Turangawaewae; 'a place to stand' Is a deep empowerment from the land Learnt through ancestral connection Strengthened through ahi ka; 'keeping the fires burning' Well, my ancestral stories ain't so impressive There were few battles Though my granddad worked for the air force in world war two - As an accountant We didn't encounter the gods or try to bring down the sun Though when my Grandma arrived here she built up the soil Soul of the Earth For 70 years As the city sprang up around her And my mother aged 11 played follow the leader with a goat in the next door construction site Where her house is now My uncle found an old mans false teeth in a cup Climbing through an abandoned house My aunt visited James K Baxter's Jerusalem She wasn't a fan of his poetry But his wisdom spoke to her My other aunts jumped through the neighbours trees Who threatened to shoot them My father followed my mother here After her O.E with my sister in the oven He ******* about John Key as much as anyone And praises this land; it is home.
I stood on a windy cliff surrounded by pohutukawa and learnt the whisper of the sea Roughing it on an island I tried determinedly to turn into a pukeko I got my first cut, bruise, scrape from this land My first breath, poem, touch of a violin, my first kiss was here I know the rough patches, the fringe scene, where the best soil is (It's at my grams house) I know how to spot a drug house, which cafes will let us jam, where the open mics are 5 days of the week. I know Kirikiriroa.
My fires have been burning And I have a right to stand I have learnt through my own evolution Through Janet Frame's railroad country Through a history Cities growing and spreading They weren't just here As it has always seemed to me.
The countryside, what was here before? Landscapes of forest and mountain Familiar yet unknown to me.
When I go away I will know the difference When I return I will know this land The depth recognized through contrast Defined by difference As the sun and moon complement Light and dark Sorrow and joy And, As in yin and yang I will know nothing is completely separate.
When I go away I will know So fully And I will return and say:
This is my place to stand My turangawaewae My Aotearoa
Turangawaewae means 'a place to stand' in Maori. This is often linked to the marae as the foundation and is about inner strength and confidence to stand as well as an external right to stand. It has links to rights to a space which are kept through ahi ka 'keeping the fires burning' - tending to your land, looking after it, utilising it. If the fires are not kept burning for three consecutive generations the right to the land is extinguished. A right to land can be claimed through ancestral connection to the area, by reciting the stories of your people. I don't really have those, I'm mostly English. But it is also about a deep connection to land, and being empowered by this. My connection to this land is undeniable. My right to stand is connected to this. I feel grounded in a culture I've only partially been touched by, my roots are so deep in this soil and intertwined with theirs. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/papatuanuku-the-land/page-5