Abstract:

Ngāti Pikiao Iwi (Māori people/tribe) occupy the eastern lakes district of Rotorua, Aotearoa New Zealand. The Iwi’s lands are home to nine Ngāti Pikiao hapū (sub-tribes) and encompass: the eastern-most side of Lake Rotorua; the Ohau and Okere rivers; stretches of the Kaituna River and Lake Rotoiti, Rotoehu and Rotomā. Matawhaura, Ngāti Pikiao’s tūpuna maunga (ancestral mountain), stands sentinel over Iwi territories at the southern-most end of Lake Rotoiti. As at the 2013 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwelling, the Iwi numbered 8,0002.

The learning, teaching, practice and retention of Ngati Pikiao cultural knowledge (mātauranga) is fundamental to cultural continuance and, in turn, to the personal and collective health, wellbeing, and existence of Ngati Pikiao people. In times past, intergenerational passing down of cultural knowledge (mātauranga) and cultural values, occurred naturally through ‘taura here’. That is, through the raising of mokopuna (grandchildren) by their tūpuna (grandparents) as first teachers. The process of ‘taura here’ (maintenance of ancestral ties and connections) involved active intergenerational transmission of knowledge and values (mātauranga); it was a natural and deliberate process that was enabled through papakāinga (housing settlements) where intergenerational communal living on tūpuna whenua (ancestral land) was the norm and everyday life, and living, was the main site of education and schooling.

“I haven’t done anything in my life” is a presentation of ‘kupu tuku iho’ (wise words and stories on life and living) from Ngati Pikiao Kōeke (tribal elders) in the ‘Kōeke a kō ake nei – towards intergenerational positive aging for Ngati Pikiao people’ research project. The research is funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and hosted by the Ngāti Pikiao Iwi Trust in collaboration with Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Rotorua.

Esteemed tribal leaders and stalwarts, the presentation is a validation of elder knowledge, experience and wisdom. It demonstrates how their higher learning abilities, and intellectual wisdom, has developed, grown and endured despite an imposed colonial education system that censured, debased and all but eradicated their (Māori) indigenous language, culture and ways of being and knowing. Drafted (in the prime years of their lives) into manual labouring jobs to serve the capitalist system, the extant and innate capacity of our Kōeke to guide, lead, serve and care for our people, including during their senior years, and despite the odds, is privileged within this presentation.

Cultural Ambassadors and Iwi (tribal) Governors, the kupu tuku iho of Ngāti Pikiao elders are a demonstration of lifelong learning in action. In turn, the research project, process and the stories that have been recorded, written and told, are a contemporary means by which to ensure intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge (mātauranga) continues. Simple, yet profound, the kupu tuku iho o ngā kōeke show that “not doing anything in your life” is really doing everything (that really matters) …

Keywords:

Learning knowledge experience cultural wisdom traditions.