Arotakenga: Tūnui/Comet nā Robert Sullivan

Ko te ihiihi ko te matarau, e ora ana i ngā taipitopito, ngā taonga korōniana, ngā mea whakarauora Māori, ngā whiti apakura mō te tapu me ngā wāhi tapu, ngā rerenga whakahirihiri mō te haepapa ahurea, tōrangapū hoki, ko Tūnui/Comet tā Robert Sullivan kohinga toikupu tuatahi i ngā tau tekau kua huri nei, ā, he whakaputanga mutunga mai o te whakahirahira hoki.

I konei, he rārangi waiata ā Sullivan toikupu, e kapi mai ana i roto ko ōna whakapapa, hei kehua, hei wairua, hei tūpuna hoki, ā, ka hōkai tahi atu ki a ia ānō nei he hīkoi hīanga, he hīkoi whenua i te tokerau ki te tonga, pou whenua ki pouwhenua, nō tētahi tūnui ka whiti i te rangi anō kua ara anō te poropiti o te rautau tekau-mā-iwa, ko Papahurihia, tētahi o ō Sullivan tūpuna. E rere ana i ngā 'surges' o tā Tāmaki Great North Road ki Oamaru, e kīia ana ko te 'Steampunk Capital,’ ka kapi i āna toikupu te Aotearoa o onamata me te inamata hoki, ā, ka whakakotahihia mai ki tētahi horanga wā: “I took the bloody hook/ and said my business to the ocean...” (Māui's Mission) ... “Smile in your cars and honk honk honk/ on the Great North Road” (Hello Great North Road). 

He kohinga tēnei ka hua mai i ngā tikanga me ngā pūkenga o te whaikōrero Māori, otirā ia, i te mōhio whānui hoki ki ngā tikanga o te toikupu reo Pākehā. He nui ngā toikupu ka whakaara ake i ngā tikanga ukiuki, ngā whakahaerenga, ngā karakia me ngā tohinga, manohi anō, he tohu whakamaumahara a The Declaration of Independence, ki a Moana Jackson, e kī ana ko te hainatanga tuatahitanga i 'Te Tiriti' he “an assertion of mana...with our nose moko as signatures.” 

He nui ngā tūhonohonotanga o te pukapuka ki ngā tikanga toikupu o Aotearoa, heoi anō, ko tērā e mārakerake ana te kitea ko ngā whakamānawatanga ki ngā kaitoikupu pēnei i a Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Keri Hulme me Hone Tuwhare, arā, ko ēnei whakaaranga tūpuna toikupu ehara i te mihi noa,  engari kē ia he whakaūnga o te piringa, o te hononga: “I'd been down at Moeraki attempting to see the same/ midges and kelp as Keri Hulme...” (Decolonising the Coastline).

Arahina ai ā Robert Sullivan toikupu e te mahi tohu, e ngā whetū hoki, hei whakaihiihi, hei whakaaweawe i a tātou. 

I te toikupu Decolonization Wiki Entries, ka tākina e te kaitoikupu ōna kauheke Pākehā hei wāhanga o te kōrero Whakatuanui, ā, kia whanake ana te toikupu, ka ruku ki te kimi meka ānō nei e keria ana te whenua. Arā, i te toikupu whakamoemoeā, i Ruapekapeka, ka huraina ngā “bunkers and trenches ... buried knives.” Ko tā tēnei toikupu he whakamauru i ngā mamae korōniana me te tūtohinga kia whakaahuatia anō he 'poupou’ he 'putiputi’ rānei. Ko ētahi atu toikupu ka ruku ki te whai wāhitanga o te Paipera ki te whakaekenga, arā, me ētahi whakaaro whanokē mō tā te kaitoi whakatau i ōna anō whakaaro ki tāna whakaputanga hei hua o te pāhua, ā, me te ‘whakangungua’ ōna ki tā te Katorika, tā te Karaitiana rānei kaiāroto, kia tinana ai te huatau “he will be ready to learn about the Treaty.”

Ko ngā momo toikupu pēnei he tohu i te hītori o Aotearoa, me te mōhio anō he mahi me whakatikatika noa atu i ngā matatini rīraparapa o te onamata e hua mai ana ki te tirohanga tangata.  I te toikupu Ah, kāore e whakaitihia a Kāpene Kuki hei kaiwhakaeke mohoao, engari kē ia, hei tangata i waiho mai ai tētahi hītori e kī ana ki ētahi taonga hei āwhina i a tātou, i te whenua e pupuri tonu nei i tōna rangatiratanga: “The beaches/ lined the coasts/ as they always had...”. Ka pēnei a Kāpene Kuki i tētahi tupua, he āhuatanga e waweruka atu nei tēnei kaitoi, i kitea rā i āna kohinga toikupu o mua. He tohu ia, a Kuki, o te tupuna ka hahua ānō nei he tokahuke tongarerewa, pērā i roto i a Cooking with Gas, i Reading List rānei: “I never wrote about his childhood before.”

Kei tā Sullivan toikupu, Old Government House, ka kitea he whare whai take te whare o Tāmaki nei. He hanganga hei tohu i te puretumu pēnei i te whakapakoko Christo: "I want to wrap Old Government House in pages of the Treaty ... in lavalavas ... in fine feather cloaks ... in tartans.”

Mā te whakaingoa, te tapa, me te whakaahua i te ao ki tērā atu reo matua o Aotearoa e kitea ai ngā tukitukinga, ngā tohetohe, engari ki a Sullivan he huarahi tēnei e kitea ai he rongoā, he maurutanga ki ngā tukinga ā-ahurea mā te mana o āna toikupu. I tāna toikupu, Te Whitianga a Kupe, ka whakanuia ngā momo 'waka’ huhua, ā, ka whakamahi a ia i te toi o roto i te tārai i ngā waka nei ki te whakamiramira i te mana me te motuhenga. Ānō nei ko ngā mata huhua o tā te kaitoi whakaahua i te 'waka' e tukituki kau ana ki ngā tai o te whakaaotanga whakaekenga whenua, ā, ka whakatōkia anō ki te onamata pōhewahewa kātahi ka whakaorangia mai anō, ka kōkiri atu anō ki te taki o tētahi mōteatea. Arahina ai ā Robert Sullivan toikupu e te mahi wairua, e ngā whetū, hei whakaihiihi, hei whakaaweawe i a tātou.

I arotakea e David Eggleton

nā Ruth Smith (Ngāti Kōhuru, Te Aitanga-ā-Mahaki) i whakamāori