Mrs Irene Hancy - Cultural Trasformation in Rural Communities

1. My Beginnings

I was born child number seven into a family of eight sisters and six brothers. Now in all nine family members remain. We lived on a farm, so there was plenty to keep us occupied. My parents, both Maori, were amazing leaders as I reflect on their lives and the roles each played. First, as a husband/wife team and then as parents; they each belonged to different religions — my Father a Mormon, my Mother a Ratana. The Ratana religion also believes in God the Supreme Being, and proclaims this in a truly Maori way. If ever there was conflict between my parents regarding their different doctrines, I cannot recall such a time. I and the rest of my siblings were baptised Mormon in the river that runs through my valley. A routine day would begin with my Father dedicating the day and all family activities to the lord, for guidance and well being. This would take place in the small hours of the morning. This was and in some of the rural communities is still the practice — to greet the Lord before the birds do in the early morning!

We as a family were raised to appreciate that the Bible was the book above all books, that it contained all the answers to wholesome and joyful living, living with integrity, with justice and with love. My parents, both fluent Maori speakers, encouraged us in traditional cultural teachings both at home and in the marae (= the Maori meeting house). The evenings then, once the chores had been completed, would revolve around singing hymns, bible stories, and shared prayer. My Father taught about the love of Christ for us as a family, and the need for us to love each other. On Saturdays all manual chores had to be completed — Sunday clothes ironed, shoes polished, everyone bathed, wood collected, produce from the garden gathered — all in preparation for Sunday. No work was done on Sunday. Baking, etc. was all done on Saturday. Where were we going to on Sunday? For most times, nowhere because Sunday worship was held at home. Neighbours from the community would gather, and my Father would conduct a service of prayer, song, scripture, and testimony bearing witness to Christ. We would afterwards share a sumptuous meal prepared by my Mother. Food was also contributed by our neighbours who had come for the service. Sunday evening after prayer was family sharing time. Any family concerns were dealt with and each family member was invited to have an input.

My education was very basic. With such a big family, my parents could not afford to send us to boarding school. After three and a half years at College, I went nurse aiding in Obstetrics for two years and then into the New Zealand Women’s Royal Army Corps. Through my working years I still attended Church activities when I was able to. I enjoyed my three years in the Army and the discipline was great for me, as well as the security of friends and curfews. I met my husband in 1959 and we married in a Registry Office in 1963 but not before two sets of parents, grandparents, Aunties and Uncles had tried to reach some compromise between the two families — perhaps a mixed marriage, no marriage? Eventually we went to the Registry Office trying to find a way not to distress either family by marrying into one religion or the other. We each loved and respected our families, but we also recognised that the life was going to be ours to live. With my parents blessing I converted and was received into the Catholic church 18 months after marrying — our marriage was also blessed. In Maoridom it is common for families to support each other in caring for children. My husband cared for his elderly grandparents as well as two children. These two children, a boy and a girl, were to become our responsibility (after we had been married for only two years) because of the death of this wonderfully hardworking and devoted lady. In 1968 we adopted our youngest son and now we have 11 grandchildren.

2. My Experience of Church

A. My Journey

My experience of the Church, its ritual and culture, in the beginning was very powerful. Maori people are very much a people of ritual and ceremony, understanding the sacredness of God, of creation and people. So then the 98 per cent Maori community with strong leadership that I lived with, will always be a wonderful memory of ‘Priest and People’ worshipping God in oneness. Latin and Maori, music, beautiful choir singing — Mass was both a joyful and a humbling experience. That was 35 years ago.

In search of work, we settled in a rural parish community. Again, priests and people worked together and even though the dominant culture was European, it seemed not to matter because the Parish Council was aware that many Catholic Maori lived there but were not attending Mass. My role was to take C.C.D. (Confraternity of Catholic Doctrine) on a railway station — in the waiting room. I especially remember the eagerness of the children and the enthusiasm of the parents. The children drew the parents to Mass, and the parish priest was especially encouraging and open to dialogue with Maori people and visited the homes regularly. We were sorry to be leaving this small rural community after seven years.

Moving to the Far North was to prove the most challenging time. Marriage, family work, Church, the sick, the elderly, the children. There were more times that I can recall going to Mass as an observer, rather than as a participator. I have the image of being able to see through a glass panel, but not to be able to get through the glass — hence the feeling of isolation. Some priests were sympathetic, but at a loss as to how to deal with a growing number of Maori parishioners who were seeking more participation in parish affairs including Mass celebrated in the Maori language. Eventually, we were invited to have a Mass one Sunday per month where only the Maori hymns, and later on the responses to the Mass, were sung. The Maori community had also established a Maori Pastoral committee. The team became very effective in the community outreach. When a Catholic died and was taken to the meeting house to lie in state for three days, the pastoral team were responsible for the smooth running and organisation of morning/evening prayers, the liturgy/Mass within the house of mourning. The meeting house becomes a natural place for evangelization because it is the heartbeat for the Maori community.

Desolation. Loneliness becomes the experience when one has to deny one’s identity, one’s culture, and conform to or assimilate another.

By reason of our common human heritage and our redemption in Christ we have a right:

· To our ancestral and cultural heritage;

· To have our traditions, religious values, language, customs, myths and art forms used in Education in Faith;

· To express Christ’s teaching in terms of our own culture (NZ Catechetical Directory: ‘We Live and Teach Christ Jesus’).

The leadership of the Pastoral committee was very strong. Prayer was our sustenance and guidance. We embraced the sick, frail elderly and lonely, young marrieds and their families, visiting once a week for the Rosary. Parish Council meetings were a struggle, but only because we tended to burden ourselves with parish debt rather than the real needs of parish life, e.g. the youth as our leaders of tomorrow — what of their needs? Our response, a response hopefully that does not widen the gap of faith and love and hope between young and old. For "Parents as first teachers of the Faith", there now exists a problem because they themselves often do not understand their Cath-olic faith — and in most cases have great difficulty making time for any religious teaching.

The Taitokerau Pastoral Council is made up of nine Parishes in the North. My first attendance at the Taitokerau Pastoral Council meeting was the most wonderful home coming! The meeting with such esteemed Elders and Leaders, Priests and Religious — what joy! This meeting was by Maori for Maori, but not exclusively — other non-Maori were able to attend, but the meetings would be conducted in a way relevant to Maori. Through the report of each delegate, we were able to get an insight into the amazing work that people do because of their love for Christ. We were together, as community; we rejoiced in the strength of God and each other. At the first Maori Mass, I was unable to respond because I was too busy weeping realising how desperately lonely I had been.

The Maori Pastoral Care Plan.

Its purpose:

1. To provide for Catholic Maori the principle, process and opportunity for expressing and living the Catholic faith in a unique and meaningful Maori way within the Church.

2. To provide for the Catholic Church the process and opportunity for implementing the principles of inculturation for the whole Church of Aotearoa-New Zealand.

B. The Mission Statement:

The Plan promotes the development of Maori spirituality and culture as being essential before there can be any dynamic growth of the Catholic faith among Maori, in a way that is deeply Maori and truly Cath-olic. In my opinion this has proved to be the most revolutionary ... for Maori as well as for society. It has been both directly and indirectly influenced by the rituals and customs of Maori, God fearing people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Maori proverbs give vivid imagery to God as all seeing, all knowing and eternal. In times past there was no apparent need to write principles and pro-cesses for Maori because they were constantly being lived by a consensus people — God, Family, community. Today, however, with the political, socio-economic struggle that Maori encounter there is a greater need for understanding the principle and process for ordered and stress-free living. My life has been greatly enhanced — in fact — transformed. In Tel Aviv written on the wall of the Memorial Tomb for the six million Jews who died during the Holocaust, were these words: "To forget is to bring exile, to remember is to bring reconciliation". How true this is for us all. The Maori Pastoral Care Plan then will continue to transform and liberate people to live with order, peace and joy. The great work where Father Henare Tate has spent the last 30 years recording events, practices, customs unique to each tribe throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand, will be reason to thank and praise God. Fr Tate remembered and wrote so that his people would not remain in exile but be so liberated as to be receptive to the dictum of Christ, "Come listen to my word, act!"

St Ignatius has been my great mentor and friend. He introduced me to Christ, invited me into the Synagogue to listen to Jesus preach, and before I came to Rome I visited the Holy Land. I visited the Synagogue and remembered. I was not prepared for the encounter and right now I am unable to describe the experience, except for now to say I was deeply moved, humbled, and yet overjoyed! The more Catholic I become the more deeply Maori I feel.

The Gospel enhances, transforms and releases the cultural understanding of the truth. Every culture has its place in God’s household. The Gospel transforms every culture. Language is at the very heartbeat of any culture, and shifting back to live in the place of my birth, was given a wonderful homecoming. Surrounded by family, relatives, meeting houses, language nests, the whole community and Church life was exhilarating and still is. My previous parish was predominantly European and it was not until I returned to the Hokianga that I realised how un-Maori I had become.

Listening to Christ’s Word was fine, but how to translate it into Maori and Maori thinking? Quite a task — and it very often requires inner conflict or a struggle to make Christ’s message relevant in a deeply Maori way. When surrounded by non-Maori speakers the habit is to revert to English. While my husband and I have always used the English Bible in the past, we now use the Maori one. The Gospel, through the Maori language has confirmed our sense of identity as deeply Catholic, deeply Maori. The Maori Pastoral Care Plan calls us to rise, to action, to reclaim what we have lost in order to go forward as a dynamic people of faith.

Today in my community there are many reasons to feel new life and hope in Christ. Maori Elders, men and women, people in ministry gather together each month for Gospel reflection and to discuss social issues as well as Church and community needs. High unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction, teenage suicide, are a very real part of Maori existence today. Young people seem to prefer to live together rather than marry — much to the distress of parents and grandparents. Despite all of these things, the Word of God continues to spread, more families attend Mass, more groups meet for music, liturgy, leadership issues, Church teaching. We visit the sick and dying in Hospital, in homes. We mourn our dead with and through the life, death and Resurrection of Christ. We are blessed to have priests who are a community focused on the task of working with the people to build up Eucharistic communities.

While it is little and slow and fragile, it is still exciting in Christ! Who would ever have thought that I would thank God for pain, frustration, isolation and desolation. I most certainly do, otherwise I do not believe I could enjoy the sweetness of this moment but for my journey in him.