I painted the piece some years ago while I was studying youth work through praxis. We had been learning about bi-culturalism and how that informs our practise with young people.
I was also going through my own journey reconnecting with parts of my culture that I didn’t know much about. I learned how to say my pepeha (introduction of myself and my family in Maori) but I also learned that there were some holes in it that will most likely never be filled because the information has been lost.
Ko Ohia te roto…………………………………..My lake is Ohia
Ko Te Ope Whakaora te whare karakia………My church is The Salvation Army
Ko Nga Puhi te iwi………………………………My Iwi is Nga Puhi
Ko Ronald toku tane…………………………….Ronald is my husband
Kei Waiharakeke ahau e noho ana……………I live in Blenheim
Ko Chanell ahau…………………………………My name is Chanell
He whakatauki He waka eke noa
No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
Maori Proverb We are all in this together
It is lost because of colonisation and family drama.
My great, great grandad was half maori. Due to family dramas he was sent to live with his pakeha/white side of the family in Blenheim (where I grew up). His mother (who was full maori) went by multiple names, so she is very hard to track through old records.
We roughly know the area my great great grandad was born in and that is how I know what “my lake” is, but I’m not sure what mountain I belong to.I don’t know much important information about my family tree which feeds into my identity.
There are missing pieces in my identity. This is true for a lot of people with indgenious roots.
Colonisation disrupted people and their families were spread across the country for various reasons. They were disconnected from their people and their identity, even their spiritual home.
This has had negative repercussions on indegeious people for generations.
My art piece was painted during a time I was grieving that part of my identity that I had to accept I may never know.
Learning about our family trees can be fun and sometimes people feel it does not inform much about who they are, but when history has an impact on our present, it can affect us in ways we don’t realise.
Identity is important. It is spiritual and personal.
Chanell Diaz is a member of The Salvation Army in New Zealand. She and her husband Ronald both work as child care workers and Chanell is also a qualified Youth Worker through Praxis. Chanell has a heart for justice and enjoys creating art and writing in her spare time.
