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THE PERCEIVED MEANINGS OF
The Maori Experience
This paper provides some insights into what the
sufferings of Jesus mean to us as Maori Anglicans, in our experiences, our
responses to these experiences, and our hopes and aspirations for the
future. After over 150 years of Pakeha rule, Pakeha wars, confiscations of Maori wealth, official and systematic rejection of Maori knowledge and language, we are now victims of disease and health decline. Individualism has been introduced including the individualisation of property and dismantling of communal ownership. From being the entrepreneurs and wealth creators of Aotearoa New Zealand, we have become the poor of our nation. This experience has had unexpected consequences for us.
At one level we became like brown skin-Pakeha,
where our kinship system, and our social, political and religious networks
crisscrossed with those of the Pakeha and overlapped at many points. But
we became more enmeshed in the Pakeha world than the other way round. The
Pakeha could get by without us, but we became like dependent children,
reluctant and unable to contemplate a future without the Pakeha.
Overdependence on the Pakeha became a natural result of the dominant
position of the Pakeha economically, socially and intellectually. We
learnt, as the indigenous minority of our land, to adapt to the Pakeha
ways. We absorbed, assimilated and copied their ways, and we survived. The
experience has been costly. The struggle was contained but never
completely extinguished. The Sufferings Of Jesus And What They Mean To Maori At another level we became Christians. We studied the biblical scriptures and we related these to our issues, which were different to those of the Pakeha. We were more concerned with affordable housing, stable employment, quality education, access to medical help, equality before the law, recognition of the treaty, the abuse of power, the relationships between our elders and our young, and retaining our custom of friendship and generosity. As Christians we applied the principle to our context that where there is injustice the sign of God is abolished and God’s personal experience is impeded. We attempted to address injustices so that whenever we suffered, Jesus suffered too, or conversely, whenever Jesus suffered, we suffered too. Jesus Was Ridiculed As Being The Son Of An Unwed Mother – A traditional Maori view was that unwed mothers were those who had children without the approval of their elders. Such mothers were likened to ladies of loose character, and were equated with having the status of prostitutes. Such mothers could hardly be relied upon to produce children of any worth. By discrediting the unwed mother because of her status in the community, the son, is also discredited. Such sons, like Jesus, cannot be considered as worthy tribal leaders and therefore cannot attract the approved audiences to their meetings. The large numbers of illegitimate children in the Maori population seem to confirm the promiscuous nature of our people. Compared to the Pakeha, we are criticised for lacking parental control and therefore permit promiscuity to carry on unchecked. Jesus Was Ridiculed For Being A Friend Of Sinners – Jesus chose to have a close relationship with prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers and cripples, those discriminated against by society, because of the offensive nature of their occupation or physical afflictions. Jesus did not discriminate against these so called sinners, but maintained communication with them. He confronted them by bringing them into his presence. It was within this holy presence, that Jesus believed, the sinners would confess and change their ways. Maori are accustomed to being ridiculed for being friends of such people, and this includes protesters and radicals. Maori do not regard such people as deserving discriminatory attention, and we continue to embrace them according to our custom of friendship. Jesus Was Ridiculed For Being A Galilean – Maori are accustomed to ethnic and racial discrimination. Galileans practiced different customs which could not be tolerated by the rest of Palestine, including the Pharisees. People still find it hard to tolerate those different from them in appearance or in culture. The killing of over six million Jews by the Nazis during the second world war, and the current killings in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, are grim examples of ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination. Maori continue to be treated as foreigners in their own land. Maori are treated with suspicion and still bare the stigma of being labeled as heathens, natives and cannibals. Maori are tribal people, and practice customs that are different from one another. Maori are fully aware of the dangers of ridiculing other tribes, because in the past such action led to retribution and destruction. Jesus Was Ridiculed For Being A Dangerous Political Conspirator – Jesus’ enemies spread rumours that he was plotting to bring down the government of the day. It is true that Jesus did confront those who held authority in various institutions. Jesus was forever scandalising the religious leaders of his day by his belief that meeting a human need took precedence over the law. Maori leaders in the past were ridiculed for daring to confront the governments of the day, and challenging their unjust policies and structures. Maori actions were condemned because they were against the government. When the relationship between government and Maori became difficult for Pakeha, Pakeha missionaries deserted their Maori congregations and acted as chaplains for the governments troops against Maori. Maori suffered from trumped up charges, supposedly for causing rebellious acts, and were imprisoned. Maori were charged with committing acts of treason against a queen who lived in a far away land. Maori land was confiscated and occupied by Pakeha. Some of our young radicals today, are voicing their concerns that certain Pakeha monuments could be targeted for destruction. Government and an increasing number of Pakeha are interpreting this as the rise of dangerous political conspirators. They are demanding harsher penalties, while Maori protesters consistently claim that they are addressing injustices which the government continue to ignore. Jesus Was Ridiculed For Being A False Teacher – To Maori, Jesus taught a different way of looking at sacred Sabbath law. Jesus was constantly trying to alert his hearers and followers to the fact that people mattered more than things, more than systems, even religious systems. Maori elders, the experts on our sacred laws, taught with a great deal of flexibility and were not understood by the colonial governments of the day. When laws of suppression were enacted to prevent them from teaching, they were humiliated and discredited and our sacred knowledge was denied us for many years. Jesus Was Crucified – Maori history shows quite clearly that opposition against the government, the ruling class and the dominant majority would lead to imprisonment, death, physical and mental abuse, brutality, cruelty, hardship, injury, injustice, misery, persecution and feelings of being trodden upon. The crucifixion of Jesus symbolised Maori suffering.
Being outsiders, and not accepted as part of the establishment causes us
suffering. Being persecuted because we cannot defend or cannot afford to
defend ourselves causes us suffering. Not having enough capital to build
sufficient equity for development and to participate in economic decisions
causes us suffering. Being deprived of resources causes us suffering. Not
having voting power to influence people in power to promote equitable
distribution of resources causes us suffering. Not being valued and
constantly ignored causes us suffering. Suffering health problems and not
being able to pay the costs causes us suffering. Breaking the law,
appearing before the courts and getting jailed causes us suffering. Being
labelled with the stigma of imprisonment causes us suffering. Not being
well organised and therefore having no influence in the policies that
oppress us causes us suffering. We longed for the day our treaty partners
would act with benevolence, clemency, compassion, goodness, humanness,
justice, kindness, mercy, sympathy and tenderness towards us. In the end
we could not wait. Our emerging consciousness and self understanding of
ourselves as Christians, and of our Christian oppressors increased our
resolve to be more aggressive, responsible and confident, in articulating
our hopes and aspirations for our future. Our Hopes And Aspirations For Our Future: Ministry Training After many decades of disadvantage for our people, and of absence of God’s friendship between the partners to our Treaty, it appears that the Anglican Church has found a way forward. The terms of this friendship, which was prescribed through Jesus Christ, are embodied in the revised constitution of our Church. There are many examples to call upon to demonstrate our hopes and aspirations for our future. I will deal with only three; ministry training, our prayer book, and constitutional arrangements. After over 150 years of being trained for ministry by outsiders, we now do it ourselves. Jesus is the model on which our training is based. Our ministry is concerned with the leadership of the community where our ministers, we call them Minita a Iwi, bones incarnated among the people, are leaders and pioneers who inspire the community and serve as models by which the whole community can identify the gospel. The training of our ministers is carried out in the context in which they live and work. This is not cheap ministry. The cost in terms of time away from their place of employment, time devoted to service for Sunday worship, time to attend deaths, funerals and other ministry demands, is great. Our ministers are required to attend regular weekly evening training sessions, as well as attend live in schools of five days each, during the summer and winter vacations. Local members of our faith communities not only take their ministers to training schools, but they take strangers as well, so that they all participate fully in the programmes offered. In this way our communities become active members of their mission and ministry. Under
our training, ministry has become a shared responsibility. Training is
directly related to the context of the community. Commitment to ministry
and mission is community based. Individual conversions occur as a result
of the work in the community. Ministry begins with ourselves becoming new
people working and moving towards a society based on freedom and motivated
by love, realised in the sharing of resources as indicated in the banquet
of the Holy Eucharist. Ministry meets the demands that we are truly
neighbours to victims of active and structural injustices, not only at the
individual level but also at the level of groups of marginalised and
downtrodden people. We are
found in the children’s courts, the district’s courts, the prisons, the
hospitals, with the street kids, with the unemployed, with the elderly and
lonely and with the homeless. We are involved in marches, sit ins, and
protests against the government or municipal authorities, with the
protesters and radicals among our people. We do this, not for our own
sake, but for justice and for the quality of human life on earth. This
guides us in raising ministers among local communities who already have a
relevant theology which springs from the bones of their own people and
communities. Our Prayer Book
As long time members of the Anglican church, we are learning and
developing the confidence to reject the god of our oppressors, which
reflected their power and dominance over us for a very long time. We are
enjoying and learning to affirm our new and developing faith in God as
Fellow Sufferer, God as Enabler, and God of Friendship. Our new
understanding of God is relevant to our context, as expressed in the
following selected sections taken from our New Zealand Prayer Book. From the SONG OF PRAISE section. “Glory to our God of justice (tika) and compassion (aroha). You give us work to share with others. We were immersed in suffering, but we rise each day, bubbling because of your love for us, so we care for your world and live in it with harmony and trust.” Tika is God’s form of justice which is to make things right in the universe. Aroha is God’s friendship which we can trust to maintain the breath of life. “Praise Christ for our ancestral parents (tupuna matua). Christ is our native sheltering tree (totara), the sentinel rock (toka tumoana), the talking parrot (kaka wahanui) and the spring of tears (puna roimata).” Tupuna matua are ancestral parents as precious treasures who are more precious than objects, because they are the closest to the past and the ancestors, they are the closest to and the most knowledgeable of the customs and traditions, and they are the closest to the sacred. Totara is Christ, the tree iii the forest with its wide welcoming, outstretched arms of friendship. Kaka wahanui is Christ, the rhythm chanter whose message guides the followers to work in unison. Puna roimata is Christ, the spring which supplies the never ending tears, as gifts, for the sufferers. From THE GREAT THANKSGIVING section. “Christ is the staff (pouherenga) to which the canoe (waka) is tied to.” Pouherenga is Christ the wooden stake which will not give way. Waka is the canoe, us, when tied to Christ we will not capsize or be damaged. “We are called to follow Christ who reconciles and weaves (tuitui) us together. We pass the thread in pain and suffering. We pass the thread in hope. We pass the thread of life.” Tuitui is the weaving technique our weavers use to complete the woven wall patterns held securely by the cross stitches, which represent our firmness and commitment to Christ. This
prayer book represents for us our liberation from the law which prohibited
us for many years from using and speaking our language in government
educational institutions. The Anglican church has now accepted the fact
that only our language can capture the meaningful images that reflect our
own understanding of God. Using our language elevates our worship to this
God. This brings tears to our people’s eyes. In the chanting of our
liturgy, we sing our praises in recognition that this new experience has
guided, empowered and enabled us because of the stirrings of the spirit of
this God of Friendship. Constitutional Arrangements We are active in transforming the people and the government system of our Anglican Church through new constitutional arrangements. We now accept that General Synod which meets every second year, is our legislative decision making body of the church. General Synod legislation, in the past, was determined according to the democratic principle that majority votes wins. Since the Pakeha were the majority, they held the power of veto. Under such a voting system it was impossible for us to change legislation or to succeed in initiating new ones. The new constitutional arrangements now permit a voting system based on cultural preference, if requested. If we do not agree with a particular legislation proposed by Pakeha, or vice versa, that legislation will not proceed, because it will not gain support.. Knowing this, we are forced to consult one another and to practice being partners in an effort to get the fairest deal for the church. As Anglicans, we are now more respectful of each other. We are also more trustful of each other and we are more content with the work of mission and ministry which we are charged to fulfill. General Synod, who were once represented by diocesan representatives is now represented by its Treaty partners, us, and Pakeha. We are represented by Te Pihopatanga, the equivalent of a Province, which in turn has representatives from its five regions, the equivalent of five diocese. The Pakeha partner is represented by the Interdiocesan Committee, which in turn has representatives from its seven diocese. General Synod, once required its diocesan representatives to govern the affairs of the church which included legislative matters. Now General Synod requires us to govern the affairs of the church within Maori ways and to propose legislation in areas of our competence. Similarly, General Synod requires its Pakeha representatives to govern the affairs of the church within Pakeha ways and to propose legislation in areas of Pakeha competence. General Synod, once received legislation only from its diocesan representatives. Today it receives legislation proposed jointly by us and Pakeha or we can present them separately. This constitutional transformation is a model of God’s gift of friendship, between us and Pakeha as friends. We now recognise the legitimacy of each others existence. We respect each other. We realise each others potential. This partnership and bicultural development is working. The system of church government is no longer between the majority, dominant representative and its minority subordinate. The church now recognises that partners as friends can act fairly and justly. A God of Friendship has changed the hearts of the dominant representatives, who for many years, maintained their control of a conservative English institution, the Anglican church. This God has freed and enabled them to share willingly the revision of the long standing 1857 constitution. To dream of providing for a much fuller expression of partnership within the church between us and Pakeha, and to see it working is a transforming experience. We suffered humiliation for many years. Yet only recently, during the years 1984 to 1992, did we engage with the Pakeha in diverse analysis, intensive debate and extensive education, not as adversaries, but as partners. Four General Synod Commissions, 1984 to 1986, 1986 to 1988,1988 to 1990 and 1990 to 1992 debated some critical principles as to whether these were Christian and were consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi. Five full-time bicultural educators, and its Bicultural Commission, which included myself and Jenny Te Paa, (present here today) were on the road for eight years, educating the people. The task was not an easy one, but the stirring of the spirit of God was present among us and Pakeha. We all rejoiced, clapped, embraced one another and shed tears when the new constitution was accepted. Whatever government system people adopt, consideration must be given to a new understanding that discriminated and subjugated peoples, are always the primary partners of God, in God’s mission of establishing the new humanity in Christ. To what extent secular institutions will recognise this is yet to be tested. Nevertheless, our part as Christians has been to train and challenge our new generation of committed Christians, whether they are from the churches or are involved in government, not to allow God’s people to be dominated or oppressed anymore. These are the people who will recognise that whenever people are found without the means required to meet their needs, and without resources for creative action and participative life in society, they will not permit these injustices to continue. These are the people who will ensure that where people do not care to share but seek to dominate and oppress, or where some have plenty while others do not have enough, they will not permit these injustices to continue. These are the people who will recognise that to neglect to address injustices, and to choose to stay within the security of a ritual and legal religion unsoiled by the proximity to the dust and sweat of real life, would be disloyal to the core of the gospel of Jesus and to his church. To conclude this paper, I hope I have not given the impression that Maori Anglicans have saved themselves by their own deeds. On their own that’s impossible, but with God all is possible. Our task is the completion of God’s work in creation and redemption, the summing up all things in Christ as head (Eph. 1:10), the reconciling of all things in heaven and earth through the blood of Christ (Col. 1:20), and the subjecting of all hostile powers under the feet of Christ (1 Cor. 15:24-28). Maori Anglican’s story is partially concerned with the quest for truth and totally with the quest for love and friendship. The contemporary challenge for us in the sight of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ is to share our struggles within our nation and beyond, with our friends, the struggling peoples of Asia. Peace to you all.
Kia ora.
by The Venerable
John Gray
This is the only material written by a Maori that attempts to cover insights, experiences, reflections and understandings of the sufferings, of Jesus, of Maori people, and of the Anglican Church. Bishop Muru is knowledgeable on a wide range of Maori subjects but he prefers to speak on behalf of the Maori Anglican perspective because as a bishop he has a mandate to do that. The section “The Maori Experience is a sad one for us as Maori, because it continually confronts us with our story of how we developed to be the wealth creators in our land, to being reduced to the suffering and struggling poor, both in status and in spirit. Clearly there was a time when we were in control of our own affairs. Bishop does not give examples but there are many to call upon. For example, about the mid 1800’s, in one Maori community of about 8,000 people, they had 3,000 acres of land in wheat, 3,000 of acres in potatoes, 2,000 acres in corn and 2,000 acres in sweet potatoes. They owned 1,000 horses, 200 cattle, 5,000 pigs, 4 water powered flour mills, 96 ploughs, 900 canoes and 43 coastal vessels averaging nearly 20 tons, selling and trading around the country. Important determinants of Maori health and wealth development were large tribal groups, and the guidance of elders, experts as repositories of genealogy, spirituality, familiness, tribal history and language, tribal policies, protocol procedures, health, education, tribal manuscripts, meeting house facilities, treasures, land, investments and rights to fishing boundaries. This was typical of many Maori communities. Yet, from the 1860’s to the 1890’s, a span of about thirty years, Pakeha, in Maori this means fair skinned people, who were trusted to act fairly, imposed a system of injustices on Maori that changed the Maori story. Pakeha government and their soldiers and police, not only controlled and suppressed Maori development, but they also controlled and suppressed Maori resistance and opposition. 150 years is a long time suffering and struggling, under a deliberate policy of oppression and assimilation, designed specifically to change the Maori from their tribal ways to so called democratic, civilised and Pakeha ways. In the section on “The Sufferings of Jesus, Bishop suggests that Maori know what it means to be a suffering people and to interpret scriptures from the basis of their needs, such as, housing, employment, education, medical support, the recognition of their treaty, the abuse of power, the relationship between elders and young, and retaining their custom of friendship. Bishop’s examples of the meanings of the sufferings of Jesus in the consciousness of the sufferings of Maori are peculiar to Maori and are worthwhile telling, because just as Jesus was ridiculed for the five things described by Bishop culminating with crucifixion, this same situation continues to be experienced by Maori. The circumstances may be different but the nature of the experiences are very much the same. Maori do know what suffering means. Yet despite all that, Maori have always maintained their spirit of love, friendship, graciousness and generosity to all people. In the section “Our hopes and aspirations for our future” Bishop relates these to “Ministry Training”, “Our Prayer Book” and “Constitutional arrangements.” There
is no doubt that our Ministry Training programmes have taken us far beyond
our hopes and dreams. From small beginnings, using our people to teach in
our regional communities, (these are our Rohe or Takiwa, which are
equivalent to Pakeha paroachial boundaries) we have moved to provide
National Summer and Winter Schools. The numbers attending these training
schools have increased so much that we have tried to restrict enrollments,
but with little success. At our first Summer School we catered for 120 and
over 200 attended. The following year we catered for 100 and again over
200 attended. Bishop does not mention that we are also involved in
establishing the delivery of quality university educational programmes at
certificate, diploma, degree and post graduate levels. The way for us has
not been an easy one. Our critics continue to ridicule us. How do we
maintain standards is a regular complaint. Well, we do have an assessment
criteria which is friendly to our students. We do not have grades for
student’s work. Instead we have work that is either recorded “completed”
or “is in the process of being completed”. This simple strategy has
removed the competitiveness and nastiness, characteristic of Pakeha
academic institutions, and of which we have been the major casualties and
failures, and we have replaced this, within a context which generates acts
of kindness, friendliness, graciousness and generosity. Those who have
criticised our methods ridicule us at first, then later accept what we
have done as being imaginative and legitimate, and then later, end up by
owning what we do as if it were their own. Our Prayer book recognises the ordination of women as priests, the equal partnership of women and men within the Church, the inclusive nature of language affirming the place of each gender under God, the partnership between Pakeha and Maori, and their right to worship in their own language. Bishop Muru provides an example of some of the prayers by making word for word Maori translations of selected prayers to illustrate the contribution that Maori brings to worship. The actual English translations in the book are an approximation of the Maori language and do not capture exactly the meanings that Bishop Muru provides. This was done, I believe so that Pakeha people would not be offended by the imagery which the Maori language presents. Some Pakeha people would have problems in saying that “Christ is the totara tree in the forest with its wide, welcoming arms of friendship”. The point about this section is that the prayer book provides a genuine response to worship, in the language of the people worshipping, and Maori have had a great contribution in making this happen. The section “Constitutional Arrangements” is an example of what can happen when “friends”, that is Pakeha and Maori work together. Bishop uses the term friends and friendship generously whenever he talks about “Pihopatanga Theology” (Maori Anglican Theology). He continues to use the terms friends and friendship throughout his paper. Calling God, a God of friendship is unacceptable to some people because, according to their view, God has no friends, or that God chooses no friends. However it is a model of God’s relationship with the world in which we are not left to ourselves. It is a model that stresses mutuality, commitment, trust, common vision and interdependence. It denies possession but defies despair. It is a model of hope, of God with us, immanent in the world as our friend, co-worker, in a community of friends called the Church, a gathering of those committed to the vision of a healed and liberated world. Within this context it smells right from a Maori point of view. For those of you who have shared in changing constitutions, you will know how difficult a task that is. Jenny, the presenter of this paper, will be able to share with you some of the difficulties she experienced in educating people to address the Church’s mission statement, “To transform unjust structures.” Maori have accepted the principle, that in initiating new changes, there are three identifiable stages; one we call “ridicule”, the second is “acceptance” and the third is “owning.” It is true that as Pakeha and Maori as friends began to study the scriptures together and apply them to their contexts they began to see new possibilities for a transformed church. Bishop suggests that an Enabler God, a God of Friendship was enabling this transformation to take place. Maori Anglicans are taking this model to the nation to consider as part of its new constitutional arrangements. Bishop is quite right in reminding us that this paper may give the impression that Maori have got things right. The suffering and struggling is over. They are now saved. Bishop’s reminder, that this is impossible, but with God all is possible states the Maori case accurately, and that we must share our suffering and struggling, which includes our achievements with our friends, such as the suffering and struggling people’s of Asia.
I thank you for inviting me to respond to this paper and I assure you
that we look forward to sharing further ideas with you.. Kia ora. cover l editorial l chapter 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l 8 l 9 l 10 l |
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