Ok
so a German reporter, her photographer and two Maori entrepreneurs walk onto a
marae in Whakatane and are greeted by a woman demanding money.
Sounds like the start of a bad joke, right?
Well no, unfortunately it is a brief description of what happened
when my cousin William Stewart tried to take some of international manuhiri to
visit the Mataatua Wharenui.
William owns a fledgling tourism company based in Whakatane
called Nativ ConnectioNZ with two of our other cousins, Briton Williams and Leslie Manuel.
Their aim is to offer international tourists insights into
indigenous Aotearoa by exploring traditional Maori concepts and customs through
a series of unique and personal Maori experiences. In other words they offer a
range of tourist products that include guided walking tours where the boys tell
tribal stories and other anecdotes at some of the most beautiful points in
Whakatane, the opportunity to put down your own hangi and then share that meal
in an intimate back-yard setting and a chance to share in that warm fuzzy
feeling that most Maori feel when they go home.
The foundation of the products is the Maori belief in the
responsibility of manaakitanga.
It is an idea that the cousins have been working on for a
number of years, with a range of skills and experiences they would quietly mull
over the vision whenever they had a chance to get together.
Finally last year they got to launch their idea after
securing a contract to cook a hangi for 600 Australian cyclists passing through
Whakatane on their way to Rotorua as part of 5 day tour of the North Island.
The event was a success and the cousins used the money they
made from the venture to launch Nativ ConnectioNZ: Real Maori Experiences.
At the time William was working as a consultant for the runanga
applying the expertise he had gleaned from the four years at Tourism New
Zealand working as a Media Advisor.As part of his contract with the runanga William managed the project team that were charged wth the respnsibility of delivering a “world class” market-aligned visitor experience at Mataatua Wharenui.
The project team, which included very highly regarded
Wellington consultancies Leuthart & Co and Click Suite, had written a
strategy for how the $1 million visitor experience at Mataatua wharenui should
be rolled into market and it was obvious that they had a clear vision of what
was needed for the experience to be commercially succesful.
In addition to creating a world class product William also
believed that the visitor experience would provide much needed employment for
the iwi and provide the runanga with a strong platform from which to grow a
commercial tourism portfolio.
However when the proverbial hit the fan, it became obvious
that there were those within the runanga who did not share William’s vision and
therefore his future at the organisation was uncertain, so he pitched an offer
as a compromise.
In the offer he outlined what he believed were the negatives
that the runanga faced in terms of the visitor experience including the tension
between allowing the wharenui to earn its keep and the belief by some that it
should be accessible to the iwi 365 years days a year and also the expensive
upkeep of the wharenui.
With an annual operation expense of almost $170,000 recorded
in 2012, William acknowledged the runanga’s reluctance to commit anymore tribal
funds to the complex.
So he suggested the runanga could ‘lease’ the facility to
NATIVConnectioNZ Ltd between 9am to 10am 364 days per year, with the exception
of Christmas day, to conduct a one hour Mataatua experience.He said his company would be willing to pay $100+GST for each hourly engagement, which would put it in par with current conference charge outs of $1000 per day.
According to William the benefits of the suggestion were
that the wharenui would then be available to the iwi to use for the rest of the
day from 10am, the runanga had the opportunity to earn the passive income of $36,400
and the $1 million tourism investment would be able to be marketed as it was
planned by the project team.
It was also understood that should demand for the product
increase then Nativ ConnectioNZ would be keen to apply for an additional hour
between 6pm and 7pm, taking the possible income to more than $70,000.
The offer was initially made to the runanga through accountant
Murray Haines and then to NAGHL through
Graham Pryor. At that stage William was hopeful that he would be able to make a
presentation to the board so that they could consider the offer.
However as each board meeting came and went William and the
Native ConnectioNZ boys failed to get admitted on the agenda.
Finally frustrated at the lack of traction in just getting
time to present their idea, they went to the Ngati Hokopu Hapu meeting in
November with their proposal.
Their goal was to seek Ngati Hokopu’s support in getting
time on the agenda at the next board meeting.To add weight to their grievance they also shared a story about how in the previous week they had hosted a German magazine to promote their business.
As part of the day they took the group that included the
German reporter to the wharenui to take in the light show and tour.
When the group arrived at the wharenui there was some time
until the morning show began and so William and Les decided to introduce their
guests to their direct ancestor Toihau, who sits front centre as the Pou Mua,
to explain and authenticate their connection to the house, the land and the
people of the area.
Just as William was explaining his and Leslie’s conncetion
to Toihau, the Marae general manager rounded the corner demanding to know if
the group were paying customers.
Rather than introducing herself to the visitors, she continued
to tell William off for not seeking permission from the runanga to enter the
marae grounds.
Insulted and saddened the boys chose to usher their manuhiri
from the marae and they returned to William’s home on Harvey Street to wait for
the hangi to finish cooking.
After the meal William offered to take the group back to the
wharenui so they could see the light show. However the group chose not to go
back to the wharenui saying they did not feel welcome at the marae and
preferred to stay at William’s home.
The story shocked Ngati Hokopu and at that time it was
undertaken that hapu representative Charlie Bluett would approach runanga
chairman Te Kei Merito to request a time at the next board meeting for William
and his lads to make their presentation.
Mr Merito’s response was that while he supported the
communication he wanted to be able to present a charter for the Mataatua
wharenui before William’s proposal could be considered.
That charter was presented at the December meeting and since
then the board now meet on a bi-monthly basis.
It has been seven months since William first made the
proposal to the runanga and still he has not been given time to present his
company’s case to the board.
And while they have all but accepted that they are not going
to be able to gain access to the wharenui, William and his lads have continued
to slog it out in order to get Nativ ConnectioNZ up and running with the goal
of providing jobs for not only themselves but also for others.
They have come with alternative products including using the
museum in Whakatane to try and illustrate some of our proud history.
They have hosted a swag of tourists, operators, film crews
and other manuhiri trying to get their product out there.
And they have been innovative in their approach to sharing
some of our proud tikanga and stories often calling on friends, family and
other contacts to ensure their business is a success.
As a result I have been fortunate enough to be part of many
of the tours as an extra pair of hands.
Whether it is watching the German reporter put down his own
hangi in a hole that has been heated by a gas torch and a leaf blower or
collecting pipis with the British backpacker and the girl from Switzerland or
even waking up at 5.30am to cook smoked fish and white sauce with the Kahawai
that was caught the day before by the American and Canadian – the experiences
have been amazing.
The whole approach to opening up your home and delivering on
our ancestral reponsibility to manaaki manuhiri reminds me that our culture is
beautiful and unique.
It is just a pity that the boys’ cannot use the wharenui to
showcase that ethos.
Meanwhile runanga chief executive Enid Ratāhi-Pryor is set
to attend the Ngati Hokopu hapu meeting this weekend and along with all of the
other questions I have already sentto her, I would also like to know why my cousins
still haven’t been given a chance to pitch their idea to the board?
Next week I plan to give an account of the Ngati Hokopu
meeting that is to be held on Sunday at 11am at Wairaka Marae. Perhaps I will
see you there?
Ma te wa.
