Just finished a course
in September in Auckland
and it was
the Marine Mammals Observers course.
And part of that is to work
out on the boats and the rigs
off New Zealand waters.
Shell came to
one of our hapū meetings
and talked to us about
this course that was coming up
and whether anyone from the hapū
would be interested in doing it.
So when they explained that
it was about the marine mammals,
I sat there in our meeting,
and I thought about it,
and I thought, as Māori with
our kaitiaki for our whenua
and for our moana
should we be getting back out there
on the water
and taking care of these mammals?
I'd never seen a live whale...
...and I don't know if it was
a calling,
but I think it was a...more so...
intrigue, I think is the word.
And it for me was like, 'Well, this
could be a very good experience...
...if I pass the course.'
I would be an asset first of all
to my hapū out here,
then to my iwi,
then to Māori as a whole,
and then to the whole of New Zealand.
I had nothing;
I had no experience anywhere
and then I got accepted,
so I was quite excited.
And then sitting with
the rest of the students,
they were all - most of them -
marine biology was their subject,
and they were doing research studies.
As Māori, we see every individual has
a role to play in this conservation,
so it's a matter of determining
- all or each individual or company -
determining what
their role is going to be.
I can really proudly say
that Jay and I
are the first two Māori
Marine Mammal Observers...
...supported by Shell.
The hapū took Shell to court,
and that relationship at that time
wasn't good.
But with the outcome of that,
of what happened from there,
had created a chain reaction
of positive relationships
between Shell and the hapū.
And from that, that history has
developed into this relationship
where Shell is...I would say
the most responsive to Māori.
If anything happens
or anything's found,
they are the most responsive,
and applying tikanga
straightaway, without a doubt
- not even a question -
they request to visit the hapū
at a hapū meeting
and what their kaupapa is all about.
And then they come - not one person,
usually a group of three, maybe more.
They'll come to the hapū meeting
and they'll stand up and
they'll present their kaupapa.
And my father's observation
and relationship
over the last 25, 30 years...
...a big difference from here
to where it was from that court case.
A big difference and shift to the positive
of where they are now.
