The voices of whānau Māori abused by State and faith-based institutions the focus of next month’s Royal Commission hearing.  

Tō muri te pō roa, tērā a Pokopoko Whiti-te-rā – hope and healing for survivors of abuse in care, after years of darkness.

Ko ngā reo o ngā whānau Māori i tūkinotia rā i raro i ngā taurimatanga a te Karauna me ngā wāhi whakapono te aronga matua hai te nohoanga a te Kōmihana ā-Karauna ā te marama e tū mai nei.

Tō muri te pō roa, tērā a Pokopoko Whiti-te-rā – he tūmanako, he whakamahu anō hoki mō ngā purapura ora i ngā tūkinotanga i te wā o te noho taurima, i muri i te noho roa ki te pōuri.

Hai te 7 ki te 18 o ngā rā o Māehe, tū ai te Uiui a te Kōmihana ā-Karauna Tūkinotanga Noho Taurimatanga, ā, ki reira, rangona ai ngā reo o ngā purapura ora Māori i tūkinotia rā i te wā o te noho taurima i raro i te Karauna me ngā wāhi whakapono.

Ka tae mai ngā purapura ora Māori puta noa i te motu me ō rātau whānau ki te tuari i ō rātau wheako tūkinotanga i raro i ngā taurimatanga i te wā e tamariki ana, e whakaraerae ana rānei rātau, tae noa ki ngā pānga mai o aua tūkinotanga ki a rātau me ō rātau whānau e haere tonu nei, ā, e pā kino tonu nei.

Ka rongo hoki i ngā taunakitanga mai a ngā purapura ora rangatahi me ngā whakareanga e hia nei o ngā whānau, ngā purapura ora Māori me ngā kaiāwhina ka whakatakoto i ō rātau moemoeā mō te panonitanga o te pūnaha taurimatanga mō te Māori.

Ka whakatewhatewhatia e te nohoanga te āhua o te tūkinotia o te Māori i raro i ngā taurimatanga e tika ana kia manaaki kē i a rātau. Ko aua tūkinotanga rā, he mea ā-tinana, ā-pāwhera, ā-hinengaro, ā-kaikiri anō hoki. I kaha nei te whiua kinotia o ngā turi Māori, hauā Māori, takatāpui Māori, tae noa ki ngā iwi o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

Ka whakapaoho inamatahia te uiui

E tika ana kia tū te uiui ki te marae o Ōrākei i Tāmaki Makaurau. Heoi, nā ngā herenga o te Anga COVID-19, kua whakatauhia e te Kōmihana ā-Karauna me Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei me kaua te uiui e tuwhera ki te tūmatanui.

Ka hono ngā kaiwhakaatu mā te ataata ki te whakatakoto i ā rātau kōrero, ā, ka whakapaoho inamatahia te hui mā te pae tukutuku o te Kōmihana ā-Karauna.

“Ka nui tō mātau pōuri i te korenga o te hui e kanohi ki te kanohi, heoi ko te mea matua kia mātāmua ko te hauora, te haumaru me te taunga mauri o ngā kaiwhakaatu me ngā purapura ora inā te piki haere nei o ngā kēhi COVID-19 i te hapori,” tā Kaikōmihana Julia Steenson.

“Ahakoa ēnei wero, me tū tonu te uiui. Me whakarongo a Aotearoa katoa ki ngā kōrero ka whakatakotoria e ēnei kaiwhakaatu māia, kia mārama ai tātau ki ngā pānga o te tūkinotanga o te Māori i ngā taurimatanga, me te whakarongo anō hoki ki ō rātau whakaaro e pā ana ki te panonitanga.”

Kua whakaingoatia nei te uiui e Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei

He mea takoha mai e Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei te ingoa o te uiui “Tō muri te pō roa, tērā a Pokopoko Whiti-te-rā”. E hāngai nei tēnei ingoa ki ngā tūmanako, me te whakamahu anō hoki mō ngā purapura ora i ngā tūkinotanga i te wā o te noho taurima, i muri i te noho roa ki te pōuri.

He wāhanga tēnei uiui nō te whakatewhatewhatanga Māori whānui a te Kōmihana ā-Karauna

He wāhanga kotahi te uiui nō te whakatewhatewhatanga Māori whānui a te Kōmihana ā-Karauna, ko ētahi wāhanga ōna ko te kōrero ki ngā rau purapura ora Māori, ki ō rātau whānau, ki ngā mātanga Māori, me te rangahau, tātari anō hoki i te kaupapa here.

Ka haere tonu te hui a ngā purapura ora ki te Kōmihana ā-Karauna hai te roanga ake o 2022. Ka riro mā ō rātau wheako e āwhina te Kōmihana ā-Karauna i te taha ki ngā pūrongo taupua, tae noa ki te pūrongo whakamutunga ka tāpaetia hai te Hune o 2023. Hai te hauwhā tuatahi o 2023 ka puta te pūrongo taupua tuatahi mō ngā wheako me ngā pānga ki te Māori i tūkinotia ai i raro i ngā taurimatanga.

E akiaki tonu nei te Kōmihana ā-Karauna i ngā purapura ora Māori kia whakapā mai, ā, kia rēhita mai ki te Kōmihana ā-Karauna.

Mō te uiui

Ko tā te Uiui a te Kōmihana ā-Karauna Tūkinotanga Noho Taurimatanga, he whakatewhatewha i te tūkinotanga tamariki, rangatahi, pakeke whakaraerae anō hoki i raro i ngā taurimatanga ā-Karauna, ā-wāhi whakapono i Aotearoa i waenganui i ngā tau 1950-1999.

Ka whaihua tonu hoki te rongo i ngā wheako o ngā purapura ora kua noho ki ngā taurimatanga i muri mai i te tau 1999 hai whakamutu i ēnei tūkinotanga ā muri ake nei.

Hai te Hune o 2023 puta ai te pūrongo whakamutunga a te Kōmihana ā-Karauna.

The voices of Māori survivors who were abused while they were in the care of State and faith-based institutions will be heard at the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry Māori hearing from 7-18 March.

Māori survivors and their whānau from throughout the motu will share their lived experiences of being abused in care while they were tamariki or vulnerable adults, and the ongoing impacts the tūkino, or abuse, has on them and their whānau.

We will hear evidence from rangatahi survivors and multiple generations of whānau, and Māori survivors and advocates will provide their vision of what a transformed care system should look like for Māori.

The hearing will explore how Māori in care were abused by the institutions meant to protect them. This included physical, sexual, psychological and racist abuse. Māori who were Deaf, disabled, LGBTQIA+ or of Pasifika descent were disproportionately affected.

Hearing will be livestreamed

The hearing was planned to be held at Ōrākei marae in Tāmaki Makaurau. However, due to COVID-19 Protection Framework restrictions, the Royal Commission and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei have decided the hearing cannot be open to the general public.

Witnesses will provide evidence remotely by video link and the hearing will be livestreamed publicly on the Royal Commission website.

 “We deeply regret the hearing cannot be held kanohi ki te kanohi, but our priority is to ensure the health, safety and peace of mind of witnesses and other survivors in the face of the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the community,” says Commissioner Julia Steenson.

“Despite these challenges, the hearing must go ahead. All of Aotearoa New Zealand needs to listen to the evidence of these courageous witnesses, so that we understand the impacts of the abuse of Māori in care and hear their ideas for change.”

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has named the hearing

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has gifted the hearing the name “Tō muri te pō roa, tērā a Pokopoko Whiti-te-rā”. It refers to hope and healing for survivors of abuse in care, after years of darkness.

Hearing a part of Royal Commission’s wider Māori investigation

This hearing is one part of the Royal Commission’s wider Māori investigation, which includes kōrero with hundreds of Māori survivors and their whānau and Māori experts, and research and policy analysis.

Survivors will continue to meet with the Royal Commission through 2022. Their experiences will continue to inform all the Royal Commission’s interim reports, including the final report to be delivered in June 2023. An interim report into the experiences and impacts of Māori who were abused in care will be delivered in the first quarter of 2023.

The Royal Commission continues to encourage all Māori survivors to reach out and register with the Royal Commission.

ENDS

You can find out more on our Māori public hearings page here: https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/our-inquiries/maori-experience-of-abuse-in-care/maori-public-hearing