Kiingitanga Marae to open next week
King Tuheitia has given all Kiingitanga marae the green light to re-open next Tuesday 16 June, 2020 subject to marae trustees being satisfied that it is safe to do so.
Te Toki a Kiingi Tuheitia, Brad Totorewa says it was Kingi Tawhiao who said I will build my own house from hinau, mahoe and pate,
“Maku ano e hanga toku nei whare. In many ways this statement articulates everything that we stand for at this time and every marae will take the responsibility of opening their own marae and whare when they’re ready, Brad confirmed.
Kiingitanga spokesperson, Rahui Papa says the significance of the date for Tainui is that 16 June, 2020 marks Matariki Day of new beginnings where we look back to the year gone and look towards the New Year ahead.
“Matariki ka titiro ki mua, Matariki ka titiro ki muri,” hei tā Rāhui.
Te Arataura Board Chair and Kaahui Ariki Representative, Rukumoana Schaafhausen praised all of the Kiingitanga marae for taking on the restrictions of mass gatherings during lockdown shouldering the burden of cultural restrictions around tangihanga gatherings no one anticipated.
“I wish to acknowledge all of our marae; you are the heartbeat of the Kiingitanga and we thank you all and we love you” says Rukumoana.
She requested that all marae inform the King’s office once marae trustees decide when their respective marae would officially open.
“We will have an official register that will detail when each marae will open or not as the case maybe but please let us know whether you’ll open immediately because you have health services or later for tangihanga and hura kowhatū only.”
Rukumoana says there will be some marae who will not open because of deferred maintenance due to infrastructural upgrades. However, whatever your decision is she asks all marae email the King’s office at admin@kiingitanga.com so they can register who’s open and who’s not.
Brad Totorewa endorsed the request from Rukumoana saying there are 3 new defined categories the King’s office will use in their register.
“The first is Hīnau for all marae who supply health services and other essential services for Iwi. The second category is Patate for marae who will only open for tangihanga and unveilings and the third is Mahoe. These are our marae who won’t open because they have deferred maintenance issues due to infrastructure upgrades to toilets, septic tanks and drains that effect our health and safety standards on our marae,” he says.
Donna Flavell, CEO for Waikato Tainui confirmed they would be distributing sanitiser packs to all marae who have decided to open.
“The packages have been designed to assist with hygiene on the marae, food handling and food preparation. The pack will also include ablution sanitation, personal hygiene like hand sanitisers and contact tracing information,” Donna says.
She says they are available to offer advice and help marae who are struggling to ensure their marae meet hygiene standards for health and safety regulations.
“Use our 0800 TAINUI number if any of you need help to prepare your marae for opening. There is no pressure to open but let us know and we can help you,” Donna offered.
Rahui announced the Koroneihana this year will be a 2-day event, Day 1 for Mass karakia and Day 2 for the main day.
“This will be a completely different event to commemorate the coronation of King Tuheitia Potatau Te Wherwhero VII but the health and safety of our people is upper most in our minds until we’re free of all restrictions around Covid 19,” Rahui says.
Rahui also confirmed the poukai will resume 8 October, 2020 at Waahi marae.
Waipapa marae closed their gates as part of the collective of 8 coastal marae around the Kāwhia harbour in the Waikato, King Country closing their gates to tribal gatherings as the government ramped up the country’s ALERT status to level 4 at the end of March.
In consultation with their respective governance bodies, marae representatives from Ōkapū, Mōkai kāinga, Waipapa, Maketū, Rākaunui, Marokopa, Āruka and Te Kōraha made a collective stand to stop all coastal marae gatherings including tangihanga during this period.
Acting chair for the Waipapa marae Trust, Hone Edwards says the marae trustees will meet immediately to plan a date for the opening for Waipapa marae and will notify marae beneficiaries as soon as the decision has been planned.
“Our first priority will be to bring in a certified professional to completely sanitise our marae so we’ll have certified proof that the marae was cleaned by an accredited professional in the unfortunate event that someone falls ill with Covid 19 while visiting Waipapa,” he says.
“As the governors responsible for health and safety on the marae, these are extraordinary times that require extraordinary measures to keep our people safe. The health and safety bar is high because we need to manage the risk around Covid 19. We only have to look overseas at the hundreds of thousands of lives this virus has killed to understand the precautionary measures we need to embed to keep our marae safe,” he says.
Hone says all Kiingitanga marae have been approached to ensure we have hygiene plans around managing the preparation of kai, contact tracing for everyone using the marae and extra care when planning sleeping arrangements.
Hone says, “Dr Rawiri Taonui provided all Kiingitanga marae with empirical data this week illustrating countries who enforced the wearing of masks in February and early March such as Taiwan had lower fatality rates than New Zealand and Australia who didn’t enforce the discipline. The outcome was the same for all countries who enforced the wearing of masks in March and early April also.”
Hone added, “I have no doubt wearing masks on our marae is worth considering but as a matter of urgency, we will communicate the earliest date we can assure our beneficiaries that Waipapa will be ready to receive our people and that their health and safety needs on the marae have been addressed.”
Recap:
- Kiingitanga Marae can open from 16 June 2020
- Koroneihana will only be a two day event
- Poukai resume 8 October, 2020 at Waahi Pā
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