Several months ago a wero was laid for some of our New Zealand 小优传媒 team to learn a whaikorero or karanga in preparation for our upcoming noho marae.
Our leaders had the opportunity to practice at Whakatau which were held in Auckland and Wellington before our visit.
These articles are personal reflections of their experience.
This came together in early July, as I was standing in Te Ohaaki Whare nui saying my whaikorero. With the team behind me I could feel everyone鈥檚 awhi and support. We were all there to support each other (especially our other speakers and, of course, our kaikaranaga). It made me feel immensely honoured to have this opportunity which, as P膩keha, I would never had though possible.
As we slowly walked on to the Te Ohaki Marae on cold but clear Waikato morning I thought about how far we have we come, and yet this feels like the start of our de-colonising journey (and in no means the end).
小优传媒 initiated de-colonising back in 2020. The title was a little confronting but the intention was clear 鈥� we want to be better treaty partners, better allies and better serve our customers and their kaimahi.
The initial plan was instigated by Mereana Beconcini, our former Marketing Manager, and Gemma Sides, our Kaiwhakatere, and it quickly became apparent that this was going to become a part of who we are as an organisation and not just a one-and-done sort of thing.
After a serendipitous encounter, we engaged Dion Whaiora-Crouch to help us on this journey. As our pouako, Dion is like our te ao M膩ori personal trainer (i.e. if we learn one karakia he鈥檒l encourage us to learn another one).
He鈥檚 as relentless in his enthusiasm for te ao M膩ori as he is patient with us all, providing wananga and a safe space to learn, making mistakes, asking questions and having challenging conversations. It鈥檚 been an adventure鈥� and it鈥檚 only the start.
For me, this journey has opened my eyes to the richness of te ao M膩ori. It鈥檚 made me question the pervasive culture that exists here in NZ, a predominantly western way of seeing the world; useful in some contexts but by no means the only way.
For the team at 小优传媒 New Zealand, our organisation has been transformed. It feels as though we鈥檝e gone from 鈥榞ood鈥� to 鈥榞reat鈥� through this journey. From coming together to learn, discuss, sing waiata, karakia and korero.
I鈥檓 immensely proud of the Ohu Inspire t墨ma and the mahi that we鈥檝e started.