the theme of sharing their COVID-19 experiences from within their communities through poetry or short stories.

There are some poems/short stories that are angry, happy and also some that are sad but hope was encouraged as we each navigated our space through the pandemic.

It was also fitting to have our book launch on that weekend as the mask restrictions as well as the COVID-19 Traffic light system had been lifted earlier and we could once again move freely without wearing masks at the book launch.

I'd like to now share one of the acrostic poems that my sister wrote called "CORONA VIRUS CRISIS". It's an interesting poem because with the global pandemic came new vocabulary, some of which we had not used or heard of before, or words were used in new ways...

Contract tracing

Outbreak

Recovery

Oxford Astrazeneca Vaccine

N95 (masks)

Asymptomatic

Ventilators

Incubation period

Respiratory symptoms

Infectious

Sanitizer and soap

Conferencing with Zoom

Restricted movement

Infodemic

Social distance

Immunization

Self-isolation

 by Anna-Maria Tauau

New book "COVID-19..." weekend launch...

This past weekend had been so busy that I hadn't gotten the chance to blog about it until now with the launch of our latest contribution since 2019 pre-pandemic called "Intergenerational Echoes: COVID-19 Experiences in Māngere & Otāhuhu"

 It's a collection of short stories and poetry from the Mana Mangere writers' collective and guest writers. The theme of the collection was for each writer to write about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic that affected so many people since 2020 when it first appeared on our shores.

The book was dedicated to those who had passed away during that time of which also includes a short story about the passing of my father during that time as well as 3 other people that I had been aware of who had also died during the time but not of COVID-19 itself but through other factors.

It's was a bittersweet time in having the writers come together as I had purposefully waited until the pandemic numbers had significantly decreased before having a book launch. Interestingly enough, the last book launch was about the 1918 epidemic in Samoa.

I'll share some of the short poems in another blog but to suffice to say that it was an event (book launch) that was enjoyed by all and the first of more books to be launched in coming weeks and months as we look forward to what the new year brings...

Happy Springtime with "Master Blaster"...

 

This week I've been jamming with my lil' sister and in our travels one of my all time favourite Stevie Wonder songs came up in our conversation as I think she was sharing about a Hollywood tribute to the iconic star with Beyonce singing a medley of some of his hit songs.

I watched the tribute but in my opinion it doesn't really come close to Stevie Wonder's original hits. So I've been playing his "Master Blaster" hit song and dancing to it whilst completing my 10K steps for September.

Yes, it has a Reggae beat and a real pick up now that Springtime is officially on the cards for our NZ seasons. Plus with my busy schedule, this song just reminds me to take it easy, one day, one step at a time and to just enjoy!...

Weaving workshop for Ie Toga...

This weekend was quite a busy one for me with an amazing weaving workshop where I learned to start an Ie Toga (fine mat) that is revered in Samoa.

It also reminded me of the stories that my mother told me of the weaving that my namesake, Eleni, my paternal great grandmother would demonstrate for my mother and how she learned to weave from her grandmother.

It was such a privilege to feel that now that that knowledge has now been passed on and I'm looking forward to learning more.

I first started to learn weaving, in my adult years, through learning by watching Maori teachers demonstrate and teach by using harakeke or native NZ flax fronds that are easily found around local parks, schools and planted on some family properties.

It's a real blessing with so much more to still learn. We also learned new vocabulary and about the origin story of how Samoa's important fine mat came from Tonga and has now become a very important part of Samoan custom and still retains the name "Ie Toga".

It's also seen as being the very first measina or the most important measina of all the treasures of Samoa due to it's important use in many faaSamoa rituals. From weddings and birthdays to funerals and blessing ceremonies.

It's also important in the ceremony of the 'ifoga' whereby one or a family is able to use the Ie Toga to ask for forgiveness for transgressions if the offended party accepts it. So that the Ie Toga can preserve life too. Something that I've since learned from my studies with more to learn as well...

 

Happy National Poetry day today!...

Happy National Poetry Day! This day usually falls on the last Friday of the month of August and it's a day that I've been celebrating in various ways for a number of years as a creative writer / poet.

This year, I'm going to be sharing a poem that I wrote a number of years ago from my second poetry and short stories collection called "Frangipani whispers" that I self-published in May of 2018.

I've working on another poetry and short stories collection which is a community anthology that was funded by our local board last year but thought to launch in this year once the COVID numbers had decreased which it seems to be happening now.

The title of the poem is called "Birth of a Poem".

Placing pen on paper

an attempt to express

the sudden urge to write

Lost in thought

of myriad sensations

an idea

explodes in the mind

An apprehensive feeling

what happens now?

will it work?

The world rushes around

as words take on shape

choosing their own form

then...

birth pains

Life breathes on the page

read - inhale

Measina workshop - Tala o le vavau (ancient Samoan stories)...

Last weekend, I had the honour and the privilege of offering a Measina workshop with the topic of "Tala o le vavau" or ancient Samoan stories.

It was an opportunity for me to share some of the knowledge and resources that I have been blessed with and able to learn and create resources along the way to share with local families and teachers in our Samoan bilingual Early childhood education centre.

It started at 10am with a few families who had attended an earlier Ministry of Education initiative of a 3 day (Saturdays) workshops in learning how to share in reading of parents with their youngsters.

Our centre decided to kickstart our Measina workshops off the momentum of those programmes and after a weeks break we began. We started with a prayer blessing for the workshop and then we started with short introduction about the topic.

I was able to share about my background and particularly my father being a foundation of the Samoan EKLS (church membership) and of my grandmother not being particularly interested in the topic as with our Christian upbringing but still supported me in finding the right people to help me in my endeavours.

I was also able to talk about my Korean "professor" who encouraged me to consider studying a topic that was from my own cultural understandings as in being one of the first Samoan post-graduate students in the Geography faculty at Auckland University at that time.

I was able to talk about the matai (chief) of that time, the late A'eau Taulupoo Lafaiali'i who shared with me the many stories but cautioned that there were a lot of different understandings or perspectives of the stories and to be aware of this in not sharing.

However, in turning a half century, I thought it was time to write them for next generations in case I passed away with stories that brought me to the resources in that there were five tables in which families were encouraged to gather around and to read the one Tala o le vavau storybook either in English or Samoan that had been placed on the table before them.

Each group started the read their story with the theme to consider what important things they learned in reading each story. As each group was encouraged beforehand to have a speaker to share back with the bigger group on their findings.

The group sharing was phenomenal and I was so encouraged it what I heard. It's confirmed the reasons for why I share these stories in giving diaspora Samoans confirmation of the knowledge culture that was there way before colonization began for Samoa.

It also confirms that there are important stories for Samoa that explain the origins of place names, terms used in speeches, important names or titles that have been passed down from generations. These were just some of the feedback comments that encouraged me for another workshop which won't be until next year, Lord willing, as there are other workshops to be share yet.

Suffice to say that I was again very privileged to be able to share this gift of our ancient stories, a measina a Samoa or cultural treasure that was passed down to me and that I am now able to share with many others. A tribute to 'A'eau Taulupoo Lafaialii, who first made it possible for me. Lest I forget...

 

Blessings of cultural knowledge...

It has been a very busy past few weeks in working on my exegesis for my PhD, teaching, family, chairing our ECE (Early childhood education) pre-school, Elder church duties etc. with so many things to do and write about that I haven't had the time to write so much in this blog.

Suffice to say that there is never a dull moment and it seems that things are coming together in such a way that I wouldn't have been able to do it all myself and in a very special way, it feels that my late father is there with me support and guiding in so many things that I otherwise would not have been able to think about or do in my own strength.

In faith, it also means that I feel blessed in upholding that there is a greater power as in a God who cares and is immeasurably more able answer prayers in ways that otherwise one would not be able to pursue in their own strength. I can definitely testify to that.

There is a Samoan muagaga (phrase) that goes 'o le aso ma le taeao' which translates as a day and a morning which means to me that there is a time and a place when things will happen and that there is no need to stress or panic but to walk in such a way that when things happen that it was meant to be.

I think about how I came about the topic of 'measina a Samoa' that it 'fits' with what I have been brought up as a diaspora Samoan living away from the homeland in that I've met many people who were born in Samoa but have not been afforded the information that I have been gifted with even though I was not born or lived in Samoa for long periods of time. 

There are so many unexplained pieces of the puzzle that are beginning to 'fit' that I had otherwise would not or could not have known were even things that I would have considered to write about in the exegesis but they have become important as I continue to walk out the journey.

And this weekend, I'll be facilitating a workshop on the 'tala o le vavau' (ancient Samoan stories) or books that I have re-written to an audience of our Aoga (pre-school) parents to talk about the stories and important meanings that they draw from each story. 

I am so thankful, in that this is a project has been funded by the Ministry of Education through its Pacific Innovation Funding in being able to fund our Aoga to have such workshops that support our parents to share their cultural knowledge inter-generationally.

 

COVID-19 2nd Booster shots...

 

It's been interesting to listen to people discussing the COVID vaccinations with the 2nd Booster now being rolled out for those who are in the vulnerable category particularly those over 50s with underlying health conditions and especially targeting Maori and Pasifika peoples over 50 too.

There are many who have caught the COVID virus and are deciding not to get more shots because of the antibodies that they believe that now have. Some have even contracted COVID variants on more than two occasions and have said that catching the flu or cold was worse.

Despite the different feedback and conversations I've been aware of, I'd decided to continue with my shots, in being on the cautious side, but am still aware that it's not everyone's cup-of-tea.

This artwork on the left was one that I found really interesting when I visited a COVID vaccination clinic. It has various New Zealand iconic birdlife that one is to try and find but I forgot to include the caption as I was more interested in the beautiful artwork that doesn't credit who the artist was.

Suffice to say that it kept me occupied in having to wait the usual 15 minutes in case of an allergic reaction after getting the booster and I think I found most, if not all, of the said birdlife. It was quite relaxing and fun but they really should credit the artist.

I also took along my youngest to get the flu shot as that's been a real difficulty last year when getting sick with the cold or flu from attending school on multiple occasions. That's the first time too that flu shots have been encouraged for pre-teens.

All of this before the school holidays...

Dame "Whina" Cooper - the movie...

 During the weekend, I got to watch the movie "Whina" with my youngest in celebration of Matariki and acknowledging the tangata whenua (indigenous peoples) of this land. It was a very interesting and moving story about Dame Whina Cooper and some of her trials and tribulations during her 98 years.

Afterwards, I watched "This is you Life" which was a 1980s NZ TV programme that honoured well known NZers for their contribution to the nation. Dame Whina Cooper was featured and many of her family and friends were able to pay tribute to her for the many things that she had done to inspire them.

One of the things that I learned about her was that she was very staunch in her ways that were not always popular with Pākeha (Europeans) and Maori alike. She was brought up Catholic and was able to keep stay true to her Maori upbringing and beliefs as well.

In NZ history, she was the leader of the first of many Maori land marches in the 1970s that implored the government to not sell anymore Maori land that today stands at only owning some 5% with non-Maori owning around 95%.

Her motto was about loosing "not one more acre" and I remember taking my students, pre-COVID to an exhibition at the Auckland Museum that displayed some of the iconic photos that were taken during that march with many memories on those who had passed away some 50 years ago.

Her legacy stands still to this day of one who stood strong for her people but also for the unity of NZ'ers. She is an inspiration for wanting to have a peaceable march that was about uniting people and sharing the burden of her people and one that all NZ'ers need to learn about or watch through this movie...

Celebrating our 1st national Matariki...

 

Today (24 June 2022), marks the first day in the history of NZ of celebrating an indigenous marker of the Maori new year through a holiday named Matariki.

Over the last few years, I've taught about Matariki in my tikanga (Maori protocols and customs) classes and it's been such a joy in watching the developing interest in Matariki to now be celebrated nationally throughout NZ.

Although many mainstream NZ'ers won't know of it's origin, it's really interesting to note that the Pacific people who first immigrated to Aotearoa, NZ those my centuries ago (circa 1100s?) upon vast voyaging canoes were highly observant sky watchers and were masterful navigators and star watchers. 

The Matariki stars cluster is known throughout the world by the name 'Pleiades' as with Greek mythology and the story of the 7 sisters. It's interesting to note that when Matariki was first discussed in education circles, in NZ, that stories circulated around about Matariki being the 7 sisters but we've since known that that story was not of the Maori creation stories but instead brought about through the Greek version.

In fact, the early Maori were well observant in viewing star clusters and Matariki which is a 7 star or 9 star (depending on where you are viewing them from) is one such star cluster that the early Maori were able to use to assist them with their planting and harvesting annual cycles.

To add to that, each of the whetū (stars) were named and had associated eco-system links i.e.

1. Matariki - is known as the guardian of all the stars or mother star. It is also the name given to the star cluster. For some there is an emphasis on healing.
2. Waiti - bodies of fresh water and the life sources that they sustain i.e. fresh water lakes, drinking waters, eels etc.
3. waitā - bodies of salt water the the life sources that they sustain in the oceans and seas teeming with fish and sealife
4. Tipu-a-nuku - cultivated soils teeming with foods
5. Tupu-a-rangi - lush and bountiful forests and life sources they sustain 
6. Ururangi - great winds and passive winds
7. Waipuna-a-rangi - rains that falls from the sky including drizzles etc.
8. Pohutakawa - a star that is associated with the passing away of dearly beloved ones during the year. A journey into the stars.
9. Hiwa-i-te-rangi - also known as the wishing star for the future.

Last year there was a debate that was started by comments of so-called European academics, at a University, questioning whether the 'science' of matauranga Maori (indigenous Maori knowledge systems) if it could sustain scientific thinking.

I found the debate quite interesting because it told me of the ignorance of the academics of knowing so little of a knowledge system that spans far deeper and wider than they could ever imagine. Suffice to say that they were shut down by many who were indeed aware but the arrogance of their not knowing was not acceptable before making their comments.

It made me realise that indeed as a nation we had come so far in knowing my own predominantly hegemonic educational background of being brought up in the western social science discipline but then discover since that we have got so much more to learn about the indigenous sciences systems that our Pasifika ancestors learned and traversed the expanse of the Pacific oceans way before the Americas or Europeans had crafted their sailing vessels. 

We do indeed hail from traditions of scientific thought and experiences of our early Pasifika ancestors with knowledge systems that have long since been forgotten by many but still sheds a light on the symbiotic relationships between those ancestors and the environments that they discovered those many centuries ago and are only just coming to light for many...

Author's hope for writing and reading...

 

One of my favourite things to do with the books that I've been privileged to be able to self-publish, is to share those books with the children that I wrote them for.

The main purpose for writing, especially the ancient Samoan stories series or tala o le vavau (stories of the ancient times) or tala mai anamua (stories from ancient times), was about passing those important stories and knowledge onto the next generations so that they would learn about the culture of their ancestors as I had as a Samoan growing up in Aotearoa, NZ.

When I visited our local Samoan bilingual Early childhood centre, it was neat to see a write up of the event that I was honoured to read to them the story of "Sina and the Tuna" and "The footprint of Moso".

From one of the teachers, I was able to get feedback that the stories excited the students and that they were able to re-tell the stories in their own words back to the class and their teacher.

I've since gifted the whole 7 book series to the centre in order to support their childrens' learnings and to give the teacher resources to support the good works that are happening there. I definitely have more books to come in the series of historical and ancient stories but with my current studies underway, there will be a delay before publishing.

Still, it gives me a great feeling of hope and honour to be able to share these stories that were shared so easily with me back with my studies in the late 1980s in Samoa and then continued as I delved in to indigenously research the stories of my ancestral culture.

To see our next generations learning and being excited about these stories, gives me hope that the important knowledge contained within will continued to be shared and that gives impetus to work on more to come...

Ihumātao - protest resolution...

 

This weekend has been quite busy with a Zoom Wānanga (high learning/teaching space) with my class and cautious with the COVID environment that our nation finds itself in.

As a usual part of my class, I would take them on fieldtrips to local whenua (land/s) to discuss Maori and Indigenous principles regarding land, waters and skies.

However, as we still have high daily case numbers (4,000 - 5,000+) of COVID in our communities, the tertiary institution that I work for has encouraged us as kaiako (tutors/teachers) to take a cautious approach.

Therefore, instead of my class going out on the fieldtrip, I took my phone/camera and Zoomed them in after I drove to a couple of places on the weekend for my class to still experience these important spaces.

One of the places was Ihumātao, where there was a pre-COVID a stand off between local manawhenua (indigenous Maori people with generation pre-colonial territory rights) and their supporters weighing in and occupied land that had been sold by a European landowner to a big property development company. 

The development company wanted to cash in with the looming building crisis of a house shortages in Auckland and they wanted to build 480 houses right next to the Otuataua stonefields which is a NZ protected heritage site that still has archaeological sites of interests of the early occupation of that area in the 1200s. 

People came to support the kaupapa (issue or topic) from all over New Zealand, both locally and nationally and many were non-Maori. Some even came from overseas indigenous nations i.e. Hawaii and First nations peoples from Canada and USA. There was such a ground swell of people support that the government really had no choice but to address the issue of such a delicate and complex nature.

The big problem was that the lands were formerly confiscated by the then NZ government of the 1860s and then redistributed and sold to European landowners who had come from England to find new lands. In fact, Maori now only own 5% of NZ lands than what they had formerly owned back in the early 1800s.

The problem was further complicated by some Maori manawhenua representatives of the area signing a deal that was not accepted by those living on the area thus dividing many with strong opinions on both sides. I am so glad that now there has been a concerted effort to reach a resolution.

Since that time, with the COVID environment intervening in all national states of affairs, it was announced last year, in December, that a settlement had been reached with the government buying the said land for around $30 million and that there was now a consortium (of sorts) of stakeholders, including manawhenua, to discuss the use of the land.

It was also expressed that the Maori King, King Tuheitea and his supporters and the Maori caucus (in parliament) were pivotal in the negotiations that took place and now there is an interesting resolution to the peaceful protest (or rights to protection) that would otherwise have been developed for housing with local manawhenua looking on...

Netflix movie recommended called "Hustle"...

 Lately, I've been so busy with so many things on the go that I often don't get much time to sit down and relax. This week, I decided I needed some well deserved R & R (rest & relaxation) and thought to see what might be interesting to watch on Netflix i.e. something that I could enjoy and relate to.

Adam Sandler's latest Netflix movie called "Hustle" was an interesting pick as it was recently released and as I don't enjoy watching sports on TV but do enjoy watching movies about sports heroes, the rise of the underdog etc. This movie was certainly a surprise for me.

I must say that I haven't been a big fan of the main actor, Adam Sandler, especially in some of this comedies that I thought were OTT "over the top" but this movie, I thought, was thoughtfully directed and Adam Sandler was a believable character with Queen Latifah as his onscreen wife.

I won't spoil the movie for you except to say that Basketball fans might recognize a lot of the famous basketball players that are featured on the movie and that it's a good story that encourages hard work and consistent effort to win the day. 

So if you do get a chanced for some R & R and decide to watch this movie. Enjoy...