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TE PUTATARA
A Newsletter
for The Maori Alliance
P.O.Box 408, Wellington, New Zealand
ISSN 0114-2097 - Issue No. 02/89 20 February 1989
"Ki te whai te mana Maori motuhake i runga i te kotahitanga me te tino rangatiratanga i roto i Te Tiriti o Waitangi."
Ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tena koe.
Ki te kaupapa o Te Kotahitanga Maori, tena koe.
E nga iwi o te motu, e nga hau e wha,
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
As you can see from the ISSN number on the masthead, Te Putatara gets more and more infamous as time goes by. I promise you we did not apply to be registered with the National Library but they tracked us down, gave us a number, and then ordered us to make sure we gave them four free copies every month. The cheek of them! That's tikanga Pakeha for you.
The pamphlet they sent us says that "numbers are assigned selectively to new serials appearing in New Zealand National Bibliography. Preference is given to material of scientific, historic, commercial or cultural importance." Te Putatara must be of scientific importance, eh.
Unfortunately the rest of you, who haven't got a law to force me to give you free copies, will have to pay. Sorry about that, but all last year we gave away copies to thousands of our readers, and now the money has run out. It cost a small fortune but it was worth it as we had a lot of fun getting the venture going and bringing you news and information.
And so we have now mounted a marketing campaign to sell Te Putatara for $45 for 12 issues.
We hope that all of you who have been telling us how much you enjoy reading Te Putatara will now support us by paying a subscription.
So far the response has been good and the interesting thing is that most of our financial subscribers are Pakeha. E hoa ma, I thought I was writing a newsletter for Maoridom, and all along I had my market all mixed up. Perhaps I had better change my tune and write a few pro-Winston Peters pieces! What's the world coming to?
In this issue both Sun Tzu and the Dungeon Bar are back. There is also more on networking, the strategy for a Maori victory, and there is an article on con-men and con-women. These people have always been around Maoridom but we will be seeing more and more of them as more money and resources become available to Iwi Authorities. We need to spread the word to watch out for them.
Kia ora,
Ross Himona.
Wellington Watch
A Round-up of Capital Events
A Minder for the Man
Te kumara vine reports that Bert Mackie is now working for/with the Minister for Maori Affairs. Fairly low profile too.
Ministry of Maori Affairs
Apparently Hone Clarke is working out of the State Services Commission and has been seen visiting the Prime Minister's Department once or twice. Senior staff at the ailing Department of Maori Affair are wondering why he doesn't visit them too.
Late last year staff were told that about 100 of them would be employed in the new Ministry. Now it seems that only 40 to 60 will be needed. Treasury and the SSC will be playing their games to keep it as low as possible. It's a pity there's no-one in there to play their games right back at them on behalf of Maoridom.
Te Dear Old Department
Where shall we start? There is so much to tell.
Well, Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungunu are OK because Whai Dewes has been put in charge of the Department's new Iwi Transition Agency Unit and Ann Carter is in there too. The rest of you iwi had better hurry up and get your people into Tamati's new iwi takeover bid!
The kumara vine whispers that another exciting new project has been launched by Gay Stringer (Eru Manuera's right hand lady). This one is a finishing school for young Maori ladies and it will operate off any marae which would like to have a finishing school for young Maori ladies. Any volunteers to pick it up under Maori ACCESS or MANA Enterprises? Do you think it might qualify as a Project of National Significance?
Speaking of MANA, I hear that even though new staff have been appointed the Deloitte Haskins & Sells consultant is still working there. No wonder MANA Enterprises has had such a high expenditure on administration this year. It must have all gone on consultants fees.
Up in Seventh Heaven where Tamati and his faithful angels work things are not very happy. They seem to be so unhappy that they're just sitting around doing nothing. Would you believe that at least three of them up there applied for the top job in the new Ministry (and there's at least one other failed applicant in the building). Never mind chaps. Try again next time. See the Dungeon Dispatches for more about the 7th Floor.
Eddie McLeod, well known community officer of Tamaki Makaurau, has been given a 9 months suspended sentence for his altercation with Hiwi Tauroa last year. Does this mean that he will continue to serve in Maori Affairs? You might have been better off inside Eddie.
Te Minita
This month the poor old Minister got into strife in Parliament yet again for signing things his Department drafted and put in front of him. Mind you, Winston's attack was a pretty weak effort as usual but it did cause some embarrassment. The kumara vine reports that the document that got him into trouble didn't even get checked out by the Head Office people in charge of Housing. Sounds like some one-upmanship (or drop-you-in-the-poomanship) going on at senior levels in the Department.
On the subject of drafting documents for the Minister to sign. In our beloved Department they are very careful about what they sign themselves, and if there is anything which might get them into trouble they con the Minister into signing it. This has been the cause of much of the embarrassment the Minister has suffered over the last few years.
The other curious thing about the troubles the Minister has had is the fact that Winston Peters has never had the instinct to finish his man off. Now, it could be that somehow Koro and Winston are whanaunga and they're keeping it a secret. Or it could be that they are really close comrades-in-arms and are playing out some master strategy for the benefit of Maoridom. So masterly that it is misleading all of us. Perhaps Koro is deliberately allowing Winston to score points off him so that Winston can look good and become the next National Prime Minister.
On the other hand, maybe Winston is afraid that if Koro is not around he'll have no-one to poke a stick at. He might get creamed if he takes on the big boys and girls in Cabinet.
Prime Minister Pokes Treasury
Predictably, the Treasury opposed a proposal for women to get equal pay for work of equal value on the grounds that it would not be good for the economy.
The Right Honourable Mr David R.Lange stated that Treasury would have been opposed to the abolition of slavery. He's right. Treasury IS opposed to the full recognition of the Treaty.
1990 Publicity
The publicity blurb put out by the 1990 Commission says "1990 is the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The founding document for our nation."
It is signed by Paul Reeves, David Lange, Te Atairangikaahu, AND Jim Bolger.
Now translate that statement into National Party policy Mr Bolger.
Immigration
Business leaders have recently called for 100,000 new immigrants each year to give the economy a boost. Standard trick when the Maori population looks like getting out of hand. Swamp us with settlers again.
However we could offer to go along with them as long as white South Africans are banned, and as long as the immigrants can whakapapa to Maui!
Teacher Selection
When Her Majesty's Loyal Parliamentary Opposition found out that teachers colleges have to take in a minimum percentage of Maori trainees they predictably went on about racist policies. Mr Bill Birch claimed that the only criteria should be the ability to teach, regardless of race. He hit it right on the head. It takes a Maori to teach a Maori, properly.
The amusing thing is that at Wellington the Maori intake far exceeds the minimum quota, and they all get there on merit.
Keep Watch for a New Book
Eva Rickard is to publish all the hate mail she has received, including the names of the writers. Good one#
Networking: Te Kupenga a Te Huki
(Te Huki's Net)
Te Huki, a celebrated tipuna of Te Wairoa district of Ngati Kahungunu, descended in an unblemished line (ure-pukaka) from Kahungunu, and his greatest and most celebrated achievement was to create unity through networking.
With diplomacy, foresight, and dedication, he created a network by intermarrying himself, his sons and his daughters into many hapu covering a wide area. This became known as "the setting of the net of Te Huki." It is the ancient way of networking.
In his youth Te Huki lived in the Mohaka area. He was not a warrior and like his sister Te Rauhina (wife of Tapuwae), was more interested in peace and aroha. Te Huki set about his virtuous task by marrying the daughters of influential rangatira. His first wife was Te Rangi-tohumare, granddaughter of Te Whatu-i-apiti, eponymous ancestor of the Ngati Whatu-i-apiti of Heretaunga. Next he married Te Ropuhina, a rangatira of Nuhaka, and finally Rewanga who was the daughter of Te Aringa-i-waho, rangatira of Titirangi at Gisborne.
In order to maintain his network Te Huki did not take his wives to his home or settle permanently himself. Instead he attended his wives by visiting each in turn, and thus maintained his network over the then vast area from Turanganui to Heretaunga.
With Te Rangi-tohumare their first son was Purua-aute who settled in the Wairoa district and married Te Mata-kainga-ite-tihi, who was the daughter of Tapuwae. Purua-aute became the centre float of the spreading net of Te Huki, and from Purua-aute descended many of the rangatira of Te Wairoa and Heretaunga.
The second son of Te Huki and Te Rangi-tohumare was Mataitai who was placed at Mahia and from whom descended Ihaka Whaanga and others.
The next was a daughter, Hine-raru, whom Te Huki took to Porangahau to marry Hopara. From this union came the grandson Ngarangi-whakaupoko who became at Te Poroporo near Porangahau the post at the southern end of Te Huki's net. From the southern post sprang many rangatira, among them the Tipene Matua, Henare Te Atua, the Ropiha and Te Kuru.
With Te Ropuhina at Nuhaka Te Huki had three sons. They were Te Rakato who lived at Mahia and became the eponymous ancestor of the hapu Ngai Te Rakato, Tureia who lived at Nuhaka, and Te Rehu also of Nuhaka and who became the eponymous ancestor of Ngai Te Rehu.
At Turanganui, Te Huki and Rewanga had a daughter named Te Umu-papa who married Marukawiti, son of Kanohi. From this union came Ngawhaka-tatare who was the eastern post of Te Huki's Net. From Ngawhaka-tatare descended the famous rangatira Te Kani-a-takirau, and others.
Te Kupenga-a-Te Huki is a network which to this day serves to unite the people.
Te Huki personally created his network over three generations. This must surely have been his life's work. Today with modern technology, communications and transport we are able to build upon and reinforce the ancient networks. It is so much easier, yet so often neglected#
Con Men (and Women)
Over the last two years or so, I have built up quite a large file on Maori con-men and con-women, particularly the ones who operate only in Maoridom. One would think that Maoridom would eventually sort them all out but instead they seem to be getter bolder and more numerous.
These people are slick. Quite often they have just returned from overseas where they claim to have built thriving businesses, and to have an impressive number of high level business contacts. Most cons claim to have "business links" in Australia or the United States (usually Hawaii or Los Angeles). However Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Singapore are also quite common.
They will pass themselves off as marketing consultants, business consultants, investment advisors, and tourism operators, among other things.
How do they work?
Firstly, they look and sound impressive. They dress well, travel in flash cars (often rentals) and by air, stay in good hotels, and generally create an impression of affluence. They talk about high level business deals (often in the millions), about all the high-flying businessmen they know and are involved with, and about the businesses they themselves own. Sometimes the con-men really are professional men, such as lawyers. Education helps make educated con-men (and women).
Secondly and a dead give-away, they butter you up and tell you what a competent person you are and how your skills are desperately needed in Maoridom. They will go on about Maoridom's need for skilled management and business expertise, and will tell you what you and they can do about it. They make you feel good about yourself.
Thirdly, they always say that now that they have made it in the big wide business world they want to share their skills and talents with "the People".
Fourthly, they tell you how they can help you become successful like them, and how they can help you to help "the People" - with your money of course. Sometimes they will put up some of the capital required for your joint venture business deal or "investment", but you can be sure that you are going to provide most of it.
Quite often the business deal we become involved in is very complicated and takes a knowledge of high finance to fully understand. When the con explains it to us in high finance language we pretend to understand because if we don't, we will have to admit that we're not as smart as the con-man has told us we are.
Finally, after you have put up your part of the deal "unforeseen factors", or "market forces", or your own "lack of commitment", or "government interference", or "iwi authority interference" will cause the deal to fall through and you will lose your money.
It happens every time.
Usually the con is kept quiet. Sometimes people are conned by their own whanaunga and are reluctant to take any further action. Most often those who have lost their money feel so whakama that they keep quiet about it anyway. Sometimes they are threatened by heavies and told to keep their mouths shut, and sometimes they are threatened with legal action. Regardless of how they do it, the cons try to keep their exploits quiet, so they can move on and fleece someone else, or another trust or marae.
The really good con will leave you feeling that the fault was neither yours nor theirs, and looking forward to their next deal which will help you both to recover your money. They don't tell you that they already have your money, and they're setting you up to lose some more to them.
After you have been done over they move on. Sometimes they go back overseas to plan their next foray into New Zealand.
There is no need to be whakama if you have been taken by a con. Even the Department of Maori Affairs gets taken by them. More often than they admit. I reckon they have even hired con-men from time to time!
The way to stop these people is not to keep quiet, but to expose them for what they are. And if you are threatened go to the police. That sorts them out fast because con-men cannot afford to have the eye of the police on them. They need to survive to con another mark.
The real message is not to get caught in the first place. If anyone approaches you to help you with your management, or to help you with your business, or to help you get richer, CHECK THEM OUT. Even if they are your whanaunga.
Check out their claims and their stories. If someone claims to be a friend of Bob Jones or Hugh Fletcher ring up Jones or Fletcher and ask them for a reference. It only costs a toll call and could save you thousands. Do a credit check on them. Many iwi authorities do business with firms who carry out credit checks, and they might get a check done for you. If not, go to your accountant, lawyer or banker and ask them to do a check for you.
Through these people you can check up on anyone who wants to do business with you, even on their overseas connections. The cost of checking could save your money and your mana.
Do the credit check first, before you enter into any commitment with your money and someone else's expertise#
Tales from Tikitiki
Now it's my turn to try to con someone.
Do you remember a few weeks ago the article on an outstanding gentleman cyclist from Rangitukia; the one who is an award winning actor, a master orator, narrator, and raconteur, a pillar of Tikitiki society, and a dutiful son to his mother? Yes that one. The Rangitukia post of Te Kupenga-a-Te Huki, the brilliant and famous Mr Wi Kuki Kaa.
Well, the taonga he won for being the best actor in the world is now at its final resting place in the bar of the Tikitiki Gentlemen's Club, where you may view it whenever you wish, provided the pub's not closed.
Now, it is rumoured on the kumara vine that Wi Kuki is seriously thinking of becoming a correspondent for Te Putatara. Someone in the know commented that this could be a ploy to get a free copy, now that everyone has to pay to read Te Putatara, but I don't think so because Wi Kuki has already generously told his sister that he is going to pay for her subscription#
Some of my Best Friends are Pakeha
Although we launch many attacks on the majority culture, or the power culture, and on the injustices of the Pakeha system, it would be wrong to assume that Te Putatara is anti-Pakeha. After all my mother's family is Pakeha from Scotland, Wales, England, Cornwall, and Ireland; and very prolific multipliers and networkers they are too.
In the course of publicising The Maori Alliance and marketing Te Putatara, I have come across an enormous amount of support from the Pakeha community, particularly from those who have fairly close contact with our people and have seen for themselves the injustices that there are. These supporters are not necessarily in positions of power but with enough of them the balance will tip our way.
Some mainly Pakeha groups are very good at networking and spreading influence and opinions slowly and quietly, but surely. A very good example is the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) who recently decided to support the move to recognise the Treaty of Waitangi.
Some of my favourite Pakeha are those friends who move on the dinner party circuit and pick up all the racist after dinner chatter, then report it back chapter and verse. It would amaze you to hear what some of our "moderate" and "liberal" politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen really think about we Maori, and what they say when they are safely in friendly Pakeha company.
The after-dinner thoughts of public service Chief Executive Officers have been regularly reported to us.
The trouble for these Pakeha is that they think a white face is always a friendly face. A Pakeha in dinner garb is an excellent cover for a spy for Maoridom.
Senior public servants and politicians are waking up to the fact that if they want to conceal their dirty dealings from Maoridom they have to make sure that Maori public servants are kept out of the way while the plotting is going on. Maori public servants very quickly become disloyal public servants when they discover the dastardly plans being hatched by their bosses.
I have more than once been accused of building a Maori spy network in the public service but the Maori spy network is not my doing, for it has been built by over a thousand years of networking.
However the joke is on them because many of our best informants are Pakeha!
They would freak right out if they knew how many Pakeha public servants are married to Maori, or have good Maori friends, and are quiet but strong supporters of the Maori cause. They would freak if they knew just how many Pakeha informants Maoridom has got planted in high places; and in places where information is stored or transmitted.
It is quite amazing what secrets senior male politicians and bureaucrats confide to their pretty, young, white, female staff!
So the moral for the Pakeha is this: If you have a secret that you want to keep from Maoridom - don't tell a Pakeha.
Some of my best friends are Pakeha#
And Some of my Best Friends are not Pakeha
Last year when Sir Robert Muldoon rudely called Tipene O'Regan a cunning part-Maori he did not know it, but he put his finger on one of the most potent weapons we have in all the iwi to use against him, and others of his persuasion.
I like to call this weapon the Ngai Tahu Factor.
It is not well known, but in the public service there are heaps of Maori of paler complexion, with names like O'Regan and White, and who are staunch warriors for their iwi. There is nothing so devastating as being stopped short by a blonde, blue-eyed young Ngai Tahu woman and fiercely berated about the loyalty of those, who through no fault of their own, are not as dark as those from sunnier regions.
Of course they are not all Ngai Tahu. All iwi have these people. And they should be used, both overtly and covertly.
There are quite a few people in very senior places who know that they are Maori but do not know their whakapapa. Consequently they do not declare their Maoriness and live as Pakeha. However, quite often when their whanau has tracked them down and claimed them, they wholeheartedly return to the fold and use their position, power and status for the benefit of their iwi. In the last year some of these have appeared in the Senior Executive Service, the elite of the new state sector.
They are most effective when they don't declare their true identities but continue to let their bosses think they are Pakeha. A loyal Maori who looks like a Pakeha is a far better spy than a Pakeha.
At the junior levels both the public and private sectors rely on clerks, typists, telephonists and secretaries to get the work done. This level can be infiltrated very quickly by our rangatahi, both those who look Maori and more effectively by those who don't. Their work may sometimes be boring but, if they are there on behalf of their iwi as information collectors, they will never be bored.
A least one iwi has begun a programme to infiltrate local government using fair skinned Maori to fool both voters and local bodies into taking their agents on board. Local Government has far more resources than Iwi Authorities and none of them are used specifically for Maori people. The Waitemata City Council had $6 million dollars to spare and gave it away by investing it in Equitycorp!
This is a brilliant concept, for Iwi Authorities must target all resources which are available in their rohe, not just those which come direct from Government.
These are just a few of the ways the iwi can use their cunning part-Pakeha people to help in the war of stealth against inequity and injustice. When they pull off a victory, no matter how large or small, the victory is sweet, for there is nothing so sweet as using your opponent's own ignorance to defeat himself. A head-on victory is satisfying but there are usually casualties on both sides. A victory through stealth is sweet and the only casualty is the defeated.
So there, with apologies to Ngai Tahu, you have the Ngai Tahu Factor; or in other words:
"Some of my best friends are not Pakeha at all."#
Sun Tzu: Weak Points and Strong
Sun Tzu, the master strategist, said:
"Whoever is the first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle, will arrive exhausted.
Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.
Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.
An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.
You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defence if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.
Hence that general that is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defence whose opponent does not know what to attack.
O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.
You may advance and be absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy's weak points; you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.
If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.
If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.
Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.
Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.
Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
In making tactical dispositions the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.
How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics - that is what the multitude cannot comprehend."
So sayeth Sun Tzu #
Dispatches from Alberts
(formerly The Dungeon Bar)
Welcome back. Don't look now but that dude in the corner, the one with the hat pulled down over his eyes, he's a member of the MAIA. That's the Maori Affairs Intelligence Agency. It works out of a broom cupboard on the 7th floor of Massey House. Of course he looks dumb. They're trained to look dumb up there.
In June your intrepid plotter reported that the Dungeon had been renovated; in November that it had been renamed "Alberts". The kumara vine has just discovered the real strategy. They read Sun Tzu!
Head Office of Te Department has been in league with the owners of the pub all along. The plan is firstly to ban me from the Maori Affairs building, then to rename the 7th Floor "The Dungeon". This will trick all our Head Office whanaunga into going upstairs instead of downstairs when they feel like a beer. All they then have to do is keep me off the premises to keep their secrets safe!
The flaw in the system is that my chief spy already works on the 7th Floor in a very senior position. Wouldn't it surprise you all if it turned out to be Tamati himself? What a master stroke! Too fantastic for words you say? Well I have to tell you that there is a strong rumour around that Tamati has been seen coming out of a broom cupboard once or twice in the last month.
Now if you think I'm porangi, take a walk up there. Sneak along to the Deputy Secretary's offices and then you will see that I'm right. If they're not in the broom cupboard you'll find them at a Cabinet Meeting - in the cocktail cabinet. The Dungeon has already moved upstairs#
Jake and the Fat Man
Heaps of people have accosted me in the street, and in Maori Affairs when I have been trying to sneak around on a secret mission, trying to find out who Jake and his mate really are. These two are staunch members of the Dungeon Society, and can be seen quite often propping up a table in the bar.
It's very difficult to decide which is which because they both answer to the name of Jake, except when it's Jake's turn to buy. Then they don't answer at all. With all this confusion I quite often forget what names their mothers called them. I bet they'd like to forget some of the names their mothers called them too!
So, as I'm totally confused over their identities I can't tell you who Jake and the Fat Man are. Sorry about that.
However I can tell you that John Paki is not the Fat Man, and I can also tell you that Rana Waitai is not the Fat Man. I hope I haven't confused you too.
Well, now that the Dungeon is shifting upstairs to Seventh Heaven perhaps Eru Manuera and Neville Baker will be vying to be called Jake.
Te Putatara is published by Te Aute Publications, P.O.Box 408, Wellington, New Zealand. It is available on payment of a subscription, and is free to all members of The Maori Alliance.
Subscriptions to Te Putatara are available from Te Aute Publications. $45 for 12 issues.
Copyright: Ross Himona, Wellington.