RADICAL RETHINK
New Zealand Listener|September 09-15 2023
A new film about Māori academic, activist writer and long-time Listener columnist Ranginui Walker shines a light on the long shadow he cast over Aotearoa - and his family.
RUSSELL BROWN
RADICAL RETHINK

'Being Māori is hard, being Mäori is sad, being Māori is to laugh, being Māori is to cry, being Māori is forever," wrote Dr Ranginui Walker in these pages 45 years ago, in one of the columns that represented, for much of the New Zealand mainstream, an introduction to the radical idea of a distinct Maori worldview.

It's a line he wrote more than once, meditated over, amended to suit the context. It lives again in the title of Being Māori: The Dr Ranginui Walker Story, a feature-length documentary for Whakaata Māori. The film is as much a family history as it is a biography, and interviews with his children and grandchildren suggest Walker cast a long shadow. They are subject to his expectations even now.

"There's so many doctors in the family," laughs producerdirector Bradley Walker. "You say 'Dr Walker' and they all look up."

Walker (Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Te Whakatōhea) himself did not meet Ranginui Walker until he went to his office at the University of Auckland as a teenager to have his whakapapa signed off so he could get a grant.

"He goes, "Well, you need to go to one of your elders for your iwi.' I said, "That's why I'm here - you're one of my elders. "What's your name?' 'Bradley Walker.' 'Oh, my gosh, and whose son?' 'Eru Walker.' They were first cousins, and it was a complex relationship - Ranginui was handpicked by the family to go to university and boarding school. Dad wasn't, failed English at school and went a different route. So, sending me there was a bit of a showoff from Dad, saying, 'My son can now get into university as well."

But the young man and Walker became close in ways that go to the heart of the film.

This story is from the September 09-15 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 09-15 2023 edition of New Zealand Listener.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM NEW ZEALAND LISTENERView All
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 mins  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 mins  |
September 9, 2024