This is the first video on our youtube channel.

Makere Pike and Paul Harris in the wharekia [diningroom] at Te Niho Marae at Parihaka Pa in Taranaki.
This was an important moment for me as I was humbled by the depth and breath of the maori language with kuia makere, we would sit for hours and talk about life{ours and others}, a beautiful, spiritual, well travelled and intelligent maori women of the world, I was given these sticks and cherished them, then I came to understood the relevance of what they represent for me.

Many months later while sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of tea with another strong Taranaki women Leslie Skipper from Katere Marae in Taranaki pointed out a major peeve of hers with these te rakau {the sticks| is that they are simply made of plastic. the blunt truth of the matter hit me more months later while building a garden around my batch, I live within a Redwood forest and we have to thin out many trees to ensure the better trees thrive. these unproductive redwood logs could possibly be made into te rakau[the sticks].

then it got me thimking...
its quite possible, to teach others how to speak te reo maori too.
its quite possible, to teach other languages to other languages.
its quite possible, to learn past languages,
its quite possible, to teach my two distant children as im an absent father trying to find the right path home.