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Category Archives: Ngati Whatua

EZRA HōRI MAKES HIS DEBUT

Ezra Robert Graham Hōri makes his debut on Horiwood.Com today.

He is pictured here with his mum, Crystal Rachel.

He is a miracle baby, lucky to be alive. This is my grand-nephew’s own story – he will tell himself one day.

His name dates back to 5th Century B.C to a scribe, poet, leader whose name means “helper” in a time where New Zealand is being rebuilt. Ezra’s namesake and kinsman, Robert Graham was the first Superintendent and a Magistrate of Auckland City. He was the first person to promote Auckland and Coromandel tourism to the world on a regular basis. As a model Kiwi citizen of early times, Robert Graham was trilingual and spoke English, Celtic and Te Reo Rangatira (the Maori language) fluently.

Ezra shares the same kinsman of Sir Douglas Graham, Kennedy Graham and families. Sir Douglas is an instrumental figure in New Zealand’s ongoing history, ensuring retribution and justice for Maori people under The Treaty of Waitangi’s settlement process. The ToW is the agreement that Queen Victoria signed with Maori Chiefs when the UK was included into the Aotearoa New Zealand family of nations. Years later Maori would marry into the royal family of Britain too.

Ezra is also named after his great grand-dad Graham – a man of faith, who is a legend in his own right. His father is John.

Aw! I love him. He is a beautiful child. His spirit is so strong yet peaceful. He is of Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua descent – two Maori tribes. As a babe, this little guy is old New Zealand. At the same age, he resembles his cousin Jordan.

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Aotearoa New Zealand, Asia-Pacific. 20.4.11

 

SIR PETER BUCK, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIR APIRANA NGATA FOR MAORIDOM’S BRIGHT STARS DESTINY VIA HOLLYWOOD TODAY

On birthing a new generation reflecting the best intertwining of the greats: Ka pu te ruha ka hao te rangatahi. The old net is cast aside, but where is the new net?–Te Rangihiroa, or, Sir Peter Buck, Man of Two Worlds.

On unity in tikanga: A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.–Abraham Lincoln.

On mobility of the people, housing and health care towards life: “A canoe may be repaired; a house may be fashioned by hand; a man whom death claims, can never be restored to life by human hands.”–Sir Apirana Ngata in Te Ao Hou, quoting Canon Paora Te Muera, on the death of Princess Te Puea Hererangi, quoting King Tawhio when refusing Governor Browne‘s shark-like request to reconsider the government’s request for a major portion of the lands of the Tainui tribe.

On unity in tikanga – part II: A house divided against itself cannot stand.–Abraham Lincoln

On girding yourself in the transparent qualities of the *aute – or, be Chinese friendly – demonstrating good cultural matchTe pai o Hauraki, he aute te awhea. The peace of Hauraki, undisturbed by the slightest breath (of trouble). He rongo whakamau, me he aute te awhea. An enduring peace, as the aute undisturbed. Te aute te whawheaHe manu aute e taea te whakahoro. A paper mulberry kite can be made to fly fast. Haeremai ki Hauraki, te aute te awhea. Come hither to Hauraki, where the prepared aute bark cannot be blown away. (i.e., where the people cannot be dispersed by the storms of war.)–Sir Peter Buck quoting Colenso and George Graham and the sayings of the Chiefs of the Hokianga and the Otakanini Pa of Southern Kaipara, Helensville.–Journal of the Polynesian Society.

*note - “After this they showed us a great rarity, six plants of what they called aouto (aute), from whence they make cloth like that of Otaheiti. The plant proved exactly the same, as the name is the same, Morus papyrifera, Linn (the paper mulberry) The same plant is used by the Chinese to make paper.

On being gardeners of good and better things: All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind. –Abraham Lincoln

On Education with traditional Maori and nonMaori worldviews taught: “E tipu e rea, mo nga ra o tou ao, ko to ringa ki nga rakau a te Pakeha hei ara mo to tinana: ko to ngakau ki nga taonga a o tipuna Maori hei tikitiki mo to mahuna: ko to wairua ki te Atua nana nei nga mea katoa – Grow up, little one, in the way of your day and age, your hands grasping the tools of the Pakeha for your physical well-being, remembering in your heart the works of your ancestors which are worthy of being worn as a diadem upon your brow; your soul ever turned toward God, Who is the creator of all things.’”–Child educator Chris Whaanga quoting Sir Apirana Ngata as quoted via Spasifika Magazine.

On courage to create new pathways: As our case is new, we must think and act anew.–Abraham Lincoln


Sir Peter Buck authored the works known as his principal scientific monographs that were: The Evolution of Maori Clothing, 1926; The Material Culture of the Cook Islands, 1927; Samoan Material Culture, 1930; Ethnology of Tongareva, 1932; Ethnology of Manakiki and Rakahanga, 1932; Mangaian Society, 1934; Ethnology of Mangareva, 1934; Arts and Crafts of the Cook Islands, 1944;Introduction to Polynesian Anthropology, 1945; Material Culture of Kapingamarangi, 1950; Arts and Crafts of Hawaii, 1957. In addition, he published for the general reader a survey of Polynesian life entitled Vikings of the Sunrise, 1938; an account of Polynesian religion, Anthropology and Religion, 1939; and his final thoughts on Maori life published under the title of The Coming of the Maori, 1949.

Let’s go Kiwis of Aotearoa New Zealand in the World! :)

~Top photograph – Sir Peter Buck. Destiny’s Child’s Hollywood star, Walk of Fame as photographed by Horiwood. Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 2.17.11 for Ngai Tahu, Ngai Tuhoe tikanga purposes and Maori children’s bright Kiwi future in the World. For Metiria Turei, Shane Jones, Hekia ParataTau Henare, Joseph Hawke, Metiria Turei of Orakei, Kelvin DavisPaula Bennet,  and Tukuroirangi Morgan of Tainui, Tariana Turia, Sir Pita Sharples et al. Maori Whale’s Tale Key as Kiwi Oscar nominated Pop Art Motif via Hollywood. In memory of Sir Hugh Kawharu~

 

MISSION BAY BEACHES NEWS – ORAKEI – MAORI BATTLE REPRESENTATION ON CITY COUNCIL IN AUCKLAND THE SUPERCITY

Maori board heads to court as Auckland City Council marginalize Maori representation in budget

If you’re Maori or Maori friendly – send some heat Auckland City’s way as Maori people are ‘forced’ to go to court just to argue the obvious. The only people winning in this news story are lawyers. Not that I’m adverse to lawyers families being fed too, but come on guys and girls! Because it’s a no brainer case, from the outset.

If Maori people are being barred from adequate representation in a city that is proudly the biggest Polynesian City in the World – then something is really sick, about the City’s mayor, who appears not to be feeling the value, of what Maori people give to the nation of New Zealand, other than… land, beaches and other stuff to pinch from Maori culture.

In this argument of the court case (below) – are the issues – a) fair b) racist c) polarizing public opinion by marginization of Maori people for attention, yet again or d) do we not even care?

My next question is – when will Auckland City have a Maori or Polynesian Mayor? It will be interesting to see what the people of Auckland think of that. Whatever, they decide collectively – may that happen for the future direction of the largest Polynesian City in the World.

About the Mission Bay Beaches news story headline of this blog post – that headline comes from the 1980′s when Maori were literally wrenched off their land overlooking Mission Bay, by the armed forces of New Zealand, while their land was stolen at Bastion Point. Their struggle breached human rights and yet came to epitomize in many ways how Maori have been treated. That era of politics was under the Muldoon era of political governance. Least we forget.

NEWS STORY FOLLOWS IN FULL - The Maori Statutory Board is going to the High Court today to challenge a decision by the Auckland Council last night to slash its budget.

Councillors voted narrowly to cut its budget for the rest of the financial year from $2,066,000 to $950,000 and from $3,435,500 to an indicative $1.9 million in the 2011-2012 draft annual plan, which is up for consultation. Read the rest of this entry »

 

HORIWOOD FOR NGATI TOA’S PATRICIA GRACE – HOLLYWOOD, POST-GRAMMYS 2011


In Potiki
you taught US
that paua
from our ancestors
is in our
eyes
for the seeing.
We see
Oceans 
of humanity in need
of US
rising up
to free
new tides
of new voices.
Ebbing from 
the ancient paths
bringing forth
known yet unknown
new spirit 
ideas 
of change.
Across waters
of great Grace. 
~Mauri 'Ola.

[Photograph via The Arts Foundation]

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 2.14.11~

 

BUNNY TEETH, BEE STUNG LIPS, TATTOOED SEXY HOLLYWOOD DENIM BILLBOARDS AND HAVING THE MOST AMAZING FAMILY EVER -2.9.11

I have a confession to make, I am perhaps the most compassionless sibling out of all the kids in my family. Most of my siblings live in Aotearoa-New Zealand. One lives in Australia.

Today I looked at this Billboard. It was way too sexy for Middle-America (joking) yet in Hollywood it strangely wasn’t. I look at these two models clinched in a sexy embrace. Her bunny teeth flanked by pumped up bee stung lips with his tattoo ink carving a Young Hollywood picture against blue California skies next to a palm tree.

This is the first billboard you’ll see when you leave my front door. Just a little bit sexy, no?

After photographing this picture of the Hollywood skyline, I get a coffee and enjoy the morning sun. I begin to think family and ‘family projects.’ I am thankful that I have such an amazing family I would love to do ‘family projects’ with.

They are sexy in different ways I think sitting opposite this billboard in warm, California winter’s sunlight, as I ponder my amazing siblings life messages to date. They cling onto things that are perhaps a little bit more important than image, like family, Read the rest of this entry »

 

TAYLOR JANE DAVIS SAYS KIA ORA – VIA HOLLYWOOD – 2.3.11

Teen Taylor Jane Davis of the Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua Maori tribes says “Kia Ora” from Aotearoa New Zealand. Or “hello.”

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 2.3.11~

 

HOLA AMERICA – PUT YO AFROS UP! 1-16-11

MC Glass The Tramp of East Los Angeles with Horiwood of Aotearoa-New Zealand has a message for America The Beautiful today.

It is – “Put yo’ afros up!

Word! Let’s go America!!! The morning after The Golden Globes - Los Angeles knows what day this is today. This is a day, like no other day and we celebrate this significant and momentus day, even more than we celebrate the Golden Globes or any awards show.

[Motifs - White gold and silver chains on purple cotton. And Chinese cream silk with tassels on MBX black velvet military tuxedo jacket, on Angeleno, black cotton tee. Standing on Abbey Stone - West Hollywood.]

On this day we sing of crossing the Jordan. We sing of deliverance from Egypt. We sing of Civil Rights. We sing of Liberty. We sing of restoration of a nation’s dignity and humanity. We sing of equality. We sing of goodness overcoming greed. We sing of the power of truth in oratory breaking piercing the bonds of slavery. We sing of hatred’s blindness falling off like scales that covered a nation’s eyes. We sing of free women and free men. We sing of brothers and sisters fully acknowledged as family. We sing of history being rewritten. We sing of past systems being overthrown. We sing of looking through histories glass and learning from a history of shame and vowing never to repeat it again towards any other people in America or the world. We sing of reordering honor systems. We sing of reordered values. We sing of the last being first. We sing of forgiveness of lynchings past. We sing of freedom from being raped, of overcoming the oppression of sexual slavery and servitude. We sing of owning our own bodies and God-given sexuality. We sing of freedom and forgiveness and Love’s fullness washing a nation’s past like the ocean. We sing of being able to sleep with Peace in our hearts and night. We sing of miracles happening. We sing of new gatekeepers, new leaders, new opportunities. We sing of a First Lady of America’s people. We sing of an American Queen’s history and what her America means and stands for. We sing of trampling racism. We sing of jazz, soul, blues, hip hop and diverse American art forms of being, living, expressing, laughing, swaying, moving, sounding, speaking and entertaining in all their free floetry forms of African-American freedom. On this day – like any other day – we put our once cotton picking afros up and we remember, celebrate and honor who actually built this country. With pride, triumph and dignity we stand alongside our black brothas/ brothaz and sistas/ sistaz as equals and we say “we too are proudly black, because you are, we are.” We put our afros up and we honor the prophesy and belief of conviction, that all men are created equal and that their labor is of equal value. We stand in an eternal commitmen to uproot, unmasked entrenched laws and any systems of governance that oppress others and strip fellow human beings of their dignity. We vow to not support anyone or anything that oppresses others for capitol gain over the life and value of fellow citizens and human beings of the world. We sing of confidence that our women and daughters are safe. We sing of confidence of bringing sons into this world who are safe in our neighborhoods at night.

We put our afros up, learning from the past in America, South Africa, England, Africa, France’s histories and all of their colonies. Got yours up? Good. Keep it up, for the rest of your life and teach your children and their children and grandchildren what an afro means and how to treat people right who have one, and how to respond and behave when they see one in America’s precious and beautiful, global future of relevance.

Let’s go America and let’s go Pacific Islands, Polynesian and Maori Peoples of Aotearoa-New Zealand too!

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 1.16.11~

 

TE REO RANGATIRA RUGBY HISTORY, OCEANIA’S TRAILBLAZING HINEWEHI MOHI AND AUNTY NAIDA GLAVISH, ARE HEROES WHO HAVE HELPED REVIVE MAORI LANGUAGE, PRESENCE, VISIBILITY AS LEADERS

Trailblazers are US-Kiwi – Hollywood Today 2011

Did you know that Te Reo Rangatira is a language holding deeply embedded truth principles, like living words acting as guardians for people and earth preservation:

Weird good things happen in Hollywood. A day or so ago in Hollywood, I did a blog post about Virtual Oceania a website that features paradise on earth website uploads. I also of that world loved musical TV series. What’s it called? Glee I thinkThen what happens? Like a magic flute, the lead singer of the music group, Oceania (aka Hinewehi Mohi) who is a Maori singing diva extraordinaire of world renown –magically appears in the news along with my Aunty Naida Glavish. Ba-bling –history shines with melodic “Kia Ora” (Hello) smiles in leading edge world leadership cultural news. Go figure!

Both women put their hands up in world history to defend Te Reo Rangatira (The Language of Chiefs), an official language and cultural treasure of Aotearoa New Zealand – allowed to be spoken, articulated, visibly and proudly for all the world to hear and see the speakers of this beautiful and poetic language containing life-giving thoughts and culture for everyone who dares to think people first and green for the planet.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

JOSH GROBAN AND READING THE BOOK OF EZRA IN HOLLYWOOD 1.3.11

I woke up today and read the book of Ezra. I was left thinking, how can you be Jewish and live in Hollywood, after reading that book.

It was amazing. Although a lot of stuff was weighed.

Ezra of old, was quite a unique guy when it came to nation building. He was asked by King Cyrus of Persia (now modern day Iran) to rebuild Israel in Jerusalem. As you can imagine, such moments in world history, are sort of like miracles, when King’s hearts are turned by a divine hand.  Something in Ezra’s life spoke of purity of focus and courage to build. He was Hollywood dramatic too in the way he expressed what he felt for his people. He was a fashion designer’s dream client. His trait of diligence is perhaps something for us all in these times to learn from in rebuilding nations after that rather gutting global economic crises.

Ezra is a good example of why we should write things down as we build. Centuries later, a Maori from New Zealand is reading his words in a US city titled The Entertainment Capitol of the World. He was quite a writer then. A scribe I think, was the correct term.

[Photograph, freshly snapped at Starbucks - Santa Monica & Fairfax, West Hollywood. Music by best selling artist Josh Groban. What a set of pipes! This song especially for a little prince, who joined us with a spirit that would never give up. Mihi atu ki a koe, toku rangatira iti ou tatou ngakau Kahanui o to koroua Kereama, he Tohunga o Te Paipera Tapu o Te Wairua Tapu hoki. Ko koe, He Arohanui o te Atua Kerehi, rite tonu te Ra ma runga a Parahaki. Ko koe, te tama matakitea hoki. ICU and I love you!]

Josh Groban appears live on the Jimmy Kimmel show tonight in Los Angeles.

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 1.3.11~