01 August 2010
Film maker looks for lost heritage
18 August 2006
By Amanda Snow: Te Waha Nui Online
Maori men with no knowledge of traditional tikanga will be the focus of a new documentary destined for Maori Television.
Far North veteran actor and producer of The Lost Tribe Pete Smith talks about his new doco and his personal experiences.
A generation of Maori men unable to assume traditional roles on their marae is the theme of a documentary by veteran actor and producer Pete Smith.
The Lost Tribe, which will be made in the Far North for Maori Television, explores issues surrounding men in their mid 30s to mid 60s who were discouraged from speaking te reo because they were told it would not get them a job.
Now, they are unable to perform Maori roles, traditionally expected of their age group, such as speaking on the taumata, the formal welcoming of visitors, and initiating debate in te reo.
The lack of experience in this age group has put increasing pressure on an already diminishing pool of kaumatua who have few people to pass their responsibilities down to.
Based on his own experiences as a limited speaker of te reo, Smith says some men feel dissatisfaction, nervousness, and trauma when asked to carry out traditional duties on the marae.
“There’s nothing like leading from the front and not being equipped. If you haven’t got the language or the tikanga you don’t go there.”
He says many men experience huge feelings of loss because they are unable to assume roles as speakers on the marae and leaders of their whanau.
Smith was approached by his iwi to ask a family if their deceased father, a distant relative of Smith’s, could lie in state on his marae.
“There was no-one else available to do it and I had no idea of the procedures to follow. I thought I could just sidle up to his wife and ask her.”
But Smith was greeted by a large group of kaumatua who were there to defend the body from such requests.
“I couldn’t put in place the reason I was there in a way they would understand,” he says.
Despite a nervous start, Smith got permission to have the body at his marae for an hour: “That was the biggest coup, as far as I know I was the only one whose request had been successful.”
But Smith says the diminishing involvement of middle-aged Maori men on the marae has meant very young men, who have learned te reo, are performing roles traditionally reserved for their older counterparts.
At 29, Shaun Stevenson says he is often called upon to undertake formalities on the marae in te reo, but at times feels uncomfortable performing the role of a kaumatua when he hasn’t really “moved through the ranks”.
“It’s a privilege and an honour but it’s tough because you are learning in the baptism of fire.”
“I’m the youngest of all my brothers but am called upon to speak before them because I can speak te reo. It’s sad, but it’s a sign of the times.”
The young principal of Ahipara School in Northland says he was raised to never speak before his elders.
Ngaphuhi kaumatua and former Labour MP Dr Bruce Gregory, who is in his late 60s, is also regularly called upon to perform formalities on the marae.
“A lot of the younger generation are coming in to fulfil that role, it just means we have to shift the definition of kaumatua down to a young age group. We’re now getting them down to their 30s, which means to some extent the experience is not there.”
Dr Gregory says the “lost generation’s” diminishing involvement has sparked a myriad of social problems.
“I think it made some people a bit angry and depressed. They blamed the system or blamed their parents and it all had an affect on the smoothness of the family.”
But he says that despite the lack of te reo many still maintained a strong connection with their marae and their hapu.
Dr Gregory also points out that it is never too late to shine, to learn the language and to participate in the marae.
“I think Maori mature later in life than their European counterparts. So I wouldn’t dismiss all the 40-year-olds because they are not assuming formal roles on the marae.”
