Your culture makes you unique, says Maori Queen [1]
Saturday, August 30, 2003 - 10:00. Updated on Friday, February 19, 2016 - 15:58.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.
New Zealand’s Maori Queen, Dame Te Arikuini Te Atairangikaahu visited Tonga twice recently to attend a wedding in the Tongan Royal Family, and the King’s 85th birthday.
She was amazed at how well Tonga has held together its traditions, but also expressed concern about the need to make the young people of the Pacific aware of their unique heritage in a world that often does not understand their cultures.
The traditional leaders in the Pacific need to get closer together, and to stress to their young people that their culture is what makes them unique, believes Dame Te Arikuini Te Atairangikaahu.
As head of the Royal Family of New Zealand Maoridom, the Maori Queen, at 72 years of age, is continuing to foster a very close relationship between Tonga and Turangawaewae Marae, and one that for her, personally, goes back 56 years to 1947 when she first came to the kingdom for the double wedding of King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV and his brother, the late Prince Tu‘ipelehake.
“My grand aunty Princess Te Puea had a close connection with Queen Salote. I think the important thing was that when I came to Tonga I realised that Te Puea wanted me to have that relationship with the Pacific. She always said to me that I should keep my ears open if there was anything to do to help the people in the Pacific. I have always tried to keep contact with our people in the Pacific and those that visit Aotearoa,” said Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
“I think that it is important, now that the Royals seem to be getting smaller, that we of the Pacific need to get closer together. Otherwise we will be overwhelmed by the rest of the world.”
Vibrant traditions
Taking part in the 10 days of events in Nuku‘alofa for the wedding of Lupepau‘u and Matai‘ulua, June 6-15, impressed on Dame Te Atairangikaahu how vibrant Tongan traditions have remained. “I think this is an important event in my life that I have been here to the King’s wedding, to his daughter’s wedding and now to his grand-daughter’s wedding. I feel I can look around and see I’m one of those people that was here in ‘47 and I am still here.”
The Maori Queen was accompanied by her husband Whatumoana, and two of their seven children, their daughter, Heeni (51) and son, Maharaia (42). “I would like my children to be able to carry on after I cross over to the other side, and I hope that the link will still be there,” she said.
“Coming in 1947 to the King’s wedding was new to all of us, even to my grand aunt Te Puea. I guess we came with our traditions, and Te Puea was a very traditional person. In our first visit she had different representatives from different tribes. Our second visit was for the King’s Coronation. I admire the fact that Tonga still holds those traditions, and there really hasn’t been too much change.”
Dame Te Atairangikaahu said in this repect one could not draw similarities between the Maori and the Tongan cultures.
“No, I think you are quite unique because we have become very westernised in our wedding ceremonies, and I find it amazing the fact that everything is still continuing on and happening after 56 years. Tonga still has the traditional part of the wedding. I can’t imagine any other island nation being able to do this sort of thing. I can just imagine how difficult it must be for some people in Tonga to produce such lavish gifts and food, but you still did it because the occasion warrants that it must happen,” she said.
Maori
Although Maori were living in a complex world in New Zealand, it was still possible to keep Maori culture alive, she said. “I think we are not doing that badly in New Zealand. I think we have established ourselves in such a way that we cannot be anything but an important part of New Zealand. After all, when people come to visit the country if they do not see Maori it could be like anywhere else in the world. It is only our Maori faces that make the difference.”
Maori are embedded in the fabric of the society, she said. “I think we have quite a strong voice in all facets of our country now, even in Parliament. Perhaps more so recently, since the new election process where we managed to get more people into Parliament than we ever have,” she said.
Dame Te Atairangikaahu says it was good for their young people that there are lots of Maori events in the country, such as the National Kapa Haka Competition and the Oratory Speech Competitions in Maori and English, all big events, and the tribes themselves have their own events, like sports.
On the issue of sports she would like to see the Maori represented in South Pacific competitions, particularly netball. “We are still trying to get the Council of the South Pacific Games to agree to us joining,” she said.
Ask the Maori Queen about the number of tribes in New Zealand today, and it raises some conjecture. “There’s been a lot of new ones that have sprouted up in the last few years,” she laughed. “But I would like to say that there were seven or eight main canoes that came to New Zealand and every tribe connects to those canoes.”
Multi-cultural
However, surviving in a multi-cultural society was not always easy.
“As a mother, trying to keep the culture rooted in my children was difficult while they were growing up. But they get to a certain age that they just conform. But you just have to keep telling them of the values and culture.
“European influences are very strong, that is why we need all our Maori events that keep our young people together, and to say to them that is yours and you can do that and you can perform that.
“My role is very important and more prominent now because we need to be careful, and of our young ones, so they won’t forget their traditions. We have to stress to them that their culture is what makes them unique from other people. Because you cannot be anything else but whom are you and where you come from,” said Dame Te Atairangikaahu .
She said that some years ago she was part of a Polynesian Heritage Trust, but it had only met twice. “I think that was a wonderful idea that the King of Tonga had for this trust. The main intent was to bring the Polynesian people together, not Governments but rather the people, so it was not political.”
Tu‘uvala
In June Dame Te Atairangikaahu joined other high ranking women from Fiji, Samoa, and the Cook Islands, in Tonga, taking part in the Katoanga during the traditional Tu‘uvala part of the wedding, where there was a traditional exchange of gifts.
“It was beautiful to see the couple dressed in the mats. It was fascinating for those in my group that had never been here before they really just couldn’t get over that—I said just look at that, they are still walking around with the traditional Tongan vala.”
During the Katoanga, press reports at home in New Zealand were attacking the Tongan system of government and its monarchy, fuelled by a critical report from the New Zealand Foreign Ministry that was leaked to an Auckland newspaper.
Dame Te Atairangikaahu was fired with indignation when she heard of it.
“That will always happen if people do not understand the culture of a country. We can’t help it if they do not understand our cultures. They can say what they like, but everyone has their own culture, and if they don’t agree, you just carry on. We are not trying to get you to agree with it,” she said.
“One ideology cannot change the culture of a country overnight, it will take years. It is up to the people themselves, and not for any other foreign country to say that Tonga must change. You have your own people and they should be the ones to decide for themselves, and if they feel strongly enough they will make the move. But for other people to criticise—just look what happens when you criticise other nations around the world!
“It is very dangerous if you think that you are going to be the white knight to change and make everything better for a country, when you really don’t know the true feelings of the people themselves. They can never compare their values with the values of the people of another country, and they should not have the audacity to think that ours is better than the other. Tonga has survived all these years and, as I said before, you are quite unique in your culture. In spite of what people might say about your events like this, I think you are the most generous people the way you look after your guests. I do not think there is any other race of people who care for their guests as they do in Tonga,” she said.
The Maori Queen said that she particularly enjoyed the wedding’s church service, the hymns and the singing.
Harp
“The girl who played the harp was from our city of Hamilton, and I thought that the harp during the signing of the register was the most beautiful sound right through the church. It was really dignified and beautiful. I was so proud to be back here again witnessing this event, and overawed by the arrangements. I have never seen a covered event as big as this. People don’t realise, you go to all this trouble to make sure that everyone is looked after and sheltered properly. The whole island coming out in their valas. All the decorations, and vast work behind the scenes to create a picture like that in the huge marquee, the imagination of whoever created that has to be admired,” said Dame Te Atairangikaahu.