Aro-Mind

In my view, the challenge facing iwi development is not about money, or resources. The key challenge facing iwi development at this time is meaninglessness. That is, iwi members naturally wish to know how does participation in my iwi bring value and benefits to my life? This problem is compounded when the opportunities for participation in iwi life remain few. For many the only opportunity to participate is at tangihanga. On too many other occasions, iwi members witness poor behavior, bickering and conflict when attending meetings at their marae. Hence, for many iwi members participation in their iwi is meaningless for very little value is offered to them. Of course, there are exceptions to this as some iwi do have positive activities taking place. However, on the whole, this is true for at least part of the time. The question remains - why should I participate in my iwi? What value and benefits can I gain from participating? Altenatively, there is the committed iwi member who particip...

Recent events suggest that things are changing and in a deep way. Older ways of thinking and acting are fading and newer possibilities are coming forth. Chief among them are the need to get beyond ethnic and cultural urgencies to a common and universal human question about our relationship with Mother Earth. As distance continues to grow between human consciousness and the natural world so the costs of this distance manifest themselves. The new Indigeneity, the new tangata whenuatanga is about a kinship based relationship with each other and with the natural world. It's about healing the rift between human consciousness and the natural world. It's about enabling the universe to flow through human spirit and mind. Musicians unite! Poets unite! Artists unite! Scientists unite! Creators of all kinds unite!