Issue 69 - editorial

It's time for a change.

Tena ano tatou

The first Mana magazine was published in January 1993. If you have Mana number one you’ll know that the cover has three images on it. There’s Whina Cooper looking very regal if not a little grumpy. There’s Johnny Timu in his All Black strip swerving past someone. And there are some kohanga kids from Rotorua leaning on a fence. One of those kids is my youngest child, Mahina.

Thirteen years on Dame Whina has been resting for many years at Pangaru, Johnny Timu has traded in his rugby strip for a carpenter’s apron and is now a builder. And Mahina will be 17 this year and is in her last year at high school.

So a lot has happened in the last 13 years. There have been many changes – most of which we’ve written about. We’ve told a lot of Maori stories, and we’re now up to issue 69 with its striking cover image of the taurapa and tauihu of the Wananga o Aotearoa waka, Aotearoa One.

One thing that hasn’t changed in 13 years has been the price of Mana. But in order to keep our waka on track we now need to increase our cover price. From our next issue, Mana 70, we will be lifting the cover price to $6.70. We hope you’ll understand. For our loyal supporters who have stuck with us all these years and those who want to stay with us in the future, we are offering a concession; we will continue to hold the subscription price at its present level. So if you’re a casual buyer there is a real incentive to subscribe.

In this issue we acknowledge Dame Te Ata, who will celebrate 40 years as head of the Kingitanga in May. We’ve got two waka stories with great shots from the world waka ama sprints held in Karapiro and my report of a night voyage on the Aotearoa One. We meet the man who’s at the helm of Te Wananga o Aotearoa and talk about the new course it is steering without Rongo Wetere. There’s a report on a group which encourages rangatahi into further education. And we have stories about people like Nick Roskruge, Alice Spittle and Stephanie Awheto who all left school without qualifications and have gone on to excel in their respective fields.

We’re confident you’ll find plenty of good reading in Mana 69. Kia piki te ora kia koutou katoa.

Editor