Suzanne Williams

When the Ministry for Seniors held a meeting in Whakatāne recently, they requested that it be hosted by the local branch of Grey Power.

A karakia was arranged by the ministry to be given; during this, a man in the hall rudely called out that he did not want to listen and wanted a translation (I am open to correction here as I’m not sure of his exact words, but he was aggressive and nasty). I have since heard the word “racist” applied, not surprisingly.

This sort of thing has happened before, and it got me thinking about the karakia and what it means or should mean for us going forward in our still dual and evolving culture.

This is an issue which has bedevilled Whakatāne for some years (I refer to the complaint, later withdrawn, taken by the late Louis Rapihana to the Race Relations Conciliator over a Grey Power newsletter article by Dr Siva Panadam in 2020).

There is still ill-feeling around the subject, and it needs bringing into the open for debate.

The karakia is defined and understood generally to be “a Māori ritual chant or prayer used to invoke spiritual guidance, protection and blessings for various aspects of life and endeavour”.

As such, it should be a force for good, not division.

But (a big but) te reo is still not universally spoken or understood.

What is happening on these occasions is an entreaty to God being made on behalf of the gathering, which is usually of mixed race and not all te reo speakers. Is this fair?

I, as an old Pākehā unable to learn Māori, feel I deserve the courtesy of an immediate English translation.

To do otherwise could certainly be called “racist”, could it not?

I know many others feel this way.

There is also a number of non-Christians who, for differing reasons, do not wish to have a karakia at all.

Unfortunately for them, perhaps, our country is still nominally a Christian one and they may just have to block their ears and grin and bear it.