Ko Marama Fox tēnei, i ngā tau e toru, kua tū ia hei mema paremata. E rite ana te Pāremata ki ngā hui Komiti Marae, ka kaha wero mai ngā tāngata kia kaha koe ki te āwhina i te iwi, kia piki ake ngā rauemi. He tangata kaha ki te kōrero, e whakapono ana ia kia whakaatu i ana kaupapa kātoa. Mehemea e pai ana tō kāinga, ka eke koe ki ngā taumata teitei.
E ngākaunui ana ahau ki tō mātou kura, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa. I haere kātoa aku tamariki ki tēnei kura, ko au tētehi o ngā kaiako. I mua ko Masterton East School te kura, engari i whakahokia mai e MOE.
I te tīmatanga, he ako manga reo Māori. Ko te nuinga o ngā rangatahi, ka mahi i te Kapa Haka. E rua ki muri, i tū au ki tō rātou taha.
He papakāinga, ko Te Poho o Tūtawake, kua 180 ngā tau o tēnei papakāinga. Nō te whānau Reiri, Hamuera Reiri. I whakawhiti a tūtawake i te awa o Ruamāhanga kia tīkina i tāna tuāhine a Tauraharakeke.
Ka noho aku tamariki kātoa ki tō māua whare. Rua tekau ngā tāngata. Kāore taku moenga, ka moe au ki te taha o ōku tamāhine, māua ko tōku tāne. Toko ono aku mokopuna hoki. Kua pakaru taku waka, kāore he wāhi kia whakairi i aku kākahu, he wāhi mō aku taputapu nō Pōneke hoki.
Ko Hurunui-o-Rangi Marae, ki Gladstone. I ngā rā o mua ko Tapitapi te ingoa. I tupu mai tō mātou whānau i reira. I au e tamariki ana i huanuku mātou ki Ōtautahi i whiwhi mahi tō mātou māmā ki reira mō MOE. I haere au ki ngā kura i reira. I tūtaki au i taku hoa rangatira ki tētehi whare kuti hipi. I haria ia e au ki tē rama tuna, mō tō māua haerenga tuatahi. Ka moe māua, i a māua kia iwa ngā tamariki, e waru ngā mokopuna.
I te matenga o tōku koroua, i mōhio au, i ngaro katoatia nei i ō mātou pakiwaitara, hītori o tō mātou takiwā. Kāore ngā tāngata i kōrero Māori, kāore ngā tamariki, kāore hoki te reanga o tōku māmā. I kaha ake taku māramatanga ki roto i te kōhanga reo me te Kura Kaupapa. I ngaro ō mātou kōrero, i te mea i ngaro tō mātou reo.
Pāpāwai Marae, Greytown. Ko Hikurangi te ingoa o te wharenui, ko Te Waipounamu te ingoa o te wharekai.
Ko tēnei te Pāremata Māori. Ko Waiomatatini, Te Taitokerau, Te Taihauāuru, kua huihui kātoa mai nei.
Mehemea ka hono i ngā Mātauranga Māori me te Mātauranga Pākeha ka pūawai te tangata. Ka whai kotahitanga i runga i te whenua.
Kei te hiahia ahau kia hanga i ngā whare kaha rawa, ngā whare i runga i ngā whenua Māori. Me hanga tuatahi i tētehi pākihi, ka taea te kimi he mahi, mō te iwi. Ki te hoki mai rātou ki te whenua, me whakarite mahi mō tō rātou whānau.
Hawkes Bay Regional Prison. Te Whare Tirohanga Māori. He Hōtaka kia ako ngā tāne ki tō rātou tikanga, kawa.
He hiahia nōku kia tū rangatira o tātou iwi, rāpua he tūrangawaewae, he tū pakipaki mō rātou.
Māku anō e hanga i tōku nei whare, ko ngā pou o roto, he māhoe, he pātatē, ko te tāhuhu he hīnau.
Me whakatupu ki te hua o te rengarenga me whakapakari ki te hua o te kawariki. Nā Kīngi Tāwhiao.
Marama Fox (Ngāti Kahungunu / Ngāti Porou)
Winston Peters once spoke of me, saying “Marama Fox stands with her mouth open, letting the wind flap her tongue around”.
Marama Fox Consultancy Group provide regional consultancy services for building housing initiatives.
Over the last three years I have been an MP for our country’s government. Parliament is a lot like a marae trust meeting, with people who constantly challenge you to help our people and find ways to build up resources. I consider myself to be outspoken, and believe it is important to express yourself. As long as everything at home is alright, you can achieve anything in this world.
I have a great love for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Wairarapa, all my children went to school here and I was their teacher. It used to be Masterton East School, but was returned by the Ministry of Education. It began as a Te Reo Māori immersion class for the mainstream school, but that was only the beginning. Many of the students are part of the kapa haka group, I performed with them at the Takitimu Regional competition 2 years ago.
This generation has surpassed me, but it is our duty to pave a way for them. My role is to pave a way for them to succeed.
This homestead if called Te Poho o Tutawake, it is around 180 years old. It is not an ancestral house, but the home to the Reiri family, Hamuera Reiri. It refers to Tutawake crossing he Ruamahanga river to retrieve his sister Tauraharakeke. A saying that relates to that event is “You can unravel the threads of a strand, but the bond of man or whakapapa can never be broken”. Werahita lived in this homestead, known as Te Weu.
I Don’t have a problem with my work in politics, the problems are at home. All my children are living with me at home, I have 20 people living with me in my house. I don’t have a bed, I am sleeping with my two younger daughters and my husband. All the rooms in my house are full. My Granchildren are also with me, there are 6 of them. There are 20 of them at my house, they have ruined my car. I don’t have a closet and have nowhere to put my things from Wellington.
Hurunui-o-Rangi Marae. Gladstone. It used to be called Tapitapi, so called because it was constructed from whatever resources were available. All our family grew up here. When I was a child, my Mother transferred to Christchurch to work for the Ministry of Education. It was there I attended school and met her husband at the shearing sheds, He took me eeling on our first date. Eventually we were married and had 9 children and 8 grandchildren, family always comes first.
When my Grandfather died, I knew that our stories and history of our region had been lost. No one spoke Māori, not our children or my Mother’s generation. As my understanding of our cultural knowledge within Kōhanga reo and Kura Kaupapa grew, I began to realise the fight my ancestor went through for our land and the sadness they experienced. Our stories here in the Wairarapa were lost because our language was lost.
Papawai Marae, Greytown. The meeting house is called Hikurangi and the dining hall is Te Waipounamu. This is where the Māori Parliament stood. Waiomatatini, Te Taitokerau, Te Taihauauru, they all gathered here. What I admire most about this place is that our ancestor came together to facilitate and manage their own laws and aspirations through strategic alliances. It is now our responsibility to see it through and to ascertain the sovereignty that rightfully belongs to us.
The gift our ancestors have given us lies within our language. Our language is the vessel though which our history values and autonomy gives us the integrity to be proud of who we are. This is a birth right passed on to us from our ancestors. If you bring both Māori and Pākehā worlds together, we will thrive as one nation.
We want to build strong economical homes that are down to earth, technologically friendly houses. We must first establish businesses that will provide employment for our people, if they come home to the land they need jobs to provide for their families and children. Māori land within this country that isn’t be utilized should be seen as an opportunity for Māori to be developed. Look at establishing companies incorporated under regional tribes and sub tribes to create lasting opportunities to provide a good lifestyle on our own land.
Hawkes Bay Regional Prison. Te Whare Tirohanga Māori is a national reinstitution programme. It is sad to see these men learning about their culture within the prison system. Here they have the opportunity to learn about our traditions that our ancestors upheld, and within that knowledge find the strength to stand on their own.
It is money and capitalism that is driving this economy, and I want our people to have their own standing place. To have a home of their own that will provide shelter.
King Tawhiao once said “I Myself shall build my house. The Ridgepole will be of hinau and the supporting posts of mahoe and patete. Raise the people with the fruit of the rengarenga. Strengthen them with fruits of the kawariki.”