Issue 72 - editorial

Changing of the guard

Tena ano tatou

The one constant in our lives is change, and in this our 72nd issue of Mana we bear witness to two major changes in the Pacific. Within weeks of each other Kuini Te Atairangikaahu died after a long illness and so too did King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV from Tonga. As you will see their paths crossed often in the four decades they each served their people.

In Dame Te Ata’s case, the media seemed to suddenly discover the Kingitanga, Maoritanga and tangihanga.

In excess of 100 000 people trooped to Turangawaewae to pay their respects to ‘The Lady’ over the six-day mourning period; hundreds of thousands of others watched the six-hour telecast of the funeral by TV One through its network, Maori Television, the Pacific nations, Australia, Europe and on the internet.

I was privileged to be one of the broadcasters invited to host the telecast, probably the biggest audience I have ever talked to in my 39-year career. In the weeks since then I have been stopped in the street by complete strangers wanting to talk about what they learnt that day, and what it meant for them as ‘New Zealanders’.

Mana’s reflective coverage of the tangi features a selection of exclusive images from the veteran Maori photographer John Miller.

But despite the great loss, life does go on. Elsewhere in this issue we deal with two environmental issues affecting Maori and our future; the fall-out from a timber operation in Whakatane, which has national implications, and the pollution of the Manawatu River.

Fishing is one of my great passions which I seldom get to do, but from this issue we will have a regular column from Bill Hohepa with fishing tips and yarns; and we hear about some young Maori who are working to ensure that in the years ahead there will still be fish to catch.

It’s been 10 years now since we did a survey of our readership and we think one is overdue. So in the next two issues we are asking you to fill in a readership survey form to help us get a handle on who you are and what you get up to so that we can interact with you better in future. We’ve put together a package for a weekend for two in Rotorua and some good kai and company as an incentive for you to fill in the form.

So please help us out and go into the draw too. We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we did putting it together for you.