REFLECTIVE INSIGHT #005 - THE LION AND THE KORU: OUR ETHIOPIAN WHAKAPAPA
A shared signal
I was driving out to Mt Manaia with some whānau the other day, just soaking in the views of our beautiful hills. We were listening to a song by Unity Pacific, and it hit me just how much of our story here in Taitokerau is tied to a land thousands of kilometres away.
Most people see the red, gold, and green flags at Waitangi or during our festivals and think it is just about the music. But if you look deeper, those colours are not just a fashion choice. They are signals of a deep connection, what we might call an invisible thread, that links our struggle for sovereignty here to a global movement.
Prophets and promises
This connection did not start with reggae music in the 1970s. It goes back much further. In the 1800s, our own prophets like Te Kooti and Ratana were reading the Bible through their own eyes. They did not see a story about a foreign people needing "saving" by the British. They saw themselves.
They looked at the stories of the Exodus and the promised land and realised they were a chosen people too. They claimed a direct bond with the Creator, bypassing the rules and the power of the British Empire. They were looking for a sovereign home of peace, a place of belonging, right here on our own whenua.
The land that stood firm
Then we have Ethiopia. It holds a very special place in the hearts of indigenous people all over the world. It was the only African nation that was never colonised. They famously defeated a European empire at the Battle of Adwa.
For us, Ethiopia became a master example of standing your ground. It proved that you could keep your own sacred traditions and your own land, even when the rest of the world was trying to take them. They kept the keys to their own house, unlike the way the Doctrine of Discovery was used to try and take ours.
The ancient word
Ihu often spoke about the importance of knowing our true identity and where we come from. When we look at the old scriptures, there is a promise about these connections.
"Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." (Psalm 68:31, NKJV)
"Ka puta mai ngā ariki i Īhipa; ka hohoro te totoro o ngā ringa o Etiopia ki te Atua." (Translated from the original Hebrew: yiratsun hashamannim minni mitsrayim kush tarits yadeyha lelohim)
The rhythm of resistance
This spiritual energy found its rhythm again in the 1970s when Rastafari philosophy reached our shores. It was not a "new" thing; it felt like a homecoming. When Bob Marley visited in 1979, he was not just a pop star. He was a messenger.
He spoke to that same ancient path our ancestors had been walking for a century. We see this in the life of someone like Tigilau Ness. He took that fire and used it to lead the Polynesian Panthers, fighting for our rights and our dignity. He knew that this peaceful future is not a place in the clouds. It is the community we build right here when we look after one another.
Managing our household
The fix for the struggles we see in the North is not more foreign rules or colonial ways of doing things. It is about reclaiming this deep history. It is about moving away from the Doctrine of Discovery, a system that extracts our wealth and leaves us empty, and moving toward what I call household management.
In the North, we should not see ourselves as a "poor" region. We are a sovereign village. We are part of a global, ancient family that has always known how to survive and thrive. When we manage our resources for the well-being of everyone, we are following the original plan.
Walking as a chosen people
Take a moment today to look at the flags at the next gathering. Do not just see the colours; see the threads that connect us to the rest of the world.
How do we live like a people who belong to the Creator today? It starts by remembering we were never meant to be subjects of a distant empire. We are navigators of our own destiny, guided by Wairua Tapu and the footprints of those who stood firm before us.
