Pacific leaders accompany Kiingi Tūheitia onto treaty grounds

Pacific leaders are voicing their support for Māori at the Waitangi commemorations.

A Pacific delegation was invited by Kiingi Tūheitia to the treaty grounds, walking together onto Te Whare Runanga Marae.

PMN journalist Atutahi Potaka-Dewes says it was beautiful to hear another language being spoken on the marae.

“We’re almost ready to get ready to go yesterday, because we’d heard the Māori speakers and we’re just filming, and the next thing we hear is fa’a Samoa coming from the pae.

“So we run around and we see Aupito William Sio, the former Minister for Pacific people.”

One in five people with Pacific heritage also have Māori whakapapa. Speaking the Levi Matautia-Morgan on Pacific Mornings, Potaka-Dewes says Aupito’s speech recognised the shared ancestry and challenges.

“He said Māori are under attack now, which means Pacific people will be under attack next.”

Waitaki District Council deputy mayor Hana Halalele was also part of the Pacific delegation, who says walking onto Te Whare Rungana Marae beside the Māori king was "such a humbling, pivotal moment for us as Pacific".

“As Pacific we are Tangata o le Moana (People of the Pacific Ocean), we have strong connections to Māori through our genealogy and our history. So we understand the importance for Māori to uphold their mana motuhake, to stand in unity and kotahitanga.”

Meanwhile, Potaka-Dewes says there is recognition from tangata whenua for the mana held by Pacific cultural leaders.

“Aupito isn’t just no one, these Pacific leaders, like Pakilau Manase Lua standing up and speaking like that, these are matais in their own right from our own Pacific countries as well.

“So I think our rangatira Māori really recognise our rangatira Pacific, and you have to be here physically to understand how much mana is being shared between these rangatira.

“Even though there is so much disconnection, forceful disconnection through colonialism that, through our reo, through mana, through tikanga, we can still find those similarities and those connections together as Pacific people, because Māori are Pacific as well.”

Watch the full interview with Atutahi Potaka-Dewes on Pacific mornings: