Tēnā koutou, he mihi ka tika ki ngā Wāhine Rangatira, ngā Māmā katoa o te motu.
The seasons change and Hinetakurua the winter maiden beckons us with crisp and clear mornings. We hope you and your whānau are together and well.
These times of year invite a pause and a different kind of attention. A slowing. A noticing. In this quiet we can see more clearly the people and influences that shape us, often under the surface of our everyday lives. We reminisce, and what returns to us is not so much instruction, but presence. Not what was said, but what was embodied.
For many of the influence of our Māmā, our mothers and the Wāhine in our whānau. In many places and spaces, they are forces moving across many dimensions. Leadership. Creativity. Resistance. Care. Insight.
Me aro koe ki te hā o Hineahuone.
Pay heed to the dignity of women.
Through this whakataukī we are reminded again of the sacredness of our Māmā and wāhine. Hineahuone, the first woman, formed from the whenua at Kurawaka, from the fabric of Papatūānuku carries the essence and potential of life. Her hā, her breath, speaks to a deeper recognition and the inherent dignity and Rangatiratanga.
We honour that through the love and care we have for our Māmā and the many gifts they give through nourishing and raising us. Not all gifts occur at a single time. Many gifts are passed slowly over time. Ways of thinking, moving and viewing the world. How we hold ourselves and others with integrity. Although subtle these forms of transmission are enduring.
Across generations, wāhine have shaped pathways forward. Sometimes visibly. Sometimes quietly. Often without recognition. Yet their influence remains, carried in the decisions we make, the standards we hold, and the futures we imagine.
There is something grounding in recognising this continuity. At Mākoha, we often return to the whakaaro that gifting is not simply an exchange of objects, but a reflection of relationships. When we consider the wāhine who have shaped us, we are reminded that the most profound gifts are often those that alter how we see, how we act, and how we relate to others. These are gifts that extend beyond a moment. They become part of who we are.
As we move through this time of acknowledging our mothers and the wāhine in our lives, we take a moment to recognise the depth and dignity of what has been passed to us. And in doing so, consider how we might carry this forward, with intention to a generation yet to come.
Kia rangimarie. Ngā manaakitanga,
Nā tātou o Mākoha