Being Māori and Indian in a time of political division.

[00:00:00]How would you describe yourself?

[00:00:02]>> Um a proud Ngāti Whakaue um but also on my dad's whakapapa I'm I'm proudly Indian as well and and there are so many of us in in a a a bit of a term Mandy is out there there are so many of us who are Māori Indian uh within Rotorua Ngāti Ranginui and Tūhoe rānei and Whakaue they uh Ngāti Tūwharetoa so proud of both my whakapapa cuz whakapapa is enough.

[00:00:26]>> Mhm.

[00:00:27]So we have things like Destiny Church which had its base in Rotorua there. And there's been some really hurtful rhetoric that's come out of there. So how do you help kids deal with that?

[00:00:40]>> Oh not only our kids and it's having brave conversations and it's um things like Uncle Wallace Hawaiki now our whānau at Waitakere I have Ngāti Ranginui that that is the official marae where our Sikh community throughout the country it's because two of our large families of of Ngāti Ranginui are the Kahans in the Sikhs. So and having wānanga with our Sikh community who come down for national events at our marae in the beginning of the year we've just celebrated the release of 100 years of Punjabi within New Zealand so there was a movie there and my cousin Tony was in that movie with a with a full mustache order and and very proud a product of both his Māori whakapapa and his Sikh whakapapa as well.

[00:01:22]>> Karak how how involved are Māori and Indian communities?

[00:01:26]>> Uh when I landed in this country uh I had to learn I must say uh it's every migrant's responsibility when they migrate to any country they must know that culture and my relationship with Māoris is very strong.

[00:01:42]>> Mhm.

[00:01:43]>> Uh we had a hui in the Sikh temple in Takanini Sikh temple um not long ago. So our whānau from Ngongotahā came in a buses and we had a nice kōrero get to know each other uh prayed with each other in the Sikh temple had a kai together. So, we go back to 1909 when our first Indian Sikh family got married into the Maori culture and Bassi family. They were there the grandkids were there.

[00:02:11]>> What do Maori and Indian have in common Rawiri?

[00:02:14]>> Oh, I think we've just >> Apart from marrying each other, is something there?

[00:02:18]>> Well, I I think too. I think we are very strong about whanau. We like to work the land and and I think when our our whanau from the the Punjab province and and um throughout India came to Aotearoa they worked the land and they worked the land side by side by by our kuia and our koroua and our our tupuna there. So, it's it's a big love of family. It's a big love of enjoyment, singing, and sharing food, and and religion.

[00:02:45]>> I go a bit further as well. I think our main values is we also believe in air, land, and our waters. And that's the main uh uh uh principles principles of Maori as well that we give a value to those three things which is given to us by nature.

[00:03:00]We must protect. And then our uh culture, Maori culture, is the same.

[00:03:05]And we share kai together. We sit on the same on the floors. Everybody's equal.

[00:03:11]And we believe in serving. And that's the key really I feel.

[00:03:14]>> How aware Rawiri do you believe Indian communities are of Te Tiriti and its meaning?

[00:03:21]>> I actually think um our our Indian um community are are are curious and want to know. They acknowledge that that Maori are the tangata whenua too. So, um whether it's intimate knowledge or not I I think that they actually want to um know more about Te Tiriti. So, um some especially in Rotorua and the predominant Maori um population there I I think within [snorts] our schools our our tamariki Indian who come there very much have a a knowledge and understanding that they want to know about totality, which is really really um yeah, great.

[00:03:57]>> I am just never going to agree with a sort of butter chicken tsunami.

[00:04:03]>> Butter chicken tsunami, the haka, which Dr. Jessica Hutchinson's really kicked back about. How do we deal with that?

[00:04:11]>> I thought it was really big of Shayk to actually come out and and going to go, "No, I was actually kicked here. I was wrong. Let's have a conversation about this too." Because again for us as Māori poppa is everything. And so when we talk about a butter chicken tsunami or a haka against Indian, we actually talking about our mokopuna as well.

[00:04:30]>> So, having a butter chicken, I think it's a number one dish in the New Zealand at this moment. If I can If I can answer that. I'm sure he enjoys it too without naming the person. So, so what I believe in is it's no point in election time coming and throwing this kind of rhetoric and dividing the country just for what, right? For to be in power?

[00:04:50]>> The politicians need to be careful about that when a little bit of message gets out there and then all all of a sudden we have to work double hard to get back to where we were before. So, you go into the power to work for the community and for the country and that's what the message is out there. Let's not divide, let's unite.

[00:05:09]>> Just out of curiosity though, Woody, how come there are so many Mondays down in Rotorua? What was that about?

[00:05:14]>> Now that it's 1909, 100 years of of a male farmer from the Punjab province and others coming there. Again, um it was the primary industries what attracted them. And again, I look now at aunties and that that we've got third, fourth generation mokos and nannies and aunties who have poppa Indian in them as well. And and and again, that leads into I think the importance of this um visit by Prime Minister Modi in the Indian free trade agreement. There are so many um positives for for us as Māori what we're going to get out of the free trade agreement as well.

[00:05:50]Yeah.

[00:05:50]>> FTA, we always favored FTA. It always helps as long as it's done in a nicer manner. Make sure it's everybody understands what we are signing. And as our leader honorable Chris Hipkins said, Labour is always for FTAs.

[00:06:04]>> Kia ora. Thank you for coming in today, Kiri. All the best with your campaign.

[00:06:09]>> Thank you.

[00:06:09]>> And Kia ora, Ardern. Go back there and all the best for the rest of the rugby season.