Coming up on Te Karere Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti reconnects with the voyaging vessel named in commemoration of their ancestor, Paikea in Rarotonga. The Māori health provider putting people first as the East Coast rebuilds after Cyclone Gabrielle. And the Māori strongman strongwoman athletes heading to the World Strongman competition in the USA. 07 August 2023 Tēnā koutou katoa, and welcome to Te Karere. A large sperm whale has been harvested and buried off the northern region of Te Oneroa a Tohe, after becoming stranded over the weekend. For mana whenua, Te Aupōuri, it's been a collective effort to maintain customary traditions when it comes to harvesting stranded whales. Harata Brown was there before the burial took place and filed this story. A whale has stranded ashore... ...so culturally flensing our paraoa. It's prize possessions, divided for those inshore. A taonga has beached here on to our beach, Te Oneroa a Tohe, these are significant, they are also ancestors, that's what our ancestors would tell us. It was last week when the sperm whale, named Waimahuru, beached ashore. The elders here said that Waimahuru is the name of this area of their region. It's a huge effort to harvest the spermaceti. And the bones within. The big thing is about us working with our Ngātiwai relatives, Te Kaurinui and his team and it's all about working together with our Ngāi Takoto, Ngāti Kuri and Te Rarawa people. The beautiful thing to me is to see us, Māori, people of the land, carrying out our customary rights and self-determination. Harvesting whales is a customary tradition to the home people here, because their environment is surrounded by sea. If there's a beached whale and if there's benefits to be had, do the work according to the customary rights handed down by our ancestors. It's a custom, the Apōuri people of this district of Te Oneroa a Tohe hope will live on for generations to come. Harata Brown, Te Karere. Performers of the haka group Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti were welcomed onto the double-hulled canoe named Paikea, which is berthed at Avana passage, in Rarotonga. The visit is an opportunity to retrace the steps of their ancestor Paikea. Mania Clarke-Mamanu with this report. Welcome, welcome, welcome aboard descendants of Paikea upon the double hulled ancestral canoe, Paikea. It feels so good to be here right now. To come and meet our ancestral canoe, Paikea. We are so fortunate! We want to acknowledge the locals, the home people for giving us this opportunity, to come and meet Paikea - Ocean Chief. It's a journey for them to hear stories of how their ancestor Paikea sailed from Ma'uke to New Zealand. Formerly a sailing vessel Vaka Paikea which was gifted to the Cook Islands Te Puna Marama Voyaging Foundation earlier this year, by the Okeanos Foundation. Vaka Paikea is safely berthed near Motutapu island. They are hoping to sail Paikea to New Zealand at the end of next year. So, the wider community, the sub-tribes of Ngāti Konohi, and the wider East Coast can see. Te Puna Marama Voyaging will start planning to retrace Paikea's footsteps and visit all the places he went to before settling in Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti. Mania Clarke-Mamanu, Te Karere. What a great story. A report into the progress of Te Aka Whai Ora has been published which identifies a number of important milestones to recognize, as well as areas for improvement. The report recognised the support Te Aka Whai Ora provided local communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Te Okiwa McLean spoke to one of the services in Tai Rāwhiti who welcomes support from Te Aka Whai Ora, but the level of anxiety amongst whānau post weather events is still severe and will take time to heal. The cyclone that left a damning mark on the Tai Rāwhiti region. Although it's settled for a moment, levels of anxiety continue to grow. The people on the ground are worried and anxious about the stormy weather, especially residents who live by the banks of river ways, that's where there is a lot fof fear. After the weather events in the region, the cliental at Mahi a Atua has increased significantly. It's a programme that uses pūrākau of our Māori gods to navigate through times of distress and disarray. The thing is that fear is from above, from the separation, from the isolation from our oral traditions, from our gods. Kopua says there were mixed emotions expressed by whānau during and post the cyclone, the unsolicited advice from outside officials leaving them feeling very aggravated. That's another frustration, how long we've spent waiting. We've been forgotten about so that's what we're taking to task with politicians. In a report that is tracking the progress of Te Aka Whai Ora from its inception suggests that the strategy for regions impacted by the weather events must be fit-for-purpose, which is why the government has injected a total of 2 million dollars into health providers on the East Coast. What they want hasn't happened yet but we're still here talking about the negative impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle. There aren't any other parties with a plan. The strategy according to Mark Kopua is in our ancient stories. There is invaluable knowledge. Our people can carefully dissect, look into and observe what is possible to do. To escape dark times of distress, the answers are in ancient stories of our atua Māori. Te Okiwa Mclean, Te Karere. Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi joins us live from the East Coast to discuss some of the latest news affecting Māori today, as well as some policies announced by the party in recent days. Rawiri thank you for joining us on the show today. Kia ora, kia ora rā, kia ora e te whanaunga o Ngāti Whakaue. Kia ora, tēnā tāua, tēnā tāua . In recent days the Hauora Māori Advisory Committee released a report into the progress of Te Aka Whai Ora. Associate Minister for Health Peeni Henare says the government is on track to deliver real change for Māori, what do you make of the report? Te Aka Whai Ora is only nine months. Bro, they're still discussing and looking into how it's going. Heck! For a long time Health New Zealand has stomped all over us. But we never see any reports on how they treat Māori badly. A lot of us have had to put up with bad health for a long time with that department. So my message to Te Aka Whai Ora is to keep strong, because if we don't uphold Te Aka Whai Ora we are going to be worse off for it. Even though 66 million dollars has yet to be spent, within the first nine months they are still feeling their way through the water. So, my message to Te Aka Whai Ora and to Māori is to be strong and to support this venture because if we don't it's going to be non-Māori telling us what to do and they'll just mistreat us when it comes to health. So, my message is simply for us to remain strong and ensure we can make this successful. Great. Great response. Onto our next topic for discussion. Last week Te Pāti Māori announced a policy plan to end state care of mokopuna Māori by establishing an independent Mokopuna Māori Authority. How will Te Pāti Māori get this off the ground and how long will it take and what will happen to Oranga Tamariki? It's the same as Te Aka Whai Ora. I'm not worried about Oranga Tamariki because Oranga Tamariki will be left to continue to do what it does. What we want to do is to get our kids out of the hands of the Government. For a long-time our children and mokopuna have been abused. That's what has been happening. I listened to what Uncle Mark said and he's right. It's just like what our ancestors told us. They need to go back to our oral traditions for our wellbeing. That's where the solutions for us lay. I've seen how Te Aka Whai Ora needs to be and it's the same with this independent Mokopuna Māori Authority. It's for us to speak for ourselves and it's also for us and our leaders to look after our children. Let's look into the oral traditions of our ancestors. The solutions are in our traditional lullabies. It's like what we said in recent months, that's where wellbeing can be found. Like with the saying in Whangaparaoa the fine weather of Autahi shines upon Tihirau. Stories about smoking. We need to go back to those. Our like the lullaby from here. “Oh son, what are you crying about? You're crying again to the people...” There are so many traditions around the metaphors contained in this lullaby. They're metaphors for education and genealogy etc. Those aspects need to be included as a part of the independent Mokopuna Māori Authority which want to establish. For Māori, by Māori, in accordance to what Māori want. I'm with you completely on that and I have no opposition to what you've shared. Awesome and beautiful. Thank you so much for that. Now to elections, Te Pāti Māori have announced each candidate for the Māori seats, there's also some running for the general electorate. When will Te Pāti Māori announce the candidate list for 2023 and who can we expect to see on that list? And what a big wait this is! The list is coming and you will see. I heard that Labour's list was around 30 percent Māori. All of you who are listening need to know that this is an absolute exclusive and know that 100 percent of the list is Māori! So yes, it will be released very soon and you'll see our young people rising up. They are the future of our political party. So, you'll see a large number of young Māori on our list. As well, the older people, and I wouldn't classify myself as older, I'm sort of middle-aged, you'll see that we are making way for our young people so you'll see that our party isn't just about today, it's also about the future as well. My friend, I'm very in your clothes. What you're wearing, for a long time I've been looking for it so I can buy and wear it myself. Where do I go and get myself a garb like that? Your swanny is very famous in te ao Māori. Where do I go to buy something like that for myself? My friend this is a courtesy sponsorship from the Ringatū faith. There's no better sponsor than them! Regardless, these clothes, you'll find that these are clothes are what I wear for fixing things up and the lawns. When I return from home this is what I wear. It's what I wear when I'm working on things at home. The grass at home is extremely tall and so is actually quite good for sheep and cows. Thank you so much for this chat Rawiri Waititi. All the best to you and your family. Thank you. After the break, the Silver Ferns slump to their worst ever placing at a Netball World Cup. The Silver Ferns have slumped to their worst result at a Netball World Cup, finishing fourth after losing to Jamaica 45-52. It was too little too late for the team as they fought their way back but couldn't eat into Jamaica's lead. This is the second time the Ferns have finished fourth at a pinnacle event, the same result at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. We head to South Africa now. Kruze a tough time for the team? Yes Scotty, a tough time here in South Africa. Recently the Silver Ferns lost to Jamaica for third place in the Netball World Cup. It's been a different competition for the team, due to the lack of experience, they couldn't finish important games and they didn't show their best abilities. A journey to forget. Medal-less at this competition. This morning the Silver Ferns lost an important game to stand as bronze medallists in South Africa and this will also be the first time, they won't be bringing a medal home. A tough time for all. For the majority of the game, it was tough for the team to turn the ball over from Jamaica and it was little things that stopped them from winning. According to the coach, they should've lifted to another level. For family and fans from New Zealand, it was a struggle to watch that difficult game. However, although a painful time for the Silver Ferns, they must move forward, and look forward to the future. Next month they play against England for the Taini Jamison Trophy. Kruze Tangira, Te Karere. New Zealand's strongest men and women gathered in Auckland over the weekend to vie for their chance to go up against the strongest in the world. Amongst them was the four-time strongwoman champion, Shayna Wirihana, who was looking to hold on to her throne and secure her spot in the worlds. Regan Paranihi has more on this. Lifting weights is a treat for this strongwoman. I hope to come first again in today's competition so that I remain the strongest woman in New Zealand. She's also pleased to see her competition pool grow. Jarna Mihaere joined the sport in 2020. Last year I qualified for this competition where I placed sixth and this year I want to beat that. He also hopes to inspire the young people in his community to join the sport. I want to create a competition for our young people in the Tararua region to see who the strongest young person is. The Manawatū Strength Club continue to make a name for themselves nationally. Winners from this competition are set to take on the strangest people in the world later on in the year. Regan Paranihi, Te Karere. Shayna Wirihana a true strongwoman. She is absolutely strength personified. A big congratulations to all of you who took part especially to Shayna Wirihana. You embody female strength. After the break we have the weather. To the weather now. That's all we have for today. Kia ora tātou katoa. Captions were made possible with funding from Te Māngai Pāho. Copyright TVNZ 2022.