Raukura Leather

Tu Tangata, Issue 31, 1 August 1986, Page 26

Raukura Leather

MAORI women are truly doing it for themselves and have done so as the backbone of traditional iwi, hapu and whanau for centuries.

Many Maori women have also stepped outside the maori world to represent their maoritanga in the world of the pakeha.

One of these women is Raukura Leather, a community officer with the Department of Maori Affairs, who has been a borough councillor since 1977 for Wellington’s Paraparaumu Ward.

She spoke to TU TANGATA about how she as a Maori woman copes with local body politics.

“The very first hurdle I had to overcome was that of gathering the courage to even stand in the local body elections in 1977! My example is not necessarily the “norm” as I had been fortunate enough to have had eighteen months experience of Council before these elections.”

Kapiti Borough Council was born in 1974 when it broke away from the Hutt County Council. Because of the close proximity to Waikanae, and because it was generally felt then that Waikanae would ultimately become a part of Kapiti Borough, the full complement of Councillors were not elected in the hope that if Waikanae joined before the 1977 elections places would be available for them.

Instead 4 members of the local community were appointed to the Paraparaumu Ward Committee of Council and Raukura happened to be one of the number. Three months after being appointed to the Ward Committee she was also appointed to the Community Services of Council.

“It was a most important factor in my later decision to actually stand for election. You see for me personally, as a Maori, there is a vast difference between co-opted so to speak, to a body and actually “competing” for that place as of right.”

“We have a whakatauaki ‘Kaua koe e whakaiti te tangata’ which loosely translated means ‘Don’t put another person down’. And so I arrived at my first dilemma. If I allow my name to go forward as a candidate I am effectively saying ‘I am better than these other people’. Because the pakeha concept is ‘May the best man (or woman) win'. But the Maori concept is the reverse. At least to me. If you have a winner it necessarily follows that you must also have a loser. And who am I to consider myself as being more capable than some of the other people putting their names forward.”

As an appointed member she says she had none of these problems because there was no suggestion that she was

KUPU WHAKAMIHI

there for anything other than the contribution she had to offer. “As an elected member I am effectively saying I have more to offer than others,” she said. “I come from a family background where it has always been accepted that the women were very strong. But I also come from a tribal background where women do not speak no easy feat when you have a personality and a mouth such as mine! And if I am prepared to “stand for office” how do I marry this conflict to pakeha values and still retain my maoriness.” Raukura says she was fortunate in that she had had tremendous support from colleagues on Council and more importantly, “the support of my kaumatua and my family.” But most important of all, she was tangata whenua - in other words, belonged to the area and so would not be trampling over Maori from another tribal area. “I might add that I don’t believe that I or any other Maori would stand for office in another tribal area. In Maori terms it would be considered totally unacceptable to put yourself ahead of the tangata whenua." Having finally made the decision to actually stand she found herself elected to office and more problems looming on the horizon. She suddenly found herself on a Council of 10 (with only one other woman) all of whom were older than she was. “Common courtesy, that is Maori courtesy, demanded that I pay respect to my elders, and I found it extremely difficult, in fact well nigh impossible, to argue effectively with people who were, in effect, my elders. While I might occassionally be able to justify to myself that I was not challenging Maori elders, never the less to challenge older people at all is not in my nature. Every time I get into a conflict area in Council, even when I win. I feel somehow that I have lost

something of my own mauri or essence. I dislike confrontation and argument of any description and yet I find I have been involved in more conflict over the last 10 years than all the years of my life before! Although let me hasten to assure you that the last 10 years have by no means been all conflict - I would guess as far as our community is concerned there have been many rewarding times.” In many subtle ways, and she feels sure unintentionally, her cultural values have been questioned and challenged. “Perhaps it is even an arrogance on my part to assume that my colleagues should accept me for what I am and when we have differences of opinion my thinking may be allied to my cultural background.” “I know too well what it is to be part of a minority. On the present Council I am a minority of absolutely everything. The only woman the only Maori - the only survivor of the original 1974 Council and the only Independent on the Paraparaumu Ward. My strength has come from the support of both the community and my kaumatua. But I must confess to feeling tired.” But she says those are only some of the problems of dealing with Pakeha and quite honestly not nearly as difficult as the problems of dealing with Maori. Because some Maori people do seem to have something in their make-up that needs to bring down people who have the audacity to rise above the iwi as they see it. A sort of love/hate relationship. Perhaps something to do with the whakatauaki mentioned earlier, she says. “I remember years ago reading a statement and being so impressed by it that I actually wrote it down and refer to it frequently. It said “one may also observe the effect of Maori community values reflected in leadership roles. There appears to be a preference for a more

informal style of leadership where the interactions are on a face to face basis, and in leadership by example rather than by direction. This does not mean that the Maori cannot function in a formal structure but rather that the methods he uses will be constructed by obtaining co-operation rather than the use of authority of his office to ensure results. He may find it difficult to discipline by threat and would choose to persuade the offender to see the error of his ways without having to wave the big stick. Respect for his leadership and not for his authority will ensure the success of his method. Respect incorporates the concept of ‘mana’.”

Raukura says, “mana has various meanings such as authority, control, prestige, influence, power or pyschic force. A person without mana will not successfully communicate with people much less lead them. A person can build up mana through personal advancement, but to do so means stepping out from the mass. For this reason, promising individuals may display reluctance to accept rank and responsibility despite the fact that they may be keen to advance themselves. Outwardly, however, there may be a cultural compulsion to retain their identity with fellow Maoris and achieve mana through more conventional channels.

“So often have I seen really promising Maori who I know have enormous potential refrain from actively participating in whatever field, for fear of not wanting to rise above what they see as their station in life. I believe this has been to the detriment not only of our own people but to society as a whole.”