Writings

Tools From The Kete

A CREATIVE JOURNAL

Issue 1

From Self to Community Care

Submission for Emerging Writers Festival 2020

I hear a resounding “PAY ATTENTION!”

Don’t switch off, don’t shut down, just pay attention. So, I listen, I observe, and I allow my breath to move through me scanning my body, my thoughts, my heart and my wairua. I simply pay attention.

Self care begins with paying attention. Paying attention to yourself, to the earth, the elements, ancestors, he tohu, he tapu. “Ko au te awa, ko awa ko au” is a well known Ātihau whakataukī meaning “I am the river and the river is me”. We are the earth, we are the elements and we are our ancestors.

So, as we pay attention to our environment, we also pay attention to ourselves and our own needs. Again, in theory, simple. Yet many of us don’t do this at all, don’t know how, or if we do, it is one of the last things in our day.

But nothing grows from neglect and nothing heals from mistreatment.

Decolonising My Hair

Submission for Awa Wahine 2019

I'm of the era that would watch my older sister and her friends, use an iron and tea towel to straighten their hair. The days when Avon was a "thing" and watching the girls get dressed up to go clubbing at Dan's would become my life goal. Colonisation 1 Vs My Hair 0.

My first visit to a hair salon, was when a hairdresser came to our Maori class to find 'thick, dark brown hair' for her hair competition. She would photograph one of us with our hair and makeup, so if you can imagine a room full of teenage girls, jumping at such the opportunity. The only catch was she wanted to cut, colour and straighten our hair. My friends without hesitation, said "No, she's not changing our hair." This ruled out everyone but me. I didn’t have the long, curly, beautiful hair they had. Mine was straight frizz.

I spent 8 hours on a school day in a salon watching women come in and out of that salon. Drinking my first cappuccino and reading Vogue and Women's Weekly. I shared about my school life and how much I loved kapahaka. After two dye sessions, it was clear to me the hairdresser was no good, and clear to my hairdresser, my hair was going to do what she had planned. So, she decided to go with it and created her concept from my stories. Sitting outside Rehua Marae at 9pm, a light dusting of rain undoing all of her hard work and my kapahaka uniform on, I felt like the beez-neez. Colonisation 0 Vs My Hair 1.

Breathing Life into Writing

Submission for Awa Wahine 2019

So here it is, the inevitable first post for Awa Wahine.
The awkward mannerisms that accompany every second word I type, reverberates just how much this moment means to me.
Tīhei mauri ora.