E ngā tupuna, ngā kaikawe o te taonga tuku iho ki te reanga o ināianei. Ko koutou ngā kaitiaki o te āhuatanga, te hōhonutanga, te ātaahuatanga o tōu tātou nei taonga o te toi. Nā ēnei tautoko tēnei kaupapa i whakaputa. Ānei, ko tēnei te kaupapa o Mākoha.
Today we are doing a soft launch of Mākoha, a māori gifting pakihi with the purpose of bringing the beauty of Toi Māori to the special moments of gifting between friends and whānau.
As the website goes live today I wanted to share some reflections of how Mākoha came to be, what it represents to me and some of my hopes for Mākoha.
I’ve been working on Mākoha for almost a year now, but the influences, experiences and people that inform Mākoha have been around for far longer.
I went to a Wānanga this year at my Marae Takapūwāhia, we were really fortunate to have a Tohunga Kai from Tuhoe come and teach us some mātauranga around māori Kai and connecting to our Ngahere. At the end of the wānanga our Iwi gave a mihi to him and gave some special beautiful taonga specifically made for him and his team, that connected his mahi to our whenua. After that we sang and performed Ka Mate for him.
He stopped us after that to return those acknowledgements.
He walked back and retrieved a kōhatu stone in a kete. This stone was from Maungapōhatu the maunga of Tuhoe and he had carried it with him for some time. He gifted it to us talking about the significance and identity that that kōhatu carried. That gift was very emotional for us.
I was struck also by the gifting of a kauae parāoa me ngā niho, the gifting of a whale jaw bone and teeth from the Iwi of Te Tai Ihu to Te Arikinui Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō. This gift, originally intended for her grandmother Te Atairangikaahu, then her father Tūheitia. It is amazing to me to see the carrying of that intent over three generations.
There is also a line in the famous waiata Kei Wareware i a Tātou’ from last Matatini by te Kapa o Te Kuru Marutea, also of Te Tai Ihu. ‘Tukua mai ō ringa mākoha, Hikina te taimaha hārukiruki’ that must have landed in my mind around that time.
I am grateful to have Rangi Kipa supporting this first launch as our Ringatoi Tuatahi. Rangi’s accomplishments and the beauty of this Toi speaks for itself. I’d worked as a co-design project manager on some amazing buildings working with Rangi.
The particular gift I want to acknowledge here, is after I left that role I remember getting a text from him, something the along the lines of
‘Thanks for your mahi, you need to go and learn your reo’
… and then I went and started because of that. There are many reasons why I wanted to learn the reo at that time, but I think that message was what actually started it. E mihi ana au ki a koe. It feels really right for me to be doing this first with Rangi.
Over these experiences of working with our Māori artists, designers and architects has taught me the depth and power of Toi to carry emotional, complex, heavy and joyous whakaaro.
I’ve seen time and time again how a Taonga given with intention, care, and understanding can still a room.
Mākoha is grown from these experiences. When done with deep thought and intention, with time, care, honesty, connection, love the giving of Taonga can change relationships, histories and communities. I hope that this is something Mākoha can support.
I’ve sat with Mākoha for a while now, wondering, questioning, adjusting, remembering, imagining. I’ve enjoyed Mākoha coming together slowly. Now as Hine Raumati arrives, and we return to our whānau and friends it feels right to share Mākoha.
Nui aku mihi ki a koutou. Nau mai, haere mai, hoki mai ki Mākoha.
Nāku noa iti, nā Matt