THE ALPHA FREQUENCY #768 - RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE: THE MEQABYAN LEGACY IN THE NORTH

A Manual for Standing Firm

Kia ora e te whānau. We have reached the final post in our series looking at Research Report #268. We have talked about our language, our leadership, and our shared economy. Today, we look at the spiritual "backbone" that allowed our ancestors to stand firm against colonial pressure. In the ancient Ethiopian Bible, there are three unique books called the Books of Meqabyan. These books aren't found in Western Bibles, but for us as Ngāpuhi, they serve as a powerful manual for indigenous resistance.

The Meqabyan Legacy

The Books of Meqabyan tell the stories of righteous people who refused to bow down to greedy kings or false idols. They chose to follow the laws of the Creator rather than the unfair rules of men. This resonates deeply with our own history in Taitokerau. When we look at the lives of the Ethiopian martyrs, we see a reflection of our own leaders who refused to be "trodden down" by foreign systems. Ihu (Yeshua's name in the Paipera Tapu) gave us the strength to know that even if our physical world is under pressure, our wairua (spirit) remains free.