- Uea! Uea! Uea te kaupapa nui, te kaupapa roa, kia tu tangatanga te ara ki Te Hui. Paiaka o te puha o te kupu e. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. This week on The Hui ` the psychology of sport isn't new. - The system sets them up to really experience some lofty heights, but then of course fall really hard. - But could Maori concepts in this space be a game-changer? - And why? Because it works. - And we talk poverty, people, and politics with former Te Tai Tokerau MP, Hone Harawira. Plus, from his nan's kitchen to the world. We meet the guy from Whanganui who is making rewana bread mainstream. - Finally, rewana bread got its recognition. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023. - He poroporoaki tenei ki a ratou ma kua whakatakina atu I o ratou matua i te mate. Nga mate o te wa, haere mai, haere. Tatou e whakaurupa mai nei a ratou ma ki te hinengaro tangata ora. Tihewa mauri ora, and welcome back to The Hui. For rising sports stars, managing pressure both on and off the field or court is a steep learning curve. Injuries, missing out on selection, and the everyday demands of life all take their toll. But an innovative approach to sports psychology weaving in Matauranga Maori is giving Maori sports stars a boost. Mea nei te purongo a Meriana Johnsen. - MERIANA: You can be at the top one minute. - Here's Metuarau. What a start for her. - And the next, you're out. - It's, like, a lot of denial, a lot of 'how come?' - Set! (PLAYERS GRUNT) - Always fighting to keep your place. - You'll feel like it's the end of the world. - There's very few jobs that every day you've been asked to be better. - Midweek training. The Pulse are being put through their paces. (PLAYERS CHATTER) National selection is coming up. - Nice. - And 22-year-old Tiana Metuarau is hungry for a place. As a schoolgirl, Tiana was already representing New Zealand, ending her first season of elite netball winning the first ever World Youth Cup. - There they go, proud world champions, New Zealand. - Congratulations to New Zealand! - Her skills on the court earned her a place in the Silver Ferns in 2021... - Stunning shooting from Tiana Metuarau. - ...where she was selected Most Valuable Player in her international debut against England. It seemed Tiana could do no wrong. But then she was dropped. How did you deal with that time? - I was just crying, and I just was so disappointed. It does suck. If it had to be the equivalent to anything, it's probably... I don't know, maybe getting fired from a job. - It's the system that sets them up to really experience some lofty heights, but then, of course, fall really hard. - Mental skills coach Luke Rowe. - That's because of the way that the system is set up. - Players are getting discovered younger. Is that creating an environment which is putting players at risk? - Short answer, yes. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen. It just means that we need to` We, as the system, need to be smarter about how we then wrap better supports to around those athletes. - This is where Luke comes in. - I think that'll be really helpful. If I'm having a bit of a rough time, he listens, and he always has these Maori philosophies, which I really value because I understand them. - What he brings is something unique. What's different? - I find, like, a lot of comfort, this sense of comfort, because there's just this kind of unspoken understanding that we understand each other with our values. What's the more traditional high performance approach? - Get fit and perform. It's quite a narrow pathway to high performance. Whereas my belief that there are multiple pathways to high performance, especially for Maori. Kia taki tu tatou, so that we can get good projection. - Pa tukituki. - ALL: Pa nekeneke. - Matauranga Maori is woven into his practice. - And why? Because it works. And secondly, it's, for me, about creating spaces for Maori, Pasifika, to operate within, which should be the predominant culture or language of that space. The people in those environments are largely brown, but the way that it looks from the outside is still monocultural. So there's something fundamentally wrong about that picture, and we need to change that. - Super Rugby team the Hurricanes have also locked in to Luke's expertise. - I start with our usual custom and protocols of whakapapa, korero, and getting to know a lot of the boys and for them to get to know me and who I am, where I come from, where I grew up. - Purakau ` or Maori narratives ` build team identity and help reframe mental or physical challenges. - The purakau concept is not a new thing for Maori, and how it's applied in the health context is evolving, and it's growing, and it's gaining some real momentum. - CHANT: Ki te ara, a Tawhiri e, i a haha. - The Hurricanes' haka, composed by Luke. - The haka that we've got does that. It allows for some of those conversations around equity, racism, colonisation, all those sorts of really important historical stories. - It evokes the strength and force of Tawhirimatea. - E mana ka ora, ka ora. - It also reminds us of the gift that Tawhiri gave to humankind, which is around our respiratory system, which then means that you can have a different conversation, particularly with our Maori athletes, around fitness and strength and conditioning isn't just about getting physically fit, but it's actually an opportunity to engage with your atua. - Other times, his advice for players is simple. - There's one whakatauki that probably encapsulates it ` E hoki koe ki ou maunga ki a puri ai koe i nga hau o Tawhirimatea. But essentially it's about going home and cleansing your soul and replenishing yourself so that you can come back and get in the game again or get in the fight again. - I went and saw him, and he just kind of said to me, 'Well, if all else fails, maybe you should go home for a little bit.' And so, home being Whangara, where my mum's from. - And mum, of course, is netball legend Waimarama Taumaunu. - I saw my family, I came back really refreshed, and I think people probably don't understand the value that it has for us as Maori because when we think of home we think of our awa, we think of our maunga, we think of our marae and our people, our community. And coming from Whangara, just a 200m strip of just speed bumps and not much but a beautiful beach. And our community and history and my family, that brought me back to Earth a little bit and kind of just showed me that netball wasn't the be all or end all. - Being able to separate out your identity from what you do is crucial. 'Am I a shit player? Does that mean I'm a shit person?' And the challenge we have is that it's all sort of being integrated into the same thing. - Hold, wait for ball release. - Yvette, she's so unique in the way that she deals with that stuff. Similar to my mum, they know exactly what to say and how to help. - One of the pieces that I've always really valued is the ability for us to infuse tikanga. And so for me, knowing that Luke was here, when you're working from a mental skills perspective, to have that other layer of connection is amazing. - For high performance coach Yvette McCausland-Durie, wrapping support around young players is vital. - I think in high performance, it's really about the ability to manage yourself from a social media perspective, reading things about yourself and not taking yourself, A, either too seriously, or, B, getting incredibly frustrated about how you may be perceived and staying really true to what you're about as an individual. So, I think they're really key balances. And for a lot of young people, they haven't necessarily had other jobs or other activities in their lives. So just thinking about how they develop resilience, how they develop the ability to just evolve as people and players through their journey as professional sportspeople. - If you look at rugby, for instance, nowadays you've got cameras exposing our kids at a First XV level. So, they need to make sure that they're looking good and performing good cos it's gonna have an impact on their livelihoods and their ability to secure contracts. They're going straight from college into professional rugby, so they're jumping a few of those really important milestones in life. And so we need to find other ways, then, of trying to sort of ensure that they are remaining grounded. - I'm in a better headspace now. And I think the beauty in this is that I've taught myself, and I've learnt from different people throughout this journey that I am capable, and that I can pull myself out of situations that aren't so comfortable. I am young, although I do hate when people say 'Your time will come', because I believe that it's now. - They're competitive by nature. they're warriors for some of them. So they want to go to the edge. That's what makes them who they are. So we need to go there with them when they do go to those edges. - E ao te purongo. E haere ake nei i ta tatou Hui, he's back ` on The Hui, anyway. Hone Harawira joins us live from Kaitaia after this. Would you rather toes for nipples or nipples for toes? Imagine stubbing your nipple. WOMAN: Would you rather live with the regret of something you did or something you didn't do? Alright, I've got one. I've got one. Would you rather have gone out with your mates last night and had too many beers and maybe thought about everyone else in your life... ..or would you rather have gone out with your mates last night and jumped in your car and get stopped by the cops? What would you rather? - Ko Te Hui tenei a matapaki ake nei, i nga take nui o te wa. Our next guest is involved in health, education, employment, housing and just about everything else you can think of in the Far North, Te Hiku o Te Ika. A former MP and political party leader, who better to help examine the issues than former MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Hone Harawira. E kara, Hone. Tena koe. - Kia ora, Jules. - Thank you so much for your time. Let's start with one of the big issues of the time ` health. Now, you are the CEO of a not-for-profit trust, ANT Trust, that has established a new all-Maori health clinic. Why have you done that? - For the very simple reason that in Muriwhenua, we now have more than 3000 people who haven't got a doctor. So somebody had to try and do something. We're not the be all and end all. We've got, you know, an excellent hauora Maori up here, Hauora o Te Hiku, but they've been overwhelmed for years. We've got another really positive community clinic up in Te Kao, Whakawhiti Ora Pai, run by Errol Murray. We're just fitting in there, but in less than a week, more than 200 people have enrolled. So we know we're going to get bowled over. We need... the system to be more open to innovative opportunities that we've picked up here and others can pick up to help provide health services for our people. - Hone, is this a symptom of Te Aka Whai Ora ` a success factor of Te Aka Whai Ora ` helping locally led initiatives to be established, or is this a symptom of a failed national health system that Te Aka Whai Ora contributes to? - I think I think it's a system of a` symptomatic of a failed national health system. Te Aka Whai Ora's still trying to find their feet. We're getting real good support from people within Te Aka Whai Ora. We're actually getting blocked by the people on the Pakeha side, who are doing their best to try and deny us access to the funding to keep our clinic alive. And we've only been going for a week. So we've asked Te Aka Whai Ora to step across the lane to Whatu Ora, give somebody a clip around the ears and say, 'Hey, come on.' It's people's health that's the major issue here, not petty little questions that mean nothing. - Is there a combined collaborative approach between the different practices in Muriwhenua, in Te Hiku o Te Ika, Hone, or is it a case of everyone just having to try and survive day by day here? - Oh, I think... First of all, we haven't really been party to all of those discussions cos we're just new to the game. But now that we're in the game, Adrian Marsden, who's the manager of Te Whare Oranga, plans to meet with Hauora o Te Hiku and Whakawhiti Ora Pai to say that they can start establishing some standards by which they can work together, I hope, and do the best job we can for our people ` and for everybody else living up here. I mean, not just Maori suffering when you've got 3000` you know, all kinds of people. When I left the opening the other day, Tuesday lunchtime, went home, stopped in to pick up some kai at the local Four Square store, and one of the guys there, Indian fella. He was a bit shy to ask, but he asked` He hasn't a doctor for three years. I said, 'Go in, mate. Go in and say Hone Harawira sent you. Register.' Because people are desperate for a doctor. - OK. I also want to talk about education` - What we're trying to do here, though, I've got to say, Jules, is not just provide a clinic. We want to use this as an opportunity to open our people's minds to other ways of looking at health in terms of rongoa Maori, in terms of mirimiri, in terms of health, in terms of diet... - Ka pai. - ...in terms of smoking, and try and address their health by getting them to take control of their own wellbeing, by improving their diet, changing some of their habits, and becoming better role models for their children in the years ahead. But, I mean, he wahi pohara tenei, eh. People up here are struggling in many, many ways. - So let's talk about the struggle, because you obviously talk about health here. We've got education. You know, you and Hilda have been a part of Te Kura Kaupapa. Wharekura o Te Rangi Aniwaniwa celebrated its 30th anniversary recently. So, do issues like Stop Co-Governance and the messages of people like Winston Peters and Shane Jones, who are focused on wokeness... (CHUCKLES) I mean, when you hear that kind of rhetoric happening at the moment across the nation, what do you think? - Oh, I mean, fighting for the reo is nothing to do with being woke. Fighting for equity is nothing to do with being woke. Fighting for the opportunity for our kids to become positive members of the wider society is not woke. It, in fact, lifts the standards by which the whole of our society can operate if Maori people are full partners in that. This woke crap that's drifted in from America is not something that we pay any heed to. I think it's a pathway Winston's chosen because him and David Seymour, Ngatiwai and Ngati Rehia, are fighting one another to try and get into Parliament. I think I don't know that Shane necessarily believes at all, but he has to if he wants to get in on Winston's coattails. But right now, the issue within education is that Pakeha education has been failing not just Maori but New Zealand kids for more than 200 years, and they are still getting funded billions of dollars. Kura kaupapa have only been around for just over 30 years. We are expected to operate at the same level of resourcing as Pakeha schools. We need to have... quality resources and support for those with quality teachers and quality support. Principals is a classic example. Kura kaupapa principals need to have a break at least one term a year because of the pressure that's on them to try and cope within a system where they're surrounded by mainstream schools, all of which are fully funded, and kura kaupapa have to try to lift their children from below the zero line to a point where they can be participating in mainstream society. So, it's tough for kura and the resourcing needs to be changed to ensure that Maori can be lifted to the right kinds of levels in our society. What have you made of Julian Batchelor and the crew who are going 'round the country at the moment ` and yes, there has been some protestation from Maori and iwi and hapu and whanau ` but of the Stop Co-Governance tour ` and I note with irony that there isn't a planned visit in Kaitaia or indeed in the Far North. But what do you, Hone Harawira, make of that tour which has generated a lot of interest and is a key election issue? - Oh, you know, this sort of stuff goes all the way back to Colin Ansell and the Nazi Party... You know, Don Brash... and all of the kinds of ideas that he used to promote ` racist views about Maori. And they all tend to ramp up just before an election. 'Kick the gangs to death. Maori are getting too much.' While they're saying all of that sort of stuff ` 'Maori getting too much' ` the Prime Minister announces just this very morning he wants to spend $45 billion on two or three tunnels while our health is in a crisis situation. Our education is in a crisis situation. Not just Maori ` the nation. Our housing is in a crisis situation, and he wants to spend $45 billion on two or three tunnels? Mate. I mean, let's get serious about what's the most appropriate ways to spend money for the benefit of all New Zealanders. One of them is to focus on lifting Maori because as Maori rise, the whole of society rises. Hone, tena koe. I know we were hoping to get you in the studio today and couldn't get there, so I really appreciate you joining us live from Kaitaia. Kia tau nga manaakitanga ki runga ki a koe koutou o te whamere. Tena koe. - Koutou ano ra. Kia ora. - Kia ora mai ra. Kia ita tonu mai ra, e te iwi. That was Hone Harawira. After the break ` taking rewana bread to the world. Warming wilful wolf downers all the way from Whanganui. - Kia ora mai ano. Once a staple food with whanau, making traditional rewana bread these days is a dying craft, but Whanganui is having something of a rewana resurgence thanks to a baker using a starter bug preserved and handed down through his whanau for generations. And as our reporter Ruwani Perera discovers, what began as a story about whakapapa is now putting rewana on the world map. - RUWANI: Matauranga and memories the special ingredients baked into each one of these loaves of bread. - It's a reminder of Nan, yeah. - George Jackson's rewana a family recipe dating back more than 170 years. - As a family, we're really proud and grateful to continue that legacy of our grandmother. - It's just kind of a journey that I'm on, piecing bits and pieces together of the history of it. It's a fascinating story. - We meet the man on a mission to make Maori bread mainstream. - George has gone from having a concept about making it at home for his family, and he's moved it and said, 'I want other people to try this.' (BRIGHT MUSIC FLOURISHES) - George Jackson's nan, Patricia Jackson, was renowned for the rewana bread she'd make in this camp oven. - It was just always there. Part of the furniture, really, and it was delicious. - Baking bread was very much part and parcel of his childhood growing up with his grandparents. - She's up at 4 in the morning having a piece of her freshly made rewana bread with her cup of tea and jam and butter. - Very special. - Very special. Yeah. - He missed her so much, George set about to recreate his nan's rewana recipe 12 years ago. - And I started getting obsessed with it and making the bread for my kids so they would grow up like I did with it. - So when did you realise that you could make a living out of this? Basically, when I had friends just asking if they could bake me a big round one. And then I found that I was doing one or two a week, sometimes three. And then I thought, 'Well, there's something in this.' Yeah. I'm kind of starting to make a little small living now. - As demand for his bread grew, George opened a retail shop two years ago where he also bakes on site. This is certainly a labour of love. The entire breadmaking process takes around 16 hours, each stage requiring care and attention. - It's really important to get the balance of the sugar and the salt and the flour right. - While most bread uses yeast to make it rise, Maori potato bread requires a bug or starter. This batter-like mixture has an active bacteria that helps raise the dough. - We get the paddle, and we give the bug a stir to combine the flour and the potato water together and bringing it all together as one dough. - Getting the chemistry just right is crucial and has taken George time to perfect. - The hardest thing, which up to this day is still a learning curve, is the bug dynamic. Getting it to perform 100%. If I stuff it up, it can stuff up everything. - The starter can last for years, and George's bug dates back to the 1840s, lovingly preserved and passed down through his whanau. - My cousin had the actual true bug from` of Nan's, and I acquired it from him, and I went from there. Yeah, knowing that it's her actual... bug. - Reviving the Jackson's rewana recipe is now putting Whanganui on the world map. - It was more than just him making a bread. It was the story that went back when his family got given the starter by an Irish chef on a boat that came to Wellington, and they were able to keep that starter going for all the generations. - Colleen Sheldon is part of Whanganui and Partners, who promote businesses in the city. They put George's name forward for UNESCO's Creative Cities of the World programme, which highlights the cultural importance of bread as a basic staple food that brings a community together. - Yeah, I was really stoked cos finally, Rewana bread got its recognition. - But what matters most to George is seeing the delight in the faces of those closest to him. Sharing memories of his nan with his 95-year-old Koko Sid Jackson are special times to savour. - On bread. - Yeah, yeah. - As a family, we're proud to be Jacksons. And the fact that he's carrying it on is quite significant for us, and the pride is immense. Continuing something that was really special to us as grandchildren. - That dedication to honour his family name sees George baking through the night. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, George has one last check to make sure the rewana is ready. - We give it a bang on it lightly, and we listen for a hollow sound or a crack in the bread which says it's ready. - After cooling down, it's sliced... (MACHINE JUDDERS) ...and packaged... (PLASTIC RUSTLES) ...ready for sale. - Hey, man, how can I help? - Rewana bread, please. - Yup. - The strong sales are evidence that George is on to a winner. On average, he pumps out about 120 loaves a week. and continuing the whanau story behind the bread, has now trained two of his cousins, who work there part time. - George has gone from making it at home for his family, and he's moved it and said, 'I want other people to be part of this story, to bring back their memories.' - Because I'm passionate about this bread, of just wanting to get it out there to Whanganui first, everywhere else next. - Ma Whanganui ki te ao whanui. Kia kaha, e hoa. Hei te wiki e tu mai nei ` coming up next week on The Hui. They're the jewels of the Te Arawa lakes region. - I grew up on these lakes. It recharges me when I come back here. - But after record rainfall, these lakes are reaching a tipping point. - What can we do, you know? It's just Mother Nature. - But is it time to let nature run its course? - I don't think that we can continuously engineer our way out of climate change. - That is us for this week. Join us next week for more goodness from The Hui. You can find all our stories on our social media channels, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and of course on Newshub.co.nz. Kia mau, ki te turanga o Taputapuatea. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. Captions by Kate Harris. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023.