Lisa Reihana: He Wai Ngunguru, Nomads of the Sea

He Wai Ngunguru weaves history and storytelling to delve into the challenges of cultural leadership, spiritual traditions and gender values in 19th-century New Zealand.

Lisa Reihana MNZM, skillfully merges meticulous research and primary sources with reimagined narratives, shedding light on the rich culture and history of the Māori and Pacific Islader communities. Employing a diverse range of artistic mediums, such as performance art, photography, installation pieces, as well as video and animation, Reihana constructs immersive cinematic tableaus. Her recent endeavours portray the historical encounters between colonial powers in the South Pacific as an ongoing web of entanglements between European settlers and indigenous peoples, with far-reaching implications that persist to this day.

Reihana's captivating installation, He Wai Ngunguru - Nomads of the Sea (2019), interweaves fact and fiction to explore the complex social dynamics of 19th century New Zealand. Through the character of Storyteller, an enigmatic figure that fluidly shifts between masculine and feminine voices, viewers are introduced to Charlotte Badger, a Pakeha settler woman who defies societal norms through her mutinous actions, and Puhi, a proud wahine descendant of the Ngā Puhi tribe, whose jealousy is stirred by Charlotte's rising influence.

In the early encounters of Pakeha settlement, when intermarriage, trade, and the acquisition of firearms were perceived as crucial for Māori survival, Māori Chief Huri Waka extends his protection to the fugitive Charlotte within his tribal lands, disrupting the traditional roles of women in Aotearoa as matriarchs, landowners, and spiritual guardians.

Charlotte's presence not only introduces the allure of material wealth and the spoils of the Empire, but also draws parallels between the value placed on foreign women and the power of firearms.

 As a Pakeha Māori—a term denoting Europeans who adopted and assimilated into Māori culture—Charlotte becomes instrumental in augmenting Māori strength, acquiring strategic advantages, and ultimately countering the encroachment of Settler dominance. The installation's centerpiece, "He Wai Ngunguru," delves into the unique circumstances faced by women within this cultural context, juxtaposing European legal systems with Māori traditions and moral values. The results are electric and charged. Reihana’s filmic interpretation and masterful storytelling here drops us into this narrative with fresh eyes.

Ko He Wai Ngunguru ka whiriwhiri hitōria me te kōrero tuku iho kia haurapa ki roto i ngā tautētete o te rangatiratanga ahurea, tikanga ao wairua me ngā uara arotoka-ā-ia ki roto i te rau tau tekau mā iwa ki Aotearoa.

Ko Lisa Reihana CNZM ka whakatōpū ringa rehe i te rangahau mārehe me ngā rawa matua me ngā kōrero waihanga houtia ka whakaheke mārama ki runga i te ahurea me te hitōria matū o ngā hāpori Māori me ngā motu o Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa. Ka whakarēhia i te whānuitanga kanorau o ngā kauwaka toi, pērā i te paearu toi, te tango whakaahua, ngā maramara puni, me ngā ataata me ngā whakamāhanahana. Ka waihangatia e Reihana he tūtohi pikitia whakaruku. Ko āna mahi ināia tata ake nei, ka whakaata tūtakitakitanga hitōria waenganui i ngā mana o te whakataiwhenua me Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa hei tukutuku porowhīwhiwhi haere noa waenganui i ngā tāngata whai me ngā iwi taketake, me ngā hīraunga totoro tawhiti ka takakawe ki tēnei rā.

Ko te puni whakarau a Reihana i a He Wai Ngunguru Nomads of the Sea (2019), ka kōmitimiti i te meka me te kōrero paki ki te totoro i ngā hihiri hāpori pīroiroi o te rau tau 19th ki Aotearoa. Ka puta i te kiri puaki o Storyteller, he tangata rangirua ka nuku wawaenga i ngā reo tāne me ngā wahine, ko ngā kaimātakitaki ka whakatauria a Charlotte Badger, he wahine tangata whai ka takahi i ngā tikanga porihanga mā roto i ana mahi tutu me Puhi, he wahine karatete, he uri nō te iwi o Ngāpuhi, ko tana pūhaehae ka kōroriroritia e te aweawe maiangi a Charlotte.

Ki roto i ngā whakatauranga moata o ngā kāinga Pākehā, ka moe whakawhitiwhiti, ka hokohoko, kia whiwhi pū, ā, he tirohanga he mea matua mō te orangatanga a Māori. Ka tukuna atu e te rangatira Māori i a Huri Waka tōna whakamaru ki te rerenga i a Charlotte ki roto i ngā whenua a te iwi, ka tihahu i ngā whakataunga ahurea a te wahine ki roto i a Aotearoa hei kuikuia, hei kai pupuri whenua, hei kaitiaki āhuatanga wairua, ko te awenga a Charlotte ka kore noa iho e whakatau i te whakaaroharoha o te matū whai rawa me ngā takaora o te emepaea, engari anō ka tuhi whakarara waenganui i ngā uara ka utaina ki runga i ngā wāhine rāwaho me te mana o ngā pū.

Hei Pākehā Māori – he uinga whākamātautau Pākehā kua whāngaitia me te orotau ki roto i te ahurea Māori – ko Charlotte ka hua kia ringaringa ki roto i te whakakaurahi i te pāuauatanga, whiwhi ai i te huanga rautaki me te taupaepae i te otinga i te aurara o te whakatopatopa tāngata whai. Ko te taonga matua ki te puni, “He Wai Ngunguru” ka whakaruku ki roto i ngā āhuatanga ahurea ka angatia e te wahine mā roto i te āhua ahurei, ngātahitia ko ngā pūnaha ture me ngā tikanga me ngā kawa Māori. Ko ngā hua whakaputa he mea hihiko me te huakanga. Ko te whakamāoritanga ā pikitia a Reihana me tana wani kē ki te tuku kōrero ki konei ka whakataka iho i a tātou ki roto i tēnei kōrero me ngā kanohi hou.