Rising to The Challenge

I kite mātou i ngā wāhi i wehe ai ētahi a o mātou Pāpā i tēnei ao....i kite a whatu mātou i te ataahua o ngā wahi e takoto ana rātou, nā reira me mihi ki ērā iwi e tiaki ana i ō tātou tīpuna ka tika...

I saw the places our ancestors fought and died. I saw the cemeteries where our ancestors lay, and I thank the Cretans for taking care of them.

So writes Carlos Paenga in his essay 75 tau o te pakanga o Kirīti i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao or Trip of a lifetime, for which he is the Supreme Award Winner in this year’s The Challenge.

Carlos is a Year 12 student at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Waiū o Ngāti Porou in Ruatoria.

He composed his essay in te reo Māori by drawing on his experiences during a 2014 pilgrimage to war sites in Europe.

The Challenge is a multimedia competition open to Years 7-13 students of Māori descent. Students submit their entries in a variety of formats all focused on the contributions of the Battalion.

“The judges determined that Carlos’ writing clearly displayed the characteristics and values of the Battalion, particularly in leadership and the wero (challenge),” says Minister of Education Hekia Parata, who is also Chair of the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board.

“He studied the letters and personal accounts of soldiers and created an essay that was perceptive, original and unique. It connected deeply with the kaupapa of 'The Challenge.'”

Entrants of The Challenge had two choices: to explore and express how Māori were viewed in New Zealand after World War II and the Battle of Crete, or cover why it was important to commemorate World War I battles with particular focus on the Battle of the Somme.

Winners as well as second and third place recipients receive cash prizes from the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund was established in 1945 to commemorate the service of Māori, and in particular, the service of the Battalion in the war against Germany, and the award of the Victoria Cross to Second Lieutenant Ngārimu, the first Māori to earn this distinction.

Carlos’ fellow Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Waiū o Ngāti Porou student Te Paea Dalton-Reedy also won the intermediate Māori section with a poster she designed. (see below).

Te Paea’s sister Hariata Rongo Dalton-Reedy won The Challenge in 2014, and then went on to study for a Māori visual arts degree. Find an interview with Hariata Rongo (see Navigating her own path story).

Wairua in Crete

Hinerau Paenga is Carlos’ mother and office administrator at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Waiū o Ngati Porou.

She says that an important part of Carlos’ childhood on the East Coast has been about taking up opportunities and embracing outdoor adventures.

“He’s grown up as part of a big whānau with a strong military heritage."

“We’re also one of those close rural communities - we go to the marae all the time, and do family stuff often. Our kids know and live being ahi kaa and they are used to having pakeke always around.”

Carlos says that in writing his essay '75 tau o te pakanga o Kirīti i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao,' he was deeply inspired by his 2014 journey to Crete.

“The trip was quite amazing. I was really honoured to be there - just grateful to be learning all the stories.”

“I could feel wairua strongly there, and there were a lot of sad moments too,” he says.

“On the trip, I got to hear new stories - things I hadn’t heard before."

“I learned not just Māori stories but also those of the Italian and Cretan soldiers. I was thinking about my tipuna who had been there, and other ancestors who served in wars.”

Carlos says it was good to put pen to paper and write about what he experienced there.

“It was good to be able to do the work and get involved with it. I like writing. I prefer it to talking.”

75 Tau O Te Pakanga O Kirīti I Te Pakanga Tuarua O Te Ao,

Nā Carlos Paenga

...Ā, ko te wero whakamutunga mo te 28 ko te hoki whakamuri ki runga i ngā maunga mā ki Sphakia me a rātou hōia taotū.

I waihoatia ngā hōia kāre e taea te hīkoi ki te taha o Kamupene A me B hei ope whakamuri.

Te maha o ngā wero, te nui o ngā wero me ngā taumahatanga i heipū ki ngā hōia Tiamana kia whakakorea te hokinga whakamuri o te Āpititanga ki runga i ngā maunga.

Ēngari, i tae tonu atu rātou, tētahi i muri i tētahi i tae atu ngā ope ki te wāhi i hiahiatia ana e rātou, arā ki te Askifou Plain, ā, te huarahi tere ake kia tae atu ki Sphakia.

Tērā anō hoki ngā Kamupene Māori e rua a A me B i tapahia rā i te koki o ngā rori i tā rātou hīkoitanga ki Askifou Plain.

Nā, i whakakotahi ai rātou ki te whawhai, ki te kawe i ngā hōia i taotūtia mā rahaki o te rori ki Askifou.

Arā ko te whakaaro anō hoki o tētahi hōia ko Hargest tona ingoa kore rawa ia e kite i a rātou anō.

Ka kī atu te tangata Hargest rā ki tōna hoa rangatira “Ngā manaakitanga o te Atua ki runga i ngā Māori rā-te hōnore o tēnei pakanga me tau ki runga ki a rātou!”.

“Tahi rau whā tekau noa iho rātou . . . I pakanga rātou mai i te 6 i te ata ki te 12 karaka i te ahiahi-ka kitea tētahi puare i te raina o te hoariri, ka kuhu rātou katoa me ngā hōia tokowaru i taotūtia, ā, no te ata hāpara rā anō i tae mai rātou ki a mātou, e 26 maero te tawhiti.

Kāre e kitea he toa ki runga ake i ēnei, tae noa ki ēnei rā, kāre anō kia kite he pakanga pēra te uaua”.

Ā, nā tētahi āhuatanga o te Māori i kitea ai te puare.

I a Rangi Royal e moe ana ki roto i tāna rua, i moemoeā ia kua karapotia rātou e ngā Tiamana.

“I roto i tāna moemoeā, i kitea ai e ia tētahi kuia, he rehu e tohu atu ana ki te pae maunga e takoto ana ki te wāhi o te hoariri.

I tāna matikitanga i tere whakamōhio atu a Royal i tāna moemoeā ki a Lt Porter.

Nā wai rā i haere rātou ki runga i te pae maunga rā, i reira i tino rite taua āhuatanga ki to tana moemoeā, kātahi i puta atu rātou i te tāwhiti o ngā Tiamana”, te whakamārama anō o Hargest mo te take i kite ai e ngā hōia Māori rā i taua puare.

I te pahuretanga o ngā rā i āhua piki ake ngā hōia o te 28 ki te 400, ka hīkoi rātou mā te Askifou Plain kia tae atu ki Shapkia.

Arā, ko tēnei wāhi o Sfakia ko te wāhi hei hūnuku ngā hōia ki Īhipa. Ēngari, kāre te nuinga i tae ki runga i ngā Kaipuke i te mea kāre he wāhi mo te katoa.

Ko ērā i noho mai i mauheretia, ā, tonoa hoki rātou kia hīkoi ano ki Chania hei nehu i ngā mate o ngā wiki e rua i pahure ake rā.

Ēngari, kāre roa i oma anō rātou ki ngā puke.

Nā, ka tangi te ngākau mo te tokomaha o rātou i hinga ki te Hītara, te waha hukahuka, te weriweri o ngā weriweri.

Heoi, i kite a whatu mātou i te ataahua o ngā wahi e takoto ana rātou, nā reira me mihi ki ērā iwi e tiaki ana i ō tātou tīpuna ka tika!

I kite mātou ingā wāhi i wehe ai ētahi a ō mātou Pāpā i tēnei ao.

Ahakoa kei te noho Pāpā rātou ki a mātou i ēnei wā, kāre tino rerekē wā rātou pakeke ki tāku.

Ngākaunui ana ahau ki a Kirīti. I tā mātou wā ki reira, haere huri noa ki ngā wāhi maha ki te whakamahara ki a rātou mā i whawhai, i hinga mō mātou.

Te ataahua o ngā urupā, te pouri o te wairua ki ngā wāhi pakanga, me te mīharo o ngā kōrero i tākohatia mai ki a mātou.

Me te tino aroha mai o te hau kāinga ki a tātou te iwi Māori.

Arā, e mau tonu ana hoki rātou ki ngā kōrero tuku iho mo ngā pakanga i heipū mai ki reira e 75 tau ki muri, nā reira mihi aroha mai ki a mātou mo ō mātou tīpuna, mihi maioha hoki ki a mātou mo tā mātou tāenga atu ki reira.

Nā, ko tētahi kōrero i tuhia ai ki taku mahara, ko ngā kōrero mo te mahi a Hemara Aupouri ki te Tiriti 42. Ā, i a mātou ki reira i whakatinana mātou hoki i ngā mahi a rātou mā, ko tōku hoa a Tawhai Aupouri, he mokopuna a Hemara Aupouri i tātaki te haka rā a Ka Mate.

Tūtū Ngārahu ana mātou katoa, he huka ki te waha, arā koirā mātou e haka ana, pūkana ana ngā whatu, whatērotēro ana ngā arero, haruru te whenua i te takahi o ngā waewae ki ngā maunga, e rite tonu ana ki tō ngā tīpuna.

Arā ka hoki atu ki taua pātai rā.

Nā i pēhea te rongonui o te 28 o Tūmatauenga i tīni te tirohanga o Niu Tīreni whānui ki a tātou te iwi Māori?

Ki a au nei, kāre i tino tīni te tirohanga o te nuinga o Niu Tīreni ki a tātou te Iwi Māori.

I te mea i te wā e kura ana tōku Pāpā i ngā tau 1950, arā kāre maha tonu ngā tau i muri ake i te pakanga.

Ā, i aukatitia te kōrero, me te whakaako i te Reo Māori ki roto i ngā kura.

I ēnei rā e tū ana ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, ka whakaako hoki i te Reo ki ētahi o ngā Kura Auraki.

Ēngari, i tētahi rā i whakamōhia mai tāku kaiako ki a mātou me āku hoa ako i te tangata Māori mai i ngā whatu o te pākeha.

Arā he toa ki te tākaro whutupōro, he tamitami kāre pai mo te mahi ki roto i ngā momo tari, ka mōhio ki te haka “Ka Mate” me te waiata “Whakaaria Mai”.

Ēngari, e maumahara ana te katoa o ngā iwi, ngā whānau, ngā wāhi i wetekinahia e o tātou tīpuna i a rātou mai te mau o ngā Tiamana i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao.

Ā, ahakoa e ōrite ana te tirohanga o te nuinga o Niu Tīreni ki a tātou te iwi Māori.

He mīharo taku ngākau, nā te āwhina i tuku e o mātou tīpuna i te Pakanga Tuarua ki ērā atu iwi, ā, nā tōku taenga atu ki aua whenua hoki e mōhio ana au.

Ko a rātou tirohanga ki a mātou he iwi aroha, he iwi manaaki, he iwi mahana, he iwi rangatira, otirā he iwi toa.

Nā reira ka au tā rātou moe, rātou e okioki mai rā ki tawhiti, ēngari ko a rātou īngoa ka rongo mo ake tonu.

Trip of a lifetime

by Carlos Paenga

The following is an excerpt from a summary of the original essay, and not a direct translation.

...The last challenge for the Māori Battalion was the walk over The White Mountains to get to the evacuation beach at Sfakia. They faced many obstacles along the way with the British and the rest of the Commonwealth soldiers, but they still made it.

Sfakia was the area where ships or streamers came to evacuate the troops to Egypt. But there wasn’t enough room for everyone to board. Those that stayed were taken as prisoners of war and would be made to walk back to Chania to bury the dead from two weeks previous.

I was lucky enough to be part of the Ngarimu VC Legacy tour, and to follow in the footsteps of those soldiers who travelled so many years ago to fight in the war, some of them not much older than I am.

In Crete I saw the places the places our ancestors fought and died, I saw the cemeteries where our ancestors lay and I thank the Cretans for taking care of them. My heart is filled with gratitude for the sacrifices and deeds of bravery the Māori Battalion made for us.

Did the Battalion’s reputation, if at all, change the way Māori were viewed in New Zealand after the war?

In my opinion the way Māori were viewed in New Zealand after the war didn’t change. When my Papa was in school not long after the Second World War ended, Māori kids were whipped by teachers for speaking their language in school.

Even though we have Kura Kaupapa Māori, and Māori is taught in other schools in today’s world, the view of Māori is still the same.

One day my teacher told my class what a Māori person was from the Pākeha’s eyes. He said “That was a person that’s good at playing rugby, that won’t be good for office work that knows the haka Ka mate and the song Whakaaria mai.

But in other lands, in the homes and towns of the people that our tipuna liberated in the Second World War, the gratitude and respect they have for our tipuna, was shown in the way they treated us; their descendants.

My heart is filled with pride for our ancestors of the Māori Battalion, and even though some views on Māori may not have changed, I know from going to those places that our tipuna fought at in World War 2, that the people there and their view on Māori is that we are caring, fun, warm strong and proud people.

Their bodies are buried in peace; but their names liveth for evermore.
Mahia te mahi hei painga mo te iwi by Te Paea Dalton-Reedy, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Te Waiū O Ngāti Porou