Te Miha me te Himene

Karanga Hokianga ki ō tamariki, he uri rātou, he mōrehu, kohikohia rā, kei ngā hau e whā. Kōrerotia ko wai rātou.

Ko tā Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe he maumaharatanga i te kaihopara tino rongonui i Porinīhia whānui tonu, a Kupe, nāna ēnei motu i whakatau, nāna taua wāhi i tapa. Kei te maumaharatia taua takiwā hei te wāhi tuatahi i tau mai ai te pono Katorika i Aotearoa nei.

Ko ēnei toi peita a Margaret Aull he whakaūnga o tōna whakapapa ki Panguru i Te Hokianga. Ko te pepeha a Te Rarawa o runga ake nei, he karanga ki ōna uri ki te hoki atu ki ō rātou turangawaewae, ki reira tiaki ai i te ahi kā. Kei te kitea anōtia taua karanga i roto i ngā toi peita a Aull e mihi ana ki te hautūtanga ā-rautaki a tōna karani māmā i tōna tauoranga, i tōna matenga, nāna i whakarite kia kaha ai te honotanga o āna mokopuna ki tō rātou tūrangawaewae, ki te whānau, ki te pono.

Puta mai ai te wairua o te wāhi ngaro i te tāera peita turua a Aull, arā, he wāhi kei waenganui i ngā apanga, i ngā taumata o te tauoranga. Ko ngā kaupapa o ēnei toi peita, he waka kōiwi, he whakapakoko iti mō Maria Takakau, ko ēnei ngā tohu mō te motuhake o te tuakiri me te wairua. He āhuahanga ēnei e tuari ai i te manaakitanga mutunga kore, i te wehinga ki ngā mate: nā ngā tikanga o tēnā, o tēnā, e haumaru ai, e whakaruruhautia ai i tōna matenga. Kei te noho ahuru te waiata me te karakia hei puakitanga apaapa e rere pai ai.

Karanga Hokianga ki ō tamariki, he uri rātou, he mōrehu, kohikohia rā, kei ngā hau e whā. Kōrerotia ko wai rātou.

Hokianga, call your children together, they are descendants and remnants of their ancestors, they are scattered to the four winds. Tell them who they are.

Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe — the place of Kupe’s great return – recalls the great Polynesian explorer Kupe who discovered these lands and named this location on one of his numerous voyagers. The region is also recalled as the birthplace of Catholicism in Aotearoa New Zealand.

These paintings by Margaret Aull are a personal assertion of whakapapa (genealogy) to Panguru, in the Hokianga. The Te Rarawa tribal saying above was a call to tribal descendants to renew and reconnect with their tribal homelands. Aull’s paintings echo this karanga (call) and pays tribute to her grandmother’s strategic leadership in life and death, that has ensured all her mokopuna (descendants) remain connected to their tūrangawaewae (ancestral lands), whānau (family) and faith.

Aull’s signature ethereal painting style and the subjects of the works elicit a sense of wahi ngaro – an intermediary space between realms and states of being. A waka koiwi (bone chest) and a figurine of the Virgin Mary are symbolic of dual identity and spirituality. Both forms indicate reverence for the dead; offering security and protection. Here hymn and waiata, prayer and karakia sit comfortably together as a layered and fluid expression.

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