I used to teach at Rakaumanga Primary School. It is in Huntly. The Maori name for Huntly is Rāhui Pōkeka. We used to tell this story to the students.
The area was so named because a rāhui was placed on one of the waterways there due to the depletion of tuna (eel), a valued food source. A tohunga ( learned expert ) placed a pou rāhui ( marker pole ) into the ground and tied flax ( harakeke ) knots at differing intervals up the length of the pou. These represented measurements of time. Only he had the mana to go to the area and check the tuna stocks. If on the evidence he saw things were going well, he would push the pou into the ground up to each flax interval. Eventually the pou was pushed right down. This signified that the stocks had regenerated and people could fish again. They celebrated the lifting of the rāhui by performing a pōkeka which is a form of haka without actions.
While we are at home in Covid-19 isolation what would be the most appropriate Māori word to describe the situation? Mirumiru is a bubble but a bubble does not convey the full appreciation of what we are going through. Rāhui is a more accurate word.
Rāhui were and still are used today. In the event of death a rāhui can be set where tapu ( sacred, forbidden, restricted ) permeates the land, water or surroundings. It is important to keep people separated and isolated from the tapu. After a while the ban is lifted and people get on with their lives.
Over the years rāhui have been placed because of drownings in our lakes. In January 2017, a rāhui was placed on a small part of lake Rotoiti while searchers combed the lake for a male who had drowned. During Covid-19, Te Arawa Lakes Trust has put a rāhui on the 14 lakes in the Rotorua area over the Easter weekend to preempt potential mishaps.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has set four stages of alertness to help New Zealanders navigate the murky waters of Covid-19. Just as the tohunga monitored and assessed the progress of the tuna reserve, Ardern and her officials have made decisions based on data and evidence to decide what we should do.
Rāhui aligns with every situation that Covid-19 has thrown at us. The four stages of alertness are our pou rāhui. They are a measure by which we can determine our progress. At some stage in the future they will be removed.
In the meantime we are isolated in our homes. This is our means of protection and vigilance from the pollution of the virus.
Our attitude to the lockdown is paramount. Financial pressures, maintaining home routines, fitness goals and boredom will all be impacting on our lockdown experience. We have also been handed a gift. Covid-19 is an opportunity to slow down, recharge the batteries. and replenish ourselves. We can restock our ‘tuna’ reserves drained by the hectic bustle of daily life.
Self reflection, strengthening important relationships and creating opportunities help to adjust the pou whenua to the next level. This isn't the time to sit down and mope though. Covid-19 has created immense challenges for us all. People need jobs, businesses want cash flow, students require laptops, the elderly look for reassurance and we are all busting to get out of our bubbles. This is a time to be brave. Most of all we need each other.
A rāhui only works if everyone agrees with it. For Maori, when a rāhui is in place there's no arguing. We wait until the temporary prohibition time has expired and then confident that the reasons for it have been satisfied, we get on with our lives. The tapu is broken and everything is made common ( noa ) again.
There will be many celebrations as we move out of lockdown, reconnect with others and swing back into normality. Perhaps even a few haka may reverberate around the streets of Rotorua.