Kapiti island's first Māori writer's residency
Kapiti Island to host first ever Māori writer's residency
Tau mai e Kapiti We salute you
Kapiti
Whakataretare mai ki te rangatahi e hao nei. Gaze
upon the youth that gather here.
Waikāhua, Waikātohu, e
mau ki ngā mana i Who shall say who will take hold of
the
ngakia e koe. authority vested in you?
Ūhia mai
rā te manaakitanga a ngā tūpuna Bestow the blessings of
those ancestors
kua wehe ki te pō who have passed
on
hei mauri whakakaha i te hinengaro As an empowering
life-force for the minds
o Tama, o Hine e pae nei.* and
imaginations
Of the children gathered here.*
Kapiti Island will host New Zealand's first ever Māori writer's residency during Matariki, 2008.
The 'Tau mai e Kapiti' Māori Writer's Residency, funded by Te Waka Toi / Creative New Zealand and hosted by Kaitiaki o Kapiti Trust, will allow a Māori writer to live and work on the northern end of Kapiti island for eight weeks. The writer will also be paid a stipend of $4,800.
John Barrett of Kapiti Nature Lodge says the writer will live for two months from June to July 2008 amongst the families on the island, but in his or her own separate accommodation.
"The idea is that they get a chance to hear some of the stories of the island, historical and contemporary, and to create their own writings in this extraordinary environment," he says.
Minnie Clark from the Trust says it's the first time
any kind of artist's residency has been offered
on the
island, and as far as they're aware there are no other
residencies in the country aimed
specifically at Māori
writers.
"At the moment the residency is a one-off," she
says,'but if there's enough support and
enthusiasm, we
would love to think it could become an annual event."
The
northern end of Kapiti includes the island's last remaining
Māori-owned land, adjoining the
internationally regarded
predator-free nature reserve Kapiti is well-known for. The
northern end is
currently the home of the Barretts and
their extended whānau, descendants of the Ngāti Toa,
Te
Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa confederation. The Barrett
whānau run the Kapiti Nature Lodge.
(*Excerpt from 'Tau
mai e Kapiti', pātere composed by Kīngi Tahiwi,
1930s.
Ends Lyrics and translation from 'Kāti au i
konei', Charles Te Ahukaramū Royal, Huia Publishers,
1994)